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Mike Iupati

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Dec 8, 2006
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Rumors are circulating that Rogers is bringing in Mike Iupati as Offensive Line coach. If true, this would be a significant hire IMO. 1st round draft pick with the 49ers and an 11-year NFL vet. Only 37 years old.

Iupati rose up from a 2-star recruit and became a consensus All-American at Idaho. Interesting that Johnny Nansen discovered him when he was coaching at Idaho. He had a lot of academic difficulties due to the language barrier, but Nansen convinced him Idaho would be better than going the JC route. His family had to take out a loan his first year because he wasn't eligible for a scholarship.

Not sure if he can coach, but his road traveled makes him a perfect fit for WSU on the recruiting trail.
 
Great hire. Why spend our enhanced assistant pool on FBS or FCS coaches when we can reach up and poach them from NAIA schools? I'm sure that after 2 seasons as the College of Idaho (formerly Albertson's College) Assistant OL coach, facing off against such household FB names as Montana-Tech, Western and Northern, and Eastern and Southern Oregon, he will be ready to take on our schedule.

https://yoteathletics.com/sports/football/roster/coaches/mike-iupati/1051

 
Great hire. Why spend our enhanced assistant pool on FBS or FCS coaches when we can reach up and poach them from NAIA schools? I'm sure that after 2 seasons as the College of Idaho (formerly Albertson's College) Assistant OL coach, facing off against such household FB names as Montana-Tech, Western and Northern, and Eastern and Southern Oregon, he will be ready to take on our schedule.

https://yoteathletics.com/sports/football/roster/coaches/mike-iupati/1051

Agree 💯

GREAT hire!

Why pay limited resources to old coaches who have been around the horn… twice and are willing to settle?

Best to find a hot up and coming coach at 37 who is much more relatable to players and who appreciates the opportunity WSU is providing him and is willing to work for less.
 
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Yea, why would we want an 11-year NFL star who's familiar with the Palouse on our coaching staff?
Not to mention (but I'm actually going to mention) having hailed from American-samoa. That's all I have to say about that
You guys slay me. Assistant OL coach at College of Idaho? I don't give a F if he was a Super Bowl MVP.

At least he can learn from his apparent co-Asst. Line coach Taylor Lucas (per above rumor). Not counting his grad years, he has one season as an Assistant OL coach?

Also, so Iupati is a DEI hire? Ok, just kidding on that.

Edit: And related:


Edit#2 - Did you know that Iutapi got a 13 on his Wonderlic test at the NFL Draft Combine? a 20 indicates average intelligence. Offensive Guards at the Combine are typically in the 20s or 30s from what I saw.
 
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You guys slay me. Assistant OL coach at College of Idaho? I don't give a F if he was a Super Bowl MVP.

At least he can learn from his apparent co-Asst. Line coach Taylor Lucas (per above rumor). Not counting his grad years, he has one season as an Assistant OL coach?

Also, so Iupati is a DEI hire? Ok, just kidding on that.

Edit: And related:

We could hire Clay McGuire for the 4th time and suck huge ass again.
 
Given our resources I am enthusiastic about this hire...He has skills from playing in the NFL...Hopefully can give us a connection to Samoan talent...Makes me think of George Yarno when he was with us..https://247sports.com/college/washington-state/article/cougfan-at-25-when-it-comes-to-assistant-coaches-george-yarno-broke-the-mold-215019637/
 
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Rumors are circulating that Rogers is bringing in Mike Iupati as Offensive Line coach. If true, this would be a significant hire IMO. 1st round draft pick with the 49ers and an 11-year NFL vet. Only 37 years old.

Iupati rose up from a 2-star recruit and became a consensus All-American at Idaho. Interesting that Johnny Nansen discovered him when he was coaching at Idaho. He had a lot of academic difficulties due to the language barrier, but Nansen convinced him Idaho would be better than going the JC route. His family had to take out a loan his first year because he wasn't eligible for a scholarship.

