Recruiting in the state of Washington

[Cougsocal]

There are more than 110 players from the state of Washington on Pac-12 rosters, 56 on the UW, 15 on their two deep depth chart to start the season, 39 on the WSU roster, 10 contributing right now. Two 5 star in-state recruits this year chose to play at Ohio State, #4 signed with USC, #7 went to ASU, the UW signed 4 of the top ten. Our top in-state recruit was #15. Clearly, there are going to some Washington kids in the Mountain West and Big Sky, who could have been significant contributors.

While Washington will never be confused with California in terms of recruiting, the idea that Washington is a "recruiting waste land" is a hold over excuse for a former coach who wasn't willing to develop in-state recruiting ties necessary to have a shot to sign big name kids, nor to find diamonds in the rough.

 

[Observer11]

As Mike Price said - the arms and legs of WSU football come from California but the heart comes from the state of Washington.

Maybe it was Walden who said that.

Somebody said that.

 

[COUGinNCW]

Lou Holt’s said that when he was at Minnesota as well. Substitute Wa for Minnesota and Chicago/Detroit for Cali.

 

[Fab5Coug]

I've always argued that WSU has more of a hill to climb recruiting WA than any other state. WSU will forever be "little brother" to UW when it comes to in state kids. That perception lessens when you go to CA. And it's practically non existent if you leave the Pac12 footprint.

I'm fine if a coach wants to recruit WA, but the idea that you need to dedicate more than a handful of schollies to in state kids every year is just off base, IMO.

 

[wazzucougs96]

It's important to recruit and offer any Pac 12 kids that are in state. But its also ok to understand that 90% will always want to go to UW and will leave WSU at the altar, so at no point in time should our eggs all be in the WA basket. This is true for every WSU sport with the exceptions being baseball and soccer.

 

[dgibbons]

As Mike Price said - the arms and legs of WSU football come from California but the heart comes from the state of Washington.

Maybe it was Walden who said that.

Somebody said that.

Mike Price also recruited the Raymond brothers, Aaron Joseph, Wes Rainwater, a lots of other guys that lead to 3-4 win seasons.

 

[dgibbons]

I've always argued that WSU has more of a hill to climb recruiting WA than any other state. WSU will forever be "little brother" to UW when it comes to in state kids. That perception lessens when you go to CA. And it's practically non existent if you leave the Pac12 footprint.

I'm fine if a coach wants to recruit WA, but the idea that you need to dedicate more than a handful of schollies to in state kids every year is just off base, IMO.

The sweet spot is guys like Lucas and Tryon. That's one that didn't get an offer from uw that signed with WSU, and one that verballed to WSU then bolted after a late offer from uw. You win some, you lose some, but the guys worth going after are the ones that are unlikely to get an offer from uw.

 

[mikalalas]

There are more than 110 players from the state of Washington on Pac-12 rosters, 56 on the UW, 15 on their two deep depth chart to start the season, 39 on the WSU roster, 10 contributing right now. Two 5 star in-state recruits this year chose to play at Ohio State, #4 signed with USC, #7 went to ASU, the UW signed 4 of the top ten. Our top in-state recruit was #15. Clearly, there are going to some Washington kids in the Mountain West and Big Sky, who could have been significant contributors.

While Washington will never be confused with California in terms of recruiting, the idea that Washington is a "recruiting waste land" is a hold over excuse for a former coach who wasn't willing to develop in-state recruiting ties necessary to have a shot to sign big name kids, nor to find diamonds in the rough.

I can see, understand why you, others think that, but you, others semi mostly wrong.

Washington rarely has a class like that. And when washington does, WSU, rarely gets any of them.

The last time WSU did was when Walden, Erickson, Mike Price, Doba, where Head Coaches.

Just shows how much damage Paul Wulf did to the program recruiting wise in WA.

And Wulf took all the washington 1 star Whitworth college kids.

And the washington kids have been for a whole generation now been told, brainwashed, etc, by the media, highschool coaches, government leaders, parents, uw, other college coaches, etc that Poor Ole little ole aah shucks WSU is the place where whitworth college kids go, and UW, other pac 12 schools is the place where Mountain West, P5, Pac 12 kids go.

Even all of Leach's success at WSU hasnt changed that.

Even Rolo going ALL IN on WA kids hasnt changed things. Rolo's recruiting in WA for his 2 years was extremely sucky.

And there is not going to be getting under the radar, diamonds in rough like Derting.

1. For every Derting there is 10 to 100 bust.

2. You have to be able to spot the Dertings

3. Its not easy to Spot the Dertings

4. Dertings dont go under the radar anymore as

A. Social media, internet

B. Coaches do a better job scouring

C. ESPN, Rivals, 247, etc

D. WSU is competing with and getting beat out by National Championship FCS, Mountain West like BSU, so more competition for the Dertings

Your right that if WSU coaches FOCUS on washington that it would eventually pay off after a LONG time.

