Building the program.
Going to the Post Season.
That's my expectations. Because that is actually realistic, and I'm not someone who is delusional.
If you want to build a program with a "winning tradition" you actually have to win.... traditionally.
I hate to break it to some people, but when you hadn't gone to a bowl in a DECADE you have no winning tradition.
But but Mike Price. Those years are over. And have been over. Honestly cougs that try to put the very best years of the Pirce Era (Of a 14 year career) are unrealistic.
If Leach coaches every single year and has us at 8-9 years from here to when he leaves I would be absolutely ecstatic. Thrilled beyond belief.
Because you know what that means? That means almost an entire generation grew up watching WSU compete and win more than they lose in the Pac-12 and that's a different status then what we have been known for the previous decade.
Building a programs means several things.
Building recruiting classes
Building attendance
Building a National Presence
Building a tradition of winning more than losing.
Those are the goals.
WSU could collapse back to being a doormat at any time. Every assistant that comes through WSU on their way to moving up in their career that comes from Leach's tree is an assistant who could be a head coach for WSU in the future.
Alex Grinch is young. He could be a WSU HC in 8 years.
Roy Manning could be a WSU HC in the future
Dennis Simmons could be a WSU HC in the future.
Coach's that could walk in the future and build on what Leach has put together in the future are...
Lincoln Riley
Josh Heupel
Graham Harell
Seth Litrell
Sumlin
etc. etc. etc.
What Leach brings is not just Leach, but a type of program, a style of play, a culture... THAT WE CAN BUILD ON.
Honestly this class that Leach has signed right now is the BEST one I have seen from him. And that's what happens when you have 3 winning seasons in a row. The recruiting gets better, it gets easier.
That's what we have to keep doing.
If Leach has 4 classes like the one he is realing in this year I think we win 10+ games in the 5th year.
It's almost as if we are starting back at year 1 with Leach now.
But instead of some WAC team that had only won 9 games the previous 4 years.
He is coaching a team that won 29 games the previous 4 years now. That makes a HUGE difference.
Just think about what that actually means as a program. And the difference in perception.
Previous 4 years - 9 games
Previous 4 years - 29 games.
If we have another winning season with a bare minimum of 7 wins the previous 4 year total jumps to 33.
Previous 4 years - 9 games
Previous 4 years - 33 games
What that really means. Is that a Senior in highschool on the west coast, watched WSU having winning seasons their ENTIRE HS career.
That makes a GIGANTIC difference in recruiting. THAT is building a program.
Winning a championship is amazing and beating the Huskies is a pleasure, but I am not one to throw out the baby with the bath water, and the baby is building a consistent winning tradition at Washington State.
Oregon is on their 3rd HC coach in 3 years. - # of losing seasons 1
Cal is on their 3rd HC in 6 years. # of losing seasons - 5
Oregon has unlimited $
Cal has premiere academics
And those programs are severely under performing.
The best example I can give to people about how to build a program is boise. As much as we all want to bag on Trucker U and all that. The truth is Boise has had success building a program., and it didn't start with Peterson.
It started with Dirk Koetter who started a winning tradition at Boise. Yes he wasn't that great of a coach at Arizona State, but still. The guy is now a HC in the NFL. (all be it also not that great, but still he is a guy who helped build Boise)
Boise got back to back winning seasons. Then he left.
Hawkins took over 5 winning seasons. Then he left. And yes he wasn't that great a Colorado.
But Boise as a Program had 7 straight years of winning seasons.
Then 7 years of winning season.
Then Petersen took over and produced ANOTHER 7 years of winning seasons.
Then Harsin took over and again 4 more years of winning seasons.
That's a total of 18 years STRAIGHT (since 1999) of winning seasons with 4 different coaches.
That means that a senior today in highschool has NEVER seen boise state have a losing season in their lifetime. In their lifetime.
Yes blah blah blah Big West, Wac, MWC. Still. The fact is Boise State built a winning tradition over a long period of time, and that's why Boise beats us out for players sometimes.even though they don't have the academics or the conference prestige.
In the last 18 years you want to know how many winning seasons WSU has had? (Since 1999) 6. TOTAL. And Leach has half of them.
18 years of winning seasons
2 runs of 3 (one of which we are in right now)
People cry about the Apple Cup and the Holiday bowl, but the truth is we aren't at the program level of UW or Michigan State.
How many winning seasons has Michigan State had in the last 18 years? 11
We've had six. They've had 11.
In the last 10 years. They've had 9.
We've had 3.
My expectation is consistently to have winning records for an extended amount of time. I don't give a damn about indivudal games. I care about overall program growth and development.
Why?
Because that's the only real way to consistently get to the level that people are complaining about. You might get a flash in the pan season, but with droughts of numerous losing seasons around it doesn't mean that much. Not in the grand scheme.
WSU isn't like Michigan where we can take a swing and miss on Rich Rod, Brady Hoke, and what not and recover. Just as quickly as Leach got us to 9 wins in year 4 we can be back to Paul Wulff level in less than 4.
Also what Leach is doing is making WSU an attractive place for FUTURE coaches. Which is important.
Honestly the WSU job after Wulff could easily be taken as a career suicide job for other coaches. You can say well we can offer money blah blah blah.
But keep in mind. That money may be yours, but if you can't win with less. Than forget it, because we don't have the recruiting base to draw from, we don't have the intense football culture to support the efforts finacially, and we don't have the draw to attract recruits like others.
Most coaches don't want to run that risk. Even GOOD coaches are afraid of that because it's hard. It's not easy to do. If it were easy. We would have a consistent winning tradition all that time.
Leach winning consistently paves the way for someone else good to say. Washington State? Yeah I can do that, that's a good program.
They couldn't say that before. We weren't a good program. We didn't have a consistent track record as a good program. So why risk my career going there?
What Leach is doing is important for the future of WSU football, and honestly I could care less about people's delusions of grandeur championships blah blah blah talk. We aren't a program that can talk like that. That's what 10 years of winning seasons talk. We are only on year 3.
