WSU Coach June Daugherty to take leave of absence
Jan 25, 2018 Lewiston Trib
PULLMAN - Cougar fans hoping to see the return of June Daugherty to the sideline will have to wait a little while longer.
The 11th-year women's basketball coach is taking an indefinite leave of absence to address health concerns, according to a news release distributed by the athletic department Wednesday. Daugherty is currently recovering from a minor medical procedure which was performed on Jan. 10.
"The medical procedure I had a few weeks ago was successful but I need some additional time to rest and heal," Daugherty said in the release. "I have great confidence that my staff will continue to coach the Cougs to their best play yet, I believe in this team and I am excited to see them continue to have success in Pac-12 Conference play."
Mike Daugherty, associate head coach and husband of June, will take over coaching duties for the foreseeable future. The Cougars (9-11 overall, 2-6 Pac-12) are 1-2 under his guidance this season.
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From WSU Sports Info
The WSU Women Basketball Cougs take on USC at home Friday for the only matchup between the two teams in 2017-18. WSU does not return the trip this season as part of the unbalanced Pac-12 schedule.
- Last season, the Cougs pulled off the home sweep of the LA schools for the first time since the 1994-95 season when the Cougs manhandled the Trojans, 74-57, thanks to 22 points out of Alexys Swedlund.
- The LA schools would get their revenge later in the season, holding home court against the injury ravaged Cougs.
- All-time, USC holds a 46-18 record against the Cougs with WSU winning 11 of 30 matchups in Pullman.
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From WSU Sports Info
Coug men's basketball next game in Seattle at UW in Hec Ed Jan 28 (Sun) 5:00 PM PT Pac-12 TV: ESPNU
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6th year for football Coug #47 Peyton Pelluer
Pelluer Granted Sixth Year of Eligibility From NCAA
Jan 25, 2018 / Football from WSU Sports Info
PULLMAN, Wash. – Washington State linebacker Peyton Pelluer was granted a sixth-year of eligibility after his extension of clock waiver was approved by the NCAA Thursday.
Pelluer started the first three games of 2017 but missed the final 10 games with a foot injury. Pelluer, a two-time All-Pac-12 honorable mention selection, has made 34 starts and tallied 254 career tackles including 24.5 for loss and two interceptions in the past four seasons.
The Sammamish, Wash. native is a four-time Pac-12 All-Academic selection, including second-team honors the last three years. Pelluer already owns a bachelor's degree in education and is working towards a master's in teaching degree.
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Standout linebacker Peyton Pelluer granted sixth year of eligibility at Washington State
UPDATED: Thu., Jan. 25, 2018, 3:53 p.m.
By Theo Lawson Spokane S-R
PULLMAN – Peyton Pelluer’s hard hits and long locks will be back at Martin Stadium this fall.
The Washington State linebacker was granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA, the school confirmed Thursday, and he will be eligible to play one final season for the Cougars. Pelluer was a senior in 2017, but a foot fracture suffered in the third game of the season against Oregon State forced him to miss the team’s 10 remaining games.
Pelluer applied for an “extension of clock” waiver, according to WSU Assistant Athletic Director of Compliance Catherine Walker. To successfully complete the extension request, an institution must be able to prove “that the student-athlete was deprived of more than one season of competition for reasons beyond his or her control.”
Though Pelluer redshirted his first season at WSU, the school was able to prove he had “two years of denied opportunity,” according to Walker, who wasn’t able to go into specific details.
Pelluer’s return gives the Cougars exceptional depth at the inside linebacker positions next season. The Sammamish, Washington, native was an All-Pac-12 Conference honorable mention selection in 2016 and finished fourth in the league with 93 total tackles.
But Pelluer’s injury in week three, in addition to those to fellow starter Isaac Dotson and reserve Nate DeRider, ushered redshirt freshmen Jahad Woods and Justus Rogers into starting roles earlier than expected. Woods and Rogers gained valuable experience and anchored the second level for the Cougars until Dotson returned for the Apple Cup.
Inside linebackers coach Ken Wilson was the first to hint at the news about Pelluer on Twitter Thursday morning, posting “Excited to have my Right Hand back with me! You deserve the chance to go out like the Leader you are! Time to get to work! Happy for you @ppelluer47 #2018LBfamily.”
WSU loses Dotson and DeRider from the 2017 roster, but the Cougars return Woods, Rogers and redshirt fresman Dillon Sherman, who earned a spot in the rotation last season because of the injuries.
