WSU
football: Media Day in Pac-12 so very different from the SEC
By BRIAN
STULTZ
Cougfan.com
Photo you
see posted here via Cougfan.com “Jalen Thompson at Pac-12 Media Day (Photo:
Pac-12 Network grab)”
LOS
ANGELES – Pac-12 Media Day was a crash course into how much more laid back the
Conference of Champions is compared to the SEC. And I’m not talking about how
SEC media days span four days compared to the Pac-12’s one.
At
lunchtime on Wednesday on the outside terrace of the Ray Dolby Ballroom
attached to the Loews Hollywood Hotel, conference head coaches and players all
mingled with members of the media, often sitting at the same table while
discussing everything but football.
Where were
the three state troopers that I was so used to guarding the coach as if he was
the President?
There was
no distance between media and coaches. And it was a picnic compared to the
insanity that happens every July in the SEC.
In Hoover, Ala., and now in Atlanta, you were lucky to say a quick hello
to a coach. Here, I found myself
chatting with Utah’s Kyle Whittingham and Cal’s Justin Wilcox with ease.
It was a
breath of fresh air.
Here are
some other observations from the day in Hollywood:
WINNERS:
I can
certainly see why Chris Petersen has been successful in coaching. He was
energetic, passionate, confident, funny and charismatic. He wasn’t the one who
stole the spotlight, though. Don't forget about Arizona State coach Herm
Edwards, who had me ready to run through a wall halfway through his Q&A.
Does he always make sense with what he says? Of course not. But the man can
bring the thunder!
HEAD
SCRATCHER:
Question
for the Pac-12: Why oh why have all three representatives from the school
speaking at the same time? It makes it impossible for one person to hear
everything that they are saying. Yes, you provide transcripts for what the head
coach says, but not the players? There needs to be a change next year or I
guess I’ll have to bring three different recorders.
BEST
ANSWER:
When
Washington State wide receiver Kyle Sweet was asked about the media poll and
Washington State being picked fifth in the Pac-12 North, he quickly responded
by saying that that isn’t much different from the past few years and that the
Cougs will do everything possible to prove the voters wrong.
DON'T MESS
WITH HIM:
Seeing
some of these coaches for the first time in person, one particular thing
crossed my mind: I would not want to get in a fight with Utah coach Kyle
Whittingham or USC’s Clay Helton. They look like they could still play. I think I could take Chip Kelly though!
STANFORD
BEING STANFORD:
Why was
Stanford running back Bryce Love, one of the favorites for the Heisman Trophy,
not one of the players representing the Cardinal? It is because the trip would
have messed with his class schedule. For the record, Love is trying to graduate
early with a degree in Human Biology.
LOCATION,
LOCATION, LOCATION:
The Pac-12
does it up big time with the event being held smack dab in the middle of
Hollywood. The food provided (both breakfast and lunch) was amazing as well.
Props to the conference and overall, a great day for everyone involved. Even a
guy used to covering the SEC.
Brian
Stultz has covered college football for 247Sports, Campus Insiders, SEC
Country, SB Nation and several other media outlets. He joined Cougfan.com this
month as our senior beat writer and heads into 2018 fall camp in Pullman after
spending much of his career in Atlanta and Chicago.
:::::
BILL
CONNELLY'S WSU FOOTBALL TEAM PREVIEW, 2018
This will
likely be a tough season for Mike Leach’s Washington State
Leach is
one of college football’s steadiest winners, but he’s got a lot to deal with
this fall.
By Bill
Connelly Coug Center
May 21, 2018, 11:00am EDT
Washington
State Cougars
Head
coach: Leach (38-38, seventh year)
2017
record and S&P+ ranking: 9-4 (39th)
Projected
2018 record and S&P+ ranking: 7-5 (41st)
Five key
points:
Since the
2017 season ended, Leach has had to cope with a player death and replace about
half his assistants.
ECU grad
transfer Gardner Minshew joins an assortment of quarterbacks.
If the
passing game works (which is rarely a problem for Leach), the rest should be
fine.
New
defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys is in an almost impossible situation, tasked
with replacing the phenomenal Alex Grinch, but he’s a pretty dang good
coordinator, and he’s got a lot of attackers to deploy if (if) the line holds
up.
