Nevada’s Jeff Choate was linked to the Washington State job, but no contact has been made

Nevada football coach Jeff Choate has been floated as a potential replacement for Jake Dickert at Washington State after Dickert accepted the Wake Forest head coaching job Wednesday morning.

Several outlets have linked Choate’s name to the Cougars, where he was an assistant coach in 2012 under Mike Leach. However, a source with knowledge of the situation told Nevada Sports Net that no contact has been made between Choate and Washington State as Choate is busy building the Wolf Pack’s roster for the 2025 season. Nevada went 3-10 overall and 0-7 in the Mountain West in Choate’s first season at the helm.

The Seattle Times, Athlon and Hero sport was among the publications that listed Choate as a potential Cougars candidate given his ties to this region of the country and the success he had as Montana State’s head coach.

wrote The Times: “The former WSU assistant coach (under Mike Leach) just finished his first season in charge at Nevada. Facing a complete rebuild, Choate won three games overall but was 0-7 in conference play. He played for Montana Western and has spent the majority of his coaching career in the West, including a highly successful four-year stint as Montana State’s head coach.”

Athlon wrote: “Choate is a former Washington State assistant (2012) and has spent time on staffs at Boise State, Florida, Washington and Texas. From 2016-19, Choate guided Montana State to a 28-22 record and back-to-back FCS Playoff appearances -travels inherited a rebuilding Nevada team this year and finished 3-10 in its debut at Reno, although the Wolf Pack only won three games, this team was much improved and more competitive in ’24.”

While Nevada’s win-loss record didn’t budge much from the previous two seasons, when the Wolf Pack went 2-10 and 2-10, the team played better football. Nevada battled College Football Playoff teams SMU and Boise State to one-possession games while cutting his scoring margin per game from minus-16.1 points per game the year before he was hired to minus-5.7 points per game in his first season, despite Nevada playing its second-toughest schedule since joining the FBS in 1992.

Choate has extensive ties to the Pacific Northwest that could make him a strong candidate for Washington State athletic director Anne McCoy. Choate spent much of his youth in Idaho and graduated from St. Maries High before playing at Montana Western, where he also began his coaching career. He was a high school coach at three Idaho schools over nine years before moving on to the college level, where he got his big break by joining Boise State’s staff in 2006 and spending six seasons with the Broncos.

Choate left Boise State for an assistant job at Washington State in 2012, where the Cougars went 3-9 in Leach’s first season. Choate then had assistant jobs at Florida and Washington before being hired as Montana State’s head coach in 2016. He helped turn that program around, going 28-22 overall and 18-14 in the Big Sky in four seasons (he was also the team’s coach in 2020 when Big Sky did not play football due to COVID-19). Choate led Montana State to back-to-back FCS playoff appearances in his final two seasons, including a semifinal berth in 2019 when the Bobcats finished fourth in the nation.

Choate then left to become an assistant coach at Texas, where he was co-defensive coordinator from 2021-23 before being hired by Nevada. Choate’s contract with the Wolf Pack runs through 2028 with a $2 million buyout should he leave school before Jan. 31, 2027. Choate is scheduled to make $1.1 million next season, tied for the second-lowest mark in the Mountain West.

Dickert went 23-20 as Washington State’s head coach from 2021-24 and took over the job in the middle of the 2021 campaign when the Cougars fired former Nevada offensive coordinator Nick Rolovich for not taking the COVID-19 vaccine. Washington State went 8-4 this season and will play in the Holiday Bowl. Dickert earned $2.7 million in 2024, according to the Seattle Times.

Among the other candidates being floated are Montana State head coach Brent Vigen, who replaced Choate with the Bobcats; UConn coach Jim Mora, who was the Seattle Seahawks’ head coach in 2009; Western Kentucky coach Tyson Helton; BYU defensive coordinator Jay Hill; former West Virginia and Houston head coach Dana Holgorsen; and former UNLV offensive coordinator Brennan Marion, who is reportedly set to be hired by Sacramento State.

Washington State was one of two remaining Pac-12 schools left after the latest wave of conference realignment left the Cougars and Oregon State alone in the league. The Pac-12 has since added San Diego State, Boise State, Utah State, Colorado State and Fresno State from the MW. Those schools will join the Pac-12 in 2026, as will Gonzaga as a non-football member. Nevada is one of six remaining MW schools that will remain in the conference after 2026.