Loading ...Longtime Cougar Paul Wulff Is The Man
Let the blogging begin! Washington State University has signed former Cougar lineman Paul Wulff as their new head football coach. The spotlight is familiar for Wulff, having spent the past eight seasons as the head man at Eastern Washington where he’s spent 15 years coaching in various capacities.
Judging by the way Wulff handled himself at the press conference yesterday to announce his hiring, the media attention is expected. Reading between the lines, Wulff is more than willing to deal with media, alumni, fans and bloggers.
What better way to begin his tenure as the WSU head football coach than to make it clear that his goal is to grow the Cougs into the best, not second best, college football program in the state. Referring to his early days as a WSU student, “I leaned that…I wasn’t supposed to like purple. And I don’t like purple and that has not changed. It’s 22 years later, and I really don’t like purple. And that is going to be very clear.” No apologies about tough recruiting challenges. “That is a battle that we will win. We’re going to go after those guys. We’re going to attack them. And we’re going to find ways to take control of this deal and run the best program in the state of Washington…”
Wulff sounds like a young, enthusiastic man who’s excited to be taking over the football program from Bill Doba.
While there has been tremendous attention given to the potential candidates to replace Coach Doba, this blogger has been quietly confident of the people involved in the decision-making process. Specifically, athletic director Jim Sterk seems to have a pulse on both assessing talent and finding people who are a good fit for Pullman. The other impressive person involved is former #61, offensive lineman Bill Moos, who played for the Cougs from 1970-72, earning All PAC-8 honors along the way (yes, his time in Pullman predates the Arizona schools joining the conference). Moos was the long-time athletic director at the University of Oregon and former associate athletic director at WSU. To say that he has great contacts from coast-to-coast would be a massive understatement. Moos knows talent, potential and who should make a good fit in Pullman. This Cougar is grateful that Bill Moos played a critical role in this process. And just as it was key in the hiring and promotion of Tony Bennett as the head basketball coach, matching talent, potential and a good fit for Pullman are the key elements in making the right choice.
Can you imagine spring practice where the offense never huddles up? That’s what things will look like when the 2008 squad begins to take form for WSU. Wulff wants to run a no-huddle offense. That begins with practice. Will that offense work in the PAC-10? It sure did for Oregon when Dennis Dixon was playing quarterback. If Wulff can blend the current scholarship athletes with new recruits to comprise a rich talent base, it will work in Pullman.
That’s the next phase for Cougar football, and the first test for Paul Wulff. Can he find PAC-10 caliber students who will commit to Washington State? As a native Californian, someone sold Wulff on Pullman. He is like so many other Californians who have attended WSU. Pullman gets in your blood to where you bleed crimson and gray the rest of your life. And lovin’ it!!!
GO COUGS!!!
Glenn W
December 14th, 2007 at 1:42 am
Oh yes, Southern Californians bleeding crimson and gray. It can be painful, but is unavoidable. Talk about flying under the radar, I hope Paul Wulff is the guy!
MarkE
December 15th, 2007 at 1:08 pm
One thing about WSU is that those who have been here, get it. Wulff gets it. And, something that is critical in the world of recruiting, he can sell it. Having a solid program that is more than collisions, pain and endless workouts is paramount for a program 70-miles from the nearest metro area. The team needs to possess and display the heart that WSU so uniquely develops. Winning for a cause is so much more meaningful than winning just for winning’s sake. GO COUGS!!
tony rocha
December 24th, 2007 at 10:42 am
paul has overcome so much in his young life an there is no one out there with more character an heart then this kid just sit back an watch wsu football rise to new places