S&P+
projects about a 7-5 campaign, which is about normal, but the key tests for
2018 aren’t on paper.
Bill C’s
annual preview series of every FBS team in college football continues. Catch up
here!
At a macro
level, the Mike Leach experience is one of the most reliable in college
football. Sure, you never quite know what’s going to come out of his mouth or
Twitter account, and sure, the passing game on which his reputation has been
built remains unorthodox even within a pass-friendly sport. But the results
themselves are predictable.
Here are
Leach’s records at Texas Tech, beginning with his third year: 9-5, 8-5, 8-4,
9-3, 8-5, 9-4, 11-2, 8-4.
At
Washington State, beginning with his fourth year: 9-4, 8-5, 9-4.
Once his
system is in place, he establishes a cruising altitude.
Beginning
with his third year at Tech, he won 59 percent of one-possession games (17-12)
and 73 percent of more-than-one-possession games (54-20). Beginning with his
fourth year at Wazzu, those numbers are pretty close: 67 percent (12-6) and 67
percent (14-7).
Like guys
running a triple option, his system is, for lack of a better term, automated
enough to execute it well in pressure situations. He has only once finished
more than one game under .500 in one-possession games, and that was in 2001,
his second year as a head coach. Contrast that with someone like Notre Dame’s
Brian Kelly, who has rode huge streaks of good and bad fortune to a BCS title
game (2012) and a 4-8 season (2015) and everything in between.
In too
many ways to count, though, this season is going to test that stability.
This is
because of reasons that have very little to do with the two-deep, though to be
sure, it’s getting a makeover following the loss of starting quarterback Luke
Falk, top outside receivers Tavares Martin Jr. and Isaiah Johnson-Mack, an
All-American offensive lineman (Cody O’Connell), and an All-American defensive
lineman (Hercules Mata’afa). What might drag his program down is everything
else.
There was
an evening this past winter when, for all intents and purposes, he was no
longer Washington State’s head coach. He was prepared to accept an offer to
become Tennessee’s head coach before Tennessee things happened, and the AD was
fired before Leach could officially take the job. This became public knowledge,
and he had to return to Pullman as if nothing had happened.
He had to
replace a ton of assistants this offseason. Name the reason — better job
offers, a creeping feeling of instability, etc. — but a lot of guys left, and Leach
had to bring on a new defensive coordinator (Tracy Claeys), cornerbacks coach
(Darcel McBath), safeties coach (Kendrick Shaver), OLBs coach (Matt Brock),
offensive line coach (Mason Miller), and outside receivers coach (Steve
Spurrier Jr.), plus a new strength coach (Tyson Brown) and assistant strength
coach (Amir Owens).
One of the
departures was of the best hire Leach has ever made.
Coordinator
Alex Grinch transformed Wazzu’s defense from barely-top-100 to, in 2017, a
top-30 unit (per S&P+), but he left to become DC in waiting (more or less)
at Ohio State. The Claeys hire was an astute one — Minnesota had a top-40
defense in each of his last three years in Minneapolis, as either DC or head
coach — but Grinch set the bar high. If there’s a difference between Leach’s
performance at Tech and Wazzu, it’s that he averaged only 3.4 one-possession
finishes per year in Lubbock and has averaged 5.5 in Pullman. Grinch was a big
part of navigating those.
This is
more than just an item in a list, but there’s also the matter of Tyler
Hilinski’s death. The junior-to-be took his own life in mid-January. The Wazzu
community responded, but between the assistant coach turnover — a bunch of
players lost their staff dads to other jobs — and Leach’s brusque changing of
the subject this spring, it’s hard to glean just how well Leach or his players
have handled the news.
Leach’s
weird brand of steadiness could create normalcy where none should exist. And if
that’s the case, then this will be an extremely familiar year in Pullman.
S&P+ projects the Cougars 41st — they were 41st in 2016 and 39th in 2017 —
with a record somewhere around 7-5.
::::::::::::
Media
failed at Pac-12 Media Day by not addressing mental health
Only
conference head coach asked about issue was Mike Leach
BY JACKSON
GARDNER, Evergreen columnist
July 26,
2018
Pac-12
Media Day has come and gone, and by now just about everyone has speculated on
the conference’s downfalls and why they think its heading in the wrong
direction.
