On sports radio yesterday in Seattle they mentioned Chun was on Kansas'

[Flatlandcoug]

Tony Bennett was never going to stay at WSU vs. taking a Virginia-level job. People are just fooling themselves if they think some additional charters would have changed that. An ACC job in basketball is the pinnacle of professional success - and that's virtually every job in the ACC. It's akin to Leach leaving for Mississippi State. He could have stayed at WSU forever but wanted the next challenge in the best conference in the country. Oh well.

It's just crazy talk to think Mrs. Bennett liking or disliking Pullman had anything to do with Tony staying. There's not a soul among us who wouldn't take on the challenge for double the pay and luxuries WSU is still dreaming about more than a decade later.

Thank him for his service and move on. Same as when Raveling left and same as when Erickson left. Better jobs, bigger challenges and more money are a fact of life.

I agree that coaching in the "best conference" was a draw for Bennett, and many people don't know that they had built a 14,500 seat arena that had been finished only a few years earlier, so he had the top notch facilities that he could only fantasize about at WSU.

 

[CougEd]

"Coach Blutarsky with more money could have afforded Flounder as OL coach instead of Harold Etheridge and kept 9-40 House open for Years 5 and 6."

I am serious about my offer...since Wulff some how ruined your junior and high school experience, I am willing to make reparations to you and pay for you to relieve those experiences. That or counseling. My Coug buddy who went through a nasty divorce and lost more than most moved on much quicker than you. You do get that experience was over ten years ago, and we had a coach raise the bar to .50 in conference play and what 6 bowl games. You would think that would ease the pain.

 

[CougEd]

in EDs world the only thing that matters is how much money a program has, it has been his constant recurring theme for years

It has been? All I have really said about money is two things...It is important for the health of an athletic department, and you don't starve a program of that valuable resource when you need the funds to hire another coach.

 

[CougEd]

Wow......a couple huge mischaracterizations here. Contrary to what you think, the vast majority of Coug fans wanted Wulff to be fired in 2011. There were a very small number of vocal supporters (cough......ED.......cough) but even the people that had been rooting for Wulff to succeed knew that his time was done. I've always said that he was closer to staying than the haters would like because we were literally a handful of plays from a bowl game in 2011, but everyone I personally know, including myself, was ready for a new coach when we failed to make a bowl. Wulff needed to be fired and I'd argue that 90% of Coug fans were fine with him being fired.

As far as taking a jab at the "handshake agreement"........that's arguably the stupidest comment that's ever been posted on this board. We went to the frickin' NCAA tournament in his first year because our AD recognized what he and his dad had built. Bennett won a frickin' national championship at Virginia after building them up from mediocrity. Your comment is the most sour grapes nonsense that I've ever seen. You deserve a Billy Madison "everyone is now dumber" award. I'm not a Tony Bennet fan, but holy crap, batman.....he's a great coach and it had nothing to do with WSU's status in the world. You and I both know that WSU would be an elite program by now if he had stayed.

I do agree that in general, your statement is true that WSU is a more forgiving place than most programs. At over half the schools in the country, Wulff's 3-22 record after two seasons would have had him on the hot seat and the 2-10 finish in 2010 would have seen him hit the road. Getting the fourth season is the proof that WSU is a forgiving place.....not fan's attitude after he was fired.

Why mischaracterize my position....or understate where I was after 2011. I said because of Tuels injury the year that was to really define Wulff was blown up. I said there was improvement, and the 2010 class really had something to it.

I had also told Biggs after 2009 and 2010 if Leach wanted to coach for a mil a year I would fire my brother and would have sent Wulff packing.

I was resigned to Wulff being fired until I saw Halliday light up ASU and come within one inch of beating Utah. It showed me we had something in two QB's not just one.

Also, my position was instead of taking an assistant coach with no head coaching experience, then it was better to see if Wulff could build on ASU and Utah.

When they leveraged Pac 12 TV money for a coach with Leach's qualification I didn't look back. That was my position.

Yes, if it was fire Wulff and hire an unknown assistant, then keep Wulff for year five and see if he could take the team with two good QB's to a bowl game.