WSU hires Kyle Krantz as special teams coordinator

We have football news in February, and we’re not talking about a spring practice schedule. Instead, it’s a new assistant coach, as Nick Rolovich has hired Kyle Krantz as WSU’s new special teams coordinator. Krantz replaces Michael Ghobrial, who left earlier this winter for the New York Jets.

Krantz was most recently the special teams coordinator for the South Carolina Gamecocks. He spent five years in Columbia, S.C., and also coached the defensive backs last season. Krantz also has experience at Auburn, Kentucky, Florida, Northwestern and Northern Colorado.

Here’s how the Gamecocks’ special teams performed last season:

• Opponent Punt Returns: 110th in the nation, giving up an average of 12.75 yards per return and zero punt return TDs.
• Opponent Kickoff Returns: 115th in the nation, giving up an average of 25.17 yards per return and one kickoff return TD.
• Punt Returns: 109th in the nation, averaging 3.63 yards per return and no punt return TDs. South Carolina only returned eight punts in 10 games.
• Kickoff Returns: 72nd in the nation, averaging 19.6 yards per return and zero return TDs.
• Punting: 35th in the nation averaging 43.33 yards per punt.
• Field Goals: 108th in the nation, making 11 of 19 field goal attempts.

(All stats are courtesy of cfbstats.com. It should also be noted that not every school played a full schedule, which affects the rankings to an extent.)

So, not great. The biggest concern is giving up yards on punts and kickoffs. Losing those field position battles are brutal. But hey, perhaps there were deeper issues at South Carolina, which is why the coaching staff got axed. And maybe Krantz is an ace recruiter. We’ll see!

Meanwhile, WSU also announced that Josh Omura, Marco Regalado and Samie Parker have been named to the football team’s recruiting staff. Yes, that Samie Parker.

To round out the football news, Scott Salwasser is now an assistant on the conditioning staff and current coaches John Richardson (assistant head coach) and Brian Smith (associate head coach) received new job titles. Time to update those email signatures!

Chloe Larson is the first WSU swimmer to win an individual conference championship

Larson won the 50 freestyle with a time of 22.18 seconds and won by six-hundredths of a second. She set a school record in the event in the prelims with a time of 22.16 seconds. Way to go!

It was an undefeated Friday for WSU sports

It was another busy day for Cougar athletics. Even I had a base hit in baseball’s 19-5 win at Dixie State. Zane Mills tied a school record with 13 strikeouts in what they’re calling the modern era/aluminum bat era, and Kyle Manzardo extended his three-season hitting streak to 23 games.

Volleyball swept Cal, and it wasn’t particularly close, and tennis beat Idaho. The soccer team and Utah played to a 0-0 draw.

Links

Shawn Vestal: Crisis puts brighter spotlight on sports spending at WSU, EWU | The Spokesman-Review
The faculty at Washington State University is trying to conduct a very modest, very gentle intervention with the school’s drunk uncle – asking the administration not to expand its subsidy to the deficit-spending athletics department by another few million dollars per year.

Washington State falls into offensive lull, loses 69-53 to Arizona | The Spokesman-Review
They hoped to carry the momentum they'd built from a weekend sweep of the Bay Area schools. Instead, the Washington State Cougars reverted to the team that lost six consecutive Pac-12 games from Jan. 9-27.

Inside linebacker with offers from USC, UW gives Washington State first defensive commit in '22 class | The Spokesman-Review
It'll be at least a few months before Washington State can start bringing potential prospects back to the Palouse for on-campus visits, but the lack of in-person recruiting apparently hasn't impacted the Cougars in the 2022 class.

Nick Rolovich Names Kyle Krantz Cougars’ Special Teams Coordinator - Washington State University Athletics
In addition to Kyle Krantz, Coach Rolovich announces other changes to staff.

Washington State adds ex-South Carolina assistant Kyle Krantz as special teams coordinator | The Spokesman-Review
A longtime SEC assistant has joined Nick Rolovich's coaching staff as Washington State's new special teams coordinator.

Mills Dominant, Kolden Leads Cougar Offense in 19-5 Win - Washington State University Athletics
Kodie Kolden had five hits and six RBI in Friday's win.

Cougars Strong in 6-1 Win over Idaho - Washington State University Athletics
With the win, WSU improves to 5-4 on the season.

Chloe Larson Makes History, Wins 50 Free Pac-12 Championship - Washington State University Athletics
Larson wins WSU's first swimming title in program history.