WSU fan here...
- Thread starter Fab5Coug
- Start date
Two things that are indispensable: (1) very thick skin; and (2) exceptionally well-advanced sarcasm detector. Welcome. And good luck.
Generally speaking, most state fans are contemporaneously excited by this hire and scared shitless that his system is going to get destroyed by quality sec defenses.
Generally speaking, most state fans are contemporaneously excited by this hire and scared shitless that his system is going to get destroyed by quality sec defenses.
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Strength and conditioning was very good. Look for Leach to install "Leach Beach", a sand pit used for training. Kept the ligaments in the legs loose, I guess. Really cut down on OL injuries, in particular. In the past 4-5 years, I can't think of any major OL injuries.
Recruiting is not really Leach's strong suit. He hired some very strong recruiters at WSU, but just couldn't retain them. I think that was more on WSUs pool of money, than on Leach himself. Oregon, specifically, poached 3 of WSUs best recruiters.
His offense is largely recruiting proof. He can take a walk on, a grad transfer, career backup at QB and make them productive. Same can be said about OL & WR.
I'd keep a closer eye on who they bring in for the defense.
His offense is largely recruiting proof. He can take a walk on, a grad transfer, career backup at QB and make them productive. Same can be said about OL & WR.
I'd keep a closer eye on who they bring in for the defense.
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Ha, thanks. Yea, I've been on message boards for years, so I get it.
Will be interesting to see how his scheme matches up against SEC D's. The best defenses in the Pac12 have been UWs, Cal's & Utah's. We did pretty well against Utah, struggled with Cal and were completely, bent over and owned by UW.
UW, in particular, could rush 3 and drop 8, plug everything up in the secondary and still get home with 3.
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How long will it take to implement/install his offensive scheme?
We have basically been a spread read option rushing team for the last 11 years. Our receivers have left a lot to be desired. Will he need to get his players in here for the offense to work, or can he make due with what we currently have?
We have basically been a spread read option rushing team for the last 11 years. Our receivers have left a lot to be desired. Will he need to get his players in here for the offense to work, or can he make due with what we currently have?
Welcome!
While I am thrilled we now have Coach Leach, we're in a similar spot as WSU when Mullen left for Florida, feel for your fans. Leach is such a personality and a great coach, even if he's gone there is now a lot of interest in WSU that'll carry on for years to come. Hell, both my wife and I have WSU hoodies because we loved watching ya'll on Saturday nights.
Question regarding WSU before Leach. What type of offense did WSU run before Leach's Air Raid? How much of Leach's success would you attribute to his system versus right place right time (Pac 12 experiencing more of a slump in recent years).
To install his offense? About a week. To perfect it? A couple years.
I don't know who you have at QB, but a lot will be on him. The QB makes the read and calls the plays at the LOS. When Leach came to WSU, we had Jeff Tuel, who had a cup of coffee in the NFL and we were awful that first year.
I know Leach offered the commit you ended up with this year, so that's someone to maybe be excited about. For QBs, it's all about decision making and accuracy. Arm strength or mobility don't matter as much to Leach.
I don't know who you have at QB, but a lot will be on him. The QB makes the read and calls the plays at the LOS. When Leach came to WSU, we had Jeff Tuel, who had a cup of coffee in the NFL and we were awful that first year.
I know Leach offered the commit you ended up with this year, so that's someone to maybe be excited about. For QBs, it's all about decision making and accuracy. Arm strength or mobility don't matter as much to Leach.
Goodness, I don't even know what we were trying to run prior to Leach. WSU was one of the worst programs in Pac12 history when Leach took over. The offense was a complicated mess. The previous OC couldn't even get the full play book installed the first couple years.
The Pac12 has been all about parity for the last decade or so. While it certainly lacks the top end programs the SEC features, there really aren't any gimmes either.
So how much of Leach's success was due to not having elite programs, I really don't know how to answer that.
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Hey Fab5Coug,
Question: What has been the WSU fanbase attitude toward Leach since his departure?
By comparison, 2 years ago we lost the best coach in our history to a more prominent, bigger budget school. The prevailing attitude toward him turned 180 degrees. The attitude went from being well-liked (with some fan criticism) to “good-riddance to a traitor” who was “never one of us”.
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Question: What has been the WSU fanbase attitude toward Leach since his departure?
By comparison, 2 years ago we lost the best coach in our history to a more prominent, bigger budget school. The prevailing attitude toward him turned 180 degrees. The attitude went from being well-liked (with some fan criticism) to “good-riddance to a traitor” who was “never one of us”.
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w
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Question: What has been the WSU fanbase attitude toward Leach since his departure?
By comparison, 2 years ago we lost the best coach in our history to a more prominent, bigger budget school. The prevailing attitude toward him turned 180 degrees. The attitude went from being well-liked (with some fan criticism) to “good-riddance to a traitor” who was “never one of us”.
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WSU is coming off our 8th consecutive Apple Cup loss and a pretty indifferent effort in a bowl loss, so I think the timing of Leach's departure has left WSU fans less upset than we otherwise would have been.
It was a talent disparity, yea, but Oregon, SC & Stanford have talent advantages and Leach did fine against them.
Maybe it was more UW had such talent in their secondary and had some talented pass rushers, it was just a matchup nightmare.
I don't know what your rivalry is like with Ole Miss, but Leach doesn't treat rivalry games any different than any other game. Makes sense to some extent, but it sure felt like UW was always more amped up for the game.
