Can the Washington State Football Team Succeed During the New Era of NIL and the Transfer Portal?
Absolutely, Washington State football coach Jake Dickert said earlier this month.
“Is this an obstacle or an opportunity? said Dickert, who enters his second full season as Cougars head coach with 15 spring workouts, as of Tuesday. “Everyone from the outside sees it as an obstacle, but from inside it has to be an opportunity. That doesn’t mean there aren’t challenges. That doesn’t mean we’ll always have the best facility or the most ZERO (money), but we can do it our way, but we have to be actively involved in every level of what we do.
“I’ve always been the underdog. I think Washington State, in general, may have always been the underdog. It hasn’t changed, has it? So what, there are challenges. Let’s tackle these challenges. Let’s unite and let’s go. »
Among the challenges of this offseason was the replacement of the two coordinators and key players in many positions – some graduates and others transferred.
That said, Dickert is optimistic in his team. Quarterback Cameron Ward, who Dickert says has NFL-level talent, is back. The same goes for star rushers Ron Stone Jr. and Brennan Jackson, returning for a sixth season.
The Cougars are having 7-6 straight seasons that have ended in bowl losses, and Dickert wants to “take that next step as a program.”
“So we have to come out of the spring feeling very comfortable that it’s not a reboot,” Dickert said. “I said that a lot to the coaches: ‘It’s not a restart, it’s a step forward.’ So these 15 practices, we must maximize every moment there.
Navigating the New World of College Football
The Cougars have brought 19 players into the transfer portal since the end of the regular season. Many were deep reserves, but there were also significant losses, including Jarrett Kingston, a three-year starter on the offensive line, linebackers Francisco Mauigoa and Travion Brown and receivers De’Zhaun Stribling and Donovan Ollie.
“A lot of these kids needed to go somewhere because they needed to play and I fully support that,” Dickert said. “But I think in today’s world you’re probably always going to have surprises, whether it’s us or Alabama, so you have to make sure you’re adaptable enough to get through those things. But I think losing a position group you expect to be there the first week of December presents extreme challenges for all of us, not just Washington State.
As Dickert said, the transfer portal “is a two-way street.” WSU added several new players from the portal, and Ward was among those added before last season.
A new factor for players considering leaving is money from name, image and likeness deals. Can WSU in a small college town compete with other universities for NIL money?
“That’s the question, isn’t it?” Dicker said. “What NIL has created has likely benefited universities in major metropolitan areas. It’s probably easy to say. … I can go out there and talk to our people about what everybody’s doing and the numbers will blow people’s minds. Or we can say, “This is what we have to do, in the tough, tough, serious way the Cougars have always done.” “
There has long been a “once a Cougar, always a Cougar” mentality among players — and all students — at WSU. The transfer portal and NIL threaten this.
“I think Coug’s passion and pride is very important to our people,” Dickert said. “It stems from loyalty and I think that’s a challenge we all face.”
Dickert said recruiting players from the North West who understand what it means to be a Cougar has become more important.
That, Dickert said, could mean taking a player from the North West with a little less talent than a player from elsewhere because “the kid loves it here, the family loves it here and he wants to be here”.
Work in two new coordinators
It was quite a month of December for Dickert, who juggled recruiting, getting his team ready for a bowling game, and replacing his offensive and defensive coordinators.
“I’ve had almost every head training situation in Year 1, haven’t I?” laughed Dickert.
The new offensive coordinator is Ben Arbuckle, who will also coach the quarterbacks. He spent the last two seasons in Western Kentucky, serving as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for an offense that ranked sixth in the nation in total offense at 497.3 yards per game.
Jeff Schmedding, a Spokane native who played at Eastern Washington, is the new defensive coordinator — and linebackers coach — after spending last season as defensive coordinator at Auburn.
Dickert said the plan is to keep 80% of the previous program, “and another 20% will be new and (Schmedding) will put their spin on it.”
“I think a fresh look outside of our system has been very positive,” Dickert said. “I think you’ll see multi-pronged stuff – we’ve been four linemen down to the core. I think you’ll still see some of our same pressure packs, but there will be new twists and techniques. … I think he brought a bit more of an offensive mindset to the bases, which I think can be a positive thing.
QB Cam Ward, can the offense take a step forward?
Ward transferred to Washington State to much fanfare after two fantastic seasons at FCS Incarnate Word. But it’s been a year of ups and downs for Ward and the WSU offense in 2022.
The Cougars averaged 26.1 points per game, ranked 80th among 131 FBS teams, and that was the fewest points the Cougars have averaged since 2012.
“There was a lot of buzz with (Ward) coming up, a lot of excitement coming up and I’m still completely excited about Cam’s future,” Dickert said. “Cam is focused on what he needs to do to improve. There are mechanical things he worked on in the offseason to get in sync.
Dickert said Ward has taken a big step forward as a leader and he understands “the two most scrutinized people on our program will be him and me.”
That said, Ward needs help from his teammates. Dickert said he thinks with the addition of some transfers, the receiver position is more athletic.
Dickert also expects a step forward from the offensive line, which struggled to protect Ward last season.
“I know he was sacked 46 times last season, and if he hadn’t been Cam Ward that number would have been 60,” Dickert said. “There’s harnessing that talent, there’s playing in our scheme, but there’s also helping in a number of different ways. I’m absolutely excited about what Cam is going to be able to do in year two. . »
The two who remained lead the defense
Dickert said it meant a lot to the team — and to him personally — that Jackson and Stone returned.
Both are three-year-old starters, and they were each second-team all-Pac-12s last season. Stone was the first team in all conferences in 2021.
“I feel very strongly where we are on the defensive line, and that’s a comforting feeling for any defensive coach,” Dickert said, “Obviously (Stone and Jackson) are anchoring this unit. I think they’re ready. to take off and finish what they started.
“These guys are really valuable to me personally because when I came here in 2020 (as defensive coordinator) they were part of the change agents of what we needed to do to get better on defense. We took over a defense that was way below level, so I’m proud of those guys.
Dickert said Armani Marsh’s replacement at nickel is the biggest issue in the secondary, but he expects the unit to be improved overall.
Dickert said he thinks junior cornerback Chau-Smith Wade is an NFL talent and he said redshirt sophomore Jaden Hicks “is hands down one of the best safeties I’ve ever seen.” I’ve personally never seen – and I’ve coached some who are in the NFL right now – and he’s going to be a superstar.
The big question is linebacker. WSU lost star Daiyan Henley at graduation, but also Mauigoa and Brown.
“We feel good with the guys we have, but it’s like adding a bunch of freshmen again,” Dickert said. “We have to teach them and that will be an important position throughout the spring.”
Dickert sees the schedule as 12 one-game seasons, with the goal being 1-0 every week. Even in private, he doesn’t predict overall wins.
“Why put a cap on that?” he said.
Dickert said he comes in each week thinking the team will be 1-0. He said the Cougars have what it takes to succeed and that the key is not to fight with mistakes.
“There’s the reality of what every team has to do to win games,” Dickert said. “Ours is more grainy. Ours does not return the ball. Ours eliminates explosive games. There are benchmarks that we have set that we have to hit to win. We chose to focus on those things rather than the outcome. If we do these things, you will get the result you want.