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November 29, 2011 in Sports
Wulff: ‘Innocence of Wazzu has been lost today’
PULLMAN – Paul Wulff, carrying the mantle as the former Washington State football coach, stepped into the hall and hugged his defensive coordinator, Chris Ball.
The two talked, patted each other on the back and broke apart. Their four-year run at WSU officially coming to end Tuesday when Wulff was fired as the Cougars’ 31st head coach, the first Washington State alum to hold the position in almost 50 years.
The person making the decision? Athletic director Bill Moos, who, like Wulff, played offensive line for the Cougars, albeit 10 years earlier.
“The great thing about Washington State University, and being a Coug,” Wulff said, “is that we don’t do it like everybody else. We stick together and we don’t eat our own.
“I believe the innocence of Wazzu has been lost today.”
The reaction to Wulff’s firing around the Bohler Athletic Complex wasn’t one of surprise, especially considering the 9-40 record in his four years at his alma mater.
It was more of disappointment that Wulff, hired by former athletic director Jim Sterk, couldn’t turn WSU into a winning program.
“It’s tough to see someone who I was recruited by and who got me to where I am today and brought me to this program, leave,” junior quarterback Jeff Tuel said. “It was such a rebuilding process and a lot of us understand that and Coach Wulff has done a tremendous amount for this program. But it’s kind of how the chips fell, you could say.
“I’m a Cougar until the end and whatever happens, happens. I’m going to support whoever comes in.”
It was players like Tuel, a one-year starter at quarterback in high school, that Wulff and his staff sought out, overlooked, underappreciated, feisty kids willing to deal with defeat so they could turn a program around.
In fact, the process of attracting those type of players is what Wulff said he’ll remember with the most fondness.
“Having the parents and players in my home on Sunday mornings after getting our butts whipped the first couple years,” he said. “And telling them, ‘this is why you’re here. We’re changing that.’
“Having them trusting our mission moving forward. The memory of the trust they got in myself and the staff and growing this program.”
The players knew what they were getting into.
“We kind of understand that something like this could happen if we didn’t start winning games,” said freshman defensive lineman Logan Mayes, whose father, Reuben, is the Cougars’ all-time leading rusher. “But it was one of those things where you just kind of assume the risks. Washington State was a good fit for me.”
And they knew how they could have helped.
“If we would have won more games he would still have his job,” said junior defensive end Travis Long.
All three players answered the same way when asked what they would tell Wulff when they next talked.
“Thank you for what you’ve done for this program,” Long said, “and all the hard work you put into it. And a big thank you for bringing me into Washington State.”
This year, with a team Wulff said was capable of winning six or seven games, the Cougars finished 4-8, including a 38-21 Apple Cup defeat to Washington to end the season.
Injuries played a part in that record, most notably Tuel’s fractured clavicle, suffered in the season opener.
“It makes it hurt more,” Tuel said. “That’s a lot to put on my shoulders, and it’s unfair in a sense, but I understand completely that I could have changed their future if I were to play.
“But Coach (Todd) Sturdy and Coach Wulff told me from the beginning that’s not the case, to not put that pressure on myself and they were 100 percent honest and loyal to me and my health and never put pressure on me. It was a tough deal.”
Wulff said Tuesday he felt the Cougars were getting to a place where such injuries won’t be as catastrophic – Connor Halliday, the third-string quarterback when the season began, threw for a freshman-record 494 yards against Arizona State, then suffered a lacerated liver the next week – and a big part of that was letting the program grow.
“When people start getting into that boat,” Wulff said of changing coaches every three or four years, “they never get over the hump. … They’re in the same spot. Look at UCLA, some other schools, they just keep cycling people (in), they never just draw a line and grow.
“I don’t want that for my school.”
Though he said he believes it was the right thing for him to answer when his alma mater called, Wulff hesitated when asked if, given the chance, he would do the same thing again.
“Hmm,” he said. “Not unless I was guaranteed x-amount of years coaching. Like, you know, five.”
Kamiak boys capture State 4A boys golf 
OaktownCoug on November 29 at 7:53 p.m.
Blessings on you Paul - I’m truly sorry to see you go but look for the hand of God - He has a better plan for you.
steveberde on November 29 at 7:57 p.m.
Mr Wolff is no different than a CEO hired by a board of directors of a corporation. He was paid handsomely and while a nice man his product didn’t perform so he gets the boot.
Life is tough sometimes. He was hired to win games and didn’t.
zelda on November 29 at 8:04 p.m.
Innocence? What innocence? NCAA news reads like a crime blotter and WSU’s football and basketball programs are no exception.
College sports is a high-stakes game with millions, probably billions, of dollars involved. There is no innocence. The system has been corrupt for a long time. It makes greyhound racing look angelic by comparison.
misjustice on November 29 at 8:10 p.m.
Wulff somehow convices the kids that it’s their fault that the team, under his guidence, lost some many games; and not lost by a close margin, many were runaway, lopsided scores. Innocence indeed!
Upthewazzu on November 29 at 8:18 p.m.
With all due respect to Mr. Wulff, he will leave with a handsomely sum of $3 million. That’s more that a lot of us will make in a life time.
drwonderful on November 29 at 8:32 p.m.
Mr. Moos made the only decision that he could have made as the Athletic Director. Major college athletics is a business, and the business of business is making money. Coach Wulff took us to where we are now, and the next coach’s job will be to take us farther.
DDC on November 29 at 9:11 p.m.
Sometimes it’s appropriate to say:
“I will always look back with great appreciation my experience as head football coach at WSU. What I’ll miss the most is helping these young men develop the skills, on and off the field, that will benefit them for a lifetime. It was a privilege.
I respect Mr. Moos decision and wish him and the entire staff, students and fans of WSU the very best.”
RSGraf on November 29 at 10:00 p.m.
Washington should just take this opportunity to assume the lead and be the first to bravely eject the pretense of semi-professional sports teams from their State Universities. A university is an embarassing excuse for a football team. Go to the private sector Cougs.
PassinThru on November 29 at 10:14 p.m.
The AD complains that everyone is satisfied with mediocrity. He will look pretty stupid when he settles for the next mediocre coach. Unless you think he can lure a top tier coach to Pullman, Washington. Is it really true that the president’s wife refuses to live there???
WSU will never field a consistent contender in the PAC-12. Maybe once in a blue moon, if the other 11 schools are all under NCAA sanctions and WSU has more than 3-4 stellar players under the next Coach Whatsisname.
The real choice is this: Jump (or leap) to the Mountain West or something like that, where you might win more than four games per season on a regular basis, or stick with the PAC-12 with its glorious TV money and get creamed by most everyone else. You could sit in those fabulous luxury suites and watch loss after miserable loss! So, Couger fans, what’ll it be: wins or money?