Jake Dickert begins his third full season as the Cougars’ Head Football Coach after being named to the position Nov. 27, 2021. Dickert became the 34th head football coach in program history.
The 2023 season began 4-0 under Dickert, including wins over nationally-ranked Wisconsin (#19) and Oregon State (#14). It marked the second-straight season Dickert led the Cougs to a win over the Badgers. A convincing 56-14 win over Colorado accounted for WSU’s fifth win in a 5-7 season. Four of WSU’s seven losses came by one possession. The Cougar defense continued its aggressive play from previous years as WSU led the nation in defensive touchdowns with five on the season, the third-most defensive scores dating back to the 1996 season. In 2023, WSU had five players named to All-Pac-12 teams, led by second-team edge Brennan Jackson. In the 2024 NFL Draft, three Cougars, all defensive players, were drafted, led by safety Jaden Hicks to Kansas City (4th round). Jackson (5th, Los Angeles Rams) and cornerback Chau Smith-Wade (5th, Carolina), were also selected, giving WSU is most draft picks in a season since the 2005 NFL Draft.
Dickert began the 2022 season, his first full year leading WSU, with three-straight wins, including a victory at No. 19 Wisconsin. The win was WSU’s first in three meetings against the Badgers and WSU’s first regular-season nonconference road win over a ranked team since 2003. The Cougars captured three of its final four games and reached a bowl game, the Jimmy Kimmel L.A. Bowl, for the seventh-straight season, then the second-longest current streak in the Pac-12. Under Dickert’s leadership, WSU again was strong defensively, finishing in the top four of numerous Pac-12 categories, including second in Red Zone defense and tackles-for-loss, third in scoring defense and turnovers gained, and fourth in sacks. WSU also led the Pac-12 in Red Zone offense. In 2022, WSU had 10 All-Pac-12 players, including first-team linebacker and third-team All-American Daiyan Henley, while safety Jaden Hicks garnered third-Team Freshman All-America honors. Henley was selected in the third round of the NFL Draft by his hometown Los Angeles Chargers.
Dickert spent the final five games of the 2021 regular season serving as the Cougar’s acting head coach, leading WSU to a 3-2 record with wins over Arizona State, Arizona and a dominating 40-13 Apple Cup victory in Seattle before WSU earned a trip to the Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl. The Apple Cup win snapped a seven-game skid to Washington and was WSU’s largest margin of victory in series history.
Under Dickert’s leadership, the Cougar defense was a huge spark in 2021, leading the Pac-12 with 29 takeaways, fifth-most nationally, while also leading the Pac-12 and tied for ninth nationally in turnover margin. Last season, 14 players earned All-Pac-12 honors including first-team selections in right tackle Abraham Lucas, kicker Dean Janikowski and EDGE Ron Stone Jr. while punter Nick Haberer was named a Freshman All-American. In the 2022 NFL Draft, offensive lineman Abraham Lucas was selected in the second round by the Seattle Seahawks and cornerback Jaylen Watson went in the seventh round to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Entering the 2021 season, Dickert was in his second year as WSU’s defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. In his first season in Pullman, the Washington State defense produced four All-Pac-12 Conference selections including linebacker Jahad Woods, who was second on the team with 31 tackles and led the team with 4.5 tackles-for loss. The Cougars led the league with eight forced fumbles and was fourth in rush defense (154.8), a 30-yard improvement from the previous season.
Dickert arrived at WSU after working three seasons at the University of Wyoming (2017-19) including the 2019 campaign as the defensive coordinator while working with the linebackers and safeties.
In 2019, the Cowboys were sixth in the country in red zone defense, No. 11 in the country in rush defense (107.1) and scoring defense (17.8), No. 40 tackles-for-loss (83) and No. 43 in total defense. Dickert saw four Cowboys earned All-Mountain West Conference honors led by second-team All-American linebacker and Butkus Award Finalist Logan Wilson while redshirt-freshman defensive end Solomon Byrd was named a Freshman All-American by the Football Writers Association of America.
Dickert originally joined the Wyoming football staff in February, 2017 and coached the safeties for the 2017 and 2018 seasons before he was promoted to defensive coordinator in 2019 where he started the season coaching the linebackers and later coached the safeties. In his three seasons at Wyoming, Dickert coached a pair of future NFL safeties including three-time first-team All-Mountain West Conference pick Andrew Wingard and saw four players earn All-MWC honors in 2019 while another earned 2019 Freshman All-America accolades on the defensive line.
