Washington State coaching search: Former Alabama assistant mentioned as candidate for Cougars

Washington State is beginning its coaching search following the departure of Nick Rolovich, and a former Alabama assistant could be in the mix of candidates.

Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports reported that Jeff Banks, the assistant head coach who oversees special teams at Texas, is a former player and a name to watch for the Cougars. Banks joined Steve Sarkisian’s staff from Alabama where he coached special teams and tight ends. Banks was at Alabama for 3 seasons. The state of Texas is familiar to him because he spent the previous 5 years in the same role at Texas A&M (2013-17), and 9 years as special teams coordinator and running backs coach at UTEP prior to that (2004-12) for a total of 14 in the state of Texas.

Rolovich and 4 of his assistants were fired on Monday for refusing a state mandate that all employees get vaccinated against COVID-19. That made him the first major college coach to lose his job over vaccination status.

Rolovich was denied a religious exemption. Defensive coordinator Jake Dickert will take over and coach the team on Saturday at home against BYU.

One name to watch in the Washington State search is Texas asst head coach/special teams Jeff Banks. Former Washington State player who was a key member of Nick Saban’s staff. Making $1 million at Texas.

— Dennis Dodd (@dennisdoddcbs) October 19, 2021

Keith Farner

A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.