BUT: It would take 3 to 5 to 7 to 10 to 13 to 15 years of that being done to get WA kids, and those kids would be more iffy then CA kids, etc.

A 3 star CA kid can be the equivalent to a 4, 5 star WA kid. 4, 5 star WA kids, are often, but not always overrated.

And there are SO MANY 3 star, and 3.5 star kids in CA, Texas, that WSU can, could, would, should semi easily be able to get some of them.

And these kids havent been brainwashed to think that only whitworth college kids goto WSU, like with WA kids.

So what should a WSU HC do?

Well they shouldnt ignore WA kids like leach

And they shouldnt go all in on WA and end up like Wulf and Rolo.

Instead they should have a couple, few, some recruiters, semi focus somewhere between a little to some in moderation on WA kids. Build relationships with Highschool HC's, and kids, and schools. If there are kids worth offering, offer them. But if they are not at least 3 star kids, do not offer them. Maybe take, offer 1,2 2 star, 2.5 star WA kids, IF you think they will be, are worth it.

And a couple, few, some washington kids should be given preferred walk on status.

And should have a Healthy walk on program for WA kids.

And WSU should host a lot of service camps, football camps, 7 on 7's, under armour events, Rivals, ESPN, 247 events, all by WSU football, HC, Coaches, players, AD, campus, and MARKET, bring in hundreds of washington kids, to EXPOSE them to WSU, train them, serve them, help them, offer them IF they are worth it, IF they are either at least 3 stars, or extremely good chance that they will become 3+ stars soon.

Meanwhile, the MAIN FOCUS should be on getting SOUTHERN CA, and TEXAS, and Florida, and Hawai, and Samoa, kids, then SCOURING all over the USA to get 3.5 star recruits WHEREVER can find and get them.

Thats the recipe for success in recruiting at WSU.

What Paul Wulf, Rolo did in WA was not good.

Also need to have some ACE recruiters on WSU staff.

Making WA the MAIN or even sub main or semi main focus is a waste of time and resources

Oh and dealing with an or taking any of TRACY FORD's kids is NOT good as well and is extremely bad.

 

[CougEd]

I can see, understand why you, others think that, but you, others semi mostly wrong.

Washington rarely has a class like that. And when washington does, WSU, rarely gets any of them.

The last time WSU did was when Walden, Erickson, Mike Price, Doba, where Head Coaches.

Just shows how much damage Paul Wulf did to the program recruiting wise in WA.

And Wulf took all the washington 1 star Whitworth college kids.

And the washington kids have been for a whole generation now been told, brainwashed, etc, by the media, highschool coaches, government leaders, parents, uw, other college coaches, etc that Poor Ole little ole aah shucks WSU is the place where whitworth college kids go, and UW, other pac 12 schools is the place where Mountain West, P5, Pac 12 kids go.

Even all of Leach's success at WSU hasnt changed that.

Even Rolo going ALL IN on WA kids hasnt changed things. Rolo's recruiting in WA for his 2 years was extremely sucky.

And there is not going to be getting under the radar, diamonds in rough like Derting.

1. For every Derting there is 10 to 100 bust.

2. You have to be able to spot the Dertings

3. Its not easy to Spot the Dertings

4. Dertings dont go under the radar anymore as

A. Social media, internet

B. Coaches do a better job scouring

C. ESPN, Rivals, 247, etc

D. WSU is competing with and getting beat out by National Championship FCS, Mountain West like BSU, so more competition for the Dertings

Your right that if WSU coaches FOCUS on washington that it would eventually pay off after a LONG time.

BUT: It would take 3 to 5 to 7 to 10 to 13 to 15 years of that being done to get WA kids, and those kids would be more iffy then CA kids, etc.

A 3 star CA kid can be the equivalent to a 4, 5 star WA kid. 4, 5 star WA kids, are often, but not always overrated.

And there are SO MANY 3 star, and 3.5 star kids in CA, Texas, that WSU can, could, would, should semi easily be able to get some of them.

And these kids havent been brainwashed to think that only whitworth college kids goto WSU, like with WA kids.

So what should a WSU HC do?

Well they shouldnt ignore WA kids like leach

And they shouldnt go all in on WA and end up like Wulf and Rolo.

Instead they should have a couple, few, some recruiters, semi focus somewhere between a little to some in moderation on WA kids. Build relationships with Highschool HC's, and kids, and schools. If there are kids worth offering, offer them. But if they are not at least 3 star kids, do not offer them. Maybe take, offer 1,2 2 star, 2.5 star WA kids, IF you think they will be, are worth it.

And a couple, few, some washington kids should be given preferred walk on status.

And should have a Healthy walk on program for WA kids.

And WSU should host a lot of service camps, football camps, 7 on 7's, under armour events, Rivals, ESPN, 247 events, all by WSU football, HC, Coaches, players, AD, campus, and MARKET, bring in hundreds of washington kids, to EXPOSE them to WSU, train them, serve them, help them, offer them IF they are worth it, IF they are either at least 3 stars, or extremely good chance that they will become 3+ stars soon.

