The pink slips are flying. After LSU Tigers’ Scott Woodward got the boot, Washington State Cougars have now cut ties with longtime AD Anne McCoy. That’s a partnership that spanned over two decades, gone in a blink. And just like the Woodward-LSU drama, the script reads the same for McCoy and Washington State as well- too much noise, not enough results.

On November 12, Pete Thamel tweeted, “Can confirm via sources that Washington State has fired AD Anne McCoy. She was promoted to the head AD Job in the spring of 2024. She’s worked at the school for more than two decades. First report from @PercyAllen206.” However, sports director Andrew Quinny and Mark Hanrahan chose to dive deeper into the reasons. “Well, it certainly seems like this has to have something to do with money and NIL resources,” said Quinny.

McCoy oversaw WSU’s transition through one of its roughest eras. She steered the athletic department through the Pac-12’s downfall and into its rebuild ahead of 2026. Her key moves included hiring football coach Jimmy Rogers and basketball coach David Riley, both in the early stages of their tenures. But who would have thought that with these moves, McCoy would invite her own trouble?

“As we know, Anne McCoy was a huge part of hiring WSU men’s basketball head coach David Riley and WSU football head coach Jimmy Rogers. Both of those hires haven’t really yielded the results that WSU may have wanted when they made those hires quite yet,” shared Quinny. It’s been an uphill climb for Washington State this season. The Cougars sit at 4–5, still searching for rhythm under first-year head coach Rogers after Jake Dickert’s exit. The Cougars basketball program had hit a new low, too.

Idaho outlasted Washington State 83-81 to start the 2025-26 season, their first road win there since 2014 and first in the rivalry since 2017. Around the WSU athletic department, the women’s basketball team has opened 0-3 under Mary Camille Ethridge, who has been on the job since 2018. So, less than 18 months after stepping into the big chair, Washington State has shown McCoy the door. A Cougar lifer since 2001, she had held the interim tag before being officially promoted in spring 2024 by then-president Kirk Schulz, who’s since passed the baton to Elizabeth Cantwell.

Quinny further dropped some inside story, “And it certainly seems like Anne McCoy and Dr. Elizabeth Cantwell had some difference of opinion on how those funds should be allocated.”

McCoy was the driving force behind the decision to axe all field events from WSU’s track and field program — a move announced in a brief, five-sentence release. She later noted that eliminating three assistant coaching positions would trim roughly $300,000 from the budget. Now, who is going to take up McCoy’s seat?

Washington State Cougars hit reset after firing Anne McCoy

With McCoy out, WSU’s turning the keys over to Jon Haarlow. The athletic department’s chief operating officer will serve as interim AD while the Cougars hunt for a permanent pick. Public records show that in 2023, McCoy earned an annual salary of $213,800 at Washington State University, 344% higher than the school’s average and 466% higher than the median salary. Between 2015 and 2024, she served as Associate Athletic Director, a role that consistently placed her among the higher-paid staff on campus.

Her 2023 pay was 263% above the average salary for Associate Athletic Directors in Washington state. McCoy’s earnings saw steady growth over time. It leaped to $2,100 from 2022 to 2023 (a 1% bump) and rose $35,600 since 2016, marking a total increase of 20% over seven years.

When Pat Chun jumped ship to Washington in 2024, McCoy slid into the interim AD chair. But her paycheck didn’t exactly match the title, $233,700 compared to Chun’s $1.3 million farewell haul, state records show.

After parting ways with Anne McCoy, President Elizabeth Cantwell and WSU leadership are zeroing in on an athletic director with strong fundraising chops, sources say. With a new conference on the horizon and sweeping changes across campus, the Cougs are aiming for a fresh start at the top.