Jake Dickert had been at Washington State for only a few years but had seen the program go through plenty of changes.
As the Cougars’ head coach, Dickert led Wazzu to an 8-4 overall record in 2024 while mostly playing Mountain West teams. The Cougars are helping rebuild the Pac-12, which is on track to have a full conference again in 2026.
But it seems Dickert won’t be around for that, as he has been named the head coach at Wake Forest. Here’s some names of coaches who could be looked at as potential replacements.
New Customer Offers at BetMGM
Bonus Bets Expire in 7 Days. One New Customer Offer Only. Add’l Terms
USC Defensive Coordinator D’Anton Lynn
Among Power Four coordinators in the region, Lynn could be a coach to think about.
Lynn helped USC make massive strides in his first year there. And he’s regarded as a rising star in the coaching profession.
He was previously the defensive coordinator at UCLA in 2023. The Bruins were top 10 in the country in total defense (301.5 yards per game allowed) and 14th in scoring defense (18.4 points per game allowed). UCLA allowed the second-fewest rushing yards per game in the nation with 80.8.
Previously, Lynn was a safeties coach with the Baltimore Ravens and worked with the Houston Texas’ secondaries before that. He was also an assistant for the Los Angeles Chargers when his father, Anthony Lynn, was the head coach there and focused primarily on linebackers. He’s also worked for the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets in the past decade.
Nevada Head Coach Jeff Choate
Choate has been at Nevada for only a year, so maybe he wouldn’t leave so quickly. But he’s coached at Wazzu before and has an extensive resume.
Before this season, Choate was a co-defensive coordinator at Texas. In 2023, the Longhorns allowed the 13th-fewest points (17.54 per game) and the 23rd-fewest yards (321.7 per game) in the FBS. Texas won the Big 12 and was the third-ranked team in the College Football Playoff before losing to Washington in the Sugar Bowl.
When he was the head coach at Montana State, Choate built the program up while going 28-22. He led the team to the national semifinals in his final season there in 2019. That was the first time MSU got that far in the postseason since 1984.
Choate, who is from Idaho, coached Boise State’s running backs for three years and linebackers for three years. 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.
Oregon Assistant Head Coach Ra’Shaad Samples
Samples is currently coaching running backs at Oregon and has been an assistant head coach at three different FBS schools.
Samples is in his first season with the Ducks, and before this he was a wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator at Arizona State. Before that, he was the Los Angeles Rams’ running backs coach in 2022, which is when he was the youngest position coach in the NFL.
He was also an assistant head coach and running backs coach at TCU in 2021. He was an assistant at SMU for three years before that, first as an offensive assistant with an emphasis on recruiting before he was a running backs coach and recruiting coordinator and eventually an assistant head coach.
A former wide receiver at Oklahoma State and Houston, Samples began his coaching career as an assistant at Houston from 2016-17. He then was an offensive assistant and on-campus recruiting coordinator in 2018 at Texas.
Western Kentucky Head Coach Tyson Helton
Helton has a good amount of experience all over the country, including the West Coast.
Helton helped WKU reach the Conference USA Championship in 2024. His background primarily involves offense. He began his coaching career at Hawaii as a graduate assistant in 2000 and worked with special teams the following three years.
He then coached tight ends and special teams at Memphis from 2004-06. The next five seasons, he coached quarterbacks at UAB and then focused on running backs there in 2012.
In 2013, he was a tight ends and special teams coach at Cincinnati. He coached at WKU for the first time from 2014-15 as an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
He was also a QBs coach and a passing game coordinator at USC from 2016-17. He then became the offensive coordinator and a quarterbacks coach at Tennessee for one year before going back to WKU to be a head coach.
Montana State Head Coach Brent Vigen
Considering Vigen has reportedly been considered for a few Mountain West head coaching jobs, it would make sense for Washington State to consider him as well.
Vigen has been Montana State’s head coach since 2021. That first year, he led the Bobcats to their first national championship appearance since 1984. The year after that, Montana State reached the national semifinals before losing to the eventual champion, South Dakota State.
And in 2024, the Bobcats went undefeated during the regular season – including a victory at New Mexico – and have the No. 1 seed in the FCS Playoffs.
Vigen was an offensive coordinator at Wyoming under head coach Craig Bohl from 2014-20, most notably coaching now-NFL star quarterback Josh Allen.
