What we know about coach Nick Rolovich's firing, contract status and future of team at Washington State

No other team in college football history has faced a situation quite like this.

After winning three straight games to improve to 4-3, the Washington State Cougars now must rebuild their coaching staff in the middle of the season after five coaches were fired Monday over their refusal to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

That includes head coach Nick Rolovich, who was hired at WSU less than two years ago after a stint as Hawaii's head coach.

Here’s a look at how this happened and where it’s headed with five regular-season games remaining, including a home game Saturday against Brigham Young on Saturday:

NO SYMPATHY:For Nick Rolovich after Washington State fired him. Skipping vaccine was his call.

Why they didn’t get vaccinated

Rolovich, 42, never publicly has explained this after announcing in July that he had elected not to get vaccinated. He then applied for a religious exemption from a state mandate that required state employees to be fully vaccinated by Monday unless they obtained approval for an exemption. His exemption request was denied, and now he’s unemployed because he’s ineligible to work at WSU under the mandate.

WSU athletics director Pat Chun said Rolovich was “resolute” in his stance and wouldn’t change his mind.

“That’s a question only Nick can answer, but I know we offered and actually had multiple education sessions for all our staff, our coaches, relative to the vaccine, its efficacy and the vaccination process,” Chun said Monday.

Rolovich comes from a Catholic family background and attended a Catholic high school but recently declined to say if he identifies as Catholic. His former coach at the University of Hawaii, June Jones, told USA TODAY Sports earlier this month that Rolovich “believes that he doesn’t need to take it and doesn’t want to take it, and he doesn’t want somebody to telling him what to do.”

He was the only head coach in major college football to publicly say he wouldn’t get vaccinated.

How the players responded

Chun indicated Rolovich was not given an opportunity to say goodbye to his players Monday after he was informed that he was being terminated.

“We met this afternoon, and he left as soon as we met,” Chun said.

Chun then addressed the players along with interim head coach Jake Dickert, the team’s defensive coordinator.

Asked if any players indicated they didn’t want to play Saturday because of this decision, Chun said, “Not that I’m aware of.” He said the players reacted with sadness, anger and disappointment.

Quarterback Jayden de Laura addressed the matter with a statement he posted on Twitter.

“Words cannot express our profound sadness and disappointment in the termination of our Coach, Nick Rolovich,” de Laura said. The QB said “we strongly disagree with today’s decision. But we also understand that Cougar Football has always been bigger than any one person.”

He then called on fans to “pack the house on Saturday, and show this entire nation the special bond we all have as WSU Cougars.”