When Mike Leach dismissed three players during the offseason, it sparked a lot of conversation. Fans and others questioned Leach's rules and debated whether or not they were too harsh. While we heard plenty from those outside of the team, the players remained mostly silent. That is until Andrew Nemec of the Pullman-Moscow Daily News asked a couple of the linebackers what they thought.
Nemec's entire story is worth a read as it also contains some great insight into the linebacker unit, but below are the notable comments about the dismissals.
"I feel like dismissing (those guys), as bad as it sounds, was a better thing for the group, because they were cancers," sophomore linebacker Darryl Monroe said. "Now, not only did that happen, but now we're more hungry to get better and to be ready come BYU."
That same sentiment is shared by hybrid defensive end/linebacker Travis Long.
"I feel like sometimes some of those older guys took it for granted that they were the starters," he said. "These young guys want to be on the field and are going to work to get on the field."
While I wouldn't expect any player to publicly disagree with Leach on the issue, both could have gone with a standard politically correct, "it was an unfortunate situation, but we're trying to move on with the guys we have" type answer. The fact they didn't, says a lot.
A quick TV programming note before we jump to the rest of the links. Aron Baynes will once again be in action at the Olympics today. Baynes and Australia will face off with the United States in the quarterfinal. That means a rematch of Baynes and Kevin Love from back in the day. The game is set for 2:15 p.m. PT and can be streamed here.
Football
WSU transfer linebacker makes run for playing time - Spokesman.com - Aug. 8, 2012
PULLMAN – There are still times when Justin Sagote doesn’t quite know where he’s supposed to be on the football field. As a junior college transfer with six official practices under his belt as a Washington State linebacker, that’s understandable.
Day 6 over for Cougs - SportsLink - Spokesman.com - Aug. 7, 2012
FROM PULLMAN — As temperatures hovered in the 90s — prompting the question: can a temperature really hover? — the Cougars practiced for about an hour and a half before moving over to Martin Stadium for some special teams drills and a brief, sort-of-scrimmage. Details after the jump.
Ready to move on - Moscow-Pullman Daily News: Sports: travis long, darryl monroe, jeff choate, sekope kaufusi, c.j. mizell
Washington State coach Mike Leach didn’t even get to his first fall practice before he was reaquainted with a dose of college football criticism.
2012 POSITION PREVIEW: Special Teams - The Washington State University Official Athletic Site
The Cougars special teams will feature a number of new faces but one of the few returners will be junior kicker Andrew Furney who made 14-of-16 field goal attempts in 2011 to post the best field goal percentage in WSU single-season history. Furney, a Lou Groza Award preseason watch list selection, connected on all five of his attempts of 40 yards or more and finished with a long of 51 last season.
Cougars Fall Camp: Practice Ends With Live Scrimmage - The Washington State University Official Athletic Site
PULLMAN, Wash. - Washington State University mixed things up with a live scrimmage in Martin Stadium at the end of Tuesday afternoon's practice.
Leach would welcome opponents in camp - if allowed | KREM.com Spokane
PULLMAN - The Cougs are just six days into fall camp, but the daily grind is already starting to set in.
Washington State: 3 position battles to watch in fall camp - CBSSports.com
New Washington State coach Mike Leach will have some big decisions to make in fall camp, here are three of the toughest.
WSU Football: Mike Leach after practice. Aug. 7 (via WSUCougarAthletics)
WSU Football: Jeff Tuel after practice. Aug. 7 (via WSUCougarAthletics)
WSU Football: Deone Bucannon after practice. Aug. 7 (via WSUCougarAthletics)
Basketball
Washington State: 3 position battles to watch in fall camp - CBSSports.com
New Washington State coach Mike Leach will have some big decisions to make in fall camp, here are three of the toughest.