“This is the next chapter of Washington State football,” Jimmy Rogers said. “This is the next chapter of Washington State Univeristy. We will rise and we will be a national contender.”
The next chapter of Wazzu football has indeed arrived. Athletic director Anne McCoy introduced the new head coach of Cougar football Jimmy Rogers Thursday in a press conference at Martin Stadium.
Rogers, who left his head coaching position at South Dakota State to come to the Palouse, was hired Dec. 29 just 11 days after former head coach Jake Dickert left for Wake Forest.
The Alger Family Club Room at the suite level of the stadium was packed tightly for the highly-anticipated press conference. Aside from McCoy and Rogers, many prominent faces were present in the room. Members of Rogers family, including his wife and children, were present, along with starting quarterback Zevi Eckhaus, soccer head coach Todd Shulenberger and members of the Cougar Collective, an NIL funding group for WSU athletes.
McCoy opened the presser with comments on the hiring process. She said a lot of responsibility comes with hiring a coach and many different colleagues contributed to the process, but they were thinking about specific qualities that represent the university.
“We talked with a tremendous number of really qualified talented coaches,” McCoy said. “And then we met Jimmy Rogers in person.”
Rogers was emotional during his opening statement, both in mentioning his family, as well as his mentor and coach John Stiegelmeier. Stiegelmeier was the longtime head coach of SDSU for 26 seasons before he retired in 2023, when the player he once coached, Jimmy Rogers, took over for him. Rogers played under Stiegelmeier from (2006–09).
“He gave me an opportunity to live a dream and I work tirelessly to allow him to accomplish his,” Rogers said with tears in his eyes. “I love you, coach.”
Rogers said one of the biggest draws of Pullman was the community and he felt comfortable raising his family in Pullman. He emphasized he would not take a job without keeping his family in mind and the midwestern feel of Wazzu was the perfect setup for his family.
A common theme that appeared throughout the press conference was Rogers’ passion for and investment in the football program. After the gut-wrenching loss of Dickert, Rogers put an emphasis on his commitment to the team.
“I’m about people and I’m about as loyal as it gets,” Rogers said. “I know that word has been thrown around here and people don’t want to hear it but I don’t know if you could show that after 19 years in one place building the national championship program day after day.”
Rogers also said his staff would come with the same passionate approach.
“Our staff that will be put in place here will love this team unconventionally and we’re going to push them to new heights,” Rogers said.
Rogers showed emotion again, pausing to gather himself after speaking on the impact of the university and the people he is working with.
Despite the emotion, Rogers projected a sense of confidence in himself and the team, citing his winning experience and the expectation of both toughness and physicality for the team.
“I’ve been a winner, I’ve been part of a winner my whole life and I don’t plan to stop anytime now,” Rogers said.
Rogers does not care for the haters either.
“I’m not unaware of kind of all the critiques of Washington State,” Rogers said. “I also don’t care about them. I don’t care what people think of me either. I was entrusted to do a job and I’m going to do it at the highest level I possibly can.”
Rogers will be getting a lot of help, as the team has received transfer commitments in the double-digits from SDSU since Rogers’ hiring and have already added a couple of new prep recruits.
While Eckhaus was the only starter present, Rogers repeatedly referenced meeting with players the night before the press conference. Rogers said a lot of players on his team care about winning and the current Cougs have done a great job of embracing their new teammates and staff from SDSU.
Rogers, 37, had major success at SDSU, being involved in various roles since 2013 before winning an FCS championship, the team’s second consecutive, in his first year as head coach in 2023. Despite his new role at WSU forcing a transition from FCS to FBS, Rogers said he thinks “football is football.” He said the difference in resources will matter though.
“Though it’s my job to find the guys that are looking for that and develop them to have success, not only just to win a lot of football games, but maybe to get to the spot in their life, to where they can attack the goals of playing in the NFL,” Rogers said. “We’ve been able to do that where I left and we did it with no money. So this is more resources than I’ve ever had and I’m excited to see what this staff can do with it.”
McCoy and the university made sure to welcome Rogers on the right note, treating him to a special night at Beasley Coliseum where he received chants of his name and a big round of applause from a well-attended crowd. While the Cougs’ men’s basketball team lost in overtime to Pacific, his kids were all smiles while playing with Butch and the Rogers family experienced one of the loudest crowds of the college basketball season.
After a postseason and early offseason full of turmoil, Rogers seems more than ready to hit the ground running and handle the pressure.
“I also believe that this program has so much more to give and I look forward to tirelessly working this program into becoming a national contender. I didn’t come here to lose and nor did this coaching staff,” Rogers said. “I believe in this. We’re going to do everything that we can to get on the top of college football.”