A concern for progress

PULLMAN – Paul Wulff knows they will hit him. Maybe it will be Saturday before the game. Possibly after. But they’ll hit. And hit harder than a blitzing linebacker.

Emotions.

Hell, they’ve hit already.

They hit the day in December when he was named Washington State University’s 31st football coach, a day he became not only the first Cougar alum to hold the position since before the Korean War, but also realized a dream a lifetime in the making.

And he knows they are going to pile-drive him Saturday, when he leads Washington State onto the turf of Qwest Field for the Cougars’ 2008 season opener against Oklahoma State. He knows they’ll be different then they were when he used to lead the WSU offensive line in the late 1980s.

He doesn’t fear them. In fact, he’s downright curious.

“I’m interested in seeing the emotions that way,” said Wulff this week during an interview in his Bohler Gym office, “but, knowing how I’ve been, it’s game day, my focus is going to be on the team, the players and the coaches, that probably will be where my energy and natural focus will go.

“Will somebody or something that allowed me to get to this point pop into my head? Probably. Who or what, I don’t know. I think that’s going to occur on its own.”

The past eight months have been busy ones for Wulff, 41. He’s been named coach of his alma mater. He’s moved his family to Pullman. He’s recruited, planned practices, dealt with off-field issues. His head’s spun. Now, as the days wind down to the first kickoff, he’s finally getting a chance to realize what he’s done.

“As it’s getting closer, it is,” Wulff said when asked if the realization that he was WSU’s coach is finally setting in. “That’s a good question because I was at the Spokane banquet last night and said I don’t think it’s fully going to hit me until that first game. And I hope it does.

“It’s been so busy we’ve just been moving forward, not getting caught up in all the other things. But we’re hoping to have a good showing and it hits me the right way, positively.”

That’s the rub, isn’t it?

Wulff and his staff are taking over a team that finished 5-7 and a program that hasn’t had a winning season since 2003. The cupboard isn’t bare, but it’s not overflowing either.

“There is really a lot of jobs open,” Wulff said earlier this week, “and we’ll see who’s going to take advantage of (the opportunity).”

Heading into the final week of fall camp, Wulff was asked to enumerate the positives he’s seen and the areas where improvement is needed. He didn’t pull punches.

Progress: Learning how to practice.

This may be the most important aspect for Wulff. His goal for the season doesn’t include a certain number of wins. The goal is to improve. And practice is a key element.

“If this team stays the course, regardless of outcomes of games, if we win one or lose one or whatever, this team can get a lot better as the season progresses,” Wulff said. “That has to be our main goal. We have 14 weeks in front of us now, with the bye. It can get better.”

Concern: Injuries.

“We still have more nicks and bruises than we would like to have,” Wulff said, “and we’re probably not playing through enough of them.”

This has been a theme of Wulff’s recently and, as he ticked off the other areas where improvement is needed, it’s obvious the injury list is slowing WSU’s development.

The areas with the most people out – wide receiver, offensive line and running back – are basically the worrisome areas.

Progress: The defense.

“We’re starting to find some solutions on the defensive side of the ball, moving some guys around,” Wulff said. “We’re building some depth on the defense right now that we’re very excited about. We’ve got some young football players on defense, first-year players, freshmen, that have really stepped up.”

The corps of the defense is experienced – nine starters return – but the fall began with question marks, with players in new positions and a lack of proven backups. The answers won’t truly come until the games begin, but the coaching staff believes the trend is up.

“The kids have really bought in,” said assistant head coach Chris Ball. “I like to (say) the ship is leaving port, let’s make sure everyone’s on it. I think a majority of our kids are. There’s a couple we need to grab and pull on with us, but most of the kids have really bought into our defensive philosophy.”

Concern: Consistency at wide receiver.

Injuries here – possible starters Jeshua Anderson and Daniel Blackledge have missed most of camp, while Michael Willis, Anthony Houston and Keith Parr Jr. have also missed time – have forced true freshmen Kevin Norrell and Jared Karstetter to run with the starters a majority of camp. Though they’ve played well, they are freshmen.

“Our receiver position needs to continue to develop,” Wulff said, “and create consistency to help our quarterback and it isn’t where it needs to be.”

Progress: The emergence of Gary Rogers.

The three-year backup has risen to the occasion as a starter, not only showing a strong arm in the pocket but also in the all-important area of leadership.

“He’s a top-shelf guy in a lot of ways,” said offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Todd Sturdy. “He’s got a great work ethic and he’s a quality individual.”

Those qualities have manifested themselves in his improvement since spring. The areas of the greatest growth, according to Sturdy, have been in decision-making and, “an overall understanding of all the moving parts, so to speak, of the offense.”

Concern: The offensive line isn’t jelling.

Again, this is an area hit hard by injuries, especially in the last week. Senior tackles Vaughn Lesuma (back) and Dan Rowlands (shoulder) and redshirt sophomore Brian Danaher (shoulder) are all out. After the shuffling, two redshirt freshmen, Stephen Ayers at tackle and B.J. Guerra at guard, are holding down the left side.

“The problem is we’re not getting five of them to function (together) like they need to,” Wulff said, noting the line is facing more defense and trying to learn more offense than it will face in the regular season. “It’s (the injuries) and getting them practicing at the tempo and executing at the tempo, play in and play out, we want. They’re just not there yet.”

“When you get guys banged up, consistency kind of becomes an issue when you’re shuffling guys in and out, in and out,” center Kenny Alfred said. “Ideally, we would like to have a consistent five that could work together all the time.

“The way things are going right now, they way guys are getting banged up, we’re sort of having to shuffle guys through and work around the issue. It makes it a little more difficult to gel, I think.”

Prognosis: A work in progress.

Weighing both sides of the ledger, Wulff remains upbeat. This is his dream job after all and no amount of adversity will turn it into a nightmare.

Still, he knows such adversity will come. It’s how his team reacts that interests him.

“We will (respond) well at times and we won’t at times,” he predicted. “I’m hoping we’ll respond well all the time. I think you’re going to see signs of it happening and hopefully more often than not.

“(Adversity) is natural, it happens every game even to the best teams. It just does.”

And if they play through the adversity?

“That, as coaches, is our goal,” Wulff said. “We want this team to keep working and stay focused, because, by the end of the year, we want to be playing really, really good football.”