A Grip on Sports: WSU opens preseason camp but not before new coach Jimmie Rogers and his staff level the playing field in a way

A GRIP ON SPORTS • When you read this, football practice will be underway at Washington State. On one of the hottest days of the year. That fits. Meteorologically, yes. As well as metaphorically. New coach Jimmie Rogers is turning up the heat on his players.

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• A new coach. A new philosophy. New goals. Culture. That’s the way of the sports world. But when it is you third new coaching staff in your college career, as is the case with some Cougars, doing everything to the coaches’ satisfaction isn’t easy.

But adjusting to change in college football is the new normal. Players move. Coaches move. If you can’t adjust, you will never see the field.

Rogers spoke with the media Tuesday in advance of Wednesday’s opening of preseason camp. And, has he has done since the Jan. 9 press conference that formalized his hiring from South Dakota State, made one thing as clear as Pullman’s late-July traffic. No one has been anointed the starter at any position. Everyone has to earn their spot. It’s a new era, with new ways of measuring success.

It is an honest approach. And one the 74 new players probably were gratified to hear. But what about those returnees, the players who have stayed committed to Washington State University, some through two major coaching changes – three if you count last year’s Holiday Bowl with Pete Kaligis in charge?

Players like receiver Josh Meredith?

Rogers isn’t unsympathetic. He understands the stress another coaching change puts on players such as Meredith, who came to Pullman when Nick Rolovich was still in charge. And for that, Rogers deserves praise. After all, it is still college football, even with all the sport’s financial changes since Meredith moved to Pullman.

“To hear it one more time, a different regime talk about what they think is important, after a while, I think that gets hard for a player,” Rogers said Tuesday on his Zoom news conference and reported by the S-R’s Greg Woods, “especially when it’s your senior year. (Meredith) stayed here for a reason, and we’re trying to deliver our best to him to make sure that it was worth it.”

But let’s not kid ourselves. Camp doesn’t start without some sort of two-deep in place. It’s been about nine months since Rogers left his alma mater – where he won the 2023 FCS title, the semifinals last season and posted a 27-3 overall record – and moved west. He and his staff had spring to evaluate the holdovers. Summer to do the same with the incoming players. The staff has some idea of, say, who their best five or eight offensive linemen are. The fastest guys, the toughest guys, the strongest guys. The next few weeks are about winnowing the herd – WSU has 117 players on its pre-camp roster – and confirming, or changing, what has already been learned.

Let’s put it this way. If returning starters Brock Dieu and Christian Hilborn are healthy and are not starters come Aug. 30 against Idaho, then either the Cougars are much improved on the offensive line or the parameters of what is being taught has changed so radically, the veterans have been left behind.

Don’t believe it?

It has happened before. And I can attest to one such occurrence in Pullman.

Back in 2008. When Paul Wulff’s staff took over from Bill Doba’s. The last year of Doba’s regime, the Cougars started five offensive linemen in every game but one. Center Kenny Alfred missed the UCLA contest with a neck injury. The Cougars plugged in a freshman, Andrew Roxas, at that key position. And, behind Dwight Tardy’s career-high 214 yards, ran the Bruins out of Martin Stadium.

Then offensive line coach George Yarno, he of NFL pedigree as a player and later as a coach, told me that week Roxas had better fundamentals than any freshman he ever coached, be it at LSU or Arizona State. And Yarno, who played for four head coaches in four years at WSU, knew Roxas would be fine.

The next year, with a new staff in place? Roxas couldn’t earn a starting spot despite multiple openings up front.

I asked new line coach Harold Ethridge why. His response? Roxas’ fundamentals were awful. The staff had to teach Roxas everything and he wasn’t progressing quickly enough. Huh.

Two coaches. Two philosophies. And, possibly, in a few words, an explanation of one of the dark ages in Cougar football.

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WSU: Yes, we have Greg’s story about Rogers’ presser and the opening of training camp. And we will spend the next few weeks passing along everything he writes. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, there are some fun questions and answers in this Athletic mailbag from Stewart Mandel. … Washington held a media day Tuesday and the Huskies, who tout their NFL alumni, covered a lot of ground. … If the USC rivalry game with Notre Dame ends, it will be easy to pinpoint which school is at fault. … The Oregon position previews in the Oregonian today focus on the defense. Edge rushers. Inside on the line. Inside linebackers. Defensive backs. And specialists. … What are the major storylines for the Beavers headed into their season without a conference schedule? … How about for Utah? … Byron Leftwich has joined the Colorado staff. … Whoever plays quarterback for Stanford will probably be part of the school’s largest transfer group ever. … UCLA is ready to start camp. … Arizona State has answered its tight end questions. … Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita has to answer some questions after last season. … Boise State almost lost a key part of its defensive line to the portal, but a U-turn happened. … Utah State held a media day as well. … In basketball news, the Utah State men opened summer practice to their fans. … Recruiting never stops. Ask the Arizona and Utah women. … A transfer is expected to help Colorado in a big way.

EWU: The Eagles are also beginning training camp today in Cheney. Dan Thompson has a preview which includes three major questions that have to be answered. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Montana State and Montana each have a player on the Payton Award watch list. … A former Griz football player has returned, sporting a new look. … The Idaho State defense will have a new look this season. … Northern Arizona finally knows its basketball season-opening opponent.

Preps: We wrote about North Central High alum Ryne Sandberg’s death yesterday. Focused on his impact on Spokane. Linked a bunch of stories covering his career’s impact elsewhere. This morning, we can link more, including Dave Boling’s column on Sandberg’s post-Spokane life. And the way he faced the end of it. … Liam Bradford also has a story on the response to Sandberg’s death in the Spokane community. … There is also another story in the S-R about Sandberg’s football prowess.

Indians: This is a great week for Spokane to make up ground in the Northwest League’s second-half standings. The Indians are at home. They are facing last-place Hillsboro. And time is running short. Even shorter now, as the Hops took advantage of the bullpen to rally for a 5-2 win. Dave Nichols has the coverage.  

Seahawks: There is one constant about football practice. One day the defense dominates. The next day the offense does. If that doesn’t happen, look out. One side of the ball is in trouble. After the defense had its day in Renton, the Hawk offense bounced back Tuesday and showed it has some playmakers of its own. … One offensive lineman needs to have a great year. … Pro football’s Hall of Fame welcomes its new members this week, including Jared Allen. If you are old enough, you might have watched him play in this area for Idaho State back in the day.

Mariners: Bryce Miller is still out. The M’s, with all this supposed pitching depth, still hasn’t been able to find a consistent replacement. Logan Evans has been the starter de jour lately but has been up and down. Tuesday night he was down and the A’s took advantage to tie up their home series with the Mariners following a 6-1 win. … Hey, the trade market may start whenever but it is the last couple days that most of the deals are made. We are there now. Maybe the M’s will hook up with Tampa again.

Sounders: Seattle, in need of an infusion of youth, did just that with its latest signing.

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• Remember folks. No matter what college football coaches call it, camps that open now, and end before the season begin, can’t be accurately described as fall camp. Fall doesn’t begin until a few weeks into the schedule. This is a drum I will bang until the day I quit typing out sports tunes. Until later …