Seattle Columnist's Son Tweets: Mike Leach agrees to coach Washington State
https://twitter.com/#!/masonkelley/status/141944717884661760 Steve Kelley is a columnist for the Seattle Times. Audacious hire for a program that was widely admired in the 80s and 90s for doing more with less. Leach rewrote the book on that at Texas Tech. Like him or not, the guy is winner.
The Pac 12 is a conference that will racking up some points. The rumors also have Houston's coach going to Arizona State or UCLA.
Sadly, my dream of IIlinois scaring the heck out of Ohio yearly over in the other division has been dealt a major setback.
November 30th, 2011 at 3:18 PM ^
Great hire for Wazzzu. Look forward to Leach taking out Oregon years from now. Nate Volk, keep up the good comments on FREEP!
November 30th, 2011 at 3:18 PM ^
the pac 12 is going to have some awesome offenses. too bad i'm already out for the night when their games are on.
November 30th, 2011 at 4:54 PM ^
Yeah, but they have no defense at all. It's going to be like watching 12 Texas Techs fight it out.
November 30th, 2011 at 5:19 PM ^
And this is a bad thing because?
November 30th, 2011 at 5:43 PM ^
Offensive shoot-outs >> defensive slugfests for viewers excepting the respective fanbases.
November 30th, 2011 at 5:56 PM ^
...scoreboards are soon to be a thing of the past.
November 30th, 2011 at 3:19 PM ^
It's like PSU tried to play football without offense for the first half of the season.... a whole conference that doesn't play defense.
Oh, wait, that already exists.
*COUGH* BIG * COUGH * TWELVE * COUGH*
November 30th, 2011 at 3:28 PM ^
Playing an away game in Pullman was already pretty weird. Adding Leach to the mix makes it positively Lynchian:
November 30th, 2011 at 3:31 PM ^
Leach will do okay out at Wazzu, but I'd be shocked if he has the same success he did at Texas Tech. The recruiting resources just aren't there and the landscape has changed since the 90's.
November 30th, 2011 at 3:35 PM ^
to California to be able to get some great under-the-radar kids, I would imagine. What recruiting resources did he have at TT that he doesn't have at WSU? I'm not very familiar with WSU.
November 30th, 2011 at 3:39 PM ^
He's going to have to fight with Boise St. and Utah for the under the radar California kids and that's something Wazzu didn't have to deal with in the 90's.
I don't think he had the same type of competition for the overlooked/smurf receivers and QB's that he will at Wazzu.
November 30th, 2011 at 3:53 PM ^
...but while competition hampered the invisible men Doba and Wulff, I think Leach's name recognition gives him an instant advantage. Wazzu is also in the midst of a capital campaign for new athletic facilities that should make the school an easier sell.
November 30th, 2011 at 4:35 PM ^
Name recognition, the upgraded facilities that you mentioned, two excellent QBs (Tuel who will be a senior, Halliday who will be a sophomore), and an NFL-ready WR (Wilson who will be a junior). Though Pullman isn't easy to bring in the top prospects, many coaches have walked into worse situations.
November 30th, 2011 at 4:01 PM ^
is an absolute madhouse for recruting, though. UT, A&M, Baylor, TCU-- and that's just in-state. A lot of the SEC, especially LSU, also looks to Texas to fill their rosters.
For him to be able to get kids like Crabtree or develop passers like Harrell makes me think that Boise State and Utah are not going to intimidiate him.
November 30th, 2011 at 3:41 PM ^
Just being in the state of Texas is a leg up in recruiting for Texas Tech. The state of Washington traditionally has not been loaded with talent and the talent it does have tends to look at the Huskies first or look elsewhere (see: Taylor Mays, Joshua Garnett, etc.). Pullman is a very isolated area and even for a college town it doesn't have a great football atmosphere.
November 30th, 2011 at 3:46 PM ^
I think he can do pretty well recruiting out of Cali. Keep in mind he was getting Texas kids to come to Lubbock, which is a pretty bad town in the middle of the desert. It's in Texas, but that state is huge and Lubbock isn't near anything good. If he can sell Lubbock he can sell Pullman.
Also I think the legend of the Dread Pirate lives on and he'll actually have a bit of national recruiting cachet. I bet he pulls some of those high 3* (almost 4*) types. Be a great place to go as a WR or QB and put up gaudy numbers/hope the NFL notices you.
