Looking back at Paul Wulff’s first coaching staff

Eleven years ago today, this headline appeared on the Pac-12 website:

Wulff Completes Cougar Coach Staff with Hiring of Harold Etheridge

Let’s just say a lot has changed in 11 years. Now, more than a decade later, those original nine assistants and Paul Wulff are scattered across the country. Let’s play a little where are they now.

Harold Etheridge - Offensive line

Etheridge left WSU after the 2009 season and landed at Indiana State. After three seasons there, he went to Georgia State for four years before landing at Illinois State as the offensive line coach last season.

Steve Broussard — Running Backs

Following his long tenure at WSU, Broussard coached receivers at Arizona State, then running backs at UCLA and running backs at SMU. He then became the offensive coordinator at Pasadena City College. He eventually landed in the high school ranks as the head coach at Fort Vancouver High School before taking over as head coach at St. Monica Catholic High School in California last season.

Mike Levenseller — Wide Receivers

Levenseller didn’t go far after leaving the WSU staff, joining the Idaho Vandals as wide receivers coach before retiring.

Rich Rasmussen — Tight Ends

Rasmussen landed on Chris Petersen’s staff following his time in Pullman as the director of player personnel. He followed Petersen to Washington as the director of recruiting. He is currently the chief administrative officer for the Huskies.

Todd Sturdy — Offensive coordinator

Sturdy just finished his first season as the head coach at MidAmerica Nazarene University. After leaving WSU, Sturdy spent time at Iowa State and Northern Iowa. MNU is an NAIA school. Sturdy went 4-7 this season, down from 5-6 last season.

Travis Niekamp — Linebackers

Niekamp is currently the defensive coordinator at Illinois State. He got the job prior to last season. Before that, Niekamp spent time coaching linebackers and special teams at Montana and various roles, including co-defensive coordinator at Lousiana-Monroe,

Malik Roberson — Defensive Line

Roberson landed at Portland State after WSU, before a stint as the defensive coordinator at Central Washington. He went back to Portland State first as the defensive line coach then as the DC. He was fired following the 2017 season. It appears he did not coach last season

Chris Ball — Co-Defensive Coordinator

Ball has probably had the best run following his time at WSU. Last month he was named the head coach at Northern Arizona University. This is after serving as the defensive coordinator at Arizona State and Memphis.

Jody Sears — Co-Defensive Coordinator

After WSU, Sears became the defensive coordinator at Weber State and then later the interim head coach. After two seasons as the head coach at Weber State, Sears became the head coach at Sacramento State where he eventually hired Wulff to be on his staff. Sears was fired late last season, after compiling a 20-35 record at Sacramento State.

That’s right, Paul Wulff’s initial staff at WSU included four future head coaches, including three at the college level.

All of this was really just a 500-word excuse to use this photo again. Oh 2008, you were crazy.

*****

Women’s Basketball:

Cougars Fall to No. 5 Oregon on the Road - Washington State University Athletics
Senior Alexys Swedlund hit her 1,000 career point in the loss to the Ducks.

No. 5 Ducks crush Cougs by 40 points – The Daily Evergreen
WSU women’s basketball wrapped up a three-game road trip to start conference play with a blowout 98-58 loss to No. 5 Oregon on Sunday in Eugene.

No. 5 Oregon rolls past WSU; No. 11 Oregon State beats Huskies | The Spokesman-Review
Sabrina Ionescu extended her NCAA record to 15 triple-doubles and Ruthy Hebard scored a career-high 34 points as No. 5 Oregon raced past Washington State 98-58 on Sunday in Eugene.