Washington State HC Jake Dickert speaks about Michigan State football job

Washington State head coach Jake Dickert spoke about the Michigan State football coaching job on Monday afternoon.

We’re at a relatively unprecedented point in the coaching search for Michigan State football fans. We aren’t used to having a coach fired mid-season and having to search high and low for his replacement.

The last coaching search came right after National Signing Day and the one before that was after the season concluded. You’d have to go all the way back to the Bobby Williams era to find a search that started mid-season. We’re not used to being the subject of questions for some top candidates in their weekly press conferences.

We’ve already heard Chris Klieman say that he’s staying in Manhattan (what else would you expect him to say?) but Washington State head coach Jake Dickert’s answer to the MSU question seemed to leave the door wide open.

On Monday, he was asked about being a strong candidate for the job and he basically said “I’m focused on my team” and moved on.

Washington State fans did not feel any more at ease following his answer.

Asked Washington State coach Jake Dickert about his reaction to The Athletic naming him a "strong candidate" for the Michigan State job.

Dickert: "I have not talked to any university out there, and we're focused on right here, right now and what we're gonna do with this team." pic.twitter.com/jKfbRmaIft

— Greg Woods (@GregWWoods) October 2, 2023

The replies to this tweet were all pretty much the same: “He didn’t say no.”

But at this point in a young coaching career, you can’t close the door on potential opportunities. He says he loves Washington State and his current team, but he’d kick himself if he didn’t at least listen to what Michigan State has to say. While the two sides have yet to speak, Dickert didn’t shoot any interest down and basically just told the media that he was focused on his current team and he’s happy right now.

I’ve seen false reports stating that he “shot down” interest in the job which just simply isn’t true. If anything, he left the door wide open for future negotiations with Alan Haller.

If the 40-year-old Washington State head coach keeps winning, the phone is going to ring. And he may not be able to say no.