2018 previews
and coach rankings keep rolling in
It’ll be nice
when practice starts
By PJ Kendall
Coug Center July 15, 2018
Good morning.
I’m old enough to remember a time when stalking the magazine aisle in early
June - the North Spokane Rosauers always re-stocked on Friday mornings - was
the only way to get one’s hands on a college football preview before late
August. We all know that isn’t the case anymore, as the advent of the interwebs
brought with it exponential proliferation of what had been a niche industry.
Among the scores
of football previews out there is the Orlando Sentinel. Wait, why is a
newspaper in Orlando publishing a WSU outlook? Well, they actually preview
every FBS team, and they’ve been doing it for some time. There wasn’t any
earth-shattering news contained in the writeup, but they did a good job of
summing up the tumult the program went through in the offseason.
Few programs have been through so many
twists and turns in the offseason as Washington State. From Hilinski’s death,
to the rumors about Leach being a potential candidate for the Tennessee job to
the five staff departures, the Cougars have been forced to adapt to change.
There’s enough reason to believe the Cougars could have a tough go in 2018.
A Pac-12 North title may be out of reach,
but a return to a bowl game is still in the cards.
Along with
season previews, coaching rankings seem to be an idea for offseason content
that just about every college football-related website is taking a shot at
these days. After all, if there’s anything internetters love, it’s a good ol’
list of rankings.
College Football
News ranked both the Pac-12 and the entirety of FBS this week. Mike Leach came
in sixth among Pac-12 coaches, which is a tad lower than what we’ve seen from
other lists. I’d think about putting him ahead of Clay Helton, and I’d
certainly have him ranked higher than Kyle Whittingham.
Leach checks in
at Number 33 nationally, sandwiched between this year’s Mountain West opponent,
Craig Bohl, and one of the MWC coaches Leach beat last season in Bryan Harsin.
Mid-30s seems about right to me. The blurb Pete Fiutak wrote for Leach was
perfect.
Record With Current Team: 7th season, 38-38
Where He’ll Be In Five Years: Still
cranking up the offense at Washington State – and still looking for a trip to
the Pac-12 Championship.
