The Washington State Cougars were never as consistently great as when Jason Gesser was taking them to new heights in the early 2000’s as the gutsiest signal-caller in school history, now he’s back to add to his Coug-legacy.
Not only is he becoming a color commentator in the booth on gamedays this coming Fall, he is also adding the title of “Assistant Director of Development for the Cougar Athletic Fund” to his WSU resume. Cougar Nation has responded with thunderous applause on twitter.
Wow, congrats @jasongesser! So exciting! Happy for you and the family!
— Megan Reyes (@megreyes_) May 22, 2014
Congrats to @jasongesser on his new job with the #CAF as Assistant Director of Development #GoCougs #RoseBowlBound pic.twitter.com/nNQxYd0dr2
— Erik Raman (@WazzuSwede) May 22, 2014
News of Jason Gesser joining WSUAthletics staff had us reminiscing about the glory of 2002 & this memorable photo.. pic.twitter.com/jumZHkKSep
— COUGFANcom (@CougfanCOM) May 21, 2014
Welcome to the CAF team, @dthomas95, @jasongesser and @cmturner812! See more about CAF staff: http://t.co/txJwRi4HHd #BeAMember #JoinTheTeam
— Cougar Athletic Fund (@CougarAthFund) May 21, 2014
The native Hawaiian has a very interesting background and resume going into this opportunity at Washington State. He played football for several seasons, in the NFL, CFL and AFL before coaching for a few years in high school and then earning his way on as a QB coach to Idaho and eventually taking over for four games after the firing of Rob Akey. Most recently he was quarterbacks coach at Wyoming.
Thankfully, he’s back home.
The CAF is already bringing in record numbers and the focus is clearly to up the ante and continue the growth. Gesser wasn’t the only move in the program, actually far from it. WSU’s press release summarized all the moves up for us:
"In addition to Gesser, other staff changes include the hiring of Devon Thomas as an assistant athletic director for Spokane Operations, Adam Ganders as the regional director for the Tri-Cities, Bridget Slaybaugh has been named the CAF coordinator of hospitality and events, and the addition of Christina Turner as CAF program assistant. Justin Felker, who has served multiple roles within the CAF over the past nine years, most recently in major gifts, has left Cougar Athletics and has moved into a regional fundraising role with the WSU Foundation."
Bill Moos, the proud creator and director of the CAF had this to say about the additions:
"“With these additions to our CAF staff I feel we are positioned well to continue to make significant gains in growing our membership and giving Cougar fans ownership in our accomplishments. The expectation now is to turn that positive momentum into more victories on the field to share with our fan base.”"
With Gesser on board, there is most certainly going to be an uptick in support with immediate results going into the Fall. A big shout-out and welcome back to one of the best to ever wear a Crimson and Gray uniform.