FWIW, UW is typically about 40 spots higher than WSU on the 247 team talent composite rankings. That probably played into it. Oregon, Stanford, and USC are in that range too, and Leach did quite well against them. Ole Miss is never substantially more or less talented than we are, outside of maybe one or two of the “all in” Freeze teams. For reference, we are typically around 10 spots below Auburn and A&M and 20 spots below LSU and Bama.
My hope is that because we have a lot more local guys on our team than WSU had on theirs, they will be ready to play the Egg Bowl even if Leach doesn’t put much emphasis on it. Leach had a good record against the other more talented teams in the Pac, so I’m not too worried.
Kiffin is not putting any extra emphasis on the Egg Bowl either. I think that game is going to turn more into “just another game” than fans are used to, as long as Kiffin and Leach are here.
My hope is that because we have a lot more local guys on our team than WSU had on theirs, they will be ready to play the Egg Bowl even if Leach doesn’t put much emphasis on it. Leach had a good record against the other more talented teams in the Pac, so I’m not too worried.
Kiffin is not putting any extra emphasis on the Egg Bowl either. I think that game is going to turn more into “just another game” than fans are used to, as long as Kiffin and Leach are here.
How was Leach’s relationship with Wash St’s athletic director and school president? Are the rumblings about him not like authority legit or just assumptive analysis because of his departure from Texas Tech?
I appreciate the response. We're coming from a mess of an offense with Moorhead. Moorhead wasn't able to have much success installing his offense here due to the complexity of it and we've been lacking identify as an offense since Mullen. I'm skeptical of us moving to the Air Raid but I like that it is easy to install and not nearly the complicated mess that was Moorhead's RPO offense.
Fab5Coug,
Obviously this is a pass happy offense, but do you feel like Leach uses his RBs well? Not just in the run game but also in the passing game? We potentially return the SEC’s leading rusher who also has good hands out of the backfield (even though Moorhead massively under-used that part of his game), so I’m fascinated to see what his role would be like in a Leach offense.
Obviously this is a pass happy offense, but do you feel like Leach uses his RBs well? Not just in the run game but also in the passing game? We potentially return the SEC’s leading rusher who also has good hands out of the backfield (even though Moorhead massively under-used that part of his game), so I’m fascinated to see what his role would be like in a Leach offense.
You saying this reminded me of something I had read, but forgotten about - I think State fans will be excited about it:
I had read a while back that Leach started out his coaching as an OL coach, and has always had a special affinity for it. And that his ability to evaluate and develop OL is widely respected/admired in the coaching community. He also developed a specific type of blocking scheme that helps to elevate 2 and 3 star OL. And if there’s any position where you stars don’t matter and evaluation is key, it’s OL. There’s not many Laremy Tunsil’s, Michael Oher’s or Charles Cross’s. A huge chunk of NFL OL were not ranked or 2-stars coming out of high school.
The only downside to Leach’s OL system has been that it’s struggled against really good defensive fronts. But, hell, so does every OL system. That’s why they’re considered good defensive fronts. But, he will see a lot more of those in the SEC. But he will also have access to more talented OL than in previous stops, too.
Your RB will get plenty of touches if he is a good receiver. He will not carry the ball more than a dozen times a game. Most of the carries will be delayed hand offs out of the shotgun.
We never had any issues between Leach, the AD(s) or school president (s) that I'm aware of. He'll be fine as long as your admin just leaves him alone and let's him do what he wants. If you've got nosey admin or boosters, I could see where it would become a problem.
Leach doesn't use a TE (so any you have on your roster might start looking at the transfer portal). He will use that extra scholarship on an OL. He typically took 5 OL in every class. To end with numbers on the OL, you have to start with numbers.
The result was 3 NFL players, one more in the program and a multi year All American, which for WSU, is pretty unprecedented.
He employs wide splits, which spreads the DL out and makes them start further away from your QB. It's crazy the first time you see it.
He may not land a lot of 4 or 5 star guys, but they'll be big, they'll qualify and they'll mostly stay healthy.
Thanks for dropping by. I hope you will hang around. I've always liked WSU and really followed you when Leach came. My wife's ex had a brother who played TE there.
My question is did you remember any example of when Leach made changes to adapt for a player to shine.
My question is did you remember any example of when Leach made changes to adapt for a player to shine.
Hey Fab5Coug,
Question: What has been the WSU fanbase attitude toward Leach since his departure?
By comparison, 2 years ago we lost the best coach in our history to a more prominent, bigger budget school. The prevailing attitude toward him turned 180 degrees. The attitude went from being well-liked (with some fan criticism) to “good-riddance to a traitor” who was “never one of us”.
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I quit liking Mullins several years ago when he publicly became a *****!
How would you describe his emphasis on team discipline and running a tight ship? The last couple of years have gotten to be a little loosey-goosey because of the coach that just left. An "edge" is needed for our roster right now.
Oh, and how important were Special Teams to Leach? Was there enough emphasis on excelling in that phase of the game? Would he let offensive/defensive starters return kicks/punts or no?
How was team discipline?
Avoiding off-field issues, unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, bench-clearing fights against your rivals, bench-clearing fights against yourself, etc.
Avoiding off-field issues, unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, bench-clearing fights against your rivals, bench-clearing fights against yourself, etc.
How do y'all manage to get Ol Crimson (I think that's its name) around the country to every Game Day? Impressive feat BTW.
Pretty tight ship. 3 Cardinal rules. Don't steal, don't hit a woman, no pot. He will boot guys, no warnings
Your guys will make grades and mostly stay out of the police blotter.
If they can't catch or block, they'll sit and a walk on will play.
Mostly WSUs WR have lacked big play explosiveness, but they catch the ball and protect it.