New Hawaii coach Nick Rolovich to retain assistant Jake Cookus
Hawaii special teams coordinator and tight ends coach Jake Cookus will be retained under new Rainbow Warriors coach Nick Rolovich, according to a source.
This season was Cookus’ first at Hawaii. Offensive line coach Chris Naeole and secondary coach Abe Elimimian have also been retained by Rolovich.
Cookus previously served as Montana’s co-special teams coordinator and safeties coach from 2013-14. Before that, he was at Weber State for seven seasons as special teams coordinator and was also the program’s co-defensive coordinator his last three seasons, working with safeties and cornerbacks.
Cookus was a graduate assistant at Kentucky from 2003-04 and worked with the Wildcats’ defensive backs. A Roseburg, Ore., native, he got his start in collegiate coaching in 2002 at Southern Oregon, where he oversaw outside linebackers.
He played at Oregon State from 1998 through 2001 after spending a quarter of 1997 at Air Force.
Rolovich is considered one of college football’s top young offensive minds. The 36-year-old was hired last month after spending the last four seasons as Nevada’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
Rolovich was a Hawaii assistant from 2008-11. He spent the first two years as quarterbacks coach before adding offensive coordinator duties as well.
He played quarterback for the Rainbow Warriors from 2000-01, passing for 4,176 yards with 40 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in 14 games. He was also a student assistant at Hawaii from 2003-04 and played in NFL Europe and the Arena Football League.
Rolovich replaces Norm Chow, who was fired early last month after a 2-7 start. The Rainbow Warriors finished with a 3-10 record this season, including an 0-8 mark in the Mountain West.
