A Grip on Sports: Chun’s departure isn’t being universally mourned in the Cougars’ athletic department

A GRIP ON SPORTS • One thing about the Palouse. Everyone who lives there knows a lot about haymakers. In real life and in the proverbial sense. And they know the difference, which will serve them well as the folks in Pullman ponder life without Pat Chun as Washington State’s athletic director.

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• For some who don’t actually live in the town on the hills, or work in and around Bohler Gym, there will be a popular opinion. One we’re sure is shared by his new employers at the University of Washington. That opinion? Pat Chun did yeoman’s work for the Cougars. Spectacular even. He’s the perfect choice for UW as it charts the shoal-filled course into the Big Ten.

As the Pac-12 fell apart like a 7-year-old’s attempt at Jenga, Chun held the line for WSU. Kept the Cougars viable. Partnered with Oregon State and gave the Pac-2 a chance to rebuild.

It is a perfectly logic opinion to hold. From the outside, looking in.

We hold a different opinion, one shaped from connections with folks who worked for Chun in his six years at the head of the athletic department. You know, the ones who dealt with him on a day-to-day basis, the ones charged with making his vision a reality, the people who bleed crimson more than scarlet – or, now, purple. The ones, basically, who did the work.

Their response has been much more mixed. And has been for Chun’s entire tenure. Many of them shared their concerns while they were in Pullman. Quietly. And in confidence. They were worried about their future.

Others showed their feelings in the most visible way. They left. Found employment elsewhere. Which seemed, to many who wander the Bohler halls, the whole point. Many of those who populated the athletic department before the Chun Era began in 2018 felt as if they did their jobs with a target on their back.

If you were Mike Leach, just to use the most visible name out there, you had options. Yes, he was looking to relocate before Chun was hired – remember the flirtation with Tennessee in 2017? – but that was due to his inside knowledge the person who had hired him, Bill Moos, was getting out. The then-athletic director wasn’t happy about the direction President Kirk Schulz was taking the university. When Moos took off for Nebraska and Schulz tabbed Ohio State assistant AD Chun to lead the department, Leach was willing to give the new guy a shot.

Less than two years later Leach bailed for that football powerhouse Mississippi State. No one ever accused Leach of being dumb.

Which gave Chun an opportunity to put his stamp on the most important position in the athletic department’s directory: football coach. His choice?

Nick Rolovich.

We’ve never understood the Teflon coating Chun seems to have to this day for making what could be considered the worst football hire in the school’s history. Bert Clark? Paul Wulff? They may have lost game after game, but no one ever did more damage to the school’s credibility and image than Rolovich.

Who could have seen it coming, considered Rolovich’s past? Well, everyone.

The signs were there. On social media. In conversations with those who knew him. But his offense was innovative – a decade before – and he had won 10 games – one year. Besides, the name was recognized outside of the Northwest. Which turned out to be even truer when the pandemic hit. And Chun handled his dismissal with as much finesse as a sledgehammer.

Rolovich may never win any sort of recompense from the university, but no one can deny the parting included issues. At least while he was in Pullman, Rolovich had the sense to add Jake Dickert to his staff. And Chun and the foresight to see potential in a young coach. Of all of the changes Chun made in his half-dozen Pullman years, the choice of Dickert is only overshadowed on the positive side by basketball coach Kyle Smith’s hiring.

At least one of the two outlasted the AD.

The parting has left some anger among those outside the department. Our friend Jim Moore based much of his on the destination: Once-and-future antagonist, or worse if you so desire, the University of Washington.

Others, who have lived the Chun experience, have another view. He’s now the Huskies’ problem. And, to paraphrase something we were told yesterday, it couldn’t happen to a more-deserving school.  