Not sure if he can coach, but his road traveled makes him a perfect fit for WSU on the recruiting trail.
Polynesian pipeline should be strong. Exactly what we need. Well played coach.
 
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You guys slay me. Assistant OL coach at College of Idaho? I don't give a F if he was a Super Bowl MVP.

At least he can learn from his apparent co-Asst. Line coach Taylor Lucas (per above rumor). Not counting his grad years, he has one season as an Assistant OL coach?

Also, so Iupati is a DEI hire? Ok, just kidding on that.

Edit: And related:


Edit#2 - Did you know that Iutapi got a 13 on his Wonderlic test at the NFL Draft Combine? a 20 indicates average intelligence. Offensive Guards at the Combine are typically in the 20s or 30s from what I saw.
You need to think bigger Loyal. We need big dudes. Mike can probably go get us some big dudes.

And we may not have the NIL $$, but Pullman has the kind of community that a lot of those guys feel comfortable in. If Mike can recruit this is massive.
 
You guys slay me. Assistant OL coach at College of Idaho? I don't give a F if he was a Super Bowl MVP.

At least he can learn from his apparent co-Asst. Line coach Taylor Lucas (per above rumor). Not counting his grad years, he has one season as an Assistant OL coach?

Also, so Iupati is a DEI hire? Ok, just kidding on that.

Edit: And related:


Edit#2 - Did you know that Iutapi got a 13 on his Wonderlic test at the NFL Draft Combine? a 20 indicates average intelligence. Offensive Guards at the Combine are typically in the 20s or 30s from what I saw.
how many of them last 11 years
 
You guys slay me. Assistant OL coach at College of Idaho? I don't give a F if he was a Super Bowl MVP.

At least he can learn from his apparent co-Asst. Line coach Taylor Lucas (per above rumor). Not counting his grad years, he has one season as an Assistant OL coach?

Also, so Iupati is a DEI hire? Ok, just kidding on that.

Edit: And related:


Edit#2 - Did you know that Iutapi got a 13 on his Wonderlic test at the NFL Draft Combine? a 20 indicates average intelligence. Offensive Guards at the Combine are typically in the 20s or 30s from what I saw.

The 13 Wonderlic score might make a good argument for co-OL coach?
 
You guys slay me. Assistant OL coach at College of Idaho? I don't give a F if he was a Super Bowl MVP.

At least he can learn from his apparent co-Asst. Line coach Taylor Lucas (per above rumor). Not counting his grad years, he has one season as an Assistant OL coach?

Also, so Iupati is a DEI hire? Ok, just kidding on that.

Edit: And related:


Edit#2 - Did you know that Iutapi got a 13 on his Wonderlic test at the NFL Draft Combine? a 20 indicates average intelligence. Offensive Guards at the Combine are typically in the 20s or 30s from what I saw.

Oh so you don't care that this coach will probably be able to recruit GOOD, GREAT, AWESOME 3 stars, 4 star OL, and OUT RECRUIT other G5's, P4's, even semi blue bloods at the most critical position O Line.

You don't care that coaches, teams, programs, players, RECRUITS, etc, will see, view him as REPUTABLE, CREDIBLE, since he was a 11 year NFL veteran, that played for, with the HIGHLY VISIBLE San Fran 49er's.

And you don't care that American Samoan 3 STAR, 4 STAR, EVEN 5 STAR players famous, known for their big, beefy, STRONG bodies, football players, OL, DL, will be recruited to, and by Lupati, SUCCESSFULLY TO WSU, because he is AMERICAN SAMOAN, 11 YEAR NFL VETERAN, SAN FRAN NINER, THAT HAS CREDIBILITY, TRUST, REPUTATION IN THE AMERICAN SAMOAN COMMUNITY, CULTURE, WHERE AMERICAN SAMOAN PEOPLE, PARENTS, USUALLY SEND THEIR STAR FOOTBALL PLAYER KIDS TO, WITH COACHES LIKE LUPATI TO THE COLLEGES THAT LUPATI TYPES COACHING AT, BECAUSE OF HOW MUCH THEY TRUST LUPATI TYPES.

