WSU will not opt out of Holiday Bowl, AD Anne McCoy says, as coach Jake Dickert leaves for Wake Forest

SEATTLE – Even with coach Jake Dickert leaving and players flocking to the transfer portal, Washington State will not opt out of the Holiday Bowl.

WSU Athletic Director Anne McCoy confirmed as much Wednesday, indicating that the Cougars will be in San Diego to play Syracuse in the Holiday Bowl, set for 5 p.m. on Dec. 27.

“We are very committed to playing in the DirecTV Holiday Bowl,” McCoy said in a Zoom news conference Wednesday, hours after head coach Jake Dickert left for the same job at Wake Forest. “We’ve been in ongoing conversations with the executive director and their administrative team, reassuring them of that.”

The idea was beginning to loom over WSU, which is now without its head coach, defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator, running backs coach and quarterbacks coach. As of Wednesday evening, 23 Cougars players had entered the transfer portal, including 11 starters, among them star quarterback John Mateer. The shelves were beginning to look bare.

Earlier this month, Dickert dismissed defensive coordinator Jeff Schmedding, while offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle and QBs coach John Kuceyeski both left for Oklahoma. Running backs coach Mark Atuaia took the same job at Utah.

With nearly 30 players entering the transfer portal after coach Charles Huff left for Southern Miss, Marshall decided to opt out of its bowl game, the Independence Bowl against Army. The Cougars will not be doing the same, McCoy said.

“The Holiday Bowl is one of the best bowl games in the country,” said McCoy, who added that she has no timeline for hiring a new football coach. “It’s one that Washington State obviously has a long tradition of playing in, and we’re extremely committed to that.”

Even so, the Cougars will have to do some reshuffling. Assistant head coach and defensive tackles Pete Kaligis will work as interim head coach for the bowl game, WSU said in a Wednesday release. In the absence of Oklahoma-bound Arbuckle and Kuceyeski, wide receivers coach Nick Edwards is set to call plays in the game.

The defensive-minded Dickert was going to call defensive plays. It’s unclear who will fill in for the Holiday Bowl. Potential candidates include Kaligis, safeties/nickels coach Jordan Malone, edges coach Frank Maile or cornerbacks coach Allen Brown.

“Talking with some current student-athletes again,” McCoy said, “(they’re) saying we’ve got this, we’re excited, we wanna do this. We have coaches that are still here, that are committed and people that really are wanting to finish off the season, and that means finishing off the season with a bowl game in San Diego. We’re in. We’re 100% in.”

The Holiday Bowl will pay a total of $5.9 million to WSU and Syracuse. The Cougars will have to split their share – whatever that comes out to after travel and lodging expenses – with Oregon State as part of their Pac-12 membership.

Contract extension talks never materialized

McCoy learned that Dickert had accepted the Wake Forest job at 7:45 a.m. Wednesday, she said, although she added Dickert tried to reach her about an hour earlier. She was in the team meeting room when Dickert informed the Cougars of his decision.

Above all, it indicates that McCoy, WSU and Dickert could not come to an agreement on a contract extension. McCoy and WSU brass had made an extension offer to Dickert and his agents during the season, she said, and those talks extended throughout the season. Dickert seemed open to the idea, McCoy said.

But Dickert and his representation wanted to wait until the end of the season “to see where things were at,” McCoy said.

“We (were) talking about a long-term partnership relative to contract length,” McCoy said. “I think both he and his representation felt good about it, but I think the ultimate piece was that wasn’t gonna be a factor whether he chose to stay or go, because he knew what the offer was. To be honest, maybe (he was) getting through the season too, to know how he felt about whether he would be staying or not.”

Dickert was making about $2.7 million this season at WSU. Whoever McCoy and the Cougars hire next, McCoy said it will be an amount that requires the Board of Regent’s stamp of approval.

“I have no qualms about having the support from the board relative to making an offer to the next head football coach, and what we think is a fair and competitive offer,” McCoy said. “While we do have appointing authority in athletics, certainly the salary level would be such that the Board of Regents would definitely weigh in and approve.”