Washington Huskies update: 4 current FBS head coaches in mix for prime Pac-12 job

The college football coaching carousel is trending towards peak spinning, and it's continuing to accumulate some of the premiere jobs in the sport's top conferences.

Both of the top Pac-12 Conference's Washington schools – the University of Washington and Washington State University – are confronting head coaching vacancies for variously controversial reasons.

At Washington State, the Cougars need a new leader after former head coach Nick Rolovich and four additional assistant coaches were dismissed in late October when they were not granted a religious exemption to the mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy.

For Washington, the Jimmy Lake era ended Sunday when Lake was fired 13 games into his Huskies' tenure and little more than a week after Lake appeared to shove a player on the sidelines as Lake attempted to deescalate a situation.

But the Washington head football job at the state's well-funded, flagship institution is a prime spot; even in the midst of ongoing COVID-19 pandemic recovery efforts, Washington projected an athletics operating budget of more than $113 million for Fiscal Year 2022.

Lake earned a salary that averaged approximately $3.2 million on the five-year deal he signed before the 2020 campaign, and it's been indicated to FootballScoop that Washington officials have prepared to dramatically elevate that pay range.

The following are coaches believed to have interest or known, via industry sources and college football personnel, to be of interest in the Huskies' vacancy or to be on the Washington administration's radar as coaches to vet for the job:

KALEN DEBOER, FRESNO STATE HC: Though DeBoer is just in his second season running the Bulldogs' program, he previously had long-running success atop the NAIA University of Sioux Falls program that captured a trio of national titles under DeBoer.

At Fresno, his impact has been immediate. DeBoer owns an 11-6 mark through his first 17 games as Bulldogs' head coach, including an early-season upset this year of then-nationally ranked UCLA.

Fresno State quarterback Jake Haener has garnered national attention for his work operating the Bulldogs' high-powered offense, and it was DeBoer's work at Indiana University with the Hoosiers' offense that led to his hiring at Fresno State.

JEFF HAFLEY, BOSTON COLLEGE HC: Considered a defensive wizard, Hafley has quickly stabilized in less than two full seasons a Boston College program that had been wildly inconsistent and at times non-competitive in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The Eagles have again secured bowl eligibility for a second year in a row under Hafley, and they could finish with eight wins in the regular season for the first time since 2009.

Plus, Hafley was a key cog with Kyle Shanahan's work to turn around the San Francisco 49ers organization, just part of Hafley's NFL experience.

BRYAN HARSIN, AUBURN HC: An Idaho native who's seen the majority of his coaching career unfold in the Mountain West and Pacific Northwest areas of the country, Harsin posted five seasons of 10 or more wins in his first six years atop the Boise State program before he exited for Auburn after a 5-2 campaign during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

In his first year at Auburn, Harsin has the Tigers at 6-4 and with wins against LSU, Arkansas and Ole Miss – the latter two ranked inside the top 20 at the time of their losses to Harsin's Auburn team.

Harsin has done some impressive things on the Plains, but the situation at Auburn has been a bit tenuous for both Harsin and highly regarded athletics director Allen Greene sources tell FootballScoop.

Auburn also has a vaccine mandate bearing down next month, and to this point, that appears it could be an obstacle for Harsin and the Tigers' administration. One has to wonder how this would be different at UW? 

JUSTIN WILCOX, CALIFORNIA HC: Though Wilcox found success as a defensive coordinator at both Boise State and the University of Tennessee, he has carved much of his football knowledge from the PAC-12.

A former University of Oregon standout, Wilcox previously served as the Huskies' defensive coordinator in 2012-13 under Steve Sarkisian.

Atop the Cal program, Wilcox found his most success when his teams won a combined 15 games in 2018-19.

It has been a struggle, to put it mildly, the past two years for Wilcox and the Golden Bears' football program.

The administration at Cal has taken what some have described as “draconian” measures against COVID-19, and Cal was forced to miss a game due to its school's COVID policies in recent weeks – the first Power 5 game missed due to COVID policies this fall.

Numerous Golden Bears' players have spoken out publicly against the university, and some players have alleged Cal officials have pressured them into forced testing – even in violation of the school's protocols.

Wilcox is an excellent coach, has the previous Washington ties and appears to be nearing a breaking point with Cal's administration.

Another coach who could become is a candidate is Oregon State head coach Jonathan Smith. Smith served as Chris Petersen's offensive coordinator at UW, is well regarded and maintains an excellent relationship with influential people at UW. The question is would Smith be willing to leave his alma mater to join a Pac-12 North rival?

One would expect this search to proceed efficiently after next weekend's games. 

As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.