WSU's Nick Rolovich Sued by Former WR Kassidy Woods over 2020 Opt-Out

Northern Colorado wide receiver Kassidy Woods, who was part of the Washington State football program from 2018-2020 before transferring last December, is suing his former school as well as WSU head coach Nick Rolovich.

Per Brent Schrotenboer of USA Today, Woods is accusing WSU and Rolovich "of breach of contract, violating his civil rights and covering up COVID-19 cases in athletics."

On Aug. 2, 2020, Woods spoke with Josh Peter of USA Today and said Rolovich removed him from the team because he was part of #WeAreUnited, a group of Pac-12 football players who made numerous demands of the conference in a piece for The Players' Tribune.

The demands fell into four categories: health and safety protections amid the COVID-19 pandemic, eliminating "excessive expenditures" to protect some sports from being eliminated, ending racial injustice in sports and society and economic freedom and equity.

Woods told Peter he was asked to clean out his locker before being removed from the team's group chat after revealing he was part of that group.

"I can’t even be around my teammates, so that let’s me know I’m dismissed from the team," Woods said.

At the time, Theo Lawson of the Spokesman-Review spoke with Woods' father, John Woods, who discussed a phone conversation between his son and the coach:

One day later, Rolovich released a statement with a different explanation, per Ralph D. Russo of the Associated Press:

Per Schrotenboer, Woods' lawsuit is seeking both "punitive and actual damages for the harm to Woods’ athletic career, such as 'lost scholarships and lost educational opportunities as a result of defendants' unlawful conduct.'" Woods filed the lawsuit on Aug. 20 in Dallas.

The lawsuit also alleges that COVID-19 cases were being covered up within the program:

"Not only were athletes already testing positive for COVID-19 without notification to other players, Woods' own roommate had been exposed just two days prior to Woods' arrival on campus. Woods' roommate indicated to Woods that roughly 10 football players had tested positive at that time. His roommate felt that Woods should know about the positive cases even though Defendants strictly ordered the players to keep silent to the media and others—including players who had not yet reported back to Pullman—regarding positive COVID-19 cases that were occurring within the program."

Rolovich is entering his second season running the WSU program. He went 1-3 in a campaign shortened to four games because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to his WSU stint, Rolovich coached Hawai'i for four years, leading his team to a 10-win mark in 2019.

The coach recently made news for not attending Pac-12 media days in person after announcing he had decided not to get vaccinated. In August, after the announcement of a mandate that all faculty and staff at the state's colleges and universities be vaccinated, Rolovich said he would comply and get vaccinated.

Woods was a 3-star recruit out of Addison, Texas before signing with WSU, per 247Sports. ESPN notably gave him 4 stars. He redshirted in 2018 before playing in all 12 games in 2019, mostly on special teams.