New coaches not strangers
PULLMAN – Two new assistant coaches might not be all that great an upheaval in the relative picture of the college football world, but this year’s coaching staff at Washington State has seen more changes than it has in any year since Mike Price’s departure after the Rose Bowl.
Running backs coach Steve Broussard and defensive ends coach Marty Long are both new to the scene, and even if one of them has experienced Pullman as a player there is still an adjustment period.
“I’m back at home at Washington State,” said Broussard, who played for the Cougars from 1987-89 before moving on to the NFL and most recently an assistant coaching job at Portland State. “I’m just trying to get a feel for the rest of the assistant coaches and their style, just trying to fit in.”
Like Broussard, who played for a staff that included Bill Doba in college, Long is familiar with his new boss. Both Long and Doba were on a staff together at The Citadel in the 1980s, and the two stood on opposite sidelines for a number of years in the Pac-10 when Long had a job with Arizona.
“I look at every opportunity to move as a big shot or a grand appearance,” Long said. “I’ve always wanted to work again with Coach Doba and this gives me the opportunity. Pullman feels like home already. The people here make it warm.”
Doba has been complimentary of both new assistants, explaining that he hired them in part because of the way they deal with the players under their watch.
“They correct, yet they’re positive,” Doba said. “And they care.”
Coming onto a new staff, especially one that has enjoyed a significant amount of continuity in recent years, has its challenges. Both coaches said they’ll need to find their niche in meeting rooms and in game-planning sessions, identifying ways in which they are best able to help their new team.
That may be especially true for Long, who shares responsibilities on the defensive line with Mike Walker. As such, that process may not happen overnight.
“I think it evolves over the spring,” Long said, “and then it’s defined in the fall.”
Doba, though, has another way of looking at it – one that he hopes holds true with both of his new hires.
“If he’s good, it doesn’t take very long,” Doba said.
Notes
Running back Skylar Jessen of Mead, after spending much of his redshirt season last year dealing with an injury to his left hamstring, sat out Saturday’s practice with a right hamstring pull. The injury appears to be fairly severe and could keep the freshman sidelined for some time. … Linebacker Jason Stripling, who missed all of last season because of an injury, also skipped practice because of a minor ankle sprain. … The Cougars, in pads for the first time this spring, decided to let their players scrimmage 11-on-11 for a bit at the end of the session, and some big hits seemed to get the players on the field enthused. There was a momentary scare, though, when wide receiver Michael Bumpus had to be helped off the field after a catch over the middle and a hit courtesy of safety Xavier Hicks.