Nick Rolovich
Nick Rolovich went 34–34 as a head coach, 2016–2025, at Hawai’i, Washington State and California. Share
- Record
- 34–34 career
- Seasons
- 7
- Schools
- 3
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Born
- Feb 16, 1979
- Alma mater
- Hawai’i 2004
- Best season
- 2019 10–5
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Hawai’i | 7–7 | 2nd (West) | Hawai’i Bowl W | ||
| 2017 | Hawai’i | 3–9 | T–5th (West) | |||
| 2018 | Hawai’i | 8–6 | T–2nd (West) | Hawai’i Bowl L | ||
| 2019 | Hawai’i | 10–5 | T–1st (West) | Hawai’i Bowl W | ||
| 2020 | Washington State | 1–3 | T–5th (North) | |||
| 2021 | Washington State coached seven of 13 games | 4–3 | ||||
| 2022–24: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 2025 | California interim, remainder of season | 1–1 | T–7th | Hawai’i Bowl L | ||
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 9 | 1–8 | 11% |
| Against top-10 teams | 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| Against rivals | 12 | 5–7 | 42% |
| Conference games | 42 | 20–22 | 48% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 4 | 2–2 | 50% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 25 | 17–8 | 68% |
| At home | 34 | 20–14 | 59% |
| On the road | 30 | 12–18 | 40% |
| At neutral sites | 4 | 2–2 | 50% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 26 | 21–5 | 81% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 42 | 13–29 | 31% |
His own 68 games on file, 2016–2025, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rocky Long 2016–2019 | 2–2 | San Diego State | 4 | |
| Tony Sanchez 2016–2019 | 2–2 | UNLV | 4 | |
| Brent Brennan 2017–2019 | 3–0 | San José State | 3 | |
| Jonathan Smith 2019–2021 | 3–0 | Oregon State | 3 | |
| Jay Norvell 2017–2019 | 1–2 | Nevada | 3 | |
| Kalani Sitake 2017–2019 | 1–2 | BYU | 3 | |
| Bryan Harsin 2016–2019 | 0–3 | Boise State | 3 | |
| Jeff Tedford 2017–2019 | 0–3 | Fresno State | 3 |
Nick Rolovich’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| San José Stateseries | 4 | 4–0 |
| San Diego Stateseries | 4 | 2–2 |
| UNLVseries | 4 | 2–2 |
| Nevadaseries | 4 | 2–2 |
| Fresno Stateseries | 4 | 1–3 |
| Oregon Stateseries | 3 | 3–0 |
| BYUseries | 3 | 1–2 |
| Boise Stateseries | 3 | 0–3 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | San Marin (CA) HS high school | Assistant coach | |
| 2003–04 | Hawaii | Student assistant | |
| 2006–07 | City College of San Francisco | Quarterbacks coach | |
| 2008–09 | Hawaii | Quarterbacks coach | |
| 2010–11 | Hawaii | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2012–15 | Nevada | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2016–19 | Hawaii | Head coach | |
| 2020–21 | Washington State | Head coach | |
| 2025 | California | Senior offensive assistant | |
| 2025 | California | Interim head coach | |
| 2026–present | California | Assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- June JonesHawai’i
- Greg McMackinHawai’i
- Chris AultNevada
- Brian PolianNevada
- Justin WilcoxCalifornia
- Tosh LupoiCalifornia
Assistants who became head coaches
- Brian SmithOhio
- Chris NaeoleHawai’i
- Kefense HynsonOregon State
- Jake DickertWashington State, Wake Forest
- Jesse BobbitWashington State
- Bob GregoryBoise State, Washington
- Bryan HarsinArkansas State, Boise State, Auburn
Worked under (6)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June Jones | Hawai’i | 2003–04 | Student assistant | |
| Greg McMackin | Hawai’i | 2008–11 | 2008–09: quarterbacks coach; 2010–11: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Chris Ault | Nevada | 2012 | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Brian Polian | Nevada | 2013–15 | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Justin Wilcox | California | 2025 | Senior offensive assistant | |