Meanwhile, the MAIN FOCUS should be on getting SOUTHERN CA, and TEXAS, and Florida, and Hawai, and Samoa, kids, then SCOURING all over the USA to get 3.5 star recruits WHEREVER can find and get them.

Thats the recipe for success in recruiting at WSU.

What Paul Wulf, Rolo did in WA was not good.

Also need to have some ACE recruiters on WSU staff.

Making WA the MAIN or even sub main or semi main focus is a waste of time and resources

Oh and dealing with an or taking any of TRACY FORD's kids is NOT good as well and is extremely bad.

Has nothing to do with PW. I ran into our local high school coach, someone who coached Thomas Toki and Ali Gaye ((LSU) for example. He hasn’t had a kid that is near that size or athletic ability in last five years . He told me 5 years ago he had 159 kids in the program, I think he now has 90.

He said it was down across the state. Kids rather be on their phones he said than play a sport , not to mention one that has concussion part of the concern. So the numbers are way down across the state .

WSU had jack Thompson, within five years there was Mark Rypien. Two years later there was Timm Rosenbach. Two years later there was Drew. All state of Washington kids . Since 1992 they have had one QB from our state … Connor H

There is a problem in numbers and quality.

 

[mikalalas]

I can see, understand why you, others think that, but you, others semi mostly wrong.

Washington rarely has a class like that. And when washington does, WSU, rarely gets any of them.

The last time WSU did was when Walden, Erickson, Mike Price, Doba, where Head Coaches.

Just shows how much damage Paul Wulf did to the program recruiting wise in WA.

And Wulf took all the washington 1 star Whitworth college kids.

And the washington kids have been for a whole generation now been told, brainwashed, etc, by the media, highschool coaches, government leaders, parents, uw, other college coaches, etc that Poor Ole little ole aah shucks WSU is the place where whitworth college kids go, and UW, other pac 12 schools is the place where Mountain West, P5, Pac 12 kids go.

Even all of Leach's success at WSU hasnt changed that.

Even Rolo going ALL IN on WA kids hasnt changed things. Rolo's recruiting in WA for his 2 years was extremely sucky.

And there is not going to be getting under the radar, diamonds in rough like Derting.

1. For every Derting there is 10 to 100 bust.

2. You have to be able to spot the Dertings

3. Its not easy to Spot the Dertings

4. Dertings dont go under the radar anymore as

A. Social media, internet

B. Coaches do a better job scouring

C. ESPN, Rivals, 247, etc

D. WSU is competing with and getting beat out by National Championship FCS, Mountain West like BSU, so more competition for the Dertings

Your right that if WSU coaches FOCUS on washington that it would eventually pay off after a LONG time.

BUT: It would take 3 to 5 to 7 to 10 to 13 to 15 years of that being done to get WA kids, and those kids would be more iffy then CA kids, etc.

A 3 star CA kid can be the equivalent to a 4, 5 star WA kid. 4, 5 star WA kids, are often, but not always overrated.

And there are SO MANY 3 star, and 3.5 star kids in CA, Texas, that WSU can, could, would, should semi easily be able to get some of them.

And these kids havent been brainwashed to think that only whitworth college kids goto WSU, like with WA kids.

So what should a WSU HC do?

Well they shouldnt ignore WA kids like leach

And they shouldnt go all in on WA and end up like Wulf and Rolo.

Instead they should have a couple, few, some recruiters, semi focus somewhere between a little to some in moderation on WA kids. Build relationships with Highschool HC's, and kids, and schools. If there are kids worth offering, offer them. But if they are not at least 3 star kids, do not offer them. Maybe take, offer 1,2 2 star, 2.5 star WA kids, IF you think they will be, are worth it.

And a couple, few, some washington kids should be given preferred walk on status.

And should have a Healthy walk on program for WA kids.

And WSU should host a lot of service camps, football camps, 7 on 7's, under armour events, Rivals, ESPN, 247 events, all by WSU football, HC, Coaches, players, AD, campus, and MARKET, bring in hundreds of washington kids, to EXPOSE them to WSU, train them, serve them, help them, offer them IF they are worth it, IF they are either at least 3 stars, or extremely good chance that they will become 3+ stars soon.

Meanwhile, the MAIN FOCUS should be on getting SOUTHERN CA, and TEXAS, and Florida, and Hawai, and Samoa, kids, then SCOURING all over the USA to get 3.5 star recruits WHEREVER can find and get them.

Thats the recipe for success in recruiting at WSU.

What Paul Wulf, Rolo did in WA was not good.

Also need to have some ACE recruiters on WSU staff.

Making WA the MAIN or even sub main or semi main focus is a waste of time and resources

Oh and dealing with an or taking any of TRACY FORD's kids is NOT good as well and is extremely bad.

