Washington State Football Recruiting Breakdown By State Since 2003

With the 2014 season coming up in just a few short months and the start of the 2015 recruiting season starting, I took a look at where the Cougars have been hitting the hardest when they are recruiting in recent years.

With the Cougars having three coaches since the start of the 2003 season I took a look at each state from each year since 2003. Bill Doba who was the head coach from 2003-2007 came in after Mike Price and finished with a 30-29 record. Paul Wulff came in after Doba left and was the coach from 2008-2011 finishing with a 9-40 record. Mike Leach came in after Wulff and has been the coach since the 2012 season and so far has a 9-15 record going into his 3rd season.

Below you will find a heat map that shows the hot spots in recruiting over the past 12 years.

I put together a table to get a hard copy look at the numbers that are in the heat map.

As you watch the heat map progress you notice that the states on the West are more often colored than the East but as the time moves on you notice that some states closer to the East started to get more recruits and hopefully that starts to pick up in the future as well as the in-state and near state recruiting.

The things that surprise me most is the recruiting that is done in and around the state of Washington. Idaho, Montana, and Oregon, the three states that surround Washington have a total of 11 recruits in the past 12 years. Washington alone has just 69 recruits in the past 12 years. The University of Washington for example has landed nearly 20 more in state recruits in that same time period and more in-state recruits than the Cougars have between Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Oregon.

The top 5 states that the Cougars are hitting are…

1. California – 160

2. Washington – 69

3. Texas – 19

4. Florida – 8

5. Oregon/Hawaii – 6

California and Washington being the top two are not surprising but Texas, Florida, and Hawaii also being in the top 5 surprised me a little. Texas, California, and Florida have always been powerhouses for having recruits but being that Texas and Florida are not really in the Washington State region I was a little surprised.

Mike Leach, who was at Texas Tech before coming to Washington State, has recruited the Southern and Eastern states and knows what he is doing when it comes to that side of the U.S.

With Washington State struggling in the past and turning it around along with adding great new additions to Martin Stadium as well as the campus itself look for more recruits to come out and join the Cougs as they try to advance even more in the PAC-12.

I will continue to update this map and table as the Cougars land more recruits for the 2015 class.

Share and leave comments below and let us know what you think of the Cougars recruiting in recent years!