Washington State's Jake Dickert Slams ESPN, Suggests Network Helped Destroy Pac-12

The Cougars coach raised eyebrows with a pointed critique of the Worldwide Leader in Sports.

The sentimental game of the week in college football was No. 21 Washington State’s home date with No. 14 Oregon State—a battle of teams set to be left behind when the Pac-12 scatters in 2024.

Led by do-everything quarterback Cameron Ward, the Cougars warded off a late charge from the Beavers to run their record to 4-0. The real fireworks, however, came in Washington State coach Jake Dickert's postgame press conference.

A passionate defender of the Cougars' power-conference status, Dickert rebuked ESPN after analyst and former coach Lee Corso made negative comments about Washington State and Oregon State on College GameDay.

Dickert: "It's well-documented what ESPN has done to try to get our league where it's at." https://t.co/4tyB88rO9K

— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) September 24, 2023

“There’s a lot of noise out there. I caught something this morning. I was just watching GameDay, and Corso comes on and [calls our game] the ’No One Watches Bowl,’” Dickert said. “I don’t really understand that … Coach Corso, he’s at the point now where they give him the sheet and he reads off of it and they try to make a joke. But it didn’t even makes sense.”

Dickert then expressed his dismay at television’s grip on college football, citing ESPN specifically.

“It’s well documented what ESPN has done to try and get our league into where it’s at,” Dickert said. “I would love to have a conversation with Coach Corso about the value that he sees in breaking up the premier West Coast conference. I would also love to have a conversation with Coach Corso about how he thinks student-athletes and mental health and flying them across the country is a positive thing.”