Washington State defensive coordinator Jeff Schmedding has been fired, the school announced Monday.
"I appreciate all the hard work that Jeff has had for our program during his two years here in Pullman," Washington State head football coach Jake Dickert said in a statement. "After evaluating our program, we have not met the standard defensively, and I felt a change was needed for the best interest of the program. I informed Jeff this morning that he will no longer be the defensive coordinator and wish him well in his future."
The move comes after a late-season collapse by WSU, which started 8-1 before losing three straight games to teams with losing records: New Mexico, Oregon State and Wyoming. Despite playing a schedule that ranked No. 111 nationally, the Cougars were No. 90 in scoring defense, No. 116 in yards allowed per game (429.0) and No. 120 in yards allowed per rush (5.2).
Schmedding arrived at WSU prior to the 2023 season after previously having served as the defensive coordinator at Auburn for a year under Bryan Harsin. He had been with Harsin since 2019, at Boise State, after starting his career at his alma mater, Eastern Washington, where he coached from 2004 to 2018.
Before being named WSU's coach in 2021, Dickert had been the Cougars' defensive coordinator.