November 30th, 2011 at 4:37 PM ^
Keep in mind he is originally from Cali. He spent the early part of his career in that part of the country as an assistant. Great hire, hope he does well.
November 30th, 2011 at 6:36 PM ^
...at Wazzu are minimal and old at this point. Their apparel contract is laughable...I think I saw it reported as $1.4 million a few years ago.
Also, Pullman is in a very rural area. The Tri-Cities (about 100k) are 90 minutes away and Spokane (about 180-200k) are about two hours away depending on weather and traffic. Boise is probably about 3 or 4 hours away. Seattle is 5 hours on a good day. There is stuff to do if you're into the outdoors, but it's pretty limited.
Finally, I was there on an interview in Nov. '09, and I thought Moscow, ID and the University of Idaho just over the border from Pullman were a nicer town and university.
Mike Price was far and away the best and worst thing to ever happen to WSU football. The best because he got them into a Rose Bowl on a shoestring, and the worst because he gave their fans insane expectations.
November 30th, 2011 at 6:51 PM ^
for the info. A lot of what you're describing sounds like Tech, although I think the Nike contract was much better than WSU. Good luck to him!
November 30th, 2011 at 7:04 PM ^
...the Tri-Cities are closer to three hours away. Spokane is an hour and 15 minutes. Wazzu's facilities are currently being upgraded. And Washington State fans have no expectations, except that if they get a good coach, he will quickly leave, embarrass Wazzu through his actions in Florida or beneath strippers, and there will be a $1.5M house on the edge of a wheat field that sits vacant for the better part of a decade.
You are nonetheless correct on one point:
Moscow is a tiny bit nicer, however its largest cultural advantage was eliminated in the 1980's when the Department of Transportation threatened to withhold highway funds to Idaho unless the drinking age was raised to 21.
November 30th, 2011 at 8:23 PM ^
Pullman is about 1,300 miles from San Diego, 1,100 miles from Los Angeles and 900 from San Francisco -- all well out of range for what would make a reasonable drive for families and friends. Just because their states share an ocean does not mean they are "close."
November 30th, 2011 at 3:36 PM ^
Not to mention Pullman is a wasteland of hate and suffering. Getting recruits to come there has always been and will always be very difficult.
November 30th, 2011 at 3:43 PM ^
One of the ugliest places going in a state that is filled with ugly, ugly things
If he could get them to come to Texas Tech, he can get them to come to Pullman.
November 30th, 2011 at 4:03 PM ^
That's true, but the talent pool he had access to at Texas Tech was deeper and more top heavy than what he will experience at wazzu. Getting a bunch of guys that weren't going to Texas, A&M, and Oklahoma is a whole lot better than getting a bunch of guys that aren't going to Washington, Oregon, or Oregon State.
I'm not saying Leach can't be successful, but any coach in Pullman is swimming upstream. It's gonna be tough.
November 30th, 2011 at 4:16 PM ^
Agreed once you get past the big three, there are a lot of schools that are roughly equivalent in recruits eyes(although this may be changing with Ok. St. coming up a bit). Texas Tech is going to grab their fair share of kids who want to stay in OK/TX and were grabbing more as they got more successful. Lubbock sucks, but it's not any worse than Stillwater or even College Station.
Washington St. is at the bottom of a VERY large chain of schools recruiting California and are probably not even third choice for Washington kids. Going to be hard to turn that around.
November 30th, 2011 at 6:42 PM ^
...Pullman two years ago, and I would say it is a fairly unremarkable, greyish looking town.
However, I thought that Moscow, ID, just over the state line was a tremendous little college town. The University of Idaho's campus also felt very inviting.
November 30th, 2011 at 3:50 PM ^
they have to hammer Seattle, UW gets all the top kids in Seattle. I have been to handful of Cougar games in Pullman, its fun, 2 this year actually....good hire, this was needed to bring back the fan base.
November 30th, 2011 at 3:34 PM ^
Latest on Seattle Times:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/cougars/2016895773_coug01.html
I doubt that they would have offered unless Leach indicated he was going to take it.
I thought firing Wulff was a mistake, but I see now that they made sure they had a replacement in line first.
November 30th, 2011 at 3:34 PM ^
Guns up Cougs. I wonder if the travelling Wazzu flag will finally have some relevance on Gameday?
November 30th, 2011 at 4:45 PM ^
Its presence at Gameday has always puzzled me.
