Early history (1894–1977) Washington State's first head football coach was
William Goodyear. That team played only two games in its inaugural season in 1894, posting a 1–1 record.
William Henry Dietz was the Cougars' head football coach from 1915 to 1917, posting a stellar 17–2–1 record. Dietz's 1915 team defeated
Brown, now an
FCS team, in the
Rose Bowl and finished with a 7–0 record. The win is Washington State's only Rose Bowl or
New Year's Six Bowl win. Dietz was inducted into the
College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 2012.
Albert Exendine served as Washington State's head football coach from 1923 to 1925, posting a 6–13–4 overall record.
Babe Hollingbery was the Cougars' head football coach for 17 seasons, posting a record. His 93 wins are the most by any head football coach in Washington State football history. Hollingbery's
1930 team played in the
Rose Bowl, a game they lost to
Alabama. After the war ended,
Phil Sarboe was hired away from
Lincoln High School in
Tacoma to return to his alma mater as the head coach.
Forest Evashevski took over as the head coach in late 1949. His
1951 team finished the season ranked No. 14 in the Coaches' Poll and No. 18 in the AP Poll. He was in his two seasons in Pullman, but didn't enjoy as much success as his predecessor, going in his four seasons as head coach. He was not retained after his contract expired. with an overall record of . posting an overall record of . but lost to rivals
Idaho and
Washington. It was Clark's only winning season, as he failed to win more than three games in the other three. with an overall record of . and was succeeded by
Jackie Sherrill, the defensive coordinator at
Pittsburgh, but he stayed for only one season. The Cougars were 3–8 in
1976,
Warren Powers, an assistant from
Nebraska, also stayed for just one season (
1977), then returned to the
Big Eight Conference as head coach at
Missouri.
Jim Walden era (1978–1986) Jim Walden was promoted to head coach following the departure of Powers. In nine seasons, Walden led the Cougars to one bowl appearance, the
Holiday Bowl in
1981, a memorable loss to
BYU. It was Washington State's first bowl in 51 years, since the
1931 Rose Bowl. in 2007
Dennis Erickson era (1987–1988) When hired in early
1987, 39-year-old
Dennis Erickson said it was his lifelong dream to become the head football coach of the Cougars. His contract was a five-year deal at an annual base salary of $70,000, with up to $30,000 from radio, television, and speaking obligations. Erickson was previously the head coach at
Wyoming for one season, preceded by four on the Palouse at neighboring
Idaho. capped with a victory in the
Aloha Bowl, the Cougars' first bowl victory since January
1916. Erickson departed for
Miami in March 1989; his overall record with the Cougars was . Price led the Cougars to unprecedented success, taking his
1997 and
2002 teams to the Rose Bowl, both times losing. Those teams finished ranked No. 9 and No. 10 in the Coaches' and AP Polls, respectively. Price also led the Cougars to victories in the Copper, Alamo, and Sun Bowls,
Bill Doba era (2003–2007) Defensive coordinator
Bill Doba was promoted to head coach following Price's departure. Things started out well in
2003, as they went 10–3 to finish ninth in
both major polls. The Cougars slipped to 5–6 in
2004 and 4–7 in
2005.
Paul Wulff era (2008–2011) Former Cougar center
Paul Wulff was hired away from
Eastern Washington in
Cheney to succeed Doba. Wulff struggled mightily as the WSU head coach, failing to win more than four games in a single season. His overall record at Washington State was , and he was fired after the
2011 season.
