Wazzu World
Cougarlew is dedicated to sharing positive, factual insights and information about Washington State University athletics
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Cougarlew @Cougarlew
December 05, 2022
Wazzu News and Notes - December 5, 2022
- Well, the musical chairs with the Wazzu football coaching staff and roster continue filling the rumor mill with grist.
With the anticipated departure of defensive coordinator Brian Ward making a lateral move to ASU, it appears that EDGE coach AJ Cooper will also be making the move to Tempe. Losing two defensive coaches certainly makes preparation for the LA Bowl somewhat different than normal.
Add WR Donovan Ollie to the list of players entering the transfer portal. Ollie never really reached the potential many saw in him. This is a guy who turned down offers from Iowa State, Boston College, Kansas, Northwestern, and Utah. His production this season was less than stellar, but a noteworthy contribution. Ollie's stats for the year were 43 catches for 491 yards and three touchdowns. He joins teammates wide receiver De'Zhaun Stribling and linebacker Travion Brown to have entered the transfer portal since season end.
That brings the total of guys opting to try to find greener pastures via the transfer portal to fifteen. Is that it? Time will tell.
One thought on the process of young men leaving Pullman in search of a better playing situation. It's rare that guys leaving WSU end up with that better situation they are seeking. An exception that comes to mind is Jayden de Laura. However, de Laura is different on one level from the rest. He was a highly sought-after QB coming out of high school with a 4/5 star rating. The overwhelming majority of guys transferring out were not highly touted coming out of HS and were ranked 2/3 stars. The WSU program was and will probably always be built around 3-star prospects. Coaches invest time to develop these guys into Pac-12-caliber players. Often that takes a couple of years. For transfers out of WSU to catch on at another school, they have to have developed into a top-flight player to catch on with another school. With only one or two years of eligibility, a transfer player has to fill a specific need for another program similar to that of WSU. It's likely to be a program that is built on 2/3 star prospects. In many cases that means hoping to find a home at a school other than those in the Power Five or the FCS level.
A final reminder on this transfer portal topic. Just because a player enters the portal doesn't mean he eventually transfers out.
https://247sports.com/college/washington-state/Article/Donovan-Ollie-exits-WSU-football-and-enters-transfer-portal-199439209/
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Wazzu News and Notes - December 14, 2022
- It seems fitting to put together a list of coaches who branch off of the Mike Leach coaching tree. Perspective on his football genius can easily be determined by a cursory glance:
Dave Aranda/Baylor head coach – Graduate assistant coach under Leach from 2000-02 at Texas Tech
Neal Brown/West Virginia head coach – Played under Leach in 1998 when Leach was offensive coordinator at Kentucky
Sonny Cumbie/Louisiana Tech head coach – Played under Leach at Texas Tech from 2000-03 and later served as a graduate assistant coach under Leach
Sonny Dykes/TCU head coach – Coached wide receivers and later was the co-offensive coordinator at Texas Tech under Leach from 2000-06
Josh Heupel/Tennessee head coach – Played under Leach at Oklahoma in 1999 when Leach was the offensive coordinator for the Sooners
Dana Holgorsen/Houston head coach – Coached alongside Leach as assistants at Valdosta State from 1993-95, then served as a wide receivers coach and offensive coordinator under Leach from ...
Wazzu News and Notes - December 13, 2022
- The news of former WSU Coach Mike Leach passing at the young age of 61 is very, very sad. I had the pleasure of writing about the Cougs when Leach was at the helm. To say that he was a unique person doesn't begin to describe the multi-faceted dimension of the man.
In terms of coaching football, Leach led his teams in a way that had most other coaches scratching their heads. His offensive creativity gave a multitude of defensive coordinators ulcers. To say that his techniques for molding student-athletes into football players were unusual would be accurate. Making guys run sprints in a sand pit named "Leach Beach" is a prime example. Crazy as that sounds, his players had fewer ankle injuries over the course of the season than any team in football. Only Mike Leach could get players to hit the beach. And if you look at the coaching tree that branches out from Leach, you'd find a myriad of men who owe him for their start in the profession.
When you examine the way Leach represented the schools ...
Wazzu News and Notes - December 11, 2022
- Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, so Wazzu's loss yesterday to UNLV by a score of 74-70 was just that, a loss. However, there were plenty of reasons to applaud both the performance and the progress the Cougs are making over the past few games. Let's get the bad observation out of the way. WSU turned the ball over a ridiculous 22 times. No one is going to beat many teams with such wreckless play, especially against a team that posted a 9-0 record going into the contest. Some of those errors might be attributed to Coach Kyle Smith going with a different lineup almost every game because of player injuries. Facts are facts and when there isn't a steady lineup, players struggle to play team ball. On the bright side, Wazzu shot a respectable 54.2% from the field, coupled with a very nice 56.5% from behind the arc. On defense, WSU held UNLV to just 30.4% from behind the arc and 50.9% overall. The Cougs outrebounded the Rebels by a margin of 33-20. Despite being down by ...
