Happy Thursday Cougs!!! Tomorrow is the day that WSUfootballblog.com heads over the cascades to prepare for an epic day of tailgating and Cougar football on the Palouse!!! Giddy doesn’t quite explain my feelings right now. Simply put, I CANNOT wait to get this season under way.
Obviously, this is a make or break season for Paul Wulff. Five wins in three years has earned him a spot on every “hot seat” watch in the country. I think it’s pretty safe to say that it’s bowl or bust for the big guy. The quest to save his job begins Saturday.
I have had my ups and downs with my support of Coach Wulff. Knowing that he is a Coug, and his heart has been 100% into rebuilding this program the right way has always earned him the benefit of the doubt in my book. But man, watching those 60+ point blowouts week in and week out were pretty hard to stomach.
However, I’ve watched Coach Wulff evolve over the course of his tenure at Washington State. Just as his team has developed as players over the past few years, so has he as a coach. And I’ll tell you why…
As the Cougars sit at the bottom of virtually every Pac-12 ranking known to man, Eastern Washington University, his previous employer, is looking to repeat their national championship performance from 2010. Paul Wulff earned the nod as the Cougar head man because of his success at EWU, something that has been carried on since his departure. But that success has not followed him to Pullman.
Paul Wulff and the staff he brought with him from Eastern had to learn the hard way, the Pac-10 was NOT the FCS. Yes, football is football. However, as players come from high school or junior college there is an adjustment period that takes place. Players must adapt to the speed and physical style of play in a major BCS conference and many need a redshirt year to acclimate. So why are coaches any different? While your overall philosophy might never change, there is some huge differences in coaching in a major conference.
This is probably about the time where somebody cues up the ol’ “Jim Tressel came from the FCS and look what he did” conversation. I HATE this comparison. Tressel went to OHIO STATE and had a cupboard full of talent. Wulff’s train-wreck he inherited wasn’t anywhere close to what Tressel stepped into, yet oddly enough, only one of them has a job right now. Which leads me to number one on my list of adjustments a first-time, BCS coach has to make…
1. Managing Player Egos
As Tressel learned the hard way, this can be VERY difficult and it is much different than the FCS. Many players that come to BCS come there for a reason, because they were big-time high school players. After they go through the recruiting process of everyone telling them how great they are, how can you realistically expect them not to have a big head? Alternatively, having not been recruited by the big boys, most players in the FCS come to their schools with a chip on their shoulder. While Paul Wulff has done a good job of recruiting high character players, his roster is not without a problem or two. Ahem… C.J. Mizell.
2. Dealing With the Media
There were a few interviews early in Paul Wulff’s tenure at WSU that just flat-out made me cringe. While he has always been candid and honest, eloquence doesn’t quite describe Wulff’s media savvy. Coming from the FCS to the Pac-10 means that there will be many more eyes on you nationally and every thing you do on game-day will be magnified times ten. This is something that Wulff has improved leaps and bounds since he first arrived in Pullman. While he’ll never be Slick Rick, he has become MUCH more comfortable talking to the media and it shows in his interviews.
3. Game Planning
This is a major adjustment, not because it’s a new concept, but because you’re game-planning against the best coaches and best players in the country. A good coach knows how to utilize his players individual skills to execute their game-plan. Again, this is a major adjustment CPW and his staff have had to make and have improved significantly since arriving at WSU. Looking for evidence? Look at the Oregon State game last year. They identified the struggles OSU had against running quarterbacks, something they just so happened to possess in Jeff Tuel. When Sturdy gave him the go-ahead to take off and run with it, it resulted in a banner day for Tuel, and a win for the Cougs. Now with some talent on the roster, the improvements they make in this department will be what their jobs hinge on.
The biggest mistake Paul Wulff made when he came to WSU was he brought the bulk of his staff from Eastern on board with him. Most of them also needed the same acclimation that Wulff did, neither however, had the luxury of time for them to develop into Pac-10 coaches. So Paul made another adjustment. He brought on a staff of seasoned veterans. You look at the coaches he’s brought in, Chris Tormey, Todd Howard, Dave Ungerer, Steve Morton, and the one thing they all have in common is experience. Together, they have helped streamline the process of making this a legitimate Pac-12 program and making Wulff a legitimate Pac-12 coach.
At the end of this season, whether Wulff has a job or not, I will know that he left his program better off than he inherited it. Our recruiting has been outstanding when you consider our performance on the field. Our academic casualties have been few and far between. Our strength and conditioning program is unbelievable. But the one thing that matters is wins. In his 4th year, Wulff’s team will get to show their improvements as players, and he will have the same opportunity to do so as a coach.
WSU 45 Idaho State 10
GO COUGS!!!!
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