The 5 hour drive home after depressing losses provides me with a lot of time to ponder our program. Prior to the season, all of the talk about super conferences, NIL, and the transfer portal had me doubting the sustainability of WSU football. Then, on top of that, Rolo's vax antics and the coaching questions I have about him only added to my worries.
Over the past few weeks, I've pivoted from my paranoia about our program. Having watched most of the P12 and MWC teams play this season it's reminded me of something. Apart from a couple of exceptions like Oregon and USC, P12 football is still a major work in progress. For as bad (or at least unsettled) as things are for WSU right now, most of the other teams in our league are facing major issues of their own.
Nobody in the P12 other than Oregon is willing to go all-in on football. I follow the MWC almost as closely as I do the P12, and 5-6 of those programs have more complete rosters than most P12 teams. Boise State, Utah State, SDSU, Fresno State, and San Jose State would challenge for top-3 finishes in both the North and South divisions of the P12. Nevada and Wyoming aren't pushovers either. The manage to recruit and develop West coast kids without the benefit of being a P5 member school, without marketing notoriety, without fancy facilities and big donor bucks. Fresno State, BYU, Wyoming, Boise State, and Nevada can find elite QBs, and half the P12 can't seem to find kids who would start in the Big Sky. How is that possible?
WSU needs to figure out what they're doing with Rolo and move on from him as soon as we can. There are at least 8 other P12 programs that are spinning their wheels.
Over the past few weeks, I've pivoted from my paranoia about our program. Having watched most of the P12 and MWC teams play this season it's reminded me of something. Apart from a couple of exceptions like Oregon and USC, P12 football is still a major work in progress. For as bad (or at least unsettled) as things are for WSU right now, most of the other teams in our league are facing major issues of their own.
Nobody in the P12 other than Oregon is willing to go all-in on football. I follow the MWC almost as closely as I do the P12, and 5-6 of those programs have more complete rosters than most P12 teams. Boise State, Utah State, SDSU, Fresno State, and San Jose State would challenge for top-3 finishes in both the North and South divisions of the P12. Nevada and Wyoming aren't pushovers either. The manage to recruit and develop West coast kids without the benefit of being a P5 member school, without marketing notoriety, without fancy facilities and big donor bucks. Fresno State, BYU, Wyoming, Boise State, and Nevada can find elite QBs, and half the P12 can't seem to find kids who would start in the Big Sky. How is that possible?
WSU needs to figure out what they're doing with Rolo and move on from him as soon as we can. There are at least 8 other P12 programs that are spinning their wheels.