Birnbaum Goes With Plan A

Like any good quarterback should, Steve Birnbaum had several contingency plans when he walked through the door to meet his Washington State future on Monday.

“I had all three situations planned out in my head,” the WSU QB said.

“First string, OK, bam, all I’m going to think about is Utah.’

“Second string, `OK, stay in there, they might need me after the first snap.’

“Third string, `Well, it’s a long season, just keep my head in there and do what I can for the Cougs.”’

The fifth-year senior found out in 5 seconds he would not have to employ the latter two plans. Cougars coach Mike Price, sitting alongside quarterbacks coach Eric Price, came right out and told Birnbaum he would be the starting quarterback against Utah on Sept. 4.

The controversy that has lasted since last season ended just that quickly. And by Monday afternoon Birnbaum was running the first team, thinking about how far he had come and how he was not going to let it slip away this time.

“It means a lot to me,” he said. “Few people have known what I had to go through.

“I’m not saying the coaching staff was down on me, but obviously we didn’t do well last year,” Birnbaum continued. “It was a sense of I’m doing this all by myself. I’m going back and making a spot for myself. It was my decision to work harder in the winter, watch more film, make better reads in the spring and get bigger, stronger and faster. And that’s what I did.”

Of course, so did the other two candidates, Paul Mencke and Jason Gesser. But in the end, it was Price’s belief in Birnbaum that tilted the scales in his favor.

“The reason we are doing this is he gives us the best opportunity to beat Utah,” the coach said.

“That’s the bottom line.

“He is the most ready for it,” Price added. “He knows the offense. He knows all the checks. He is throwing the ball better than everyone else. He can read the defenses. He has that whole package.”

But that whole package doesn’t guarantee that Birnbaum will be playing the whole game, every game. “Gesser will play,” said Price. “ Hopefully, it won’t be in catch-up. It will be in a meaningful situation.” < But it probably won’t be against Utah, and the freshman knows that.

“If you are looking from a coach’s point of view, you don’t want to go in and put all this pressure on a freshman, taking the first snap of the game,” Gesser said. “I know half the defense out there (Gesser and many of the Utes were teammates at St. Louis High in Hawaii). They are going to be talking trash to me. I know the starting quarterback because he played in high school with me. I would be putting so much pressure on myself to perform good. So if you look at it from a coach’s point of view, you understand it. That’s why I’m not really disappointed about it.”

Mencke will play, too. Maybe at QB. Maybe at some other position.

“Paul Mencke is a great athlete and could play numerous positions,” Price said. “He is too good an athlete not to be on the field.”

Birnbaum will be directing an offense that is slightly scaled back from last year. “We are going to be a little more conservative this year than last year,” said Price.

But, for now, Birnbaum can handle conservative.

“Whatever they want to do, I’m ready for,” he said. “For our team and for our confidence and for our lineman and for whoever the new running back is going to be, going with our bread and butter package will be better for them to get confidence.”

The thing is, Birnbaum, despite all the criticism, the rumors and even when it seemed like someone else was destined to be the WSU quarterback, never lost confidence. “Not once,” he said. “I always believed I would be the starting quarterback.”