Washington State Football: David Yost Introduced by WSU

It’s finally official, David Yost will be the new inside receivers coach at Washington State. We broke that news to you last Saturday, but it was through sources, not official. If you’re interested in coach Yost’s track record, THIS is a good source of info. Since we’ve already gone over his role and everything last week, let’s go over a little of what he brings to the WSU staff and new team.

David Yost is a “tremendous offensive mind” according to Mike Leach, and is considered one of the top quarterback coaches in the nation. It is a different position, inside receivers, but it is one that the man will have no trouble adapting to and ultimately, excelling at.

Yost is a rare breed in his sport, a “dude” that has the ability to be one of the guys, but also a teacher who has the respect of both his piers and students with his ability to inspire. He shows an affinity for his players and a passion towards his craft.

He took 3 completely different quarterback types (Brad Smith, Blaine Gabbert and Chase Daniel) and made them all the same star at Missouri. I mean it seemed like all 3 of those guys had been around for a decade and they never seemed to leave. In truth, it’s because they all shared the same qualities of leadership and complete confidence and trust in what they were doing, so even though they were different, they were the same. Together, they WERE in fact around for a decade or so. Yost was instrumental in recruiting all of them, so he saw the qualities and intangibles, but then he coached them in a way they could understand and apply to the field with great success.

Think about it, they were terrific in college, but have any of them blown up in the NFL? None of them were “prototype”, Smith is a receiver/returner now in Buffalo, Gabbert is struggling for Jacksonville and Daniel is a backup (albeit behind superstar Drew Brees) in New Orleans. They were all stars at Mizzou. Quite frankly, with Yost they would have been stars at any school in the country. Precise, tough, unflappable, winners.

Yost now brings that to our receiving corps. I think we all remember the Mike Leach comments this year: “We’ve got to be more mentally tough.” Over and over again he said that. Already, a good cornerstone is in place with Brett Bartolone and Gabe Marks. I don’t think I’m going on a limb to say that our inside wide receivers (and outside because of the trickle effect) will be some of the best route runners in the Pac-12 Conference and they will be strong in the head.

He also brings it to the quarterbacks. Yes, Leach coaches his own quarterbacks and is his own offensive coordinator (part of the reason Yost came here, burnout) but coach Yost will be the eyes and ears of Leach up in the booth on gamedays and Leach has already said he will have some say in the offense. By game one he will have garnered the respect of the coaches and players to where his input really counts. Don’t be surprised to see Halliday, Apodaca and Bruggman on the phone to the booth from time to time to get a chat from Yost about what he’s seeing from them, maybe a read or two that they are missing, in addition to their instructions from Leach.

I’m getting really excited to see this work out on the field. With Leach, Yost and Jim Mastro (an offensive genius in his own right) heading up the offense, I feel as if the missing piece to those pesky and disappointing low scoring games has now been added. It’s like taking fuel and giving it an additive. With Kelly leaving Oregon, you could easily argue this as the best trio of offensive coaches in the conference, in most conferences.

Of course, the real ingredient that will make these guys recognizable geniuses has to go out on the field and perform at a high level every Saturday and the three haven’t had so much as a practice together with their team. So there is a lot yet to be determined.

Go Cougs!