Yep, Nick Rolovich met the entire Wazzu checklist.

AD Pat Chun had pulled it out of that triple-locked drawer and there it was, titled…

“Who can follow Mike Leach?”

Let’s just peer at some of the items and see where Rolovich rang the bell.

What were the key items on that list, anyhow?

1. “Need another wacky character — but maybe without a mean streak. The Palouse is still the outback of college football…

Well, let’s see, Rolo brought a fortune-teller along to this past summer’s Mountain West Conference media event.

In previous years, he showed up with Elvis and Britney Spears impersonators.

Check!

2. “Can’t play boring football, not after Leach’s Air Raid…”

No problem, not with Rolovich trotting out the run-and-shoot from his success at Hawaii — a pass-oriented offense created several decades ago, making it the godfather of every spread scheme you see in college and the NFL these days.

From the seats at Martin Stadium, the offense probably won’t look much different than the Air Raid, although there are some definite wrinkles that keep the two pass-happy offenses in the same family — but nothing closer than cousins.

For one thing, there will be more “run” in the run-and-shoot than you’ll ever see in the Air Raid.

But clearly not boring stuff.

Check!

MOVING ON down the checklist…

3. “We’ll need some kind of brand, something with a neat new motto…”

I’m not sure how Disney feels about this, but when Rolovich went back to his alma mater as head coach four years ago, he decided that fighting for Hawaii — the school and the islands in general — was a lot like the theme of “The Lion King.”

So he began telling players, fans, alums, staff and anyone who would listen that the goal of this football program in the middle of the Pacific would be simple and dramatic: “Defend Pride Rock!”

Shirts, jackets, beer mugs and anything that will hold a logo is now being sold (perhaps without official permission) to and for Rainbow Warrior football followers…

“Defend Pride Rock!”

4. “Let’s try to find a coach who cares about winning, but who’s also a people person. And since Coach Mike had some issues with the press and fought the online revolution, can we get someone who understands social media and uses it to promote Washington State? And knows about Twitter, for heaven’s sake…

Rolovich is not only a Twitter junkie, he darn near blew up the whole system on the day he was hired.

No one else knew that Rolo had put pen to paper, so he decided to tweet the news.

Except…

There were no words.

Under his name was a photo, the cutest shot you’ve ever seen, of a scrappy looking little cougar — clinging to the side of a tree trunk, and ready to defend the Palouse.

What words were needed?

5. “Let’s get someone who makes friends, no matter where he goes. We want WSU at the big kids’ table, and it’s critical to recruiting.”

(Question added to official checklist: “So how are fans in Hawaii taking it, when this coach who wins 10 games on a rock in the ocean leaves them for a bigger program (and a lot more money) on the mainland?”)

The reason the photo of that little cougar almost blew out several satellites is that almost everyone on the islands wanted to let Rolo know how much they appreciated the resurgence of the UH program (after just 11 wins total in the previous four years).

Most who mentioned his move wished him all the best and tagged their posts #GoCougs.

Besides being thrilled that Hawaii football could now “defend Pride Rock,” tweeters mentioned that they understood that the coach had to take care of his family – with a jump from $600,000 per year to $15 million over five seasons in Pullman.

In one way or another, the unofficial Nick Rolovich Fan Club’s response could be summed up in one Hawaiian word…

Mahalo!

6. “Whatever else we get out of this, we need all the recruits we can land. Right now, our recruiting classes are third-worst among the Power 5 conferences, only ahead of Kansas and Kansas State.

Please, please, we have to hold our own, at least…

On Monday afternoon, Jayden de Laura didn’t know where he’d attend college.

The record-setting quarterback from Honolulu Saint Louis had committed to Wazzu, primarily because of Mike Leach, and now his coach was headed to Mississippi State.

On Monday evening, as de Laura was leaving an official function for the Polynesian Bowl all-star game, he realized that his phone was stuffed with messages.

They were all the same: Nick Rolovich had taken the open job at Washington State.

De Laura’s indecision had only lasted a couple of hours.

“I’m pumped,” de Laura tweeted, going on to note that Saint Louis High also used the run-and-shoot — so Wazzu was, well, perfect.

Recruiting won’t also be that straightforward, but…

Wazzu can put away that checklist.

Email: scameron@cdapress.com

(Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns for The Press appear on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He also contributes the “Zags Tracker” package on Gonzaga basketball each Tuesday.

Steve’s various tales from several decades in sports — “Moments, Memories and Madness” — run on Sundays.