And this has been explained by Biggs, Dgibs, observer, me, others a lot. And each year someone wrongly brings up the whole "Lets focus on, recruit WASHINGTON.

That is a waste of time. As has been explained a LOT.

Wish people would read, get, listen to those explanations and stop bringing up the whole "WSU Should make recruiting WA its main focus"

 

[wazzucougs96]

Has nothing to do with PW. I ran into our local high school coach, someone who coached Thomas Toki and Ali Gaye ((LSU) for example. He hasn’t had a kid that is near that size or athletic ability in last five years . He told me 5 years ago he had 159 kids in the program, I think he now has 90.

He said it was down across the state. Kids rather be on their phones he said than play a sport , not to mention one that has concussion part of the concern. So the numbers are way down across the state .

WSU had jack Thompson, within five years there was Mark Rypien. Two years later there was Timm Rosenbach. Two years later there was Drew. All state of Washington kids . Since 1992 they have had one QB from our state … Connor H

There is a problem in numbers and quality.

Gary Rogers was from Mukilteo. Lobbestahl was from Oak Harbor. And we whiffed big time on Kellen Moore who was from Tri Cities.

 

[Fab5Coug]

Has nothing to do with PW. I ran into our local high school coach, someone who coached Thomas Toki and Ali Gaye ((LSU) for example. He hasn’t had a kid that is near that size or athletic ability in last five years . He told me 5 years ago he had 159 kids in the program, I think he now has 90.

He said it was down across the state. Kids rather be on their phones he said than play a sport , not to mention one that has concussion part of the concern. So the numbers are way down across the state .

WSU had jack Thompson, within five years there was Mark Rypien. Two years later there was Timm Rosenbach. Two years later there was Drew. All state of Washington kids . Since 1992 they have had one QB from our state … Connor H

There is a problem in numbers and quality.

Why do you hate Oak Harbor's own, Marshall Lobbestael?

 

[COUGinNCW]

Gary Rogers was from Mukilteo. Lobbestahl was from Oak Harbor. And we whiffed big time on Kellen Moore who was from Tri Cities.

Missed on Brett Rypien As well.

 

[cr8zyncalif]

Just a few thoughts re: WA recruiting for WSU football.

The term "self fulfilling prophecy" has always come to mind. I've seen three HC mindsets over the past 50-ish years. 1.) recruit the heck out of the state. Takes at least 2 - 2.5 full time guys to heavily recruit the whole state plus adjoining BC, Oregon & Idaho areas. 2.) Put one - 1.5 guys on it who will diligently maintain relationships with the 40-50 HS coaches who can keep an eye on things in the WA & adjacent areas. Offer those kids who make sense. Get a few. 3.) Ignore the PNW and focus all the effort elsewhere. Maybe you have one assistant who is totally worthless as a recruiter, and that guy is who you put on the PNW beat. Inevitably, the guy who takes the 1.) approach gets more PNW kids than 2.), and 2.) gets more than 3.). The real question relates to value to the program. I think you cannot do 3.), for a whole host of reasons. And I'd guess off the top of my head that there are not quite enough kids here to justify doing 1.)....maybe one year in three or one year in 4 would it make sense. So defacto we are looking at 2.)

The reasons to make at least a reasonable effort in the PNW include things as far ranging as alum support, political cover, media coverage, advertising support for the broadcast network and a whole lot of things that go beyond just recruiting athletes. In my mind, the PNW is worth 1.5 guys, and if one was energetic and one was more of a good ole' boy, that would be fine. The other 0.5 is because one of those guys would also cover NorCal outside of the Bay area itself (i.e., Sacramento; Reno if the guy has any ties there; and/or down the valley as far as Fresno). The Bay area gets a guy. SoCal/Las Vegas gets at least 4, and make it 5 if there are not many existing ties on the staff to Texas, Florida, et al. So in most cases that adds up to 1.5 for PNW, 6.5 for California/Nevada, and a couple to go where they may have some pre-existing ties...that could be Texas, Florida, Chicagoland or anywhere else where they happen to already be plugged in. You could even use them as a supplement for any area that happened to be talent-rich that year (including the PNW).

I'd expect the 6.5 guys in Cal/Nev to pull in at least 2/3 of the recruiting class, and some years 3/4.

Last comment...the self-fulfilling prophecy again...no staff has every assistant being a top recruiter. Put the top recruiter with a second guy to support/back-up/help with follow up. He deserves a support team, because you want to leverage his effort. Since you only have 1.5 guys in NorCal, that means one go getter and one that probably is not. For the 5 guys in California you need minimum two go-getters, and 3 would be better. In the PNW you have your youngest, least experienced but most energetic guy (the 1) paired with a slower, older good ole' boy (the 0.5, who is also helping the NorCal go getter). That means you have to have at least 4 energetic recruiters. More is better, but 4 is the minimum if you want consistently successful recruiting classes.

