Taking One for the Team...

I really wasn’t surprised when Cougars athletic director Bill Moos fired WSU football coach Paul Wulff, were you? I guess I was a little surprised when his replacement was announced the very next day.

The first thing that I was wondering was how long had Moos been courting the new Cougar head man Mike Leach.

Moos did say that yes he had gone to Florida to meet with Leach a few days before the Utah game to see if there was interest in coming to Pullman. Of course, had WSU won its last two games then he would keep Wulff in place as head coach. Can you really believe that Wulff had a prayer at keeping his job when the team suffered through a middle of the season losing streak?

I believe there was a lot of pressure put on Moos to dump Wulff and go after a big name guy to get things turned around. There is a big money deal in the Pac 12 that will help WSU stay with the big guys in coaching pay.

You see paying Paul Wulff $600,000 for his final year is a drop in the bucket compared to the $2 million a year that Leach will earn. So firing Wulff was easy, as soon as Leach agreed to become the new Wazzu coach.

One of the problems that Wulff had was that he wasn’t a quotable guy who could crack a joke and keep the media and alumni laughing and forgetting the problem at hand.

But Wulff had a serious job that he intended to build his way. Unfortunately his five year project needed to be cleaned up in three and no more than four. Oh and it needed to get done without a lot in the talent pool and some serious scholarship losses that were inherited.

Interestingly enough Wulff wasn’t treated like a former Cougar who had great success on the field and had done a great job at EWU.

I heard so many fans yell out go back to the Big Sky, as if that job was something pathetic. Now that is the same Big Sky Conference where Mike Price built his resume’, as well as Dennis Erickson.

But somehow for former Cougar Paul Wulff that shouldn’t have been enough to qualify him to become the WSU head football coach.

Next year when Mike Leach leads this young team to victory with a wild pass happy offense remember where the talent came from. That would be through the hard work recruiting of Wulff and his coaching staff. Wulff and his cohorts were able to pick off some very talented players out of Spokane. They didn’t get them all but they made some headway there.

Now, before you get the idea that I am not a Mike Leach fan then you are wrong. I liked Mike Leach before most people even knew who he was. I enjoyed watching his Texas Tech teams take apart defenses especially teams like Texas and Oklahoma. He is an offensive guru who should get the job done. I would hope that he would be able to recruit to keep it going in Pullman for years to come.

But a lot of that remains to be seen and how the marriage between WSU and Leach transpires. I happen to think that WSU fans will give Leach a pass for any toe stumbling than they did for Wulff. Fair or not really doesn’t matter. I know that Leach wanted to get back in the game and the situation had to be right and for him Pullman is right.

For you Cougar fans who complained that WSU wasn’t going to a bowl game, did you ever think about how much money you were saving? Or if that isn’t a problem did you ever think how much money it would have cost for game tickets, plane flights, lodging and meals? Did you write a check for that amount and send it to WSU to help them build that winning program? I would hazard a guess that the answer is no.

Now many of you are euphoric that you have a big name coach to take over a football program that has been on life support for several years. Paul Wulff has gotten the team out of ICU and there is some great potential and the future looks bright. But WSU had to throw Wulff under the bus in order to get people to open their checkbooks and donate to WSU athletics. Because of that, I think Wulff is right that WSU lost its innocence last week. And now it’s a whole new ballgame.

Funny thing is I truly believe that if Paul Wulff knew what would transpire four years ago I bet he would still take one for the team and dig this program out of a very deep grave. I hope that Cougar fans will remember that and give him his due.