November 30th, 2011 at 4:49 PM ^
I do indeed. Here is the story. Pretty interesting and good one at that.
November 30th, 2011 at 8:27 PM ^
I liked how Deadspin titled their article on this "Inside America's dorkiest fanbase."
December 1st, 2011 at 10:32 AM ^
appreciate the link
November 30th, 2011 at 3:34 PM ^
Was disgusted with how Texas Tech and Craig James/ESPN handled that situation, and CFB has been missing some good-natured crazy without him.
The guy is a winner and a very sharp football mind; happy that he's back in coaching. It will be weird not associating him with Pirates anymore, though.
Good for Leach and Washington State!
November 30th, 2011 at 3:39 PM ^
Between Leach, Kelly, Rodriguez Saturdays on the West Coast are going to look like crazy Shaw Brothers movies
November 30th, 2011 at 3:41 PM ^
If you had told me 72 hours ago that I would tune in to every Arizona-Wash State game for the foreseeable future I would ask you what you were smoking...
November 30th, 2011 at 3:47 PM ^
Wonder how ESPN/Craig James will respond to this?
November 30th, 2011 at 4:08 PM ^
How will he respond? Allegedly he killed five hookers in Pullman at 4 PM EST. That is his response allegedly.
November 30th, 2011 at 4:39 PM ^
CRAIG JAMES allegedly KILLED FIVE HOOKERS in DALLAS too. I'm starting to sense a pattern . . .
November 30th, 2011 at 4:43 PM ^
Hookers in Pullman have gone to Threat Level Red
November 30th, 2011 at 6:46 PM ^
Word on the street is that Leach is hiding all the hookers in Washington in a broom closet to keep the them safe until the Craig James alert passes. Everyone knows the James family can't stand broom closets...
November 30th, 2011 at 3:49 PM ^
Good. Washington is closer to the coast than Texas. More appropriate for a pirate.
Having RichRod and Leach both in the Pac-12 will be nice, because it will give two teams innovative and ever-developing offenses and thus give two teams a decent shot of upsetting those snots at USC every year. Seriously, MOAR Lane Kiffin losses pleaz.
November 30th, 2011 at 3:55 PM ^
...that their state does indeed have a coast. But I otherwise agree with your sentiments.
December 1st, 2011 at 12:57 PM ^
In fact they do. For some reason my brain blotted out the Gulf. Or perhaps I meant that Washington State is closer to the close than Texas Tech. Yeah . . . that's the ticket . . .
November 30th, 2011 at 4:05 PM ^
A totally fantastic Pac-12 North versus Pac-12 South Championship; Washington State v. Arizona!
November 30th, 2011 at 4:19 PM ^
I love Mike Leach, but I know his offense will never work in the Big Ten. I think you'd be foolish to think he won't be even better than he was at Texas Tech. Sure, he doesn't have all the talent he had in Texas, but you have to remember he was winning with the kids that Texas, Texas A&M, TCU didn't want. And THEN he STLL had to compete with Houston, Baylor, Rice and a few other schools in Texas!
Boise State, UW, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Oregon State, Utah, Utah State, BYU (He is a mormon) could all be affected and concerned by him recruiting wise. Washington State Pirates sounds good.
November 30th, 2011 at 4:21 PM ^
You figure he could have done better than a middling Pac-12 team at best.
November 30th, 2011 at 4:44 PM ^
Ever since Leach was reportedly on the sidelines for the spring game last year, he has been rumored to replace Wulff. I guess Leach and WSU AD Bill Moos (former Oregon AD who served there until 2007) must be good friends. Bellotti was also rumored for the WSU gig, but it looks like Leach is their guy. It makes sense: the Cougs return virtually eveyone off this year's injury-ridden team that was one special teams blunder (SD St.) and literally five yards (Utah, UCLA) away from 7 wins--all without their stud QB (who also returns next year). They have two very good QBs on their roster and an NFL-ready WR. Their running game is not very good, nor is their defense. Sounds like a Leach team to me.
November 30th, 2011 at 4:35 PM ^
Leach can flat out coach. Recruiting will be tougher in Washington, but he'll find a way to win. Great fit. He needed to be at a school where he can be himself, off the beaten track.
November 30th, 2011 at 4:36 PM ^
This is excellent news. College Football needs Mike Leach. Now all they need is Kevin Sumlin in the PAC-12 as well and there is going to be some serious action every weekend. Here's to hoping he makes Lane Kiffin walk the plank.