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WSU: The news Chun was leaving for Washington followed hard on the heels of Smith’s departure for Stanford. We covered the latter yesterday, before Greg Woods spoke with Smith for this story. … Today, we pass along Greg’s story on Chun’s departure, which includes some names to consider as possible replacements. If we had to make Schulz’s decision for him, we would give the job to Anne McCoy, who has been on the staff for more than two decades. Then again, we don’t want her to hate us. … Jon Wilner has the outsiders’ macro view shared by many. … As for Washington, the rivalry isn’t part of the upper management’s thinking anymore, though we’re not sure many supporters will share that view. … Hey, spring football has begun. Greg has coverage of the first day. It wasn’t warm, that’s for sure. … The new volleyball staff is complete. That news leads of the S-R’s latest local briefs column. … John Canzano has news the Pac-2 is nearing a TV deal. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and around the nation, Wilner also has a look at the finalized monetary agreement as the conference schools go their separate ways. … The NCAA women’s tournament is dominated by top-seeded teams, which means the Pac-12 dominates as well, with five schools in the Sweet Sixteen again. And for the final time, seemingly. … Second-seed Stanford looks vulnerable and has North Carolina State next. … Oregon State matches up with Notre Dame in Albany. … Colorado is happy to still be playing. … USC has been great defensively. … On the men’s side, Wilner re-ranks the final 16 schools, with Arizona fourth and Gonzaga 10th. … Danny Sprinkle. Dream job. Washington. … The Wildcats have a history with the Sweet Sixteen. … Oregon State has two guards to the portal. … Arizona State has already lost one. … Utah is still alive in the NIT. … In football news, some college careers are starting this spring. … It isn’t easy to get recruits on campus at Utah. … Spring football is underway at USC with the focus on the quarterback spot. … Arizona has a different focus this spring, much of it on the new staff, filled with familiar faces.

Gonzaga: For all of those folks who felt the Zags were in trouble this year and might not even get to the NCAA tourney, we have one thought. Maybe you forgot who was in charge. Jim Meehan has this story on possibly Mark Few’s most impressive coaching year. … Yes, Gonzaga has a game Friday evening in Detroit against top-seeded Purdue. But that doesn’t mean that’s all that’s on the agenda. Say it with me: Recruiting never stops. The lastest? Michael Ajayi, the Pepperdine standout who fills a need as a big, athletic wing. Theo Lawson has the story of the transfer’s commitment. … Jim and Richard Fox have another Zag Basketball Insiders’ Podcast. … Greg Lee was able to take some time Tuesday and look back at Monday night’s win over Utah. … Alexandra Duggan covers the fallout from the Utes’ late Monday night revelation about a racially charged incident in Coeur d’Alene on Thursday continues. No region of the country wants to be in the national news for such things. … Every mens’ Sweet Sixteen team has a question to answer. … Pretty much the same for the women in Portland for the two regionals.

EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, one of the top players in the conference, Northern Colorado’s Saint Thomas, is leaving. … The Northern Arizona women fell in the WNIT’s first round. … Montana football has added a big name to its staff.

Preps: We saw Dave Nichols at the Spokesman-Review High School Basketball Showcase last night at Lewis and Clark High, but he was too busy to talk with the likes of us. Actually, every time we wandered over to say hi and check on his health, he had headphones on and was working the SWX broadcast. Anyhow, it Samantha DiMaio’s coverage we pass along.

Mariners: The M’s starting pitching, despite Bryan Woo’s injury, is loaded. … Patience among fans? That is a lot thinner. … Seattle finished the spring with a winning record. The season begins in less than 48 hours.

Kraken: Yes, there are worse teams than Seattle. Anaheim, for one. As Tuesday night’s 4-0 Seattle win shows.

Seahawks: Mike McDonald is ready. … It looks as if the Hawks will focus on the offensive line in the draft. But there still are questions about quarterback. Sam Howell can’t be one of them, right?

Sounders: Leo Chu is out for a while with a knee injury.

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• Decisions abound for Schulz, don’t they? He may have to land on a basketball coach before an athletic director, which could make things awkward in that search. But that’s why he gets the big bucks, right? Until later …