In 2018, Wyoming’s defense was among the best in the nation, finishing the season No. 19 in total defense (326.2), No. 25 in rushing defense (129.5), No. 28 in scoring defense (22.0) and No. 32 in pass defense (196.7). Dickert coached senior safeties Andrew Wingard and Marcus Epps as Wingard ended his career tied for the Mountain West Conference career tackle record with 454. Wingard earned First Team All-Mountain West honors for the third consecutive season after being named to the preseason watch lists for the Chuck Bednarik, Bronko Nagurski and Jim Thorpe Awards in both 2017 and 2018. Epps concluded his career as the only three-time team captain in the modern era of Cowboy Football, recorded 325 career tackles and was a finalist for the 2018 Burlsworth Trophy, which is awarded to the nation’s most outstanding player who began his career as a walk-on. Epps was selected in the sixth round of the 2019 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings where he played in seven games before playing in eight more with the Philadelphia Eagles. Wingard played in the 2019 East-West Shrine Game, was invited to the 2019 NFL Draft Combine and signed a free-agent contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars where he played all 16 games and made two starts as a rookie.
In his first season at Wyoming, Dickert help the 2017 Cowboy defense become one of the best groups in the country as they led the country in takeaways (38), ranked ninth in scoring defense (17.5), were first in fumbles recovered (18), second in interceptions (20), eighth in defensive touchdowns scored (4 TD), No. 13 in pass defense (174.9) and No. 23 in total defense (335.2). Dickert coached first-team All-Mountain West strong safety Wingard while the safety tandem of Wingard and Epps led the Pokes in interceptions in 2017, with five and four interceptions, respectively.
Before arriving at Wyoming, Dickert spent the 2016 season as the safeties coach and co-special teams coordinator at South Dakota State. Earlier in his career, Dickert was a part of Bohl’s coaching staff at North Dakota State from 2008-10.
In his one season on the South Dakota State coaching staff, Dickert helped guide the Jackrabbits to the 2016 Missouri Valley Football Conference Championship and a No. 8 seed in the 2016 NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Playoffs, where they advanced to the FCS National Quarterfinals.
As defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Minnesota State, Mankato for the 2014 and 2015 seasons Dickert was part of a coaching staff that led the Mavericks to back-to-back Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) championships and consecutive NCAA Division II Playoff berths, earning their way to the 2014 National Championship Game. Minnesota State posted a combined record of 24-3 over that two-year span. Dickert’s 2014 defense ranked second in the nation in scoring defense (12.9), fourth in turnovers gained, No. 12 in pass defense efficiency and No. 15 in total defense. In 2015, the Mavericks ranked fifth in the nation in scoring defense (16.1), third in rushing defense, seventh in pass defense efficiency and sixth in total defense. He coached 16 All-Conference players, three First Team All-Americans and a two-time Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Defensive Player of the Year.
In his first season as a college defensive coordinator in 2013 at Augustana, Dickert’s defense ranked No. 20 in the nation at the NCAA Division II level in scoring defense, giving up only 19.5 ppg. Augustana ranked second in the NSIC in pass defense, third in rushing defense and third in total defense. He coached five All-Conference players at Augustana.
In 2012, he served as the defensive backs coach at Southeast Missouri State. The Redhawks ranked No. 18 in the nation in turnovers gained (25) and No. 23 in interceptions (13). Southeast Missouri State ranked No. 2 in the Ohio Valley Conference in pass defense. Dickert also coached a First Team All-Conference strong safety at Southeast Missouri.
Dickert spent the 2011 season as the special teams coordinator and defensive backs coach at South Dakota, where the Coyotes ranked second in the Great West Conference in fewest passing yards allowed and interceptions. He coached three all-conference performers while at South Dakota and his special teams units ranked in the Top 10 in the nation in punting average and net punting and had an individual rank in the Top 10 in punt return yards.    Â
He joined the North Dakota State coaching staff in 2008 as a defensive graduate assistant on Bohl’s staff. In 2009 and 2010, he was elevated to serve as safeties coach for the Bison. The 2010 NDSU team advanced to the FCS National Quarterfinals. Dickert began his college coaching career in 2007 as a defensive graduate assistant at his alma mater, Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
He played football at Wisconsin-Stevens Point from 2002-06 where he earned All-Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) honors as a wide receiver his senior season of 2006 and was named his team’s Wide Receiver of the Year both his junior and senior seasons. Dickert earned his bachelor’s degree in secondary math education from Wisconsin-Stevens Point in 2007, and completed his master’s degree in general education, also from UW-Stevens Point in 2009.
He and his wife, Candice, have three children, daughter Rylee and sons Jett and Jace.
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