A Grip on Sports: High school seniors begin signing football letters of intent today as local schools show their recruiting prowess

A GRIP ON SPORTS • It is Wednesday, Dec. 15. Ten days until Christmas. The most-anticipated day of the year. Unless you are a college football coach. Then today is the day you have been looking forward to for months and months. The day the in-box is overflowing – hopefully – with your next generation of football players.

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• College football fans see today as an early Christmas as well, though only their future happiness, not employment, depends on the high school seniors who are signing their national letters of intent. If you are one of those die-hards, then it’s quite possible, by now, you have already dissected the signing class headed to Whatsamatta U.

And you may have more questions than whether or not that squirrelly new quarterback can find his moose of a tight end down the field.

The Internet is full of rankings. Of news. Of hope – or despair. Today may be the most important day in the life of those seniors putting their name on a piece of paper, but it’s even more important to some fans. Or at least it seems that way.

We do know this. Signing day’s importance can be overblown but it also crucial to long-term success. Both are true.

Jim Walden was always right. The Xs and Os are important but it’s a lot easier to win with the right Jimmies and Joes. And yet the operative word in the previous sentence is “right.”

There are only a few schools who can attract a plethora of 5-star recruits. Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, Notre Dame. A few others, sure, but not many. (As an aside, that’s why USC hired Lincoln Riley. He was able to do that at Oklahoma and he’s expected to do the same in Los Angeles.)

The rest? They have to recruit judiciously, finding the right mix of talent, fit and potential.

You do and you win. Which is why today is so important to schools ranging from Washington State to Eastern Washington to, in a weird way, Idaho.

Over the next three days, Jake Dickert will receive enough letters of intent to keep the Cougar faithful happy. How do we know? Because the Cougar faithful understand whomever their school attracts, they will be the right guys. It seems to have become a tradition in Pullman the past decade or so.

The Cougar staff, whether it is headed by Mike Leach or Nick Rolovich or, more than likely, Dickert, find kids who fit their scheme, help them improver and go compete with the four- and five-star recruits from their Pac-12 rivals. They haven’t always been right but more often than not, that’s been the result for years.

Eastern Washington has been similar. The Eagles have found so many hidden gems in the past decade they should change the field’s name from The Inferno to The Diamond Mine. Cooper Kupp, Kendrick Bourne, Vernon Adams, Eric Barriere. It is a long list.

All overlooked by the bigger guys. All better than many of the players the bigger guys banked upon.

Such astute pairings – the right player with the right program – is why Eastern and WSU have been successful recently. And why today could set back Idaho for a while. The Vandals still don’t have a head coach. Any LOI they receive today will be from players who love the school or Moscow or something other than the direction of the football program. No one knows where that is headed.

Sure, there is a second signing period. In early February. There is a chance to catch up.

Maybe. But today, as seniors fulfill a life-long dream, narratives are developed. Futures are determined. And coaching reputations are made.

Until the next time.

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Gonzaga: Is Theo Lawson bucking for the title of official historian of the Zag program? Maybe. He’s got another jog down memory lane today, looking back at how GU has done against the Big 12 conference schools. The reason? The Bulldogs play Texas Tech on Saturday morning. … We spent a lot of words on football recruiting above. It may be even more important for basketball. And another blue-chip prospect has Gonzaga on his short list. Jim Meehan has this story on Jared McCain setting up a visit. … Around the WCC, Saint Mary’s romped over a Northern California neighbor. … Pacific pulled away from UC Santa Barbara in overtime. … Santa Clara couldn’t handle Boise State on the road. … There are more important things than basketball at times. Like health.

WSU: As every school not in the playoff semifinals finds, the Cougars are dealing with players skipping the bowl game. It has become a staple of December these days. Colton Clark looks at where Washington State stands in this notebook. … The Cougars will sign a tight end today for the first time since I was in Pullman covering the team. That was a long time ago. Colton has that story as well. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and college football, bowl season seems back to normal. That’s a good thing. … Speaking of recruiting (and we were), Jon Wilner has the sad state of the conference’s in this S-R column. … The portal will help schools that miss out today. It’s already helped Washington. The Huskies will have another quarterback on the roster. … California won’t have Chase Garbers on its roster next season. The quarterback is headed to the pro ranks. … Utah’s roster will look somewhat different as well. … New Oregon football coach Dan Lanning will be able to afford to upsize his meal at Burgerville. … Oregon State took the interim label off Trent Bray’s defensive coordinator title. … There are updates on just about every school’s signing class this morning, but we will wait for tomorrow to summarize them. … In basketball news, Wilner has his power rankings in the Mercury News. … Arizona State is playing better, as last night’s win over Creighton shows. … Arizona has been playing better all season but that hasn’t changed the Wildcats’ approach. … Has any team fallen farther faster than Oregon State. Probably not. The Beavers lost to UC Davis last night. … Oregon faces off with Portland needing a win.

EWU: The Eagles’ budget woes are in the news again. S-R columnist Shawn Vestal decries the university even thinking about tapping a school-wide scholarship fund to help the athletics department. Though we disagree with some of Shawn’s arguments, we understand the angst. This is a subject we will more than likely address down the road. … Around the Big Sky, Montana State will host South Dakota State in the FCS semifinals this weekend. … In basketball news, Weber State is hosting Utah State for the first time in a while.

Preps: Mead’s Madi Zorn earned the top honor in Washington 3A volleyball. Dave Nichols has more. … Dave also has the roundup of last night’s basketball action.

Soccer: The Spokane Public Facilities District board of directors Tuesday decided to support the USL proposal for the new stadium. Jim Allen covered the board’s vote and explains what it means.

Chiefs: A Spokane player has been working to raise money for cancer research. That information leads off a local briefs column.

Seahawks: There are four weeks left in the NFL regular season. What do those games mean to the Hawks? … The stretch begins this week against the Rams. … Al Woods does a lot for the Seattle defense.

Kraken: Seattle began its road trip with a 3-1 win over San Jose.

Mariners: An open spot in the front office is no longer open.

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• Just a heads up for the next few days. I will be on the road. Yep, crossing the mountains in winter. Which doesn’t excite me as I spent way too much time in my youth fixated on the Donner Party. The trip shouldn’t impact our report until possibly Sunday. I’ll let you know. Until later …