7 Ways: To Turn It Around

Paul Wulff has a plan for the Washington State Cougars.

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Paul Wulff's re-introduction to football on the Palouse has been rough.

For a three year stretch to start this decade, WSU was arguably the Pac 10's best football team, a weird notion for any program as we continue in the Age of Troy. But they were. The program went 33-7 over three years, the final win over a Vince Young-led Texas team. That was then. The current version is in the midst of the program's worst season ever. When Charlie Weis and Notre Dame suffered a humiliating stretch last year, many pointed out that after defections from already weak recruiting from the last regime, the senior class in South Bend was a low-end MAC class. Paul Wulff feels the pain. Much worse, actually. From the class of 2006, only a handful contribute. Most aren't even on the current roster.

So how to turn it around?

We asked the first year coach, a former Coug who blocked under Dennis Erickson, what he thinks, then we created a game plan from the highlights. We also spoke with current Minnesota head coach Tim Brewster, who felt Wulff's pain last year, when Minnesota went 1-11. This year, they're 7-2, back in the bowl scene. You can click here to read the interview with Brewster of Minnesota.

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1. Recruit Like Crazy
"Even though we only had about a month to recruit when I was hired last year, and there was close to nothing in place in terms of commitments, we actually did pretty well with the availability we had. The recruiting efforts in the past weren't, frankly, up to standard in terms of recruiting that top-tier kid, so we've got huge holes in depth and huge holes in terms of guys that are physically ready to play that are playing. The way we fix it is with time and really good recruiting. We've got a bunch of young coaches in here that are great recruiters and love Washington State, so it's easy for them to push this program."

2. California, Here We Come
"Especially in Northern California, (this program) had just flat-out quit recruiting in the last five years. When I was here, and all of the great teams of the last ten years, you've had a big influx from Northern California. The thing is, it's not that far. You can get away from home, but the social climate is really similar here. You go back to the best teams here, the core of those teams are from this state and California."

3. Schedule Smarter
"The SEC is a great conference, but the reality is they only play 6 or 7 league games. We play 9, and nobody else does it. We have the toughest schedule in the country, and I don't care what anyone says. Just like 'Bama can't take 'Ole Miss for granted, USC can't take OSU. Those are brutal games. We always play one or two strong teams in addition. We need to be smart about that. Play that one tough one, but get a couple others you should win. We've got scheduling built in that is tough, man. We got Notre Dame next year, in the middle of the year. We'll play a great schedule, regardless, we have to remember that."

4. Know Your Good History…And Bad
"Kids can play early, but we still love that redshirt year, and frankly, a lot of guys need it bad. At Washington State, when we're playing good football, there's a high element of experience and 5th year players. I go back to the run when we were the best team in the conference from 2001 thru 2003 in terms of wins, and how did they get there? You go back to the '98 Rose Bowl, and a senior-dominated team, and they had great talent and maturity. Well, after that they said we're going to give Coach Price a long deal and allow him to build it the right way. Well, they went out and recruited solid high school kids and redshirted them. Then, they went out and were in last place or close for three straight years. But as those kids grew up, you had dominant teams, and not just for one year. That philosophy stopped when Price left. It just does. You go back to trying to plug holes, quick fixes. A good example of how it works is Jim Grobe at Wake Forest. He brought in kids, redshirted all of them, didn't kill them in practice, lifted them, and they become great players. I had my shot with the NFL, and the difference between Pac 10 and the NFL is much smaller than it is for a high school kid coming to the Pac 10."

5. Don't Pigeon-Hole Talent
"College is great because you find great football players, period, guys who can flat-out fly, period, and develop them. We have a defensive end (rated in the top 50 in the country) coming in who is barely over 200 pounds, but he can fly and he's always on the quarterback. We have to let him develop. We need to remember that we had other kids like that on those great teams, but because we gave them time, as juniors and seniors they were 230-250 pound guys who'd grown into their bodies and could still fly."

6. Coaches Need to Redshirt Too
"I went from 10 months ago competing for a National Championship (at Eastern Washington) to coming into a rebuild. We'd grown a good program there, and then it was time to start a new one in a sense. It gets tough on you a little bit, but the good thing is I'm young enough and so are the other coaches to fight through it. Arizona had it too, and this is Mike Stoops' 5th year, and they're turning the corner. I think we can make it even a little quicker than that, but we're going to have to work our tails off, and there's really no short-cuts."

7. Feel It, And Embrace This Place
"I ask recruits if people from WSU are different, and they all say, 'Yeah, they're all so outwardly excited about the place. So invested emotionally.' In the middle of nowhere? Can't find something to do? No way. We've got 20,000 kids your age, and they aren't leaving. You don't want to leave on a weekend! It's the greatest atmosphere there is. Gameday? When this place is rocking, and with the stadium work finishing up, it's one of the best gameday atmospheres in the country. The fans are different here. The fans are crazy, they're passionate."

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