Jeff Choate Hot Seat? Why Nevada Could – And Won’t – Fire Its Head Coach

It’s more than safe to say Jeff Choate’s tenure as Nevada’s head coach has been disappointing. 

Nevada is 1-7 this season after its sixth consecutive loss, its latest being a 24-3 defeat against Boise State. The Wolf Pack hoped Choate would help improve things, but it’s only gotten worse during his tenure. In fact, he has yet to win a Mountain West game.

That begs the question: Would Nevada fire Choate?

Why Nevada Would Fire Jeff Choate

After success as an FCS head coach and a Power Four assistant, Choate is 4-17 as the head coach at Nevada.

But it’s more than that. Of the Wolf Pack’s seven losses this season, four have been decided by double digits. Nevada also almost nearly lost to FCS Sacramento State and needed to score a touchdown in the final three minutes to take the lead.

And it’s not like Nevada has been especially strong in any one area.

Going into this week’s games, the Wolf Pack were among the bottom 10 teams in the FBS in total offense with 302 yards per game gained and in scoring offense with 15.6 points per game scored. 

That’s probably not going to be much better after Nevada put up three points and 247 yards against Boise State at home on Friday night.

Defense hasn’t been a ton better. Nevada was 79th in the country with 374.4 YPG allowed and 96th with 28 PPG allowed.

Why Nevada Won’t Fire Jeff Choate

Choate’s contract buyout is likely too high for Nevada to pay out this early in his tenure.

Choate would be owed $2.7 million if he’s fired after this season. And that only goes down to $2 million after the 2026 season. So it’s possible that, even if the Wolf Pack don’t have a winning record next year, Choate is Nevada’s head coach in 2027.

I, personally, also think it’s too early to think about firing Choate. Generally, I think coaches should get roughly 30 games before people start talking about firing them.

Here’s another thing to think about with Choate. He was hired at Nevada in part because of his experience at Montana State. But it took him a while to get that program back on track.

The Bobcats were 4-7 his first year at MSU and 5-6 the following season – two losing records. Then he got MSU back to the FCS playoffs in 2018 before guiding the team to the FCS national semifinals in 2019, the first time it had gotten that far in the postseason since 1984.

So maybe some patience will pay off for Choate and the Wolf Pack.

Jeff Choate’s Contract & Buyout

Jeff Choate’s contract buyout is $2.7 million if he’s fired after this year and is $2 million if he’s fired following next season.

Choate signed a five-year, $5.8 million deal that has incentives before the 2024 season. He’s to receive $1.1 million in total pay in 2025, according to USA Today.

Nevada Head Coach Jeff Choate’s Background

Choate interviewed for other Mountain West jobs before. He was among the candidates considered when Boise State was looking for a new head coach in 2020.

Soon after, Choate left to become a co-defensive coordinator at Texas. He was Montana State’s head coach from 2016-20. While there, Choate built the program up while going 28-22.

Choate, who is from Idaho, has a history with Boise State. He coached running backs for three years and linebackers for three years there. 

He was also the Broncos’ special teams coordinator from 2006-11. He was an assistant at Utah State from 2002-04 as well.

Before MSU, Choate was a defensive line and special teams coach at Washington from 2014-15. He also worked with special teams and outside linebackers at Florida in 2013 and was a linebackers coach at Washington State in 2012.