And now Pelluer, too. The 6-foot, 225-pound veteran was WSU’s starting Mike linebacker in 2017 and recorded a season-high 14 tackled in the Cougars’ triple-overtime win over Boise State. Pelluer also ran back the interception that helped WSU climb out of a 21-point deficit to defeat the Broncos at Martin Stadium.
Pelluer has 41 career appearances under his belt and was a 13-game starter for the Cougars in 2015 and 2016. He played in all 12 games as a freshman and started the final five at the Mike position.
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WSU LB Peyton Pelluer has been granted his sixth year of eligibility, will return for 2018 season
Originally published January 25, 2018 at 11:47 am Updated January 25, 2018 at 4:06 pm
Washington State linebacker Peyton Pelluer (47) runs for a touchdown after intercepting
Peyton Pelluer broke his foot in the third game of the 2017 season and missed his entire senior season. But he'll now return in 2018 as a sixth-year senior after being granted a medical redshirt by the NCAA.
By Stefanie Loh Seattle Times
Washington State linebacker Peyton Pelluer has been granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA, WSU confirmed Thursday morning.
Pelluer lost most of his senior season in 2017 after suffering a broken foot in the Cougars’ win over Oregon State on Sept. 16.
However, because the injury occurred so early in the season, Pelluer only played in three games last year, which made him eligible to petition the NCAA for a a medical redshirt waiver to get an extra year of eligibility.
Pelluer’s return as a sixth-year senior is huge for what will be a painfully young WSU team in 2018.
The 6-foot, 225-pounder from Sammamish has started 34 games for WSU at middle linebacker, and that experience will be crucial for a team that has lost All-American defensive tackle Hercules Mata’afa, three senior linebackers, and two defensive backs to graduation. The Cougars are also breaking in a new defensive coordinator in Tracy Claeys, and a new safeties coach in Kendrick Shaver.
Pelluer’s maturity and leadership were also instrumental last week, in the aftermath of Tyler Hilinski’s death. A group of WSU players’ moms told The Seattle Times that Pelluer served as a conduit between the coaches and the players, keeping the staff updated on how the team was feeling. He also led the effort to check in regularly on many of the players who were close to Hilinski.
Pelluer has already completed his undergraduate degree in history, but is now working on a masters in teaching. He has said that he would like to be a teacher and coach high school football.
Pelluer will likely pair up on the inside with promising youngster Jahad Woods, who started in Pelluer’s place last season after he was injured. Woods finished as the team’s second-leading tackler, with 64 tackles.
WSU inside linebackers coach Ken Wilson’s excitement about Pelluer’s return was palpable in this tweet Thursday morning.
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Analysis | WSU hits a home run with Pat Chun hire, while Pac-12 Networks tumble amid layoffs
Originally published January 25, 2018 at 12:05 pm Updated January 25, 2018 at 12:10 pm
Jon Wilner asked three Pac-12 athletic directors their opinions of the Cougars' new AD, and all three termed it a terrific hire. Plus: Turmoil at the Pac-12 Networks and the Pac-12's rising Heisman odds.
By Jon Wilner San Jose Merc News
↑ Rising: Washington State
Three months after athletic director Bill Moos bolted Pullman for Lincoln, Neb., the Cougars introduced his successor.
Patrick Chun’s appointment carried a PR blast from the school, which cited glowing comments from several luminaries in the field, including Chun’s former boss, Ohio State AD Gene Smith.
That spin should all be taken as such. No school has ever publicized less-than-complimentary reaction.
Not knowing Chun, and seeking honest appraisal of the hire, the Hotline dipped into its bag o’ sources and asked three sitting athletic directors who know Chun for a reaction.
I promised confidentiality in exchange for candid assessments.
All three ADs termed it a terrific hire by the Cougars and heaped praise on Chun.
He’s engaging, he’s a creative thinker (see: hiring of Kiffin, Lane), and he can manage the endless tension between the campus call for fiscal responsibility and the cash outlays needed on the front lines of competition, including football … especially football.
Well done, Cougs.
↑ Rising: Pac-12 Heisman hopes
Bovada released its early odds, a 23-player list that was heavy on Pac-12 names at the top.
Stanford’s Bryce Love opened as the betting favorite (7/1), with Arizona’s Khalil Tate in third place (9/1) and Oregon’s Justin Herbert and Washington’s Jake Browning on the second tier (15/1 and 22/1, respectively).
The odds don’t matter a lick. What matters is having the names on the list — and the buzz the list generates.
