It was reported on Sunday that three WSU football assistant coaches will be joining former head coach Jake Dickert at Wake Forest University. Pete Kaligis, Jared Kaster and Nick Edwards are leaving Pullman.

Kaligis is the most surprising name to leave after the passion he showed for the Cougs while preparing for the Holiday Bowl.

He has been the assistant head coach and defensive tackles for the past three years. However, his connection to Dickert goes back further than Wazzu, as the two worked together at Wyoming.

Kaligis could be a candidate to be the Wake Forest defensive coordinator.

Nick Edwards also joins Dickert in Wake Forest. Edwards was the WSU wide receivers coach and served as the acting offensive coordinator for the Holiday Bowl.

Despite missing five starters, including John Mateer, Cooper Mathers and Wayshawn Parker, the Wazzu offense did not miss a beat under Edwards, scoring 28 points and going for over 400 total yards. Edwards could be a candidate to be the next Wake Forest offensive coordinator.

Jared Kaster will leave the Cougs after serving as their offensive line coach in 2024. Kaster’s line improved from 2023 and he also has experience as an offensive coordinator when he was with Austin Peay University.

The moves brings the total number of coaches departing to eight. WSU lost four coaches to Wake Forest, two to Oklahoma, one to Utah and defensive coordinator Jeff Schmedding was fired.

New coach Jimmy Rogers will have his work cut out for him to hire an entirely new staff. However, he will get to start completely fresh, which might not be a bad thing after the end of season implosion the Cougs went through.