Skip to main content Skip to navigation
Fall 2023

Football

Dean Janikowski wearing cowboy hat at high school football game with his mom Heather.
Fall 2023

More than a kick

Dean Janikowski is the kicker for Washington State University’s football team, a 2022 graduate and currently an MBA student at WSU. He also has a great time on Instagram and other social media with photos and videos playing football for the Cougs, riding dirt bikes, and kicking spicy Chicken McNuggets.

In this episode, Dean talks with Washington State Magazine writer Becky Kramer about raising money for the Heather Janikowski Foundation, a charity named for his mom, who died of cancer.

Dean also talks about how he started his sports career in soccer, NIL (name, image, and likeness), and his … » More …

Detroit Lions kicker Jason Hanson on the field
Spring 2023

Quite the kicking career

Jason Hanson booted his way into football history over more than two decades on the gridiron.

He set college records as the Cougar placekicker at Washington State University, then went on to even more in professional football during his 21 years with the Detroit Lions.

By the numbers

WSU career:

57.1 percent of field goals completed from 50 yards or greater (remains a Pac-12 Conference record)
Most field goals from 50 yards or more (20), and 40 yards or more (39) in NCAA football
62-yard field goal against UNLV in 1991 is still a WSU and Pac-12 record
WSU records: Second … » More …

Nick Rolovich claps at his introduction as the new football coach at WSU
Summer 2020

Nick Rolovich gets creative with scholarship awards

In the ever-revolving carousel of college football, a team’s head coach is often the most permanent fixture of a program.

Whether engendering support with their winning records or quotable moments during press conferences, college coaches must become well known if they hope to maintain a supportive fan base and attract the next generation of standouts on the field.

WSU Head Football Coach Nick Rolovich has spent the past four months acquainting himself with Coug fans; in-person at spur of the moment fan meetups or with his deft use of social media. His love … » More …

Talk Back
Winter 2018

TalkBack for Winter 2018

 

Instrumental journey

The article written by Wenda Reed on the life of Gladys Jennings was excellent. I graduated in ’92, and had Gladys as an advisor in the Food Science & Human Nutrition Department. I transferred to WSU from the University of Alaska, Anchorage in the fall of ’89, and Gladys was instrumental in that process. After phone conversations and mailings, the transition from U of A to WSU was seamless. She would guide me in my course choices while in Alaska, and told me that these courses would directly transfer. She was instrumental in the success I had as a student at … » More …

Winter 2017

Steve Gleason ’00

Former Cougar football and NFL standout Steve Gleason ’00, whose battle with ALS has become an international symbol of perseverance and determination, has been named the Regents’ Distinguished Alumnus for 2017.

“Steve Gleason epitomizes the essence of ‘Cougar Spirit,’” said Washington State University President Kirk Schulz at the August 10 ceremony. “His passion to persevere and succeed despite life’s challenges has inspired thousands, not only in the United States, but around the world.”

Gleason helped take WSU to the Rose Bowl in 1997 and in 2006 had a punt-blocking dive for the New Orleans Saints that rallied the hurricane-ravaged city’s down-but-not-out spirit. Five … » More …