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Washington State completes 2018 coaching staff with announcement of four assistants

Washington State Cougars head coach Mike Leach watches from the sidelines during the second half of a college football game on Saturday, November 4, 2017, at Martin Stadium in Pullman, Wash. WSU won the game 24-21. Tyler Tjomsland/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW (Tyler Tjomsland / The Spokesman-Review)
By Theo Lawson theol@spokesman.com(509) 459-5584

PULLMAN – After plenty of turnover in the offseason, Mike Leach’s Washington State coaching staff is complete once again.

Leach and the Cougars officially announced the addition of three assistant coaches and a new director of strength and conditioning, rounding out the staff that will be on the sideline for WSU this fall.

Steve Spurrier Jr. was hired Tuesday to coach the Cougar outside receivers, Mason Miller was brought on as the new offensive line coach, Matt Brock was added as a special teams coordinator and Tyson Brown joins the staff as the head strength and conditioning coach.

“We are excited to have our coaching staff finalized and in Pullman,” Leach said in a school press release. “The amount of interest in our program was overwhelming, validating that we continue to be heading in a positive direction. With the most recent hires we were able to secure some great football coaches who are hard-working, great recruiters and share a similar vision for success.”

Spurrier Jr., the son of former South Carolina and Florida coach Steve Spurrier, most recently worked at Western Kentucky as an assistant head coach/quarterbacks coach. He replaces Derek Sage, who left WSU after just one year to coach the tight ends at UCLA.

Miller is a Leach disciple whose worked under both the WSU coach and fellow Air Raid architect Hal Mumme. He comes to Pullman from Nevada after spending one season as the Wolf Pack’s offensive line coach and replaces Clay McGuire. McGuire left his post at WSU to return to his alma mater, Texas Tech, where he’ll coach the Red Raider running backs.

The Cougars are making a change at special teams coordinator, the position previously held by Eric Mele. Brock, the former special teams coordinator/linebackers coach at Bowling Green, will take Mele’s spot and Mele will be reassigned to coach the WSU running backs, replacing Jim Mastro who left to become the run game coordinator at Pac-12 North rival Oregon.

Brown returns to Pullman after a brief stint at Elon University, which had hired him as the director of strength and conditioning. He’d been in North Carolina for less than a month when WSU director of strength and conditioning Jason Loscalzo accepted a job with the NFL’s Chicago Bears. Brown replaces Loscalzo after four seasons as his top assistant.

In January, WSU announced the addition of defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys and safeties coach Kendrick Shaver. Darcel McBath, a former defensive quality control coach, was promoted to cornerbacks coach.

The full 2018 WSU staff is as follows: Mike Leach (head coach), Tracy Claeys (defensive coordinator), Mason Miller (offensive line), Jeff Phelps (defensive line), Eric Mele (running backs), Dave Nichol (inside wide receivers), Steve Spurrier Jr. (outside wide receivers), Matt Brock (special teams), Kendrick Shaver (safeties), Darcel McBath (cornerbacks), Ken Wilson (linebackers), Tyson Brown (strength & conditioning).