“At Washington State, and throughout his career, Coach Dickert has earned a reputation as a tireless worker, an innovative coach, and a mentor who empowers his players on and off the field. His track record of success, both in leading his team to competitive excellence and ensuring his student-athletes graduate as future leaders, reflects the holistic approach that has defined Wake Forest football. Coach Dickert, his wife Candice, and their three children are a perfect fit for the Wake Forest community. I know Deacon Nation will embrace them wholeheartedly, and I am confident he will build on the remarkable foundation that has been built before him. Together, we look forward to achieving new heights for our program on the field, in the classroom, and in the community.”

Dickert, who has been a college football coach for 17 seasons, has risen up the ranks, holding experience at nearly every level of the game. He has proven to be a consistent developer of NFL caliber talent throughout his career while also a winner at each of his coaching stops.

In four seasons as the head coach at Washington State, Dickert has had a winning record and gone to a bowl three times while having the Cougars ranked inside of the top-20 each of the last two seasons, climbing as high as No. 13 in 2023. Over the last three seasons, Dickert has led the Cougars to a pair of wins in the Apple Cup vs. arch-rival Washington, a pair of ranked wins over No, 19-ranked Wisconsin in 2022 and 2023 and a victory against No. 14 Oregon State in 2023. Additionally, his program tallied an impressive 14-6 record in non-conference play.

Additionally over the last three NFL Draft cycles, Dickert has had seven players selected and the three draft picks in 2024 marked the most for Washington State since the 2005 NFL Draft.

Since arriving at the FBS level in 2017, Dickert’s defenses have totaled 166 turnovers. That total would tie the 10th most by any school in the country during that seven-year stretch and the only ACC school to have more would be Clemson.

In the classroom, Washington State had 45 players earn Pac-12 Fall Academic Honor Roll honors (3.3 GPA or higher) in his first three seasons as head coach.

Additionally during Dickert’s time in Pullman, he has had multiple AFCA Good Works Team, Allstate Wuerffel Trophy Semifinalists for their work around the university and in the community as well as semifinalists for the William V. Campbell Trophy, awarded to the college football player with the best combination of academics, community service, and on-field performance.

Washington State (2020-24):
During his time at the helm of the Washington State football program, Dickert accumulated a record of 23-20 (.535), reaching three bowl games in four seasons while also being nationally ranked each of the past two seasons.

2024:
In 2024, Washington State jumped out to a historic start, winning eight of its first nine games of the season and climbing inside of the top 20 in the AP Poll. It marked the first time since 2018 that the Cougars started a season 8-1 or better and the lone loss during that stretch came to College Football Playoff qualifier Boise State on the road.

For the second-consecutive year, Dickert and Washington State claimed multiple non-conference wins over Power-4 conference teams, defeating Texas Tech and Washington in consecutive weeks.

Washington State’s offense has been one of the best in the country over the last two seasons – led by different quarterbacks (Cam Ward, 2023 and John Mateer, 2024). The Cougars have averaged over 31.0 points per game each of the last two seasons including having the No. 11 scoring offense in the country in 2024 with 36.8 points per game.

2023:
The 2023 season began 4-0 under Dickert, including wins over nationally-ranked No. 19 Wisconsin and No. 14 Oregon State. It marked the second-straight season Dickert led the Cougs to a win over the Badgers. With the help of the early wins, Dickert and Washington State climbed to as high as No. 13 in the AP Poll rankings, the highest ranking for the school since 2018.

A convincing 56-14 win over Colorado accounted for the Cougar’s fifth win of the season and four of WSU’s seven losses came by one possession. The Cougar defense continued its aggressive play from previous years as Washington State led the nation in defensive touchdowns with five on the season, the third-most defensive scores dating back to the 1996 season. In the 2024 NFL Draft, three Cougars were drafted, led by safety Jaden Hicks to Kansas City (4th round). Jackson (5th, Los Angeles Rams) and cornerback Chau Smith-Wade (5th, Carolina) were also selected, giving WSU its most draft picks in a season since the 2005 NFL Draft.