SO YOU DONT CARE ABOUT THAT.

And for developing those O Linemen, Taylor Lucas, co O line position coach, will develop them, coach them well, as who do you think was responsible for the BEST rushing attack, BEST RB's, in FCS, in about 10+ years at South Dakota St, both recruiting wise, and development, coaching wise?

Taylor Lucas former South Dakota assist co O line coach at South Dakota St, now at WSU.

Epically Genius good hire by Rogers.

And even if wasn't, stopping pitching, whining, complaining non stop, over and over, and play the wait and see game, because as much as you think it's a bad hire, and I think it's a Genius hire, we both, all of us don't know how good or bad the hire will be, and if it will pan out, or not, etc. So should play the wait, and see game.
 
Oh so you don't care that this coach will probably be able to recruit GOOD, GREAT, AWESOME 3 stars, 4 star OL, and OUT RECRUIT other G5's, P4's, even semi blue bloods at the most critical position O Line.

You don't care that coaches, teams, programs, players, RECRUITS, etc, will see, view him as REPUTABLE, CREDIBLE, since he was a 11 year NFL veteran, that played for, with the HIGHLY VISIBLE San Fran 49er's.

And you don't care that American Samoan 3 STAR, 4 STAR, EVEN 5 STAR players famous, known for their big, beefy, STRONG bodies, football players, OL, DL, will be recruited to, and by Lupati, SUCCESSFULLY TO WSU, because he is AMERICAN SAMOAN, 11 YEAR NFL VETERAN, SAN FRAN NINER, THAT HAS CREDIBILITY, TRUST, REPUTATION IN THE AMERICAN SAMOAN COMMUNITY, CULTURE, WHERE AMERICAN SAMOAN PEOPLE, PARENTS, USUALLY SEND THEIR STAR FOOTBALL PLAYER KIDS TO, WITH COACHES LIKE LUPATI TO THE COLLEGES THAT LUPATI TYPES COACHING AT, BECAUSE OF HOW MUCH THEY TRUST LUPATI TYPES.

SO YOU DONT CARE ABOUT THAT.

And for developing those O Linemen, Taylor Lucas, co O line position coach, will develop them, coach them well, as who do you think was responsible for the BEST rushing attack, BEST RB's, in FCS, in about 10+ years at South Dakota St, both recruiting wise, and development, coaching wise?

Taylor Lucas former South Dakota assist co O line coach at South Dakota St, now at WSU.

Epically Genius good hire by Rogers.

And even if wasn't, stopping pitching, whining, complaining non stop, over and over, and play the wait and see game, because as much as you think it's a bad hire, and I think it's a Genius hire, we both, all of us don't know how good or bad the hire will be, and if it will pan out, or not, etc. So should play the wait, and see game.
Mik, you spelled Iupati wrong 4 times. 3 times in one sentence. Now I'll try to get my head around your assertions:
  • You say Iupati, assistant line coach from the College of Idaho, will bring in 3, 4 and 5 star Samoan players simply because he is Samoan. Which explains why Samoan OL Fa'alili Fa' is leaving WSU for Wake Forest. And you have deep knowledge that this guy none of us knew existed 2 days ago has "CREDIBILITY, TRUST, REPUTATION IN THE AMERICAN SAMOAN COMMUNITY, CULTURE". How the F do you know that?
  • Yes, a Samoan or Polynesian coach helps brings in Polynesian players. Maybe that is why BYU has 4 of them, including their HC
  • And Taylor Lucas, in his 1st year as a co-OL line assistant, singlehandedly produced the "BEST RB's" in FCS at SDSU. Really? Did the RB coach help at all? But yes he is an "Epically Genius good hire".
But you are correct. complaining "over and over" is gauche. You never do that. We should all wait and see. No messages should be posted on this message board.

