Former Hawaii quarterback and head coach Nick Rolovich is back in college football.

Rolovich, who last was the head coach at Washington State before being dismissed due to his refusal to get a COVID-19 vaccination three years ago, was announced Friday as a senior offensive assistant on Justin Wilcox’s staff at Cal.

“The world is healing,” Rolovich wrote on X. “Honored to work for Coach Wilcox, grateful for the opportunity. #GoBears”

Rolovich, 45, a native of the Bay Area, was 28-27 at Hawaii from 2016-19 and 5-6 at WSU from 2020 until October 2021, when he and four assistants were fired for not complying with Washington’s mandate for state employees to receive the COVID vaccination shot. Rolovich had sought a religious exemption that was denied.

He filed a lawsuit against WSU in 2022. Much of the lawsuit was dismissed in 2023 but it remains active in federal court in Spokane, Wash.

Rolovich will work under new offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin, a former head coach at Auburn and Boise State.

Rolovich referred to his past battles with Harsin on X on Saturday. That included a meeting for the Mountain West championship between the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and Boise State Broncos in 2019.

The Broncos won 31-10. It remains UH’s only appearance in a Mountain West title game.

“I’ve had enough horse kicks from this guy to know he can coach ball with the best of them. Will gladly paddle his direction,” Rolovich wrote.

In addition, Kyle Cefalo was hired as Bears receivers coach and passing game coordinator.

Cal went 6-6 in the 2024 regular season and will face No. 24 UNLV in the Art of Sport LA Bowl at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday.

Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.