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| Paul Wulff |
Chat With Head Football Coach Paul Wulff on Thursday, March 13th at 4:00 PM.
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| Moderator: Good afternoon and welcome to this afternoon's online chat with Washington State Head Football Coach Paul Wulff. Coach, welcome, or should I say, welcome back to WSU, and thank you for joining us today just a few days before spring practice begins on March 17. |
| Paul Wulff: Thanks for having me and giving me the opoportunity to talk Cougar football. |
| Moderator: Absolutely. Okay, let's get to some questions. |
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| Matt (Issaquah): Can you give us an update on recruiting? What was the impact of the coaching change from a timing and recruit point of view, losses of targeted recruits and any potential recruits that previously weren't interested in WSU but changed their mind once you accepted and your staff was in place? |
| Paul Wulff: I believe recruiting went well; I believe recruits want to be part of something new and part of a coaching staff that is going to be there for their career. With the time that was allowed, our staff did a great job in bringing solid student-athletes to the program. As we move forward in recruiting, we are being very aggressive with kids we have a great feel for at this point, and offering scholarships to kids we feel can help our overall program. But there will be hundreds more we will continue to evaluate and then offer several more scholarships as move ahead. |
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| El Centro, CA: What is the difference between your 4-3 defense and Doba's 4-3 defense? |
| Paul Wulff: We will be moving players in different positions to be a little more aggressive and faster on defense right now. From an X's and O's standpoint, we'll try to be simpler, but have the ability to match up to more specialized offensive personnel groupings. |
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| Dan (Leavenworth): What are your areas of strength and what are your areas of concern going into spring practice? |
| Paul Wulff: Based on winter workouts and last year's video, our experience at the linebacker position and our offensive line should give us some leadership and ability to build on both sides of the ball through the spring. Weaknesses will be depth at all positions and trying to create more depth. |
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| Jerry, Clear Lake, WI: In watching the games last year and watching our opponents start on their 40 yard line or better, do we have someone that can get it to the endzone or is there help on the way via a walk on kicker |
| Paul Wulff: We have help on the way with the young players that are in our program plus two incoming kickers that will be here in the fall who have strong legs. |
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| Jim (Wenatchee): Paul, welcome back to WSU. As fans, how can we best help you in developing the success of the program? |
| Paul Wulff: Be positive in all situations. Be a true fan supporter because we will win and we will lose games. Everybody does. Only time will allow us to develop this program the way we all want it to be. As Cougars we can overcome all the negativity that is naturally out there. |
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| Al - Fort Collins CO: Can you please give us an idea of what your no-huddle will look like in action, and what advantages you expect it go create? |
| Paul Wulff: The players will be spread out throughout the field. The advantages will be change of tempo between plays, and there will be less time elapsing between plays at times. The advantages are that we want to keep defenses on their heels, not on their toes. |
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| Erik Strenge: Coach, What will be your main goals for the team in your first year as head coach? |
| Paul Wulff: To have a team of great TEAM players (no egos, wins will take care of itself). |
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| Tim Kadlec (Vancouver): Hi Coach - thank you so much for coming back to the Cougar family as Head Coach. As someone that crossed the mountains from the western part of the state to attend WSU, I know all the great things that WSU and Pullman have to offer. When you are recruiting someone to play football at WSU, what are the biggest advantages that you feel WSU/Pullman have to offer? |
| Paul Wulff: Washington State is the ultimate college campus and college atmosphere. If I was a parent, I would feel safe sending my child to Pullman and WSU. The family atmosphere, along with the togetherness of a campus and community, is as strong as I can imagine anywhere in the United States. Having the opportunity to earn a degree from a prestigious Pac-10 university, and experience all the other things that this unique campus and community have to offer is second to none. |
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| Glenn (Spokane): People assume someone who was a quarterback would automatically be a good offensively minded coach in later years (not always), but as a lineman, how did you develop into such a good offensive mind as a coach? We saw how you got the job done at EWU over the years, so we know you know what you are doing. How did this develop? |
| Paul Wulff: I've had the opportunity to play for and coach with some of the best offensive minds in the country. I've always had the philosophy of attacking and being aggressive on offense. |