You know that WSU is letting Polynesian EDGE coach Frank Maile go, right? And that Polynesian RB coach Mark Atuaia left for Utah when Dickert bailed?
 
Took the family out to dinner last night and as we were waiting for food, my son and I were looking over some past WSU rosters. Some of those Leach teams, especially when he had that early staff together with legit recruiters like Salave'a, Mastro, Simmons, and Wilson, blow the everloving shit out of the rosters we've had the past couple years in terms of talent.

E.g., look at the 2012 roster and bear in mind this is the very first season after Wulff and without the portal being like it is now, so it's just those guys they grabbed in about a month: https://wsucougars.com/sports/football/roster/2012

Now look at something like 2017, to cover a different era during that period (some ace recruiters gone, but there had been a bit more time to stabilize): https://wsucougars.com/sports/football/roster/2017

It's not surprising at all, but still, just look at those names, recall what those guys were like, and realize that although it felt like we had depth issues even then, and those teams had real weaknesses, there were guys way down the depth chart with a lot more talent than what we have been able to get the past several years.

The point for now is this, leaving aside various others for other times: WSU needs more big, strong, athletic dudes, and getting Poly guys like we used to under Joe is one way to do that. It perhaps is even a practical necessity at a place like WSU, and WSU is positioned for it pretty well compared to trying to recruit other similarly talented guys from other recruiting pools. These Poly kids also are more likely as a general matter to stick around with your coach, even if they are getting NIL offers and tampered with, if you have a guy like that who can bring some in from the islands or who otherwise are comfortable with a guy from that culture who has done it, particularly on the Palouse. This move makes a lot of sense and needs to be given a chance, at least, to play out.
 
Took the family out to dinner last night and as we were waiting for food, my son and I were looking over some past WSU rosters. Some of those Leach teams, especially when he had that early staff together with legit recruiters like Salave'a, Mastro, Simmons, and Wilson, blow the everloving shit out of the rosters we've had the past couple years in terms of talent.

E.g., look at the 2012 roster and bear in mind this is the very first season after Wulff and without the portal being like it is now, so it's just those guys they grabbed in about a month: https://wsucougars.com/sports/football/roster/2012

Now look at something like 2017, to cover a different era during that period (some ace recruiters gone, but there had been a bit more time to stabilize): https://wsucougars.com/sports/football/roster/2017

It's not surprising at all, but still, just look at those names, recall what those guys were like, and realize that although it felt like we had depth issues even then, and those teams had real weaknesses, there were guys way down the depth chart with a lot more talent than what we have been able to get the past several years.

The point for now is this, leaving aside various others for other times: WSU needs more big, strong, athletic dudes, and getting Poly guys like we used to under Joe is one way to do that. It perhaps is even a practical necessity at a place like WSU, and WSU is positioned for it pretty well compared to trying to recruit other similarly talented guys from other recruiting pools. These Poly kids also are more likely as a general matter to stick around with your coach, even if they are getting NIL offers and tampered with, if you have a guy like that who can bring some in from the islands or who otherwise are comfortable with a guy from that culture who has done it, particularly on the Palouse. This move makes a lot of sense and needs to be given a chance, at least, to play out.
Yep Poly kids stay with their coach, which is why our one Samoan-born OL is going to Wake Forest with Dickert. Probably because Rogers didn't retain our one Poly coach (our second Poly coach had already bailed when Dickert did).

Go look at our 2024 roster. 3 kids from Hawaii, one from Samoa, and a bunch of guys whose names sure sound Polynesian, especially the ones from Utah HS's. Polynesians ten dto be LDS if they did not know that.

So for you guys to crow about hiring a 2nd year co-assistant OL coach from NAIA College of Idaho is F'ing killing me. That the best we can do with our $.5M assistant pool, up from $3.6M as you may recall? WTF is wrong with all of you?

