Stanford Beat Us, and Yes Wulff can Coach

Well, another week another loss and surprisingly, another shutout. This game wasn't the same kind of drubbing the Cougs have been taking lately, if anything it was a marginal improvement. I won't go into the numbers, between ESPN, the Seattle Times, and the Spokesman Review, or really any sports website, you can find those for yourself. Instead I'm going to address an issue which it seems has come to the fore on the Cougfan.com forums and to some degree the blogs like Cougcenter and WSUfootball blog. This issue is one that we Cougar fans are familiar with after the last four years under Doba, and that is the current head coach's ability to coach at the Pac-10 level.

Coach Doba was never fully called into question as a head coach in that regard. After winning the 2003 Holiday Bowl, in what is easily the most significant win the school has ever had, no one questioned whether or not he could coach at the Pac-10 level. He was a longtime assistant under Price and as such seemed to have all the tools needed to be a good head coach at the D-1 level. Coach Wulff's perceived lack of ability to do the same has recently come under fire from any number of armchair quarterbacks and couch bound Athletic Directors. Unfortunately these folks largely have no perspective on just what is going on with this team and what it is going to take to change the culture of the team both behind the scenes and on the field.

As a current student at WSU I am not privy to any great pool of information that "legitimate" journalists couldn't get without coming on down to Pullman and asking a few questions. Oftentimes they are ahead of me in obtaining any information I can try to get posted up on this blog about the team or an upcoming game. That said, the one thing they don't have access to is classroom scuttlebutt. That is to say that were Vince Grippi to come down to Pullman he'd probably have a more difficult time talking to players in a classroom than I would. That said, I would like to recount for you, my fellow Cougar fans, a recent and quite sad encounter I had with a player in one of my classes. This isn't to point fingers at players specifically, as he will remain nameless, but instead put your finger on the pulse of the program. Hopefully this will give everyone a little more insight into the nature of the problems this team is having and in turn help you understand just what it is Coach Wulff is having to deal with in getting this program turned around.

About a week and a half ago, amidst the bye-week I was sitting in one of my History classes directly behind one of the Cougars second string defensive players. Being the fan that I am I listened to him as he talked about what was going on in the practice bubble that week. Based on what he said Coach Wulff, as well as the coaches that weren't out on recruiting trips, was preaching the basics and good solid fundamentals of the game. To me, this sounded great, as it made it sound as though Coach Wulff and the team were able to effectively get to work and get back to basics with no hassle from the media or anyone else. Unfortunately, shortly thereafter, this player started to let his opinions on Coach Wulff be known. Keeping in mind that this is an upper division history class, and his listing on the depth chart, this guy is a recruit of Doba's and has been here for a couple of years. What I heard from there on and actually took issue with was a string of problems, not with the coaching staff and their work ethic, but this player's willingness to buy into the new way of life that Coach Wulff expects his team to adopt.

This player sat bitching and moaning about how hard the coaching staff expects this team to study and work at getting better at football and in the classroom. My guess is that this guy doesn't eat too many meals at the training table as that seemed to be one of his big problems with the tyranny of Coach Wulff and staff. In his mind, it seemed inconcievable that the coaching staff would keep track of who was taking advantage of the training table and who wasn't, and he just couldn't understand the big deal. This speaks to one of the main issues of Coach Wulff's much publicized comments about the state of the team. They don't seem to think that their weight training or eating right go hand in hand and don't care that it can help them get bigger and stronger. His further complaints were about the weight training program and the time they are expected to put in in the weight room. As far as he was concerned it was too much to ask that players stay on top of their training, and that their efforts, or lack thereof were being recorded. Perhaps most incredibly this player could not believe that he wasn't a starter. It was about then that I felt the need to jump in, having gotten progressively more irate has he continued spouting off.

