Wisdom Of Solomon WSU Walk-On Knew He Had What It Took To Play Division I Football

Scott Sanderson can relate to only a part of what Cory Solomon went through in his first season as a walk-on offensive lineman at Washington State.

Sanderson, like Solomon, labors in the Cougars’ offensive line and cut his Division I football teeth on the WSU scout team. He went through grueling two-a-day practices, banging helmets against some of the most physical and ornery defensive linemen every to play at WSU.

He suffered the same kind of daily thumpings in the trenches, he suffered the same bruises, the same headaches.

But Scott Sanderson was one of the Cougars’ 80-some scholarship players. His tuition, books and room and board were being paid by the university.

Solomon was digging into his own trust fund to finance his education.

“I can appreciate what he went through from a physical standpoint,” Sanderson said of Solomon, a Mead graduate who has since earned not only a full-ride scholarship but a starting position, as well. “But having to pay your own way, man, that’s a totally different element.

“I have nothing but respect and admiration for guys that do that and then end up earning a scholarship. It’s great to see.”

And it is difficult to imagine how Solomon must have felt on that spring day in 1994 when Cougar coach Mike Price called him into his office and awarded him with an athletic scholarship worth more than $8,800 annually.

“That was probably one of the happiest days of my life so far,” recalled Solomon, a 6-foot-4, 260-pound redshirt sophomore, who will start Saturday at offensive guard against No. 2-ranked and unbeaten Nebraska. “It was unbelievable to accomplish that and prove everybody back in Spokane wrong.”

If there seems to be a little bitterness in Solomon’s remarks, it is justified.

As an undersized 235-pound senior at Mead, he had been named to the all-state team as defensive end. He played in the state all-star game with several players who went on to earn Division I scholarships.

But he said his coaches at Mead told him he was too small to play Division I football. One even said he wouldn’t be able to play in the Big Sky Conference.

About the only coach who believed in Solomon was former WSU line coach George Yarno, who is now the offensive coordinator at Idaho, a school that backed off of Solomon because of his size.

It was Yarno who told Solomon he could play in the Pacific-10 Conference. It was Yarno who convinced him to turn down a scholarship offer from Eastern Washington and walk on at WSU. And it was Yarno, who ultimately convinced Price to invest in Solomon.

“Yarno really came to bat for me,” Solomon said, explaining that he had originally been passed over for scholarships that were awarded to punter George Martin and backup wide receiver Shawn Tims.

“I was really disappointed at first - not at coach Price, but at myself, because I felt like I didn’t do all I could have done to earn it.”

What Solomon did was put on 25 pounds and increase his bench press from 340 pounds to 390, although it has since dropped back to 350 since off-season shoulder surgery following WSU’s 10-3 Alamo Bowl win over Baylor last December.

“Cory’s a fighter, a scrapper,” Price said. “He’s a real tenacious, aggressive player. He was about to quit without a scholarship there, but he hung in there long enough to get one.

“He’s earned his scholarship and his starting, I’ll guarantee you, just through personal sacrifice, tenacity and perseverance.”

Price said it unusual for offensive lineman who walk on to stick it out.

“We’re usually begging for linemen when it comes to walk-ons,” he said, “because they know they’re going to get beat up by our defensive lineman all the time. It’s not a real star-studded position and there’s not a lot of glory in it.”

Solomon can deal with that, however.

He recalls his first week on campus when he was knocked silly in a tackling drill by former all-Pacific-10 Conference linebacker Anthony McClanahan.

“I was like, ‘Oh, my God!”’ he said, thinking back to the grin McClanahan gave him prior to the drill. “I remember putting the pads on that first day and thinking, ‘Gosh, I’d better button my chin strap, it’s going to be long day.”’

McClanahan ended up ringing Solomon’s bell pretty well. And so did several other upperclassmen during his his freshman year.

“There were times when I questioned what I was doing here,” Solomon admitted. “But whenever I called my mom, she’d would tell me to hang in there.

“She’d always tell me, ‘You’re not quitting now. Or, at least if you do, you’re not coming home.’ So I told her that was all right, I wasn’t going to let her down.

“There were a lot of time when trying to adjust to college life and getting my head thumped every day was hard, but coach Yarno kept me going. And my family kept me going off the field.”

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