 

[FnuLnu]

Gary Rogers was from Mukilteo. Lobbestahl was from Oak Harbor. And we whiffed big time on Kellen Moore who was from Tri Cities.

Kellen Moore was from Prosser not the Tri Cities.

Played for his dad in a great program but not a well regarded league (Mid Valley).

Rosie also played in a lightly regarded league, the Frontier League. Probably downgraded Moore for that and being less athletic than he was (and based on who he offered instead)

 

[CougEd]

Why do you hate Oak Harbor's own, Marshall Lobbestael?

My bad . Marshall really never started and was benched in favor of a freshman . And Gary… started what one game ? I think the point being was the 20 years between getting a nfl we from the state of Washington when we had 4 in 12 years , high end qbs .

 

[wazzucougs96]

Kellen Moore was from Prosser not the Tri Cities.

Played for his dad in a great program but not a well regarded league (Mid Valley).

Rosie also played in a lightly regarded league, the Frontier League. Probably downgraded Moore for that and being less athletic than he was (and based on who he offered instead)

my bad

 

[dgibbons]

Gary Rogers was from Mukilteo. Lobbestahl was from Oak Harbor. And we whiffed big time on Kellen Moore who was from Tri Cities.

Well, Kellen would have died behind the OLs WSU was fielding in his day. And he was a Prosser Mustang. Son of the coach.

 

[WaltherPPK]

who gives a shit with respect to all your history, numbers and hubris ! The past means nothing to this year and what is going on now. And, what is going on now is being guided by a staff that doesn't have a multi year contracted head coach. All you "team captains" and "hall of shamers" can thank the DUFUS AD for this ! Now the left over staff appear to be capable and continuing the work left in place by the last HEAD coach. You all better be praying that the AD doesn't **** up the programs future, once again !

 

[CougEd]

who gives a shit with respect to all your history, numbers and hubris ! The past means nothing to this year and what is going on now. And, what is going on now is being guided by a staff that doesn't have a multi year contracted head coach. All you "team captains" and "hall of shamers" can thank the DUFUS AD for this ! Now the left over staff appear to be capable and continuing the work left in place by the last HEAD coach. You all better be praying that the AD doesn't **** up the programs future, once again !

Apparently his mistake was fixed a couple of weeks ago . Do you think chun made bad hires for woman’s soccer, men’s and woman’s bball?

 

[Coug90]

Apparently his mistake was fixed a couple of weeks ago . Do you think chun made bad hires for woman’s soccer, men’s and woman’s bball?

He thinks Chun killed Kennedy, started Covid, and took Gilligans Island off the air.

 

[WaltherPPK]

WoW - that's the cut and paste come back for "AD defense 101" ?

Which one of those programs is gonna even DENT the AD's debt ??

So all three are gonna eclipse the revenue generation ability of a healthy, stable Fball program ??

You think the grads are flocking to attend/support/genuflect to your three hires ?

Compare that to at least, the potential of a healthy stable Fball program !

OK, the AD made one, maybe two whiz bang hires OR as it appears to date. Who knows which underling was responsible in the AD dept for steering your idol away from a crap hire and setting him on a better path ?

Ah yes, then there is the likes of Coug90. Got a degree in general studies, then denied to grad work in film studies cause he couldn't name the complete cast of the first season. Still, gilligan would be proud ! Now immortalizes bobby kennedy for chappaquiddick. Can you recognize when your not trying hard enough ?

 

[Coug90]

WoW - that's the cut and paste come back for "AD defense 101" ?

Which one of those programs is gonna even DENT the AD's debt ??

So all three are gonna eclipse the revenue generation ability of a healthy, stable Fball program ??

You think the grads are flocking to attend/support/genuflect to your three hires ?

Compare that to at least, the potential of a healthy stable Fball program !

OK, the AD made one, maybe two whiz bang hires OR as it appears to date. Who knows which underling was responsible in the AD dept for steering your idol away from a crap hire and setting him on a better path ?

Ah yes, then there is the likes of Coug90. Got a degree in general studies, then denied to grad work in film studies cause he couldn't name the complete cast of the first season. Still, gilligan would be proud ! Now immortalizes bobby kennedy for chappaquiddick. Can you recognize when your not trying hard enough ?

Don’t need to try hard to make you look silly. You do a good enough job of that yourself…And it’s “You’re”….learned something in general studies I guess.

 

[CougEd]

WoW - that's the cut and paste come back for "AD defense 101" ?

Which one of those programs is gonna even DENT the AD's debt ??

So all three are gonna eclipse the revenue generation ability of a healthy, stable Fball program ??

You think the grads are flocking to attend/support/genuflect to your three hires ?

Compare that to at least, the potential of a healthy stable Fball program !

OK, the AD made one, maybe two whiz bang hires OR as it appears to date. Who knows which underling was responsible in the AD dept for steering your idol away from a crap hire and setting him on a better path ?

