WSU Football Team Getting the Hang of Things

On Tuesday afternoon, the Washington State football team gathered for it’s 3rd spring practice under new head coach, Mike Leach.  The team added shoulder pads for this one and things picked up.

Defensively we got our first look at some of the players who will be key this year on that side of the ball.  Derryl Monroe, a redshirt freshman linebacker, was out to get Coach Leach’s attention, laying on some big hits and bringing some intensity to practice.  One other noteworthy performance came from soon to be Junior Safety, Deone Bucannon.  Deone picked up where he left off with heavy hitting and quick reaction time.  Coach Leach was pleased with the enthusiasm but knows there is still much work to be done “Guys get in pads and start thinking about stinging a guy and forget part of their assignments, you add the third day on top of it and all the material you want them to master, it creates hesitation, but the tempo was good.” Said Leach in a post practice interview.

Offensively, we saw the big play makers getting back to form.  Both Marquess Wilson and Kristoff Williams had receptions that went for scores.  Another interesting player offensively is the redshirt senior, Andrei Lintz.  Lintz has turned in 3 solid practices this spring and none better than the third.  The only concern is he is unsure of where a big tight end fits into an offense run by Mike Leach. “I didn’t know if I’d be moved to defense or if they’d even have a spot for me but so far through the first three practices, they pretty much like my game and they like what I’ve been doing so I just gotta keep at it and keep getting better” Says Andrei.

So 3 practices in, a 4th (which is the one Leach says things start to fall in place) to come on Thursday, how does it look and what’s the attitude for the Cougs right now?  Well as is with any team in the spring, there is a world of optimism.  Now that being said, Washington State has more than enough reason to be excited.  We’ve seen what our big play makers can do, and we found ourselves in many close games that we could have won last year.  We’ve returned all the key players and added talent. The most significant reason though, we got Leach, A proven coach that will turn those “almost” games, into wins and those blowouts into closely contested matches.

Lets not get carried away just yet.  This is only spring ball and there is still much to be done, including adding our recruiting class in the fall. “I thought it was a good day, I thought it was a good starting point but it’s strictly a starting point.” Commented Leach. So there you have it Coug fans,  it’s begun.  Come fall we’ll know for sure but I truly believe with all our talent, with our proven new head coach, success is only a summer away.  Keep tuning in and we’ll keep you updated on all of Cougar football.