Washington State head coach Jake Dickert often preached loyalty amid an era of constant change in college football. However, the 41-year-old decided to leave his role for the same position at Wake Forest earlier this month following the resignation of Dave Clawson.
Dickert’s decision partially stemmed from a catastrophic financial failure by university president Kirk Schulz.
According to John Canzano, the Board of Regents at Washington State met at The Edgewater Hotel in downtown Seattle in the middle of November. Schulz was there. In fact, the 61-year-old was actually the topic of conversation. And it was directed at him, not about him.
The Board of Regents directed Schulz to work with Leslie Brunelli, the school’s chief financial officer. They told him to “find an additional $2 million in institutional support for athletics.” He did not.
I think Kirk dragged his feet.
— A source told John Canzano
Less than one month later, Jake Dickert resigned from his role as the head football coach at Washington State to become the head football coach at Wake Forest. Although the programs are fairly comparable in terms of their status within the sport, the latter presents a better structure in terms of money. Not only is Dickert expected to receive a raise, he will have a deeper financial pool on which to run his program.
Meanwhile, the Cougars are panicking. Schulz bungled the directive bestowed upon him by the Board of Regents and they failed to present Dickert with what he needed to stay. So he left.
The Washington State regents are not happy with how things played out because they see the value in athletics and how a strong college football program can help to boost the university as a whole.
We care deeply about athletics. It’s important for the university. It’s a big draw. Other things on campus need to be funded, sure, but the regents gave that directive because we care about athletics.
— WSU Regent Enrique Cerna told John Canzano
Schulz insists that there is nothing more he could’ve done.
If I had a money printing press in my office — this would be no problem.
— Kirk Schulz told John Canzano
If that is true, and the money requested by the Board of Regents simply does not exist, there is an even bigger problem to address in Pullman. For Schulz to seek $2 million for athletics and be unable to find it presents a serious uphill battle for success in the era of Name, Image and Likeness.