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| Mike Lemke: Each of the last 3 Summers Cougar football has honored it's Alumni by inviting them to be around the team again for a weekend including a BBQ and golf tounament. It's been called "Past meets Present". Will you continue that and make it tradition? |
| Paul Wulff: My understanding is that event will continue. |
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| Gabe (Seattle): Coach, in recent years the final scrimmage of the spring has become less of an event for fans and more like a typical practice. Do you have any plans to return to the "Crimson and Gray Game" format? |
| Paul Wulff: My plan is to create more of a game atmosphere than what has been happening, but based on our current depth, I'm not sure how our spring final scrimmage will end up. It may take a couple years to get our depth at a point where we would like to get a productive spring game, which is something we all want to have. |
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| Jason (San Diego): How much has WSU changed since your college days (in general and in football) ? |
| Paul Wulff: The campus and athletic buildings have changed dramatically in a positive way, but I've haven't been around yet enough to get a full feeling for all the changes that have happened. Although some of the names may have changed, it seems like some of the local late night establishments are still running as strong as ever. |
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| Don Wilson, Crancrook, B.C. CAN.: Welcome aboard Paul. Who will be your starting Q.B. in 2008? Thanks. |
| Paul Wulff: Don't know yet, that will evolve in time. That's why we have 15 spring practices and 29 in the fall. Whoever helps the team the most on offense ultimately will see the most playing time. |
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| Jerry, Montesano: There has been much discussion regarding reviews by the officials during football games. Since they are limited to the tapes from only one camera, can they get a full view of the play?
What are your thoughts on the "Officials Reviews” of plays at the college level? |
| Paul Wulff: I believe in the review system. I believe everybody wants the right call made for their school. |
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| Tom - Pullman: Please discuss how you will address the lack of depth at defensive tackle. Thanks. |
| Paul Wulff: By moving Andy Roof to defensive tackle will hopefully give us a veteran, experienced football player on the field in that position. Plus, we signed two junior college defensive tackles, Bernard Wolfgramm and Josh Luapo. |
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| Dan (Leavenworth): How would you rate this year's recruiting class? Please give some examples of players. |
| Paul Wulff: Right now, solid, but in all honesty in truly takes two to three years to determine how good each class is going to be. Everybody wants results right away and answers, but time and patience is what has to happen to build a home or anything else you are trying to build up. A football program is no different. |
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| Steve (Semi Valley): Hi Paul, I beleive one of your redshirt freshmen place kickers was rank #2 in the southern section and in the top 20 prospects. is he still with wsu and do you see him playing a role this year in your kicking game? |
| Paul Wulff: The kicking job is wide open and whoever could help the team the best will have the most opportunities to kick for our team. |
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| Marv (Seattle): Coach, welcome back. How much of your offense did you pull from what Coach Erickson did at WSU and the Aloha Bowl team? |
| Paul Wulff: Roughly 50 percent of what we do are those concepts, but every year we evolve, add and delete and change things to fit our personnel best. |
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| Matt (Seattle): Most teams tend to have a defining characteristic in the news, such as an aggressive front line or a stifling pass rush. Do you have any idea what commentators will identify this year's Cougs for? |
| Paul Wulff: I really don't know how we will be described. Our strengths could evolve as the season progresses. Team personalities and team's strengths and weaknesses change throughout the season. |
| Moderator: Okay, we have time for one more question. |
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| Rich (Selah): Coach, how will the stadium renovation play a role in the future of your program? |
| Paul Wulff: When the job is completed we will clearly have one of the best college football settings in all of America. So few universities have their football stadiums literally sitting in the middle of campus; we have that here at WSU. In regards to recruiting, to be able to show the atmosphere that the facility can bring, along with the excitement that it will offer fans and athletes, in addition to the home field advantage we must have, it will allow us to recruit top-tier talent. We all need to continue our support of this project so we can make this a reality. |
| Moderator: Thank you once again Paul for joining us today. |
| Paul Wulff: Thank you for having me. It has been great to hear all of your interest in our program. Now, let's all get ready to watch the Cougs whip a little butt against the Ducks! |
| Moderator: And a big thank you to everyone for your questions. Please check back to wsucougars.com for future online chats. Go Cougs! |
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