Is Marcus Arroyo a candidate for Washington State football coaching job?
Marcus Arroyo is arguably the hottest offensive coordinator in college football.
Picked to finish last in the Big 12, with an unproven quarterback and an underrated running back, Arizona State's OC constructed an offensive attack that steamrolled the Big 12 to the tune of 34.5 points and 423 yards per game.
ASU's offensive output has led to an 11-2 record, a Big 12 championship and a berth in the 12-team College Football Playoff.
Arroyo was rewarded with a new three-year contract in late November that will reportedly pay him more than $1 million per year. He is one of five finalists for the Broyles Award, which goes to the top assistant coach in the country.
ASU athletic director Graham Rossini was smart to be proactive and reward Arroyo with an extension, but is that enough to keep him from pursuing a head coaching position that will pay three to four times that amount?
Washington State's head coaching position opened up on Wednesday after Jake Dickert accepted the head coaching job at Wake Forest. According to USA Today, Dickert's total compensation at Washington State was $2.55 million in 2023. Wake Forest's former coach, Dave Clawson, made $4,781,410. That's a nice raise for Dickert.
Washington State (8-4) is scheduled to play in the Holiday Bowl against Syracuse on Dec. 27. The Cougars started 8-1 and were in the College Football Playoff hunt before losing their last three games in heartbreaking fashion. All three losses were by three points or less.
Arroyo, 44, was previously the head coach at UNLV from 2020 to 2022. Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham hired him as his offensive coordinator in Dec. 2023.
Arroyo will be a head coach again soon, but is Washington State the right fit for him? The Cougars are entering a gap year before the new Pac-12 takes shape in the 2026 season — and TV revenue starts to come in. It could be an attractive fit if AD Anne McCoy is looking for a longterm answer and has the foresight to give Arroyo the time, space and money to do the job.
Arroyo has deep West Coast and Pac-12 ties. He has had coaching stints at San Jose State, Wyoming, Cal and Oregon. In 2019, his final season as the offensive coordinator and assistant head coach at Oregon, he helped lead the Ducks to a 12-2 record and mentored future NFL first-round pick Justin Herbert.
Early candidates to emerge for the Washington State job include Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein and Montana State head coach Brent Vigen. We'll see how it plays out, but with the transfer portal closing on Dec. 28, the Cougars will have to move quickly.
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Ben Sherman has been covering the sports world for most of his journalism career, including 17 years with The Oregonian/OregonLive. One of his favorite memories was covering the 1999 Fiesta Bowl - the first BCS National Championship Game - at Sun Devil Stadium.