REPORT: Washington State Fires Athletic Director Anne McCoy

Per reporting from Percy Allen of the Seattle Times and ESPN's Pete Thamel, Washington State University has fired Director of Athletics Anne McCoy.

Senior Deputy AD/Chief Operations Officer Jon Haarlow is expected to be named the interim athletic director, per ESPN's Kyle Bonagura.

McCoy was named the school's 15th Director of Athletics on June 25, 2024. She replaced Pat Chun, who left the post for the same job in Seattle at the University of Washington. McCoy was also the university's first female athletic director.

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Prior to being named the interim AD in March of 2024, McCoy had previously been on staff at WSU since 2001. She was originally hired as associate director of athletics for internal operations. She served as senior deputy director of athletics/senior woman administrator just prior to her promotion.

In her time as WSU's AD, McCoy oversaw the hires of head football coach Jimmy Rogers and head men's basketball coach David Riley, as well as head swimming coach Russ Whitaker and head women’s golf coach Kevin Tucker. She also extended the contract of women's head basketball coach Kamie Ethridge.

To start the 2025 season, Rogers' first WSU football team has an overall record of 4-5, most recently losing to Pac-12 compatriot Oregon State by a final score of 10-7. They face Louisiana Tech at home this Saturday at 7 p.m. PT.

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Riley, hired from Eastern Washington University, led the WSU men to a 19-15 overall record in his first season, missing the NCAA Tournament and losing in the first round of the College Basketball Crown Tournament. WSU has a 1-2 record to start the 2025-2026 season and will host the Washington Huskies on Friday night.

Ethridge is now in her seventh season at WSU, where she has led the Cougars to three NCAA Tournament appearances, the most recent of which was in 2023. She was named the Pac-12 Coach of the Year in 2022 and was named by The Athletic as the National Coach of the Year in 2023. Last season, WSU finished with an overall record of 21-14 with a 14-6 record in West Coast Conference play. The Cougars participated in the WNIT postseason tournament and reached the round of 16.

In her one full year on the job, WSU student-athletes posted a combined 3.36 cumulative GPA, the highest in department history.

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