| Tosh Lupoi | California | 2026 | Assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (7)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brian Smith | Hawai’i, 2016, 2018–19: assistant head coach, offensive coordinator and running backs coach; 2017: assistant head coach, offensive coordinator and running backs and tight ends coach; Washington State, 2020: offensive coordinator and running backs coach; 2021: assistant head coach, offensive coordinator and running backs coach | Ohio | |
| Chris Naeole | Hawai’i, 2016–17: offensive line coach | Hawai’i | |
| Kefense Hynson | Hawai’i, 2016–17: wide receivers coach | Oregon State | |
| Jake Dickert | Washington State, 2020–21: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | Washington State, Wake Forest | |
| Jesse Bobbit | Washington State, 2020–21: graduate assistant | Washington State | |
| Bob Gregory | California, 2025: analyst; 2025: inside linebackers coach | Boise State, Washington | |
| Bryan Harsin | California, 2025: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Arkansas State, Boise State, Auburn |
Other assistants under him (12)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Abe Elimimian | Hawai’i, 2016–17: defensive backs coach; 2018–19: cornerbacks coach | |
| Craig Stutzmann | Hawai’i, 2016–19: passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach; Washington State, 2020–21: co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Kevin Lempa | Hawai’i, 2016: defensive coordinator | |
| Sean Duggan | Hawai’i, 2016–17: linebackers coach | |
| Jacob Yoro | Hawai’i, 2017: safeties coach; 2018: outside linebackers and nickel backs coach; 2019: outside linebackers coach | |
| Legi Suiaunoa | Hawai’i, 2017: defensive coordinator | |
| Corey Batoon | Hawai’i, 2018–19: defensive coordinator and safeties coach | |
| Mark Banker | Hawai’i, 2018–19: assistant head coach and inside linebackers coach; Washington State, 2020–21: safeties coach | |
| Dan Ferrigno | Washington State, 2020–21: offensive assistant | |
| Keith Heyward | California, 2025: defensive backs coach | |
| Terrence Brown | California, 2025: co-defensive coordinator | |
| Vic So’oto | California, 2025: co-defensive coordinator and outside linebackers coach |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | Contract pay | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Hawai’i | head coachbonuses up to $1,260,000; $60,000 in bonuses paid; buyout $725,004 | $402,102 USA Today | |
| 2016 | Hawai’i | head coachbonuses up to $1,260,000 | $400,008 USA Today | |
| 2015 | Nevada | offensive coordinatorbonuses up to $7,292 | $175,000 USA Today | |
| 2014 | Nevada | offensive coordinator | $151,090 USA Today |
USA Today’s coaches salary database (2014–17, from public-records requests to the schools; Rachel Ehlers’ copy): the season’s contract pay, school pay plus outside money, before bonuses.
Pay of public employees in their public job only: head coaches, and assistants in the seasons our records name them a coordinator, at public universities.
How he coached
Rolovich’s teams went for it on 30% of fourth downs and on 50% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 58% of plays and took 26.3 seconds a play, 2016–2020.
| Season | School | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 14 g | Hawai’i | 25 of 108 23% | 40% | 51% | 26.7 | +0.05 | |
| 2017 12 g | Hawai’i | 28 of 95 29% | 43% | 54% | 26.3 | +0.04 | |
| 2018 14 g | Hawai’i | 38 of 114 33% | 57% | 62% | 25.4 | +0.10 | |
| 2019 15 g | Hawai’i | 33 of 91 36% | 62% | 63% | 26.2 | +0.16 | |
| 2020 4 g | Washington State | 7 of 30 23% | 50% | 62% | 28.4 | 0.00 | |
| All 59 g | 131 of 438 30% | 50% | 58% | 26.3 | +0.09 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.