Ah yes, then there is the likes of Coug90. Got a degree in general studies, then denied to grad work in film studies cause he couldn't name the complete cast of the first season. Still, gilligan would be proud ! Now immortalizes bobby kennedy for chappaquiddick. Can you recognize when your not trying hard enough ?

I don’t get it . The coach decided he had more important things . And you don’t think Dickert can match rolos record? You act like Rolo is the next urban. Meyers .

 

[Coug90]

I don’t get it . The coach decided he had more important things . And you don’t think Dickert can match rolos record? You act like Rolo is the next urban. Meyers .

You know the answer to this little riddle Ed it ain’t hard. And Walther ain’t gonna feed it to you any more than he already has.

 

[Cougsocal]

I've always argued that WSU has more of a hill to climb recruiting WA than any other state. WSU will forever be "little brother" to UW when it comes to in state kids. That perception lessens when you go to CA. And it's practically non existent if you leave the Pac12 footprint.

I'm fine if a coach wants to recruit WA, but the idea that you need to dedicate more than a handful of schollies to in state kids every year is just off base, IMO.

No one says dedicate scholarships to in state kids, that's a strawman argument, you never sign kids who you don't think can play. However, we don't go to the 1997 Rose Bowl without the fat five, 4 of who were in-staters, only one of who was a traditional recruit, Jason McEndoo. Throw in two Spokane kids on defense, and a couple westside kids too, one a walk-on playing MLB. That's 9 in-staters (essentially, Rainville was from Lewiston) on the best Cougar team ever. Those kids don't exist anyone?

Imagine if Mike Leach had trawled the state for talent in the years prior to 2018, instead of assuming that the only talent worth signing were recruiting service leftovers elsewhere? Making those phone calls and appearance like Price did? We will never know, but that 2018 team was so close.

You want to lay the relationship ground work at both ends of the recruiting spectrum in state, from 5 star Bledsoe to little known James Darling from Kettle Falls, both long term NFL talents. Its inexpensive, little down side, but it does take extra time, effort and commitment.

 

[wazzucougs96]

No one says dedicate scholarships to in state kids, that's a strawman argument, you never sign kids who you don't think can play. However, we don't go to the 1997 Rose Bowl without the fat five, 4 of who were in-staters, only one of who was a traditional recruit, Jason McEndoo. Throw in two Spokane kids on defense, and a couple westside kids too, one a walk-on playing MLB. That's 8 in-staters (essentially, Rainville was from Lewiston) on the best Cougar team ever. Those kids don't exist anyone?

Imagine if Mike Leach had trawled the state for talent in the years prior to 2018, instead of assuming that the only talent worth signing were recruiting service leftovers elsewhere? Making those phone calls and appearance like Price did? We will never know, but that 2018 team was so close.

You want to lay the relationship ground work at both ends of the recruiting spectrum in state, from 5 star Bledsoe to little known James Darling from Kettle Falls, both long term NFL talents. Its inexpensive, little down side, but it does take extra time, effort and commitment.

How many high schools in WA run the air raid? I would bet its fewer than a dozen, most of our high schools still run Wing T or some variation thereof. The players Leach was looking for simply weren't in this state, with the exception of OL.

 

[Glad Cougar]

According to "the other site", Dickert and staff (minus Morrison & McKnight, who haven't been fully cleared by the NCAA yet) will be on the road recruiting later this week but staying within the state. Dickert seems to want to emphasize Washington as a "home base" for WSU recruiting. I don't know how wise that is long term, but he certainly wants to begin branding the program in state and if he gets the permanent job, it's likely there will be more attention paid to in state kids than Leach had, right or wrong. Given the fact that the staff can only spend a couple of days recruiting in a bye week and it's an interim staff to begin with, it makes sense to invest the time strengthening relationships with Washington HS coaches and programs. Not enough bandwidth to do much else.

For the record, WSU has 9 verbals so far....3 of them are in-state kids. Nobody has de-committed, yet.

Glad Cougar

 

[Fab5Coug]

No one says dedicate scholarships to in state kids, that's a strawman argument, you never sign kids who you don't think can play. However, we don't go to the 1997 Rose Bowl without the fat five, 4 of who were in-staters, only one of who was a traditional recruit, Jason McEndoo. Throw in two Spokane kids on defense, and a couple westside kids too, one a walk-on playing MLB. That's 9 in-staters (essentially, Rainville was from Lewiston) on the best Cougar team ever. Those kids don't exist anyone?

Imagine if Mike Leach had trawled the state for talent in the years prior to 2018, instead of assuming that the only talent worth signing were recruiting service leftovers elsewhere? Making those phone calls and appearance like Price did? We will never know, but that 2018 team was so close.

You want to lay the relationship ground work at both ends of the recruiting spectrum in state, from 5 star Bledsoe to little known James Darling from Kettle Falls, both long term NFL talents. Its inexpensive, little down side, but it does take extra time, effort and commitment.

