THE MORNING PAPER: Reaction to the QB situation

by Jeff Nusser on Sep 16, 2009 10:25 AM PDT

We've pretty much started limiting The Morning Paper -- your look at Cougar news around the Internet -- to just game days (our stats were telling us people were rarely using it by clicking through the links during the week), but I still like to pull it out on heavy news days. Yesterday was one of those.

Here's the best of what I found regarding Cougs and their quarterback, ahem, situation:

Vince Grippi had a fantastic take last night at the end of his practice recap. If you haven't read it, you should. My favorite thing about him -- besides the absolutely insane amount of information he pounds out at the computer screen each night -- is the way he walks the delicate line between objective analysis and personal opinion. He'll never come right out and say what he thinks, but he doesn't hesitate to let you know what he's seen and let you draw your own conclusions.

Case in point: In the post, he includes a lengthy quote from Mike Stoops of Arizona, who knows a thing or two about enduring the slings and arrows that go along with rebuilding a program. Interesting. He also includes these thoughts:

"One other thing. Talking with some of the players, I’ve heard over and over about Marshall Lobbestael and Jeff Tuel and the extra hours they spend in the film room, doing everything they possibly can to get ready for the upcoming game. That’s earned their peers’ respect."
Bud Withers has this column for The Seattle Times, although there's not exactly a ton of insight there.
Grippi also has his generic QB change story -- with quotes from the press conference, which you can listen to in its entirety here -- as do The Seattle Times and The News Tribune.
Cougfan.com has a pair of stories, one that says there were four factors driving the quarterback change and one that says Lobbestael wants to play better and is happy for Tuel. That's about all I can tell you about them, because they're subscription only.
The WSU Football Blog has the excellent radio show recap. Sounds like he basically repeated most of the stuff he said in his press conference, but it's a worthwhile read nonetheless.
Ian Furness had Jim Walden on his radio show yesterday, and he's got a message for all of you who think Paul Wulff should be fired: "YOU'RE NOT A REAL COUG!" His words, not mine. Audio here.

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I hate the old line "Your not a ______ if you think that"

You see that line a lot in politics and with sports fans. It’s dumb. If you think Wulff should be fired, its because you feel the program would be better off without him. If you feel he should be kept, it’s because you feel the program would be better off with him. People who voice their opinion about this or any other issue related to the cougs do so because they care. Everybody is a “real fan”.

by peaty411s on Sep 16, 2009 11:12 AM PDT reply actions

Spoken like a true coach, though, no?

CougCenter

by Jeff Nusser on Sep 16, 2009 11:16 AM PDT up reply actions

Perhaps what Walden should have said...

Is that if you don’t understand the challenges that Wulff had coming into the job and how much work it takes to be successful at WSU, then you don’t know your own team very well. At least, that was my take of what he was trying to articulate. He just boiled it down to simplest terms.

by '03CouveCoug on Sep 16, 2009 11:42 AM PDT up reply actions

My Coug buddies have had a lively debate on the PW subject.

I personally think the major problem PW has is a PR issue. He is not extrovert and really doesn’t sweep you off your feet with his words. You combine those facts with the fact that he came from EWU, and therefore, no big boy college football experience, he is fighting a PR nightmare.
Let’s compare PW with Dick Bennett. DB had no talent either when he first came, and his recruits were raw. DB is well spoken, but I wouldn’t say he is cut from the Price/Walden mode as a charismstic leader and so his personality would be closer to PW’s than Walden/Price/ even Erickson. However, he had tons of experience and was recognized as a talent, although many thought his schemes were outdated and no longer useful. He got completely obliterated by Ok St. I mean one of the worst beatdowns in basketball history (even for women’s basketball). But he was given rope. Why? Because of his resume.
Sadly, PW doesn’t have the charm or the resume to give him much rope. I agree it takes time to turn around a program, but ultimately because of how PW is, he is essentially forced into producing wins or at least some competitive football much more quickly than many other coaches. Is that wrong? No. It is the nature of the beast. If you have ever hired and fired employees, you would know what I am talking about. People with a wealth of experience or charm get more leeway and chances then someone who doesn’t possess those qualities.

by ptowncoug3012 on Sep 16, 2009 12:28 PM PDT reply actions

Well said.

I think the perception that he keeps hammering the kids rather than owning up to his own shortcomings have something to do with it, too. Criticism re: 4th and 3 from the 3 down 35, timeout needed after a TV timeout because of personnel, etc., which doesn’t come up in his pressers or coaches show, he doesn’t get an opportunity to answer them head on, and allow us to hear what happened or what his thinking was. It allows coaching questions to fester and build up, so each time there’s a breakdown, the default answer is bad coaching.

by TiltingRight on Sep 16, 2009 1:29 PM PDT up reply actions

What a bunch of crap

So I’m not a real Coug because I have a high standard. Bullshit. Walden is a homer.

And the above comparison to Coach Bennett is focused on the wrong things. Nobody is expecting this football team to win, but those of us who consider ourselves “real” Cougs expect to see a little fight for piss sakes. Coach Bennett had no more talent than Wulff has now, but kids on the basketball team were scrapping and fighting their asses off even while getting trounced by Ok St. But this football team is not only devoid of talent, they have no motivation and no fight.

You can see the signs, this team will get worse as the season goes on because these players are quiting. Bennett might not have been what people would call “charasmatic” but he could motivate a trash heap of talent and marry it to a strategy that would make his team competative, and he did that from the first day he walked through the door. Coach Wulff? I think we can all see the direction this thing is going, and if you don’t, well then maybe your more of a Coug than me. But try taking off the Crimson colored glasses and look at what is really going on. If Paul Wulff is going to change the direction this program is going, he is going to have to change what he is doing. Waiting 3/4 years for his recruiting to catch up doesn’t change the fact that he still hasn’t been able to change the mentality and culture of the program.

by Jo-Jo on Sep 17, 2009 9:04 AM PDT reply actions

I don't agree that they have no fight

They fought against Stanford, and they fought from 20 minutes into the game on vs. Hawaii. I just want to see them come out with fight at the beginning of the game.

And as for Walden … well, what do you expect from a former coach? Of course he’s going to defend another coach — especially when he lobbied hard for that coach to get the job in the first place.

CougCenter

by Jeff Nusser on Sep 17, 2009 11:35 AM PDT up reply actions