2022:
Dickert began the 2022 season, his first full year leading the Cougars, with three-straight wins, including a victory at No. 19 Wisconsin. The win was Washington State’s first regular-season non-conference road win over a ranked team since 2003. The Cougars captured three of its final four games and reached a bowl game, the Jimmy Kimmel L.A. Bowl, for the seventh-straight season which was then the second-longest current streak in the Pac-12. Under Dickert’s leadership, WSU again was strong defensively, finishing in the top four of numerous Pac-12 categories, including second in Red Zone defense and tackles-for-loss, third in scoring defense and turnovers gained and fourth in sacks. Washington State also led the Pac-12 in Red Zone offense. In 2022, Washington State had 10 All-Pac-12 players, including first-team linebacker and third-team All-American Daiyan Henley, while safety Jaden Hicks garnered third-team Freshman All-America honors. Henley was selected in the third round of the NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Chargers.

2021:
Dickert spent the final five games of the 2021 regular season serving as the Cougar’s acting head coach, leading Washington State to a 3-2 record with wins over Arizona State, Arizona and a dominating 40-13 Apple Cup victory in Seattle, earning a trip to the Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl. The Apple Cup win snapped a seven-game skid to Washington and was the Cougar’s largest margin of victory in series history.

Under Dickert’s leadership, the Cougar defense was a huge spark in 2021, leading the Pac-12 with 29 takeaways, fifth-most nationally, while also leading the Pac-12 and tied for ninth nationally in turnover margin. 14 players earned All-Pac-12 honors including first-team selections in right tackle Abraham Lucas, kicker Dean Janikowski and EDGE Ron Stone Jr. while punter Nick Haberer was named a Freshman All-American. In the 2022 NFL Draft, offensive lineman Abraham Lucas was selected in the second round by the Seattle Seahawks and cornerback Jaylen Watson went in the seventh round to the Kansas City Chiefs. Entering the 2021 season, Dickert was in his second year as Washington State’s defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.

2020:
In his first season in Pullman, the Washington State defense produced four All-Pac-12 Conference selections including linebacker Jahad Woods, who was second on the team with 31 tackles and led the team with 4.5 tackles-for loss. The Cougars led the league with eight forced fumbles and was fourth in rush defense (154.8), a 30-yard improvement from the previous season.

Wyoming (2017-19):
Prior to his time at Washington State, Dickert helped build Wyoming into one of the best Group of Five programs in the country. During his three including the final as the defensive coordinator, Wyoming played in a pair of bowl games while he tutored four future NFL draft selections on the defensive side of the ball. In 2019, the Cowboys were sixth in the country in red zone defense, No. 11 in the country in rush defense (107.1) and scoring defense (17.8), No. 40 tackles-for-loss (83) and No. 43 in total defense. Dickert mentored All-American linebacker and Butkus Award Finalist Logan Wilson while redshirt-freshman defensive end Solomon Byrd was named a Freshman All-American by the Football Writers Association of America.

In 2018, Wyoming’s defense was among the best in the nation, finishing the season No. 19 in total defense (326.2), No. 25 in rushing defense (129.5), No. 28 in scoring defense (22.0) and No. 32 in pass defense (196.7). In his first season at Wyoming, Dickert help the 2017 Cowboy defense become one of the best groups in the country as they led the country in takeaways (38), ranked ninth in scoring defense (17.5), were first in fumbles recovered (18), second in interceptions (20), eighth in defensive touchdowns scored (4 TD), No. 13 in pass defense (174.9) and No. 23 in total defense (335.2).

South Dakota State (2016):
Before arriving at Wyoming, Dickert spent the 2016 season as the safeties coach and co-special teams coordinator at South Dakota State. In his one season on the South Dakota State coaching staff, Dickert helped guide the Jackrabbits to the 2016 Missouri Valley Football Conference Championship and a No. 8 seed in the 2016 NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Playoffs, where they advanced to the FCS National Quarterfinals.

Minnesota State (2014-15):
As defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Minnesota State, Mankato for the 2014 and 2015 seasons Dickert was part of a coaching staff that led the Mavericks to back-to-back Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) championships and consecutive NCAA Division II Playoff berths, earning their way to the 2014 National Championship Game. Minnesota State posted a combined record of 24-3 over that two-year span. Dickert’s 2014 defense ranked second in the nation in scoring defense (12.9).