Mike Leach era (2012–2019) in
2012|alt=Washington State football coach Mike Leach during a 2012 season game. In November 2011, it was announced that
Mike Leach would replace Wulff as head coach. Leach had previously spent ten seasons as head coach at
Texas Tech. In
2012, the new coaching staff installed an
Air raid offense; an exciting, up-tempo, pass-oriented offensive attack which led the Pac-12 Conference in passing offense. In his second season in
2013, Leach led Washington State to the
New Mexico Bowl, the first bowl game for the Cougars in a decade. In
2015, Leach guided the Washington State Cougars to their first bowl victory since the
2003 season. In that same year, the team also posted a 9–4 winning season and was ranked in the AP Poll, Coach's Poll, and College Football Playoff ranking. Leach was named the Pac-12's co-Coach of the Year, as well as the
Associated Press Pac-12 Coach of the Year. After the season, his contract was extended through the 2020 season. In
2016, sandwiched between a two-game losing streak to begin and a three-game losing streak to end the season, the Cougars rode an eight-game winning streak to a place in the
Holiday Bowl, but lost to
Minnesota 17–12. They finished with a 7–2 Pac-12 record and overall record of 8–5 for 2016. Huge wins over
Oregon and No. 15
Stanford contributed to the Cougars' best finish in Pac-12 conference play since the 2003 team went 6–2. After the suicide of projected starting quarterback
Tyler Hilinski in January
2018, graduate transfer
Gardner Minshew from
East Carolina was recruited by Leach to fill the void. Minshew and other veteran players, such as sixth-year linebacker Peyton Pelluer, rallied the team in honor of their former teammate Hilinski and led Washington State to a memorable season for Cougar football fans. With a 28–26 win over No. 24
Iowa State in the
Alamo Bowl, Washington State won eleven games for the first time in school history and finished the season 11–2.
Nick Rolovich era (2020–2021) After the 2019 season, Mike Leach departed Washington State to accept the head coaching job at
Mississippi State. Less than a week after Leach's departure, athletic director Pat Chun announced the hire of
Hawaii head coach
Nick Rolovich. On October 18, 2021, he was fired for refusing to receive the COVID-19 vaccination in compliance with Washington's state employee mandate. Rolovich originally signaled that he would receive the vaccination, but decided to file for a religious exemption. Rolovich was denied the exemption and terminated. Rolovich subsequently filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the university, Chun, and Washington Governor Jay Inslee. Rolovich lost that lawsuit on all counts as the court determined that he did not have a reasonable basis to seek a religious exemption because there was no evidence in the record that he had religious concerns before he sought the exemption and ample evidence that his concerns were solely personal and political.
Jake Dickert era (2021–2024) Following the firing of Nick Rolovich, defensive coordinator and linebackers coach
Jake Dickert was named as acting head coach. Under Dickert's leadership, the Cougars fought to a 3–2 record, including a 40–13 victory over rival Washington in the 113th Apple Cup, snapping a seven-game losing streak in the rivalry. As a result, Dickert was hired as the permanent head coach on November 27. The team concluded the 2021 season with a record of 7–5, with a 6–3 mark in-conference, good for a second-place finish in the Pac-12 North. The team lost to the Central Michigan Chippewas in the
Sun Bowl 24–21. The following season in 2022 would result in the same overall record of 7–5 but worse in conference play at 4–5. The Cougars would get an invite to the
LA Bowl where they would lose to the 9–4 Fresno State Bulldogs 29–6 leaving them with a final record of 7–6 for the 2022 season. The 2023–24 season would be the Cougars last in the Pac-12 Conference, which lost ten members and is rebuilding. While they started out 4–0, the 2023–24 season ended up being a step back in terms of success with them going 5–7 and missing out on getting an invite to a bowl game. They finished with an in-conference record of only 2–7. Due to both Washington State and
Oregon State being the only two schools left in the Pac-12 for the
2024 season, both schools have agreed upon a football scheduling alliance with the
Mountain West Conference (MWC). During his time at Washington State, Dickert was able to get the Cougars to reach three bowl games within a span of four years. Jake Dickert was hired by
Wake Forest to take over that school's football program in December 2024 just days prior to the Cougars playing in the
2024 Holiday Bowl.
Jimmy Rogers era (2025) On December 28, 2024,
Jimmy Rogers, formerly at
South Dakota State University, became the 35th head coach at Washington State University, accepting a five-year contract at $1.57 million annually. On December 5, 2025, Rogers was announced as the head coach of the Iowa State University after finishing only one season at Washington State with a 6–6 record. ==Conference affiliations==