NCAA football

PULLMAN – When Syrus Webster landed at Washington State, transferring from FCS Utah Tech, the Cougars knew they had secured an athletic edge rusher, a guy who fit the bill in several ways.

SEATTLE — As the setting sun turned the Cascade Mountains purple and a frigid wind whipped around Husky Stadium, Jedd Fisch began to speak.

PULLMAN – John Mateer, Washington State’s incumbent quarterback looking to secure the starting job come fall, admits part of his personality might be a flaw.

It is customary for football coaches to hold end-of-the-season, one-on-one meetings with players, and Eastern Washington head coach Aaron Best holds to this custom.

A lot has changed since the Husky football team last took the field. Michael Penix Jr. and 20 other starters from the team which won the last Pac-12 football title, the 2023 Sugar Bowl and went to the College Football Playoff championship game have departed. Former UW coach Kalen DeBoer headed south to replace Nick Saban at Alabama, while Jedd Fisch joined Washington from former conference rival Arizona.

The ‘Pac-2’ schools will have more than $200 million during the crucial 24-month survival window.

SOUTHLAKE, Texas – Like many who played for him during his long, successful, and unique coaching career, Dezmon Patmon will never forget his time playing for Mike Leach between 2016 and 2019 at Washington State.

PULLMAN – These days, Djouvensky Schlenbaker is lowering his pad level, burying the football deep in his chest. Over the offseason, Washington State’s rising sophomore running back realized he had been running with his pad level too high, which allowed tacklers to bring him down far easier.

PULLMAN – Over the past several months, in the gap between the end of Washington State’s five-win season and the beginning of spring practice this week, Nusi Malani estimates he lost about 25 pounds.

Anybody but Washington. That’s the popular sentiment among Washington State fans regarding Pat Chun, the former Cougars athletic director who left for the same position with cross-state rival Washington.

With the Husky marching band playing “Bow Down to Washington,” and a couple hundred boosters, coaches, players and administrators standing and clapping, Pat Chun walked to the dais at the Don James Center and was officially introduced Thursday as Washington’s new athletic director.

MOSCOW, Idaho – Because Washington State’s air-supported “bubble” practice facility is no more and the Taylor Sports Complex that will replace it is so far a skeleton of structural steel and a dream, WSU combined its NFL pro day with the nearby University of Idaho Wednesday at the Kibbie Dome and adjacent weight room.

PULLMAN – Washington State may not have an athletic director, but now the school has a stopgap replacement.

PULLMAN – Kyle Williams will be the first to admit he isn’t a naturally talkative guy.

Chun moves across the state after six years as athletic director on the Palouse.

PULLMAN – Washington State’s athletic department is losing brass by the day.

PULLMAN – Four months after a wonky season, a promising start followed by a forgettable finish, Washington State football is ready to return.

LEWISTON – The Idaho football team has consistently gathered positive momentum since third-year coach Jason Eck took over the program in 2022.

Troy Dannen started his Washington tenure with a promise. Speaking during his introductory news conference as Washington’s 16th Director of Athletics on Oct. 10, Dannen addressed UW president Ana Mari Cauce, seated directly to his right. “Presidents take a chance when they hire athletic directors,” Dannen said. “I told President Cauce, ‘Trust me, I will not let you down.’” Six months later, he’s gone.