What’s “All Gold” at Washington State University: Spring Ball Edition

"Momma always told me, boy count yo’ blessings"

Once again shout out to the homie Trinidad James and of course Trinidad’s Puppy for getting us started right in this edition of What’s “All Gold” at Washington State University?  Well this week we focus in on Spring ball and we’ll “count our blessings” up and see how Leach and the boys are doing.

First off its “All Gold”  with Connor Halliday.  You can tell with the way coach Leach talks about Connor and you can see when Halliday steps up for any rep he is taking control of this offense.  He is becoming a leader and that’s what we desperately need.  Last year when Jeff Tuel was allowed he led the team well but the constant battle for the QB position prevented a leader from stepping up which in turn led to inconsistent performances.  You could tell Connor was getting frustrated last year because he thought he had got the starting spot mid way through the season then he had it pulled again. This did nothing but good things for the young man as now his work ethic and overall leadership of this team have increased to levels we haven’t had in a while.  Even though Leach isn’t naming a starter in the Spring,  I believe Connor is stepping up and will have full control of this team throughout this whole season. I believe he wants it more and he is now treating this like his team.  I was looking forward to seeing this from him and now seeing it in action gives me hope for our offensive success this year.

Next, things are “All Gold” at the linebacker position as we finally have a little experience and a lot of heart here.  The linebacking crew last year had some fire but had a lot of inconsistencies and their inability to read plays from the offense turned out to be a real nightmare.  This year we’re seeing more experience and with experience comes knowledge.  This is a smart group and we’re seeing leaders like Jared Byers step up.  Speaking of Jared Byers you gotta love this story.  He came to WSU as a linebacker but was switched his freshman year to fullback and had a decent year, after that he was switched back to linebacker and suffered a year ending injury vs Oklahoma State just like Ricky Galvin.  Now he’s in his fifth year as a redshirt senior and I’m expecting a good year out of him and he brings his experience and athleticism to the defensive side of the ball.

Finally it’s our overall Spirit that’s “All Gold”.  Things are getting heated out there folks, no longer willing to be pushed around as a doormat you can tell this team wants success.  I’m getting the feeling they want to touch success more than any other WSU team the last 7 years.  These guys are not letting anyone walk all over them and although some might say it’s bad to have quarrels on the same team, the kind of fights that have gone down are all about attitude and boy do we need that.  As Leach said, as long as they handle it and move on it can be productive.  This is a team who’s willing to compete, a team with some fire.  No one thinks they deserve anything but everyone out there thinks anything can be earned.  It’s about time we saw some life in this program and I feel like this will only bring them closer by the time fall comes around, hopefully this fire creates a team that’s willing to fight, willing to push back. I look forward to seeing our chemestry this year and how different we look as a team!

Thanks for tuning in and remember to follow All Coug’d up on twitter @allcougdup and dont forget to follow the puppy

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