Oh, have we hired any black coaches yet? I hear that black coaches are good at recruiting black players. Gotta get a couple of those. Although I don't think SDSU had any on their staff, and there aren't a lot of them in the Dakotas.
 
Yes, at least one has been hired so far that we know. The RB coach from SDSU is coming to Pullman with Rogers, Robbie Rouse. He is from San Diego.
 
Great hire. Why spend our enhanced assistant pool on FBS or FCS coaches when we can reach up and poach them from NAIA schools? I'm sure that after 2 seasons as the College of Idaho (formerly Albertson's College) Assistant OL coach, facing off against such household FB names as Montana-Tech, Western and Northern, and Eastern and Southern Oregon, he will be ready to take on our schedule.

https://yoteathletics.com/sports/football/roster/coaches/mike-iupati/1051

Enhanced by what? A flimsy promise to pay more if they prove themselves?
 
Took the family out to dinner last night and as we were waiting for food, my son and I were looking over some past WSU rosters. Some of those Leach teams, especially when he had that early staff together with legit recruiters like Salave'a, Mastro, Simmons, and Wilson, blow the everloving shit out of the rosters we've had the past couple years in terms of talent.

E.g., look at the 2012 roster and bear in mind this is the very first season after Wulff and without the portal being like it is now, so it's just those guys they grabbed in about a month: https://wsucougars.com/sports/football/roster/2012

Now look at something like 2017, to cover a different era during that period (some ace recruiters gone, but there had been a bit more time to stabilize): https://wsucougars.com/sports/football/roster/2017

It's not surprising at all, but still, just look at those names, recall what those guys were like, and realize that although it felt like we had depth issues even then, and those teams had real weaknesses, there were guys way down the depth chart with a lot more talent than what we have been able to get the past several years.

The point for now is this, leaving aside various others for other times: WSU needs more big, strong, athletic dudes, and getting Poly guys like we used to under Joe is one way to do that. It perhaps is even a practical necessity at a place like WSU, and WSU is positioned for it pretty well compared to trying to recruit other similarly talented guys from other recruiting pools. These Poly kids also are more likely as a general matter to stick around with your coach, even if they are getting NIL offers and tampered with, if you have a guy like that who can bring some in from the islands or who otherwise are comfortable with a guy from that culture who has done it, particularly on the Palouse. This move makes a lot of sense and needs to be given a chance, at least, to play out.
I agree. All things considered, I think there is a better opportunity to find diamonds in the rough types in Samoa and Hawaii, that we can hopefully hang onto for 2-3 years before portal takes them. Fewer teams are devoting resources to Samoa (and I would guess Hawaii too) with the portal. And lot of those guys are NOT coming to mainland for camps, 7 on 7 and all other the other stuff. But they are still there to be found. It seemed like Salavea and Leach committed to taking guys every year even if that meant some guys were not going to qualify or stick. On the whole it worked in our favor, and quite nicely.

BTW, Joe is at Miami now with Crystal Balls. Or should we call him Crystal-less Balls?
 
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Yes, at least one has been hired so far that we know. The RB coach from SDSU is coming to Pullman with Rogers, Robbie Rouse. He is from San Diego.
Oh good. You mean the guy who wasn't retained when Paul Wulff was promoted to HC at Cal Poly in 2023? Or maybe he jumped for a major promotion to SDSU. Bringing his impressive resume of FBS coaching experience with him. Oh, wait. He has none of that.

But he does have instant credibility since he played professionally with NFL teams the Nebraska Danger and the Iowa Barnstormers. Oops typo. Those are Arena League teams.

Oh I can't wait to drool over the next NAIA or FCS coach that we hire. Will we have any coach with FBS experience? I think we are batting about zero so far. And swoon over all these can't-miss FCS players that we are bringing over.