In the nearly half century since Stanford’s Jim Plunkett won the award, the conference has produced one non-USC winner: Oregon’s Marcus Mariota in 2014.
Mariota was in the lead pack prior to the season, just as Love and Tate will be in 2018, and that’s essential.
Dark horse candidates from the west coast — players who emerge as candidates in late September or the first half of October — simply don’t have enough exposure opportunities in front of a Heisman electorate that is overwhelmingly east of the Mississippi.
Yes, Love and Tate must manage the elevated pressure and scrutiny that comes with eight months of hype, but it’s the only path to victory.
If you play in the Pac-12 footprint, don’t wear USC colors and aren’t a preseason favorite, you have no chance.
↑ Rising: Arizona coach Sean Miller
Hell yes, he showed restraint.
With Colorado coming to town, Miller was naturally asked about Tad Boyle’s comment that “hell, yes” he took extra satisfaction from beating the Wildcats in the wake of the FBI scandal.
Boyle was essentially saying: Arizona cheated and got caught; USC cheated and got caught; I don’t cheat; so damn right, it feels good.
USC coach Andy Enfield responded with an up-yours timeout at the end of a victory over the Buffs.
Miller smartly pivoted away from the topic at his weekly news conference. But will he, too, make use of the in-your-face timeout if given the chance? (Tipoff is tonight at 5:30 p.m. PT on FS1.)
Reading Miller’s comments, it occurred to me that he has, out of necessity, probably has produced a career’s worth of non-answers in the past four months.
↓ Falling: Pac-12 Networks
News of the restructuring and the elimination of several senior positions naturally prompted fans to double down on calls to cut a deal, any deal, with DirecTV.
But the Pac-12 Networks’ financial challenges aren’t limited to the revenue side of the equation.
The conference is under contract with Comcast, Time Warner and others to televise 850 live events annually across the national and regional linear feeds.
That’s a huge cost commitment, both in terms of production and personnel.
Were commissioner Larry Scott to order a downsizing — were he to eliminate the six regional feeds and turn them into streaming-only services for the Olympic sports — then Comcast and Co. would insist on revising the contract.
And they wouldn’t be giving the conference more money for less content.
Cutting the regionals and adopting a Big Ten model for the national feed (football, men’s basketball and a sprinkling of Olympic sports) doesn’t seem like a viable option.
Which means operating expenses are likely to remain essentially unchanged.
By my count, the restructuring will save the Pac12Nets less than $1 million annually:
Yes, the payroll has been reduced — at least one of the dismissed executives was earning well over $500,000 annually — but new president Mark Shuken is hiring an EVP for content, thereby limiting the net payroll savings.
From this vantage point, it appears the Pac12Nets’ fundamentals (on both the revenue and expense sides) will remain fixed until the distribution contracts expire in six years.
Unless …
1) There’s a major breakthrough with AT&T over distribution on DirecTV and DirecTVNow (all the leverage is with AT&T).
2) The conference sells equity in the Pac12Nets (which would render worthless the revenue sacrifice of the past five years).
3) The regional feeds are disbanded (with the presumptive Comcast-initiated blow to operating income).
In other words: No. Good. Options.
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Q&A with WSU Athletic Director Pat Chun: On fundraising, Lane Kiffin and his plans for WSU
Originally published January 25, 2018 at 6:00 am Updated January 25, 2018 at 7:34 am
WSU athletic director Pat Chun was in Seattle Wednesday, and plans to spend lot of time going back and forth between Pullman and Seattle when he starts his new job.
By Stefanie Loh Seattle Times
Hours after he was introduced as Washington State’s athletic director in a news conference Tuesday afternoon, Pat Chun was on a plane headed to Seattle.
The Cougars’ 14th athletic director hasn’t even officially started work yet – his first day at WSU is Feb. 5 – but he’s already making his rounds and trying to meet his constituents. Chun spent Tuesday night and all of Wednesday in the greater Seattle area, meeting with alums and donors. He had dinner with longtime WSU donors Jim and Lisa King on Tuesday night, met with athletics supporter and donor Greg Rankich Wednesday afternoon, and was scheduled for a dinner with WSU donors Wednesday evening.
This likely won’t be an anomaly going forward. Chun said in an interview with The Seattle Times Wednesday that, like WSU President Kirk Schulz and his wife, he’ll have access to a condo in Seattle, and that he plans to balance his time on WSU’s Pullman campus with frequent business trips to Seattle.
