WSU brings football knowledge to Japan
PULLMAN – There was a time not too long ago when Collin Henderson was the wizened, brainy veteran in the Washington State University huddle.
Now Henderson is back on the practice field, but more like the newcomer from 1999 than the senior from 2002.
“All the terminology is different. Now I’m in the huddle and I have to ask (quarterback Josh) Swogger what I’m supposed to do,” Henderson said. “I’m a freshman. I’ve gone from being a veteran who knew everything to being the old, washed-up guy who doesn’t know anything.”
The former WSU wide receiver, now working for the school’s athletic department, is training with the current players not to make a comeback in the Pac-10 but instead to take part in a weeklong trip to Japan along with a handful of Cougars coaches and former players.
Defensive backs coach Ken Greene and offensive line coach George Yarno left Thursday for Osaka, Japan, where they’ll help lead an all-star team of Japanese football players through a week of practices and a game next weekend.
The sport has gained a degree of popularity in Japan, and for years U.S. college coaches have been traveling across the Pacific Ocean for a week to help coaches and college-aged players learn the game.
This year WSU and Hawaii are sending contingents, and at the end of the week they’ll play against each other with American and Japanese players side by side. That game has drawn tens of thousands of fans in past years.
“It’s a cultural experience,” Greene said. “We get to see a little bit of their life and in return they get to learn a little bit of what we do over here. Hopefully, they’ll do a good job of picking our brains and learning football.
“There will be pretty full days. From the guys I’ve talked to who have done it in the past they’ve all said it’s a lot of fun.”
Along with Henderson, former Cougars Scott Lunde, Fred Shavies, Patrick Afif and Tyler Sellers are making the trip. While Henderson has been working out furiously in preparation for the trip and others like wide receiver Lunde have been in organized football since college (he was recently released by the CFL’s British Columbia Lions) Greene joked that it could be a struggle for some of the other former Cougars.
“Some of these guys haven’t played in a while, so we’ll see if they’ve still got it,” Greene said. “Collin’s been working out pretty hard, so he’s in good shape. But Fred Shavies, I don’t know about Fred. He’s lost a lot of weight. He’s been working out, but he told me that he’s a first- and second-down guy. But I said, ‘No, I need you to rush the quarterback.’ “
Kent Baer, the newly hired defensive coordinator at Washington, has served as an American liaison for the program and Greene jumped at the chance this year to organize a WSU group to fill one of the available slots this year. In the past, former Cougars head coach Mike Price and current coach Bill Doba did the trip together.
In addition to the week of football, the WSU group will get to spend some time touring the country.
“I would never go to Japan otherwise and I’ve always wanted to go,” Yarno said. “Everyone watches American football and wants to try it. They just want to learn the game.”