Early coaching stops (2007-13):
In his first season as a college defensive coordinator in 2013 at Augustana, Dickert’s defense ranked No. 20 in the nation at the NCAA Division II level in scoring defense. Prior to that, Dickert had full-time assistant stops at Southeast Missouri State in 2012, South Dakota in 2011 and North Dakota State in 2009-10.

He also served as a graduate assistant for North Dakota State in 2008 and got his start in coaching as a graduate assistant at his alma mater Wisconsin-Stevens Point in 2007.

Aa a player:
He played football at Wisconsin-Stevens Point from 2002-06 where he earned All-Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) honors as a wide receiver his senior season of 2006 and was named his team’s Wide Receiver of the Year both his junior and senior seasons. Dickert earned his bachelor’s degree in secondary math education from Wisconsin-Stevens Point in 2007, and completed his master’s degree in general education, also from UW-Stevens Point in 2009.

Family
He and his wife, Candice, have three children, daughter Rylee and sons Jett and Jace.

Head Coaching Records & Notes

*Took over as interim coach to finish the season
Postseason History

Coaching History

NFL Players (Round Drafted)

• S Jaden Hicks (4th) – Washington State ’24 – Kansas City Chiefs
• DE Brennan Jackson (5th) – Washington State ’24 – Los Angeles Rams
• CB Chau Smith-Wade (5th) – Washington State ’24 – Carolina Panthers
• LB Daiyan Henley (3rd) – Washington State ’23 – Los Angeles Chargers
• LB Chad Muma (3rd) – Wyoming ’22 – Jacksonville Jaguars
• OT Abraham Lucas (3rd) – Washington State ’22 – Seattle Seahawks
• CB Jaylen Watson (7th) – Washington State ’22 – Kansas City Chiefs
• LB Logan Wilson (3rd) – Wyoming ’20 – Cincinnati Bengals
• LB Cassh Maluia (6th) – Wyoming ’20 – New England Patriots
• S Marcus Epps (6th) – Wyoming ’19 – Minnesota Vikings
• CB Jordan Brown (7th) – South Dakota State ’19 – Cincinnati Bengals
• LB Tyler Starr (7th) – South Dakota ’14 – Atlanta Falcons

Personal Information

• Birthday: August 23, 1983
• Hometown: Oconto, Wis.
• Education: Wisconsin-Stevens Point ’07 (B.S., Secondary Math Education); ’09 (M.A. General Education)

What They’re Saying…

• Eric Mac Lain, ACCN Analyst:
  • “I am so excited to have Coach Dickert in the ACC. He has demonstrated the innovation and player development necessary to compete at the highest levels. Not only has he produced some of the most talented QBs in the country at Washington State, but an opportunistic defense that takes away the ball as well as anyone in the country. I can’t wait to see what Wake Forest is going to be able to do under Coach Dickert’s leadership!”
• Craig Bohl, Executive Director of the American Football Coaches Association / Former Wyoming Head Coach:
  • “Coach Jake Dickert brings with him immeasurable value. He not only has a winning spirit on the gridiron but is equally a champion of academic excellence. John Currie and President Wente could not have selected anyone better to build on the legacy of Dave Clawson. Well done, Wake Forest. “
• Pat Chun, University of Washington Director of Athletics
  • “Congratulations to Wake Forest and  John Currie on the hiring of Jake Dickert. Coach Dickert is an incredible fit and match for the Demon Deacons. Jake is a person of integrity, an exceptional leader and a coach who will have a profound impact on Wake Forest student-athletes. Jake and Candice will be servant leaders within Wake Forest University, the Winston-Salem community and the state of North Carolina. I am excited to watch Coach Dickert and Wake Forest compete in the ACC.”
• Brennan Jackson, Former student-athlete / Current Los Angeles Ram 
  • “Coach Dickert is someone who will demand everyone’s best in the building everyday regardless of circumstances because that’s a decision you can make everyday. He develops not only great football players but great men off the field. Coach is someone who understands the importance and value of a family atmosphere and will make sacrifices for the good of the team. Wake Forest got a great coach who doesn’t believe in complacency and will do everything in his power to become a better coach every day.”