I'm not sure if you're really disagreeing with my overall point. Give 3 or 4 spots to in state kids per year, then take as many walk ons as you can. That kind of sounds like what you're describing.

And I don't know why people think we have to do things like in 1997. That was 24 years ago. That team was also extremely senior laden and extremely fortunate from an injury standpoint. Was that team head and shoulders better than 2018? Probably not.

You say that 2018 team could have used some more in staters? Ok, does that come at the expense of the scholarship for Minshew? Or Easop Winston? Mauigoa? Hunter Dale? Sean Harper?

The Mike Price model yielded some miracle seasons and some pretty rough teams in between. Leach's model led to more consistently good teams. Were it not for his stubbornness in the AC, maybe even a trip to the RB as well.

 

[cr8zyncalif]

I have to point out that there is always more than one way to skin the cat, and recruiting is just one more example of that. As long as a staff does a good job with pretty much any approach, with consistency over time, they can get good results. It is more about how well they execute than it is about the specific strategy. There are many, many reasons to have a presence in WA, so it is dumb to simply ignore it, even if you can win without paying attention to the state. That does not mean that you focus the bulk of your resources in the PNW, because you have to recruit where the large numbers of kids reside. Obviously that is CA, but there are other places (TX, FL, Chicagoland) where it might make sense to have at least a nominal presence, especially if an assistant has existing connections there. The Oregon schools used to do really well in NorCal. Not as many kids there as SoCal, but there has typically also been a lot less competition, since neither Cal nor Stanford can admit the majority of the P5 prospects. For that reason, the bulk of the P5 Norcal kids do not go to school close to home. Of course, the situation is often similar in SoCal, because UCLA has the same admission issues as Cal, and SC used to get so many kids from out of state. However, the recruiting competition is intense in SoCal, because everybody recruits the area. I've been surprised over the years at our inconsistent NorCal presence. And it is not like SoCal is that much bigger...based on where the line is usually drawn, SoCal has about 23 million vs. NorCal's 15 million. NorCal is more spread out...but there are still a lot of folks there. I can't see any more than 2 assistants being devoted to the entire PNW, and that is stretching it. I'd like to see 2 in NorCal, and most of the rest in SoCal.

 

[Cougsocal]

How many high schools in WA run the air raid? I would bet its fewer than a dozen, most of our high schools still run Wing T or some variation thereof. The players Leach was looking for simply weren't in this state, with the exception of OL.

You are kidding right? While RB recruiting might have been difficult, granted, primarily hard working undersized WRs w/o elite speed, are right up the in-state recruiting ally. Let's not forget what Yakima's own Cooper Kupp might have done for the air raid had Leach been on the in-state recruiting ball! Rose Bowl anyone? Gabe Marks, Kyle Sweet and Brandon Arconado types are available pretty much everywhere. That's why the air raid worked in Pullman. Leach didn't need a flock of elite future NFL WRs to make it tick.

Wing T? Not where I live, it is mostly one back offenses.

 

[Fab5Coug]

You are kidding right? While RB recruiting might have been difficult, granted, primarily hard working undersized WRs w/o elite speed, are right up the in-state recruiting ally. Let's not forget what Yakima's own Cooper Kupp might have done for the air raid had Leach been on the in-state recruiting ball! Rose Bowl anyone? Gabe Marks, Kyle Sweet and Brandon Arconado types are available pretty much everywhere. That's why the air raid worked in Pullman. Leach didn't need a flock of elite future NFL WRs to make it tick.

Wing T? Not where I live, it is mostly one back offenses.

Kupp was 2012 recruit. Leach had been on the job for a couple months by the time Kupp signed his LOI. You want to blame someone for him not being in WSU's orbit, blame Wulff.

And Leach did sign Marks in that class, so it's not like looking down in CA for a WR was exactly a bad choice.

 

[Coug90]

I have to point out that there is always more than one way to skin the cat, and recruiting is just one more example of that. As long as a staff does a good job with pretty much any approach, with consistency over time, they can get good results. It is more about how well they execute than it is about the specific strategy. There are many, many reasons to have a presence in WA, so it is dumb to simply ignore it, even if you can win without paying attention to the state. That does not mean that you focus the bulk of your resources in the PNW, because you have to recruit where the large numbers of kids reside. Obviously that is CA, but there are other places (TX, FL, Chicagoland) where it might make sense to have at least a nominal presence, especially if an assistant has existing connections there. The Oregon schools used to do really well in NorCal. Not as many kids there as SoCal, but there has typically also been a lot less competition, since neither Cal nor Stanford can admit the majority of the P5 prospects. For that reason, the bulk of the P5 Norcal kids do not go to school close to home. Of course, the situation is often similar in SoCal, because UCLA has the same admission issues as Cal, and SC used to get so many kids from out of state. However, the recruiting competition is intense in SoCal, because everybody recruits the area. I've been surprised over the years at our inconsistent NorCal presence. And it is not like SoCal is that much bigger...based on where the line is usually drawn, SoCal has about 23 million vs. NorCal's 15 million. NorCal is more spread out...but there are still a lot of folks there. I can't see any more than 2 assistants being devoted to the entire PNW, and that is stretching it. I'd like to see 2 in NorCal, and most of the rest in SoCal.