But
yesterday when coaches took the podium to field questions, it was the media
that dropped the ball, not the conference of champions.
Of the 12
coaches who spoke in front of the cameras in Los Angeles, only one of them
received questions about their awareness of mental health issues and what they
would be doing to help their student-athletes moving forward. That coach was
WSU’s Mike Leach.
Leach said
they provided WSU student-athletes with resources and help immediately
following the news of Tyler Hilinski’s death.
“We had
counselors around the entire team, a huge number of counselors within an hour,
so I think that was a big deal,” he said. “But I think it’s a constant emphasis
and it needs to remain that way.”
It should
also be noted that Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott took one question at media
day about what the conference is doing regarding mental health issues, and he
was prepared to answer.
“We’ve
decided to elevate mental health as a priority area for our student-athlete
health and welfare board,” Scott said. “Significant investments from the $3.6
million that we contribute annually will be dedicated to mental health
awareness, education and other research initiatives.”
Scott
deserves a little praise for having a real answer with substance on what is
actually being done by the Pac-12, rather than giving a half-hearted “we’re
doing everything we can” response.
A couple
players in attendance, such as WSU senior wide receiver Kyle Sweet and
University of California, Los Angeles junior linebacker Josh Woods, spoke about
their relationship with Hilinski and the importance of ending the stigma around
mental health.
While I am
glad players were engaging in the conversation that needs to be had in every
locker room around the country, I am disappointed the coaches did not answer
any of these questions.
Nearly
every coach got a question about the federal legalization of sports gambling
and rule changes, but Leach was the only one asked about mental health, an
issue that effects the Pac-12’s student-athletes more than the issues above
that were raised.
This isn’t
surprising to me however. When the media huddles around the coaches to start
asking questions, subjects like who will be starting next fall come to mind
quicker than what psychological services are you providing for your players.
But this
is part of the problem we face in collegiate sports, that this question doesn’t
come to our mind just as synonymously as the other questions that are asked
every year.
What’s
even worse is we ask questions like who is winning the quarterback battle when
we know there isn’t a head coach in the country that would give you a straight
answer to a question like that.
We have
five new head coaches in the Pac-12 and I would be more interested to know how
familiar they are with the psychologists he has on staff and their protocol for
facilitating mentally healthy student-athletes as opposed to how his family has
adjusted to a new setting.
Oregon
State University has the Dam Worth It campaign, which focuses on changing how
we approach conversations about mental health issues, and not a single person
was interested in asking first-year Head Coach Jonathan Smith about it.
Beyond
Oregon State, I am sure other universities in the Pac-12 have new innovative
programs or campaigns to combat mental health stigmas. Personally, I would have
liked to hear about them. Every school has their own way of approaching mental
health issues and there is no better setting to find out how they do it than at
this event.
Each coach
took the podium for at least 24 minutes and every coach got at least one
head-scratching question. It would have been more than appropriate to replace
one of these questions that sends a coach into an automated dial tone with a
question about mental health.
Why not
ask a question where you have no other choice than to receive a real answer?
Either the coach knows what his program is doing and answers the question or he
doesn’t know and gives an ill-informed answer and it becomes painfully clear
that he needs to be better informed.
I don’t
think the media members who were actually there to cover the event did a bad
job; it is easy for me to sit at home in Washington and speculate what went
wrong. But they had an obligation to ask these questions and they didn’t.
I think
the most important question that could have been asked at media day was only
given to the coach that was affected most by this issue.
Perhaps I
feel so strongly about these questions because I am a part of the school that
made headlines for mental health issues.
But over
the past couple years, as calls for more mental health awareness have been
made, I was under the impression that there was a consensus that we would all
do better to make mental health a more approachable topic and one that we would
bring to the forefront.
Yesterday,
the media did not fail the fan that loves Pac-12 football, they failed the
student-athlete who struggles with depression and has known nothing other than
to keep pushing forward. We failed the rising star that may not know how to
deal with the anxiety of having the spotlight on him all the time. We failed
the walk-on who might feel like his hard work isn’t enough.