I asked him what he had done to earn a starting spot on the team. As far as he was concerned he was ready to go because he had put in his time in the weight room and tried to fall in line with the training table and that should have been enough. Once again I asked this guy what he had done, explaining to him that it seemed as though he had done the bare minimum he could and that maybe that was why he wasn't getting a second look. Personally, I thought it was common sense, if you want to get noticed, you work hard and go above and beyond what is merely expected of you. This player didn't exactly agree with me, and that's putting it lightly. After a few choice words he explained that he looks at his playbook a couple hours every week and he works out and he goes to practice, and he makes it to almost all of his classes every week. To some that may seem like a lot, but if anything all he described doing was the bare absolute minimum needed to compete for a position, much less a starting spot. This is the problem with the Cougars as they are today. After years of getting by under Doba these guys don't know what it is going to take to compete and what it is they have to do to WIN.

The conversation between the player and his buddy, and to a lesser extent, myself ended soon thereafter, but the one thing I took away from it was his attitude towards the Cougars and being a Cougar. He said if he didn't make it as a starter this year he would transfer and play for someone willing to give him a starting job. If that doesn't tell you what is wrong with this team I don't know what does. This player has seen on field time this year and instead of fighting and digging deep to bring out the best of himself on the field he has just assumed that the bare minimum was and should be enough. I can not fathom how it is that a couple of hours a week is supposed to be enough to understand a playbook. Football speak is a whole language that takes time to comprehend, much less understand and execute. If anything I would think he should be putting in the same amount of time reading it, as I have to when I'm studying for German. That would conservatively put him at least 8-10 hours a week of study just to have plays down fairly solidly in his head. If you want to know why the defense seems constantly out of position its because of guys like this not wanting to do all it takes to understand and know where they are supposed to be and what they are supposed to be doing on the field.

As for his issues with having to wake up early to weight lift and train, and having to go to all of his classes on time, I have a few choice words I can think of. Honestly, if it is just so hard to get up and go do what you should be doing to EARN that 29,000 dollar scholarship, maybe it just isn't worth it. Sadly, just by virtue of the teams size, there have to be at least a few more guys who think like he does. Going to class is a requirement for success, just like going to practice is a requirement for doing well on the football field. If you don't perform well in class, why should you get to play football? It is a privilege not a right. Unfortunately, this is the culture Coach Wulff is having to overcome. It will probably be a little while before this team is able to get rid of the guys that want to get by with just the bare minimum.

All I can say is that I hope this off season is productive for the Cougars, even if that means that it has to be reductive as well. What I mean is that when this semester, or possibly academic year is over, I hope the guys like him will transfer and quit wasting valuable scholarships that guys like me would give everything for. If he does transfer and take others with him, then I'll be extremely happy. It will free up more scholarships for walk ons like Myron Beck. They may not be the biggest baddest guys on the field, but they are obviously putting in the time and effort to be worth a scholarship, and the continued opportunity to play Pac-10 football. So, for all of you out there that question Coach Wulff's ability to coach at the Pac-10 level, just look to guys like Beck and Louis Bland. They are proof that with Coach Wulff both recruits and walk-ons alike can get better each and every week if they are willing to buy into what Coach Wulff is selling. Also look at the Cougars incoming recruiting class and be hopeful, because those kids along with all of the redshirts this year will be the backbone of this team for years to come. They obviously like what Coach Wulff is selling, and are willing to buy in.

In another class I have a couple of guys who are redshirting this year who are on a whole other wavelength than the negacoug I dealt with the other day. They are obviously a little disheartened by what they have seen so far, but are chomping at the bit to get out on the field next year and show Coach Wulff and us fans just what they can do. They acknowledge that the losses this year suck, but also say that Coach Wulff has been awesome in getting them to come here and selling them on the idea that they can contribute and lead this team to some big wins over the next few years. They are working tirelessly to make sure that when spring ball rolls around this year that there are some early surprises to stoke the fires of hope for next fall. Personally I think Coach Wulff and his boys have it right, and my friend in history has it all wrong. The Cougars are coming back, and they are doing it the right way, with guys who want to be Cougars. As for the Courtney Brown wannabe in history? I hope he has a nice career at North Texas, I hear they need all the help they can get.