Not only that it’s going to change every year. It’s always fluid. Coaches move around and talent is cyclical. A lot of us are in the sales world, I’ve had dud accounts for years that turned into year changing deals because one of my contacts slid into an executive role and started making changes. This stuff happens in coaching too. You can’t just write something off because of some mythical forcefield. If you do that in any profession you are already defeated.

 

[Cougsocal]

I'm not sure if you're really disagreeing with my overall point. Give 3 or 4 spots to in state kids per year, then take as many walk ons as you can. That kind of sounds like what you're describing.

And I don't know why people think we have to do things like in 1997. That was 24 years ago. That team was also extremely senior laden and extremely fortunate from an injury standpoint. Was that team head and shoulders better than 2018? Probably not.

You say that 2018 team could have used some more in staters? Ok, does that come at the expense of the scholarship for Minshew? Or Easop Winston? Mauigoa? Hunter Dale? Sean Harper?

The Mike Price model yielded some miracle seasons and some pretty rough teams in between. Leach's model led to more consistently good teams. Were it not for his stubbornness in the AC, maybe even a trip to the RB as well.

The goal is to recruit 25 or so kids a year, so that 22 or so kids can win a championship at some point. The 1997 Cougs did that at a time when the conference was still highly regarded. The 2018 team didn't do that, at a time when Pac-12 schools lose to Big Sky and MWC conference teams with alarming regularity, at a time when the conference is generally considered the weakest of the P5. So yes, significantly better to the first question. Yes and no, to the second question, if those guys are at the bottom of recruiting list and there are better kids available, hell yes.

What Price did wasn't "miracle seasons." Price only won when he had recruited high end talent, lost big when he didn't. In 1997 and 2002, we were the best team in the conference bar none. The only games we lost in conference were "upsets." What Leach did was a miracle. He had 4 winning seasons including going 11-2, despite having recruiting classes consider at or near the bottom nearly every year.

Honestly, I don't care how it is done, local kids, kids from the Eastern bloc, doesn't matter to me. But we need to get better talent in Pullman than we have now, or we had under Leach, because if we don't, we will always be an also ran, like we have been every year since 2002.

How did Kyle Smith respond to signing the most highly regarded BB recruit in modern program history? By signing an even more highly regarded recruit the next year. Football needs to get some of that same mojo going. There are coaches out there who can out recruit Mike Leach, the poster child for "grumpy old men." It isn't a very high bar.

 

[Cougsocal]

Kupp was 2012 recruit. Leach had been on the job for a couple months by the time Kupp signed his LOI. You want to blame someone for him not being in WSU's orbit, blame Wulff.

And Leach did sign Marks in that class, so it's not like looking down in CA for a WR was exactly a bad choice.

Do you kiss a framed photo of Mike Leach before you go to sleep at night? Holy Shite! Can't imagine what you'd be like had he ever actually won a critical game down the stretch to get us into the Pac-12 championship game!

 

[Fab5Coug]

Do you kiss a framed photo of Mike Leach before you go to sleep at night? Holy Shite! Can't imagine what you'd be like had he ever actually won a critical game down the stretch to get us into the Pac-12 championship game!

Why is that your response? Thought we were just talking recruiting here. Not really sure what warranted that.

 

[roses04]

It was interesting did anyone notice the hat Dickert was wearing. It was what most of us refer to has the "baseball hat" with the "W" on it. Maybe Dickert is sending a message, to recruits in the state. We're a Washington school too.

 

[Cougsocal]

Why is that your response? Thought we were just talking recruiting here. Not really sure what warranted that.

I apologize. It was out of frustration. The Leach could do no wrong attitude, and implying that the biggest whole in his game was actually a strength. Leach had plenty of time, two and a half months, to evaluate Kupp and offer. Who wouldn't want Gabe Marks and Gabe Marks in an NFL RB body (Kupp). It might have been the difference maker getting Leach over the hump.

 

[etowncoug]

It was interesting did anyone notice the hat Dickert was wearing. It was what most of us refer to has the "baseball hat" with the "W" on it. Maybe Dickert is sending a message, to recruits in the state. We're a Washington school too.

Dickerts old school, hence the old school hat.

 

[Cougsocal]

It was interesting did anyone notice the hat Dickert was wearing. It was what most of us refer to has the "baseball hat" with the "W" on it. Maybe Dickert is sending a message, to recruits in the state. We're a Washington school too.

I hope he is thinking that way. This is an opportunity of a lifetime for him, I hope he is trying to pull out all the stops and would crawl over broken glass to get this job. There is something to be said for young and energetic.