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Bellevue WR Tyson Penn talks WSU...

Bellevue (Wash.) WR Tyson Penn, a 6-foot-5, 195-pound two-star prospect, chatted about his Washington State and Oregon State offers with Rivals' Justin Rowland recently.

The link is below, but Penn says he's very interested in the two programs and is planning another visit to WSU since picking up an offer from Mike Leach recently.

Link: https://washingtonstate.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1777898

Paul Wulff's hypothetical return to WSU?

There were obviously some rough spots from 2008 through 2011, but what would people here think of Paul Wulff coming back home to Washington State in a different role, say as a coordinator or director of football operations? His NFL experience with the 49ers and his stint as OC at South Florida would help, right?

Ran into a couple Coug diehards over the weekend who said they'd really like to see CPW back at his alma mater in some capacity if/when Mike Leach leaves Pullman. Don't know how widespread that support is at this time, but it does exist.

Oregon OL unofficially visits...

Tigard (Ore.) OL Connor Crist took an unofficial visit to Washington State today, he informs WazzuWatch.com. The 6-foot-3, 305-pound guard prospect is rated three-stars by Rivals and the No. 7 overall prospect in Oregon.

Crist, who holds offers from Air Force, Yale and Idaho so far, says the Cougars have maintained decent interest for the last few months, though no talk of an offer has emerged, so far.

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Herbig to announce tomorrow...

Honolulu (HI) St. Louis OL Nate Herbig says he'll make his college decision tomorrow, fresh off unofficial visits to Stanford and Washington State, who are both included in his top seven.

California, Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon State, San Diego State and Texas Tech are also included in his recently released top schools, however I've been told the decision is likely to come down to Stanford and Washington State, with the Cardinal looking good.

The 6-foot-4, 320-pound guard prospect took an official visit to Pullman and toured the facilities over the weekend and had positive things to say about his trip, though he recently told our Andy Drukarev, our Stanford site publisher, that the Cardinal offer was a "dream offer."

Prior to his trip to Pullman, Herbig previewed his visit with Drukarev.

"At Washington State, I want to see where I would fit in as a freshman and how many guys they're planning on bringing in on the line," Herbig said. "Wazzu has been there since the beginning and they are right there with Stanford, so I hope they can match everything I saw this last week."

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Bell turns heads at Adidas 7v7...

Washington State commit Renard Bell, a three-star athlete out of Los Angeles (Calif.) Cathedral, committed to Roy Manning and staff last month and has been turning heads since. His performance at the Adidas 7v7 Championships over the weekend earned some high praise from the Rivals staff.

"If no other programs enter the picture in the coming months, Washington State could be getting a major steal with the three-star athlete," Rivals analyst Blair Angulo said of Bell, who picked up the Rising Stock honor following his performance at the tournament.

"Bell was a blur on underneath routes and showed great burst off the snap, shooting through the line of scrimmage and getting around defenders to find open space. He might not be the biggest receiver, but he showed some potential as a playmaker when the ball was in his hands."

More here: https://washingtonstate.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1777308

Who will be the D-line standouts in 2015?

Those who played last year: Kache Palacio (rush end/LB), Ivan McLennan (RE/LB), Daniel Ekuale, Richard Barber, Daryl Paulo, and Destiny Vaeao have two or more years in the program.Vaeao received some serious looks from some big programs coming out of high school, and Ekuale and McLennan had offers from Oregon.
The top newcomers (transfers, redshirts): Jeremiah Mitchell (JC), Ngala Tapa, Kingston Fernandez, Hercules Mata'afa, and Reggie Coates (DE-LB Nevada). Mitchell chose WSU over Oregon, ASU, and others.
New frosh: Thomas Toki, Hunter Mattox, T.J. Fehoko, Nnamdi Oguayo.
Position change: Devonte McClain, 6-5, 314.

There is no denying Xavier Cooper's leaving early is a loss. Toni Pole, while hardly a spectacular player, was stout and strong (35 reps on the bench in his NFL tryouts). But Vaeao, Ekuale, and Barber definitely passed the interior d-line eye test in the spring. Paulo appears ready to be a more consistent contributor.
But the key is depth. Tapa is still green, but at 315 seems ready for spot duty. No one expects Toki to win a starting position, but get ready for the Tomasi Kongaika comparisons at some point this season if he doesn't redshirt. McClain, if he can improve his agility, is another guy who can buy the starters a breath.
Mitchell missed the spring game but definitely made big impressions in prior scrimmages. He's likely as good a JC d-line transfer as WSU has had in years. Better yet, the coaches are smart enough to not move him to d-tackle.
Coates was a surprise in the spring, and Mata'afa continued to make a name for himself. Many see him strictly at LB, however.
The potential darkhorse is Mattox. I see him redshirting, because he's growing into a d-tackle. Fehoko terrorized opposing backfields in high school (his clips are great), but the transition to D1 will take some time.
For those who are interested in the future of Cougar football, feel free to weigh in!
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