Peyton Pelluer embarks on a new career

Good morning, Cougar fans everywhere. Aside from the incredible surprise that was Gardner Minshew II, Peyton Pelluer’s unexpected sixth season of eligibility was a principle reason for the special year that the Washington State Cougars gave us in 2018. Despite a very solid college career, Pelluer wasn’t able to catch on with an NFL team, and hung up his cleats. Now it appears that he will have a chance get back onto the field.

According to the Spokesman Review, Mike Leach is bringing Pelluer aboard with the Mississippi State Bulldogs as a volunteer assistant, with the goal of hanging on and assuming the role of graduate assistant in the fall. Unlike some people (cough, Lane Kiffin) many coaches begin their careers this way, and Leach was one of those guys. His first two jobs as a coach were assistant roles at Cal Poly and something called College of the Desert. He even spent a year in Finland.

Peyton won’t have to go far for coaching pointers and advice. His dad, fellow Cougar Football alumnus Scott, spent many years in the coaching profession, including a couple different stretches with the Washington Huskies. From 1996-1998, he coached linebackers and safeties at Washington, and then returned in 2003 as the special teams coordinator.

Peyton also has an additional coach in the family due to marriage, as his sister married former Washington assistant, and current Alabama Crimson Tide defensive line coach Tosh Lupoi. So at the very least, Peyton already knows how to hand out cash-stuffed coffee cups, which is probably a prerequisite for getting a job in the SEC. Congratulations to Peyton on getting his foot in the door. I’m very confident that he will take to coaching and work his way up the latter. Mike Leach has one of the best coaching trees in college football history, and hopefully it’s about to grow some more branches.

Football

Ex-Washington State linebacker Peyton Pelluer joins Mississippi State staff | The Spokesman-Review
Pelluer, a fourth-generation Cougar who appeared in more games (54) than any other player in program history, has lined up his first official coaching gig.

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Pac-12 Preseason College Football Head Coach Rankings CFN Preview 2020
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College Football 2020 All-America Team
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The playoff selection committee has a hard job ahead of it, so let's help them out.

This Week in Parenting

Thursday is trash collection day in our village, and the boys are responsible for putting out whichever variety of can/bag will be picked up (seriously, it takes some time to figure out the German system). So when I got home on Wednesday evening, and noticed that the brown can (biological products such as food yard waste only) was not on the sidewalk, I got angry.

I stormed into the house and demanded to know why the kids hadn’t put the trash out like they’re supposed to. It was then that Mrs. Kendall informed me that the boys weren’t home. Turns out they hadn’t been here since last Friday when we put them on a plane to the U.S., so they could visit their grandparents. “Oh. That’s right. No wonder our visit to Belgium was so enjoyable,” I said.

Before they left, they were quite excited about the trip. So much so that they were pulling out all the stops to avoid going to sleep. The eight year-old came out of his room to let us know that he had lots of energy, and wanted to do some situps and pushups in order to burn it off. He was not buying my explanation that doing so would actually be counter-productive because it would raise his heart rate and hinder his effort to sleep. So instead, he came downstairs and said “can I squeeze this bump on my face? It’s bothering me.” wut

Not to be outdone, the 11 year-old popped out of bed and requested permission to pull one of his teeth. Kids really will stop at nothing to avoid sleep sometimes. When it came time to get them on the plane, Mrs. Kendall escorted them to the gate, as only one parent is allowed beyond security. Once back there, the eight year-old observed some “businessmen” carrying coffee. He then saw an opportunity to take one last shot at his old man, saying “dad isn’t a business man. He’s a phone and email answerer.” If I had been there, I’d have had no comeback.

Beer

Best beer I had this week: On the way back from Ghent, where I’d purchased a copious amount of beer, we made a stop at Brasserie d’Achouffe. Things got sideways in a hurry.

Among the outstanding beers they make, Cherry Chouffe is one of my favorites. It’s the rare fruit beer with an elevated ABV - checking in at 8% - and it is tremendous. I’m also a sucker for the mascot. (his name is Marcel in case you were wondering)

Can shortage means beer might be out of stock: report - Business Insider
Molson Coors, Brooklyn Brewery, and Karl Strauss are reportedly shifting production to make up for the can shortage.

Sports-ish

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Non-Sports

Bribe on for ol’ SC
Our men were bribed by the Qataris
Our Alma Mater dear
Is full of racketeers
Bribe on and grift
For ol’ SC
Get bribed by Qataris
Bribe On!

The true story of the heartthrob prince of Qatar and his time at USC
When a Qatari sheikh came to live in L.A., an entire economy sprouted to meet his wishes. “His highness doesn’t like to hear no,” one associate told a professor.