WSU FOOTBALL RECRUITING: A Look Back At The 2006 Disaster

The 2006 recruiting class wasn't supposed to turn out this way. It wasn't heavy on the stars, but it promised to be a solid class full of depth. At the time, it was the 45th best class in the nation. If the 2006 recruiting class were a movie, it would be Gigli. This begs the question: who in this class was Ben Affleck?

After the jump, we'll examine this class more thoroughly. Also, big h/t to reader Lyle for e-mailing us with the suggestion. You see, guys? We really do read your e-mails. If they're good, we discuss them over a pint of lager and a meal of the finest meats and cheeses. Onward!

NR = Not Ranked at their specific position

JC = Junior College (JC players usually aren't ranked positionally)

The following players left the program due to academics, injury, transfer, etc: Skylar Jessen, Grady Maxwell, J.T. Diederichs, Trevor Mooney, Keith Parr, Jr., Derrell Hutsona, Preston Brooks, Asly Jean-Jacques, Kerry Maddox, Chris Bush, Chris Ivory, Joe Eppelle, Cornorris Atkins, Greg Walker, Jason Price.

The following players only contributed on special teams, or were career back ups: Anthony Houston, Finas Rabb, Marcus Richmond, Toby Turpin, B.T. Walker, Brian Williams.

This means that of the original 25 players signed, only 4 had somewhat meaningful contributions to the team. FOUR! Those players were Andy Mattingly, Micah Hannam, Charles Dillon, and Kevin Kooyman.

• Mattingly is probably the best player from this class. That speaks more to the quality (or lack thereof) of the class than to Mattingly. He certainly had a ton of talent, but his position was never quite clear to the coaching staff. He came in as a safety, but the coaching staff moved him to outside linebacker. When they realized he was a step slow for that, they moved him again; this time, to the defensive line. His one standout game against Arizona State (13 tackles, 4 sacks) kind of made him seem better than he actually was. His best season was as a sophomore, where he totaled 91 tackles, 8 sacks, and 11 tackles for loss. Over the next two years, Mattingly only recorded one more sack. He was also arrested for assault with a frying pan. Seriously. He wasn't drafted, but received an invite to camp with the Green Bay Packers. He is currently out of football, and to my knowledge, doesn't own any frying pans or skillets.

• That Kevin Kooyman was the second best player in this class makes me laugh. Not a "haha this is funny" laugh, but a "haha I need a drink immediately" uncomfortable laugh. For his career, the defensive end racked up a total of 81 tackles, 8 sacks, and 1 interception. These numbers are over the course of five years, as Kooyman injured himself during the 2009 campaign. This Kevin Kooyman, Kevin J. Kooyman, is not to be confused with Kevin P. Kooyman, who played minor league baseball and was born in 1951. In case you mixed the two up in your mind. THAT'S NOT OUR DOUG! Classic mix-up.

• Charles Dillon was a highly rated JC transfer, and was expected to contribute immediately. Overall, however, he failed to impress. While he helped in the return game, he was basically non-existent his entire first year on offense. His senior year, he compiled 407 yards receiving on 37 catches, 3 of which went for TDs. While he was certainly much improved in his final season in Pullman, ultimately, he never really made much of an impact. He went undrafted, but eventually signed as a free agent with the Indianapolis Colts. They cut him due to injuries. He played in the now-defunct Arena League and the Arena League 2 (AF2), before getting signed by the Packers last March. He played throughout their pre-season, but was one of the final cuts in September. Currently, he's back in the AF2 with the Spokane Shock.

• My girlfriend went to Gig Harbor HS, and when she heard Micah Hannam was from her hometown, she got super excited. She then realized he went to Peninsula, her rival HS, and was severely disappointed. "Now I can't root for him because I hate Peninsula," said an extremely disappointed Mrs. Kyle. "Well," I told her, "he's an offensive lineman who is in his fifth year and just got replaced by a true freshman." She responded with, "So ... does that mean he sucks?" She's learning, guys. She's learning. (It's worth mentioning that he was a really good student, and a model human being. It's too bad Scout took the worst picture ever taken and made it his profile pic. Yikes.)

• Book-wise, Trevor Mooney was a smart kid; he actually posted a 4.25 GPA (out of 4.0) in high school. Mooney was with Andy Mattingly during FryingPanGate and was apparently so drunk when the cops arrested him, he vomited while being booked. Washington State University: We get so drunk that we vomit while being arrested for being an accomplice to assault with a frying pan. Ten days after this, Pullman Police drew their weapons on a vehicle Mattingly was driving because the officer stated Mattingly's Nissan Pathfinder "swerved and accelerated towards me". When they saw beer being poured out of the passenger side door, they found Mooney, 19, with two empty beers and an unopened one in his pocket. Wulff gave Mooney an undisclosed punishment, but before it could be carried out, Mooney left the program and transferred to Delaware.

• B.T. Walker basically didn't play at all his first year because he arrived on campus so late (due to academics). He played sparingly his final year in Pullman. Also of note, and probably way more interesting: BT Walker is a breed of dog.

   "The BT Walker is created by crossing the purebred Boxer with the purebred Treeing Walker Coonhound. It is considered a hybrid dog, meaning it is not purebred, however the lineage is known. Whereas the term mutt is used when a dog has an unknown lineage."

• Joey Eppelle played decently on the offensive line, but left school early to declare for the draft. Eppelle wound up being the second overall pick, so it seems as though his decision was the right one. Also of note: he left for the CFL, not the NFL. He now plays for the Toronto Argonauts, and enjoys using money that just so happens to be the same color as Monopoly money.

We seriously lost a player to the CFL.

In all seriousness, 2006 was one of the worst recruiting classes Washington State University has ever produced. Speaking with Mark Sandritter on twitter (who you should totally follow, by the way), 25 players over a span of five years combined to give us: zero pass yards, 1,053 rushing yards, 747 receiving yards, 9 TDs, 1,818 return yards, 402 tackles, 5 interceptions, and 23.5 sacks. If Marquess Wilson and Deone Buchanon had been in this class, they'd already be the leading receiver and the second leading tackler.

The roster's lack of upperclassmen forced Paul Wulff to play kids early, when he would have rather redshirted them. Looking back, we can point to 2006 being instrumental in both Bill Doba's firing, and Wulff's abysmal beginning. While I'm certainly not making excuses for Wulff, when you hear people say "the cupboard was bare", it really, really was. I'm extremely happy this class is completely gone, because I never want anyone to mention it ever again. Some programs are built to handle one or two bad recruiting classes. Washington State, however, is not one of them. The 2006 class set the Cougars back a long, long way.