Chun said that Schulz made it clear during the interview process that he wanted his athletic director to maintain a presence in Seattle, where, per WSU, there are 65,000 WSU alums from Everett to Tacoma.
With Seattle’s thriving economy, that also means potential fundraising dollars, and Schulz has been open about the need for his new athletic director to vastly improve WSU’s fundraising efforts.
“We recognize the importance of athletics being present in Seattle and I need to help our teammates who are here every day,” Chun said. “I’m appreciative that President Schulz is strategic and understands the importance and value of making it easier to come to Seattle.”
Chun’s only trip to Pullman prior to this year came more than a decade ago when he flew out to WSU from Ohio State to interview for a job in Jim Sterk’s athletic department. John Johnson, WSU’s interim athletic director since Bill Moos’ departure for Nebraska, was responsible for getting Chun to take the interview. Chun ended up remaining at Ohio State though, and he said he joked with Johnson this week that that trip probably got him a raise.
We covered a variety of topics in a half hour interview with Chun in Kirkland on Wednesday. Here’s the interview, edited for brevity and clarity.
Q: WSU President Kirk Schulz has talked up your fundraising expertise, but what do you think you bring to the table?
Pat Chun: Hopefully an experienced administrator in college athletics. I’ve grown up in this business. I’ve been at every level in the athletic department, from student worker all the way to athletic director The lens I look at college athletics at is layered with a lot of different experiences. And yes, the majority of my career was spent on the fundraising and revenue generation side, and obviously that skillset was important to Kirk, but it’s a complex organization. We’ve got to have good people, good staff. We’ve got to come together and serve our student-athletes and our community.
Q: How did you hear about this job?
PC: The search firm reached out to me right before Christmas and asked if I had any interest in engaging in a dialogue with the committee and getting involved with the process.
Q: At that point, I would imagine you researched the school. What did you find out about this school that piqued your interest?
PC: I always knew about the passion that the alumni and fans had for the institution, and how loyal they are. So at the end of the day, that’s an important piece. And I have a little differnet perspective now, having grown up at a place like that (Ohio State), and then really being at an emerging school that’s a commuter at heart (Florida Atlantic).
So not having that the last five and a half years, really makes you appreciate that type of fervor for an athletic department. But really, beyond that it was just doing homework on President Schulz. His reputation is impeccable. He’s literally known as one of the best presidents in all of college athletics. So from a big picture standpoint, to have a president with that type of a reputation, and then you sit down and you hear what his goals are for the athletic department, you go “wow this is gonna be a pretty special opportunity.” We’re aligned in our values and we’re aligned in what we want to happen at WSU.
Q: Through your research, you obviously found out the that WSU athletic department has run huge deficits – over $60 million in the last seven years – of late. Was that cause for concern when you were evaluating this job?
PC: From a macro standpoint, there’s lots of athletic programs in this country that have a massive deficit. Not saying that’s right, not saying that’s wrong, but this isn’t just a WSU challenge. Going forward, I’m fully aware the deficit exists. I’ll have to roll my sleeves up and learn more of “Where’s that stuff? What are the opportunities to eliminate some of it?” I’ll work with president’s office, work with CFO’s office, and we’ll put a plan together, we’ll work to create new revenue streams to try and eliminate it.
Q: What’s your take on the arms race and the escalating spending on coaches in big time college athletics? How do you balance that with the need to balance your books?
PC: In our business, the highest return on investment is gonna be your head coach. So the market is always going to be in favor of coaches. You look at Alabama and Nick Saban (editorial note: Saban made more than $11 million in 2017). Their president and decision makers and athletic director probably believe he’s worth every penny they’re paying him, times 10. The market is in the coach’s favor because there aren’t a plethora of great coaches out there. So you’re either taking a chance on someone, or you like what you have and feel like you can improve and grow. Fortunately for us, we have a stable situation with our head coach. He has a vision for where he wants to take this football program, wants to keep growing this football program, and you can’t argue with the results he’s had in his time here. So we’ll keep pumping in to try to elevate Washington State football.
Qn: Schulz has stressed that he understands the importance of getting an indoor practice facility built. Is this going to be your immediate emphasis in fundraising?
PC: I know that’s the last piece, a big piece that we need to complete. I have not done as assessment on what our needs are, but I know in talking with the president how important that is. And just knowing the way our league is set up, and just geographically, where we sit and what the weather patterns are like where we are in Pullman, the need for a facility like that is there.
Q: If you looked at your tenure at FAU and Ohio State and had to pick out a landmark accomplishment at each stop, what would it be?
