On Thursday evening, Seattle Sea Dragons head coach Jim Haslett announced during an online meet & greet that former Washington State head coach, Nick Rolovich, will take over as the team’s offensive coordinator. Rolovich replaces June Jones, who retired earlier in the offseason.
Rolovich is a former player turned coach who was most recently fired from WSU for not complying with Washington’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for state employees. After his firing, he sued WSU for wrongful termination, but the case was dismissed by a federal judge. Before his vaccine scandal in 2021, Rolovich led the Cougars to a record of 5 – 6.
Prior to his time as a head coach, Rolovich played quarterback in college and professionally, spending time at City College of San Francisco and the University of Hawaii. In 2002, he joined the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free agent but spent the majority of his time on the teams’ practice squad.
His NFL career came to an end in 2003, but Rolovich went on to play with the Dusseldorf Rhein Fire (NFL Europe), the San Jose SaberCats (AFL), the Arizona Rattlers (IFL), and the Cleveland Gladiators (AFL). He ended his playing career after the 2007 season with the Gladiators.
While still with the Gladiators in the AFL, Rolovich got his first coaching opportunity as a quarterbacks coach at City College of San Francisco for 2 seasons. In 2008, he retired from his playing career and took a full-time position as quarterback coach with the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors. By 2010, Rolovich was promoted to Hawaii’s offensive coordinator and QB coach but left In 2012, accepting the same position with Nevada after not being retained by the Rainbow Warriors.
Rolovich returned to Hawaii in 2015, getting his first head coaching opportunity. He’d stay with Hawaii from 2016 through 2019, earning the Rainbow Warriors a Mountain West Division Title and earning Mountian West coach of the year honors after leading Hawaii to a 10-win season in his final year before accepting the head coaching job at Washington State. Rolovich’s overall record as a head coach is 33-33.