We need to
be better in order to protect student-athletes on and off-the-field, which will
in turn preserve the game we love so much.
::::::::::::
TAKE A
LOOK OF THIS PHOTO: MIKE LEACH 7/25/2018 AT PAC-12 MEDIA DAY
Washington
State head coach Mike Leach speaks at the Pac-12 Conference NCAA college
football Media Day in Los Angeles, Wednesday, July 25, 2018. (Jae C. Hong / AP)
………………………
“And, for the first time in years, Mike Leach wasn’t the
most-talked-about coach.”
By Vince
Grippi
Spokane
S-R 7/26/2018
A GRIP ON
SPORTS • Settle in folks. It may be a Thursday in late July, but it isn’t a day
to relax around these parts. Way too much news, from Pac-12 football to high
school football to Safeco Field, for that. Though, if you love sports, it’s
probably just the right amount. Read on.
We have
three subjects to cover – rant about? – today, but because we have a theatrical
flair, we will start in Hollywood. At the Pac-12 football media day.
And, for
the first time in years, Mike Leach wasn’t the most-talked-about coach.
Oh sure,
the Washington State coach was in the spotlight. He even had one of the best
quotes, something about Los Angeles traffic, middle fingers and the oasis that
is Pullman.
But with
the Herm Edwards experience underway in Tempe and Chip Kelly returning to the
college ranks in Westwood, there were a couple of semi-new faces that seemed
more popular.
Kelly has
changed. His failed NFL tenure, coupled with a year in the broadcast studio,
has mellowed him. At least he was mellower yesterday. The games haven’t started
yet. Who’s to say he won’t be more like Chip Kelly, circa 2009, come
mid-October.
And
Edwards? He’s a bit like a north wind in late September, signaling the weather
is changing. There is nothing typical about the Arizona State coach and that’s
a good thing. Win or lose, it will be fun to follow what happens with the Sun
Devils this season.
If you
can.
Larry
Scott, the conference’s commissioner, made his usual presentation and it
contained little in the way of new information, despite the changing landscape
of the game.
If you
want to be a DirecTV customer and remain a Pac-12 fan, it’s pretty difficult.
(By the way, I discovered this spring there are some workarounds concerning
DirecTV and it not carrying the Pac-12 Networks, but they require a little
money, other equipment and probably more knowledge of electronics than many of
us possess.) The money gap with other Power 5 conferences is not going away.
And Las Vegas will have a bigger football role in the future.
That last
also bleeds over into another change, one that Scott, and his peers, are
probably working on in the background more than we know.
Sports
gambling is the 3-foot rattlesnake that just escaped its burlap sack, thanks to
a recent Supreme Court ruling, and it threatens to bite college athletics’
already vulnerable integrity.
As more
and more states try to grab tax revenue related to gambling on sporting events,
the pressure to even the playing field will increase, with the hope of keeping
the games clean.
One way is
to mandate injury reports, making it tougher for a motivated gambler to bribe
his or her way into information others don’t have. But many coaches, including
Leach and Stanford’s David Shaw, are loath to reveal such information. No
matter what reason coaches give, it’s about competitive advantage, something
every coach wants to have.
They often
fall back on the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act, as if
the federal law doesn’t allow them to release information about a player’s
health under any circumstances. Heck, Shaw said as much yesterday, after some
blather about the player’s right to talk – something I’m sure Shaw would never
discourage (cue sarcasm music).
“If
there’s something the young man and his family wants to release, that’s up to
him. It’s his health. But as far as institutionally talking about a young
person’s health, we have HIPAA laws that prohibit that,” he told reporters. “I
think it’s wrong, it’s unnecessary, and I think it would be catering towards
the gambling and the betting, which we can’t, in my opinion, do that.”
HIPAA laws
make health information every individual’s property, to do with as they see
fit. They can allow its dissemination anytime they want. That’s true for any
college football player as well.
What’s not
clear is whether colleges can mandate release of non-specific health
information – for example, “doubtful, lower-body injury” – as part of a
scholarship agreement. It’s still unclear and has broader ramifications dealing
with employment status, something the NCAA wants to avoid determining at all costs.
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