PC: I would hope, based on the reaction at both places that it’s the relationships. I got a text from a former baseball player today, from Ohio State, just congratulating me. I had staff members from the president’s office emailing me. I think it’s the relationships you build with people over time. You work together toward a common goal and I think at the end of the day that’s the most enduring thing anyway, that, as life changes, you always have people that, they left an imprint on you, and hopefully you leave an imprint on them.
Q: There was a story in the Palm Beach Post recently alleging that your relationship with FAU football coach Lane Kiffin was rocky toward the end of your time there. Is there any truth to that?
PC: A lot of things are taken out of context. I will tell you this, I’m appreciative of what he’s done, I’m grateful for the work he’s done – he did everything we asked him to do. I talked to him last Friday before I left town. It was really nice. The joy he had in his face for me and my family to move on to this opportunity was genuine. The relationship (between A.D. and head football coach), people don’t understand, sometimes it’s not about us being best friends. It’s about us coming together for a common goal and that’s to serve student athletes and to do something special for our institution. When you look back, FAU had its greatest year of college football with Lane Kiffin as the head coach and me as the athletic director.
Q: You’ve work in the athletic department at Ohio State, an established institution with a storied history, and then at FAU, a commuter school that’s trying to build its reputation. What did you take from each place in terms of trying to build a program, and where does WSU fall in that spectrum?
PC: Well part of the thing I learned at FAU, because I worked for three presidents, counting an interim, is how important the university president is. And that’s what makes working for Schulz so important to me. Because things changed at FAU when we hired Dr. John Kelly. Even though he didn’t hire me, he treated me like he hired me, and we went to work because we had a shared vision of what we wanted the athletic department to look like. And I don’t want to denigrate who hired me (Mary Jane Saunders) because she’s a wonderful person.
But Dr. Kelly was pro-athletics, he’d been at Clemson, so we spoke the same language. We both understood how important academic achievement is, how important community service is, and developing the whole student-athlete. All those things that go into building a dynamic program. Same with President Schulz. He understands how we get to results. We’ve gotta achieve academically, we have to have the type of program that attracts quality people. We want high-character kids in our program. All those things add up to the big picture. President Schulz, he understands and has a profound understanding of it all.
Q: What have you seen from the Pac-12 from watching on the outside?
PC: Historically I know it’s a conference that values academics and athletics, and that’s sincere. Like I told our team, if our goal collectively is to be the best program in the Pac-12, historically if you’re the best program in the conference of champions, you’re one of the best programs in the country.
The bar is high here. So if we can consistently be on top of that, (we can) replicate what we did in the fall with our top 25 finish in the Director’s Cup, in the winter and spring. That’s why I feel like the bones are in place. To do what we did in the fall is spectacular. Now the goal is, “Can we replicate that?”
Q: You’re now the first Asian-American Power Five athletic director. Is that a source of pride for you?
PC: The significance isn’t lost on me. But like I tell our daughters, typically when something big happens, when something significant happens, there’s a lot of other people that impact that, or had more to do with that than that person.
Like in my situation, I think of my mom and dad. They came to this country (from South Korea) for opportunity. They’re the ones who had to sacrifice. I grew up, went through 12 years of Catholic school and went to Ohio State. I had it easy.
I look at our industry and athletic administration, there are real pioneers like (Ohio State athletic director) Gene Smith and (athletic director) Dan Guerrero at UCLA. When they took their chairs as ADs, they looked very different than the rest of the community of athletic directors. They unknowingly put people like me on their shoulders and created more opportunities for others. And even in this instance, this is more about WSU and Kirk Schulz than it is about me. I promise you that when they interviewed me, my ethnicity did not come up at all. It was my values, my skillset, and, ‘does it match with what they believe is needed at WSU?’
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Multiple NFL Draft analysts agree: WSU QB Luke Falk has impressed on and off the field during Senior Bowl week
Originally published January 25, 2018 at 1:13 pm Updated January 25, 2018 at 2:39 pm
At 6-4, 211 pounds, WSU QB Luke Falk is considered slender for the position, and he also has to show NFL teams he can transition from the Air Raid to the pros. But, in Mobile, Ala. this week for the Senior Bowl, Falk appears to have made a favorable impact on scouts and draft analysts
By Stefanie Loh Seattle Times
Even though he’s on a Senior Bowl North team that’s loaded with quarterback talent, Washington State’s Luke Falk has more than held his own next to Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield and Wyoming’s Josh Allen in Mobile, Ala. this week.
