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Football

Mike Leach coaching WSU football players in 2012
Fall 2012

A talk with Mike Leach about life, animals…and Cougar football

I understand how the interview with Washington State University’s new head football coach Mike Leach drifts from Cougar football to life in Pullman and pirates in Key West (I asked that one), but bulls in ancient Rome? The Tokyo fish market?

It starts out on track, as I meet with Leach at his office in Bohler Gym looking onto the practice field and the south side of Martin Stadium. As workers on scaffolds rush to complete the new addition to the stadium before fall, Leach points out proudly how the project is on time and under budget.

He grabs several posters of the proposed football … » More …

Plans and sketches for new WSU football facilities and Martin Stadium

In spring 2011, WSU athletic director Bill Moos, his staff, and the design team took over 6,000 photos and volumes of notes from six different campuses to collect ideas for an expansion of Martin Stadium and construction of new football facilities on the Washington State University’s Pullman campus.

Moos presented the plans to WSU’s Board of Regents and President Elson S. Floyd in May 2011. If approved, construction on the facilities would begin immediately after the 2011 football season and would be completed by the beginning of the 2012 school year. This would also occur on the 40th anniversary of the stadium.

View the draft … » More …

Fall 2011

Running with the Pac-12—A conversation with Bill Moos

This summer, Washington State University and the other nine schools in the Pac-10 conference expanded to the Pac-12, welcoming the University of Colorado and the University of Utah. WSU Athletic Director Bill Moos has been part of the changing conference for decades: as a football player at WSU in the Pac-8, as an associate athletic director and athletic director in the Pac-10, and now back at WSU for the Pac-12. The conference also gained the most lucrative television deal in the history of college sports, worth up to $20 million a year for WSU, which splits conference games between ESPN and Fox.

Larry Clark of … » More …

Mike Utley's Memories of WSU: A Perfect Choice

Jim Walden first saw Mike Utley not on a football field but on a basketball court.

Walden, the WSU Head Football Coach, was putting together his 1985 recruiting class, and his assistant coach Gary Gagnon asked him to take a look at a recruit who was playing for the Kennedy High School basketball team in Seattle.

“He was doing everything 100 miles an hour, full-bore, running up and down the court,” Walden recalls. “I distinctly remember thinking he is not going to lead the league in scoring, but he will lead the league in banging, knocking, and grabbing guys. I really like the way he … » More …

Winter 2010

Living for a cure

At his home on the banks of the Columbia River just north of Wenatchee is one of Mike Utley’s achievements.

A Ford F-350 pickup.

Black with blue flames jutting from front to back, the truck gives off as imposing a presence as the 6-foot-6 Utley must have given opponents during his playing days as an offensive lineman with Washington State University and the Detroit Lions.

“Success comes not in time but in goals achieved,” he says. “I earned this truck.”

On November 17, 1991, Mike Utley was carried off a football field on a stretcher and taken by ambulance to a hospital.

In the ensuing … » More …

Spring 2010

Cougar pride

Though they attended Washington State nearly a half century apart, Gary Schneidmiller and Herbert Meeker share an unbreakable bond to a storied tradition.

For the past three decades, Washington State’s mascot, Butch, has been an anonymous student in a costume; however, for students who attended the school between 1927 and 1978, memories of Butch are much different.

 

“My first memories of our live cougar were when I visited Pullman with my parents. A trip by Butch’s Den was a mandatory stop from the perspective of a little kid,” said Schneidmiller, ‘71 alumnus.

“As a student I remember Butch in his den, the Butchmen who … » More …

Winter 2009

Doubling back

Drew Bledsoe may be best remembered by Washington State fans for what he accomplished on a snowy day in November 1992.

And while visions of Bledsoe, receiver Phillip Bobo, and a snow bank are foremost in their memories, these days, Bledsoe wants Cougar fans to know him not only for great plays but for making great wine.

“It is very important for me that people know that this is a true passion of mine,” he says. “We are very committed to producing only the best wine that we can.”

On a sweltering July day in Walla Walla, Bledsoe’s passion is on display.

This day … » More …

Summer 2003

They’re back! Doba’s football staff includes five former Cougars

As athletes they brought recognition to Washington State University. Now, as assistant coaches, Mike Levenseller, Michael Walker, Timm Rosenbach, Ken Greene, and George Yarno are being counted on to help shape the football future at their alma mater.

Who said you can’t go home again?

Not Bill Doba.

He’s been on the WSU football staff for 15 years, but this is his first as head coach. Cougar pedigrees are obviously important to him. For starters, he convinced assistants Levenseller (offensive coordinator/wide receivers) and Walker (defensive line) to stay, rather than follow former Cougar coach Mike Price to Alabama. He got the same commitment from two … » More …

Spring 2003

Long wins Outland Trophy, four named All-America

Washington State’s Rien Long proved to be more than a “West Coast wonder.” The 6-6, 286-pound defensive tackle earned the Outland Trophy as college football’s top interior lineman for 2002.

“He put us on the map tonight,” coach Mike Price said of the junior from Anacortes. They attended the College Football Awards Show together December 12 in Orlando, Florida.

Long’s defensive prowess was recognized earlier in the season. He was picked to a number of All-America first teams, including those of the Associated Press and the Football Writers Association. His regular season statistics included 20.5 tackles for loss, 13 sacks, and three pass deflections.

Three … » More …