Sources: WSU hires SDSU’s Rogers for 5 years

South Dakota State’s Jimmy Rogers has accepted a five-year deal to become Washington State‘s next head coach, sources told ESPN on Saturday.

Rogers, 37, coached South Dakota State to an FCS national title in 2023 after serving as the team’s defensive coordinator in 2022, when the team won its first national championship. He’s set to replace Jake Dickert, who left earlier this month to become head coach at Wake Forest after three-plus seasons as WSU coach.

The Cougars ended their season Friday after losing 52-35 to Syracuse in the DirecTV Holiday Bowl. Washington State had focused its search for Dickert’s replacement on FCS head coaches, sources said.

Rogers played linebacker at South Dakota State and started his coaching career at his alma mater in 2010. He spent two seasons with Florida Atlantic before returning to South Dakota State as linebackers coach in 2013.

Washington State must reload after losing Dickert, offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle, star quarterback John Mateer and others after a season that it began 8-1. The Cougars have lost 26 scholarship players to the transfer portal this month, including 11 players who started in the team’s final regular-season game.

Rogers could bring a significant number of transfers from South Dakota State to Washington State, sources told ESPN, to quickly rebuild the roster.

South Dakota State quarterback Mark Gronowski, the 2023 Walter Payton Award winner as the top offensive player in FCS, is an NFL draft prospect who can return for an additional season of eligibility if he chooses to bypass the draft.

South Dakota State standout wide receiver Griffin Wilde entered the transfer portal earlier Saturday with a “do not contact” tag in his entry.

ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura, Pete Thamel and Max Olson contributed to this report.