By many accounts, Falk has done well both on the practice field and in the interview room in the lead-up to Saturday’s Senior Bowl game.
On Monday, Falk, who’s wearing jersey number “3” in honor of his late teammate Tyler Hilinski, was nationally lauded for his sensitive, insightful comments on the issue of suicide
Since then, draft analysts say he’s showed off his accuracy, vision and anticipation on the field, and impressed NFL teams with his maturity, football IQ and demeanor in interviews.
ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay called Falk “the most consistent quarterback here from the very first minute to the end of practice” while NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah said on air before Thursday morning’s practice that “when you look at all these quarterbacks, you can make the argument that nobody has helped himself as much as Luke Falk has this week.”
Falk has met with multiple NFL teams in Alabama, including the Chicago Bears and New York Jets, and he appears to have left a favorable impression.
“The anticipation and timing stand out,” Jeremiah said. “I think (Falk’s) interviews are going great with teams. They’re shocked at all the control and power he had at the line of scrimmage.”
Falk told the Chicago Tribune that the Bears were the first team to ask him to explain offenses on a whiteboard this week.
“They just wanted to see if I understood our concepts at Washington State and what my process was, and see how it could maybe translate to the next level,” Falk told the Tribune.
The big knock against Falk is that he comes from WSU’s Air Raid system that’s known for inflating offensive statistics because of its emphasis on passing.
But, as NFL Network analyst Charles Davis points out, Falk is a bit different from other Air Raid quarterbacks Mike Leach has had, and has a chance to change the NFL’s perception of Leach quarterbacks.
“These guys coming out of Washington State and the Mike Leach system, a lot of them are dart throwers,” Davis said. “This is a big, tall kid with a lot more arm than you’re used to seeing in that system, so he doesn’t quite fit what you’ve seen before.
“If he makes it, he’s going to break a chain for Mike Leach. Mike has had great production, but hasn’t had a quarterback who’s really hit it.”
Falk’s Air Raid background has earned him comparisons to Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jared Goff, who played in a similar system under Sonny Dykes at Cal.
Renowned NFL Network draft talent evaluator Mike Mayock thinks Falk’s thin frame (6-4, 211 pounds) is something of a concern, but says Falk reminds him of Goff, though, Mayock notes, “I don’t think he’s got that arm strength.”
Like Goff before him, Falk is determined to show in the pre-draft process that he can adapt to the pro style system still favored by many NFL teams.
“People want to fault me for being in the Air Raid system. But that was the system I played in,” Falk said at Senior Bowl media day. “What I can show is what I’ve done at Washington State, our schemes and concepts and how they can translate, and just talk football. … When I get into a different system, I’m going to perfect that as well.”
To that end, Falk has been taking extra snaps from center after Senior Bowl practices this week just to get more reps.
“I need to show I can take a snap under center. I never really did that at WSU, and it’s going to be a little difficult with this going on,” Falk said, gesturing to the brace on his left (non-throwing) hand. “I’ve got a brace that’s gonna allow me to be full go. Is it gonna be painful? Who knows. But structurally, I’m fine. I get this thing off in three weeks and I’m gonna be 100 percent.”
Falk broke a bone in his left hand against Boise State and played with a cast on it all year. However he had to have surgery on the hand before the Holiday Bowl and ended up sitting out the bowl game.
Falk exuded a modest confidence during his media day interview, telling reporters, “I’m a franchise quarterback and I’m going to win Super Bowls.”
“I’m just here to play football, show what I can do, interview well and show the teams I’m the right guy for them,” Falk said.
Falk has been working with former Arizona Cardinals quarterback Ryan Lindley and quarterback guru Adam Dedeaux to refine his dropbacks and snaps from under center.
Dedeaux, the CEO of quarterback coaching academy 3DQB, has renowned throwing expert Tom House on his coaching staff, and House has worked with Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady, whom Falk idolizes.
Falk’s biggest strengths, draft analysts agree, are his accuracy and his football IQ.
“The way he plays the game, he really gets it at the position,” said Bucky Brooks, another NFL Network analyst. “When you talk to scouts that went through Washington State, they talk about how that was his big calling card there. He was able to run the checks and run the game from the line of scrimmage.
“He’s efficient enough from the pocket and can make all the throws you want to see. But really his understanding of how to manage a game, that’s gonna separate him from others in his class.”
Added Mayock, “If he has clear vision and clean feet where he can step in with confidence, he’s as accurate as anybody in football.”
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