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.