Will Washington State football coach lose his job over vaccine mandate before BYU game?

Washington State head coach Nick Rolovich watches his offense a college football game against Utah Saturday, Sept. 25, 2021, in Salt Lake City. Will Rolovich be coaching when Washington State hosts BYU on Saturday? | George Frey, Associated Press

Washington State could be without head football coach Nick Rolovich on Saturday when it faces BYU at home because of a COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

Here’s what we know.

Washington COVID-19 vaccine mandate

• In the summer, Washington governor Jay Inslee issued an order mandating that state government, health care and school workers be vaccinated against COVID-19 by Oct. 18.
• The consequence for workers not being able to show proof of vaccination? Job loss, barring receiving a religious or medical vaccine exemption. Employers are allowed to fire workers who have received an exemption if not being vaccinated puts others at risk.

Nick Rolovich and the vaccine mandate

• Washington State Cougars head football coach Nick Rolovich has so far refused to be vaccinated.
• Rolovich, who is Catholic, said he has filed for a religious exemption, but said last Saturday after Washington State beat Stanford that he had not received word whether his exemption had been granted.

• “I think I’m waiting on an email, that’s as far as I know,” Rolovich said, according to Theo Lawson of the Spokesman-Review, regarding his future employment status.
• Asked if he’d be willing to get vaccinated to keep his job, Rolovich said, “If that happens, you’ll be the first to know.”
• Perhaps sensing what could happen this week, Washington State players doused Rolovich in Gatorade after the win over Stanford.

Will Nick Rolovich coach against BYU?

• Given that Monday is the deadline to be vaccinated per Inslee’s order, it is expected that Rolovich will know his fate soon.
• Last Saturday, he said, “I’m going to come to work tomorrow, going to get ready for BYU and we’ll grade this film. I don’t think this is in my hands, so I’ve been settled for a long time on it and I just believe it’s going to work out the right way.”
• It is believed that a number of coaches on Rolovich’s staff have not been vaccinated, as multiple outlets reported that many of them wore masks on the sideline last Saturday. That is required for unvaccinated coaches, but not required for vaccinated coaches. As such, it’s possible Washington State could be without multiple coaches on Saturday.

from Deseret News https://ift.tt/3jfAS82