Rouse as a coach:
 
Oh good. You mean the guy who wasn't retained when Paul Wulff was promoted to HC at Cal Poly in 2023? Or maybe he jumped for a major promotion to SDSU. Bringing his impressive resume of FBS coaching experience with him. Oh, wait. He has none of that.

But he does have instant credibility since he played professionally with NFL teams the Nebraska Danger and the Iowa Barnstormers. Oops typo. Those are Arena League teams.

Oh I can't wait to drool over the next NAIA or FCS coach that we hire. Will we have any coach with FBS experience? I think we are batting about zero so far. And swoon over all these can't-miss FCS players that we are bringing over.

Rouse as a coach:
Is it really a negative that Wulff didn't keep him? Doesn't seem to me that PW was any better at evaluating coaches than he was at evaluating recruits.
 
Oh good. You mean the guy who wasn't retained when Paul Wulff was promoted to HC at Cal Poly in 2023? Or maybe he jumped for a major promotion to SDSU. Bringing his impressive resume of FBS coaching experience with him. Oh, wait. He has none of that.

But he does have instant credibility since he played professionally with NFL teams the Nebraska Danger and the Iowa Barnstormers. Oops typo. Those are Arena League teams.

Oh I can't wait to drool over the next NAIA or FCS coach that we hire. Will we have any coach with FBS experience? I think we are batting about zero so far. And swoon over all these can't-miss FCS players that we are bringing over.

Rouse as a coach:
None of what you wrote says anything to do with how good of a coach he is. That he left when Paul Wulff became his boss is a positive in my view. Not sure why you would think that is a negative. I am sure that you still must think Coach Leach could never be a good coach because he didn't play football.
 
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Is it really a negative that Wulff didn't keep him? Doesn't seem to me that PW was any better at evaluating coaches than he was at evaluating recruits.
Oh boy. I'm sensing a magic eye for talent appearance and vigorous debate. Maybe even a Louis Bland mention.
 
So if Michael Jordan was added to the basketball coaching staff at WSU, he should be dismissed summarily because he has no prior 'real' experience is what I'm gathering here.
 
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Sure, I'd like to have the resources, payroll, and staffs at, say, Ohio State or Texas. Then I'd insist on an ideal background and miffed if we don't have a perpetual Broyles Award nominee in half or more of our assistant slots. When we're instead in a G6 scenario with one of the worst recruiting/retention situations in the country, I not only tolerate a bit more imperfection in who WSU can land and retain, but believe approaches outside the box may be what it takes to get some difference-makers. Of course we all see the guy's resume and can wish it was more fleshed out, and we all can appreciate the risk, especially if he was going to be the OL coach on his own. Instead, as the assistant OL coach, he's really there to bring NFL cred and to land and keep some Poly guys. If nothing else, I like that it indicates that Rogers or someone else in the building is doing more than just bringing SDSU guys and making some vanilla low-end G6 hires on the cheap. It's the move of someone trying to win, not just a guy happy to have a FBS job with a big raise.
 
Jungle Dice GIF by A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie
 
Is it really a negative that Wulff didn't keep him? Doesn't seem to me that PW was any better at evaluating coaches than he was at evaluating recruits.
That he left when Paul Wulff became his boss is a positive in my view. Not sure why you would think that is a negative. I am sure that you still must think Coach Leach could never be a good coach because he didn't play football.
Hey I'm glad we are agreeing. :) I agree that Wulff sucks at evaluating coaches, and that any decent coach should run from him. That's why I'm so happy that we hired Everette Thompson from Cal Poly, where he was....wait for it....hired by Wulff!!

And no I don't think what you said about CML (RIP). So go be sure about something else.
 
Hey I'm glad we are agreeing. :) I agree that Wulff sucks at evaluating coaches, and that any decent coach should run from him. That's why I'm so happy that we hired Everette Thompson from Cal Poly, where he was....wait for it....hired by Wulff!!

And no I don't think what you said about CML (RIP). So go be sure about something else.
Hey! He’s another Poly we can use in recruiting. 😉
 
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