Jeff Choate of Nevada is linked to a job in Washington state, but no contact has been made

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

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

The Seattle Times, Athlon and Hero Sports were among the publications that listed Choate as a potential Cougars candidate because of his ties to that region of the country and his success as head coach at Montana State.

The Times wrote: “The former WSU assistant coach (under Mike Leach) just finished his first season as coach 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 head coach at Montana State.

Athlon wrote: “Choate is a former assistant at Washington State (2012) and has spent time on the staff at Boise State, Florida, Washington and Texas. From 2016 to 2019, Choate led Montana State to a 28-22 record and back to – Choate took over a Nevada team in rebuilding mode this year, finishing 3-10 in his debut in Reno. Although the Wolfpack only won three games, the Wolf Pack improved and became more competitive in 24.”

While Nevada’s win-loss record did not change much compared to the previous two seasons, when the Wolf Pack reached 2-10 and 2-10, the team played better football. Nevada struggled to one-possession games against College Football Playoff teams SMU and Boise State, increasing its points-per-game margin from minus-16.1 points per game the year before his signing to minus-5.7 points per game in his first season, despite Nevada playing its second-most difficult 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, graduating from St. Maries High before playing at Montana Western, where he also began his coaching career. He was a high school coach at three schools in Idaho for nine years before moving to the college level, where his big break came when he joined Boise State’s staff in 2006 and spent six seasons with the Broncos.

Choate left Boise State to take an assistant job at Washington State in 2012, where the Cougars went 3-9 in Leach’s first season. Choate then got assistant jobs at Florida and Washington before being hired as Montana State’s head coach in 2016. He helped turn the 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 the 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 appearance in 2019 when the Bobcats were ranked fourth nationally.

Choate then moved on to become an assistant coach at Texas, where he was co-defensive coordinator from 2021 to 2023 before being hired by Nevada. Choate’s contract with the Wolf Pack runs through 2028 and includes a $2 million return if he leaves school before January 31, 2027. Choate is scheduled to make $1.1 million next season, the second-lowest mark in the Mountain West.

Dickert was Washington State’s 23-20 head coach from 2021 to 2024, taking 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 had. Washington State is 8-4 this season and will play in the Holiday Bowl. According to the Seattle Times, Dickert earned $2.7 million in 2024.

Other candidates floating around include Montana State head coach Brent Vigen, who replaced Choate with the Bobcats; UConn coach Jim Mora, who was head coach of the Seattle Seahawks 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 after the conference’s recent wave of 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.