Can Washington State keep up with rest of the programs who will be in the new Pac-12 when it comes to funding the football program?
“I think we have to,” WSU athletic director Anne McCoy said Friday. “I don’t know how to say it other than that.”
Joining WSU and Oregon State in the Pac-12 in football starting in 2026 are Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State. (Gonzaga is joining in basketball only.)
“In the last year of financial data available, Washington State and Oregon State are certainly higher in what they spent in football than the incoming members,” McCoy said. “But that’s not going to stay the case because they’re going to keep investing. So we do as well. Right now, with our budget this year after some cuts, we’re probably, middle to upper of the pack.”
McCoy said that because the incoming schools did not receive the same level of money from the Mountain West Conference that WSU and Oregon State did in the old Pac-12, those football programs needed to rely more on financial support from their institutions.
“That’s part of the reason we’re in discussions right now relative to institutional support,” she said. “These schools coming in are at a far higher level of institutional support because they have that history of needing to do that to support their athletic program, whereas Washington State has relied largely on the Pac-12 conference distribution, which obviously, for the foreseeable future, will be lower than it has been in the past.
“But these schools coming in are getting arguably more funding, because the Pac-12 distribution should be higher than what they had been getting in their previous conference.”
The amount of money the schools will receive from the Pac-12 Conference will depend on the media rights deal that is negotiated.
WSU and Oregon State had a one-year deal with CW and Fox this past season.
“The Pac-12 conference is working through not only next fall, for football, but also a long-term, media rights,” McCoy said. “I don’t have any update or any additional information as that’s been working entirely through the conference.”
New WSU football coach Jimmy Rogers was signed to a five-year contract that is reportedly worth $1.57 million per year. Jake Dickert signed a deal worth $2.7 million when he was named head coach at the end of the 2021 season.
“It’s being mindful of our budget situation and wanting to continue to invest in the program,” McCoy said of Rogers’ contract compared to Dickert’s. “So while the head coach salary is lower, we’re increasing what the assistant pool was supposed to be by a million dollars, so there’s still the investment in football. Coach Rogers is good at really looking in investing where it is needed right now.”
The budget for the assistant coaches for 2025 was set to be reduced to $3.5 million from $4.9 million this past season (it was $5.9 million in 2023). It will now be $4.5 million.
“If you look at the assistant pools of our incoming peers with the Pac-12, I think the $4 1/2 [million] is a really good number,” McCoy said.
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