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| Paul Wulff |
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Chat with Washington State football head coach Paul Wulff on Tuesday, April 26 at 11:00 a.m.
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| Moderator: Good morning Cougar Nation! Thank you for visiting WSUCougars.com and today's chat with Football Head Coach Paul Wulff. Before we begin, you will notice two links at the top of this page: Buy Cougar Football Tickets! and Cougar Athletic Fund Spring Events. Click on the tickets link for information on 2011 season tickets, away games and the Oct. 22 game vs. Oregon State at Qwest Field. Click on the Spring Events link for information on the upcoming Cougar Athletic Fund tour of the state, including appearances by Bill Moos, Ken Bone, and Coach Wulff. Without further delay, let's begin. Coach, thank you for joining us. |
| Paul Wulff: Thanks for having me. I look forward to answering everyone's questions. |
| Moderator: Okay, let's get to the first question. |
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| GunMetalGray (Vancouver): Paul,
Looking forward to a great season this year! When are Captains selected, and who are the Captains on Defense this year? |
| Paul Wulff: In the fall, we will narrow down 8-10 players that we can use as captains. But on defense the first couple that come to mind are Travis Long and Alex Hoffman. |
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| Todd (Bellingham): Hi Coach, any chance on Wendell Taiese and Alex Mitchell will be able to join the team this Fall? |
| Paul Wulff: Todd, there is a chance both will make it. Both are working hard academically right now and we are hopeful they will be here in the fall. |
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| Pete (Palouse): When are you going to quit trying the no huddle offense?The last two years most big plays were after a time out. |
| Paul Wulff: Pete, we will continue to use the no-huddle. There will be periods when we will huddle as well. It's not about "no-huddling," it's about executing the play that's called. |
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| Bruce (Virginia Beach): It's tough to tell from the "other coast", but it appears that this team has a great deal of unity and a tremendous sense of purpose. If that is true and we have more talent than any time in the last several years, how does that translate to how a team practices, prepares and plays? Go Cougs! |
| Paul Wulff: Bruce, we are more efficient in everything we do. It also allows us to add more schemes to our practices. The players pick things up at a much more rapid pace. |
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| Roger Gilbert, Mill Creek,Washington: What are the top qualities you are looking for in new recruits? Of the athletes on the team, how many started out as walk-ons? |
| Paul Wulff: Roger, tough, headstrong, neck-up guys. We have several walk-ons that have earned scholarships in the last few years. |
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| Rich (Everett): Love our shot-gun offense, but I'm hoping we'll also run some plays that have Tuel taking snaps under center (traditional alignments/sets)...will Sturdy use the I-formation (fullback, two tailbacks/TEs) at all this season? Would be good for our defense to see those looks in practice. |
| Paul Wulff: Rich, our quarterback will take snaps under the center, at times. And, in every practice, we set aside one running back, two tight end sets, one tight-end, two running back sets to run the ball vs. our defense to make sure they get those looks. |
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| Bill (Seattle): Coach Wulff,
For the first time in many years I am looking forward to my drive to Pullman to watch Cougar football. I appreciate the way you have built the program from the ground up for which you have taken much criticism. How would you grade your rebuilding process? What has been the biggest success and what has been the biggest mistake in that rebuilding? |
| Paul Wulff: Bill, thank you for the comments. I feel very good about where we are at considering where we started a little over three years ago. The biggest success has been the quality of incoming talent that we continue to add to our program and the biggest mistake has been playing too many first-year freshmen. Unfortunately, that was probably unavoidable, however. |
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| Lance (Olympia): What plans are in place to improve WSU's recruiting in the Puget Sound area, especially for each year's top recruits? Thanks ~ |
| Paul Wulff: Lance, I think we need to continue to put WSU Football in front of the public as much as possible in the westside of the state, whether it's better radio coverage, playing a game at Qwest, or our upcoming spring events, for example. Sometimes, out-of-sight, out-of mind will affect any program as it does with donors, parents and young adults. |
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| RP: What are you (Coach Wulff) doing diff to make this upcoming season successful? |
| Paul Wulff: RP, we have a great plan in place. We are only a little over three years into a MAJOR rebuilding process. I think last year was very evident that we have brought in some of the best young talent in the Pac-12 Conference. As we continue to bring in more and mature the ones we have, with time, we will rise again to the top of the Pac-12. |
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| Kermit Beaverton OR: How will Dan Wagner do this year? Do we have a back up? |
| Paul Wulff: Kermit, hopefully Dan will have a successful season. We feel he has that capability. No one has solidified the backup role yet. |
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| Wes (Laramie, Wyo): We are Blessed to have you building a culture of success for the Cougs ! Keep up the Great Work, what an Awesome Coaching Staff... The Cougs are on their way back !!! |
| Paul Wulff: Wes: Thanks! We feel we are building something really special for the Cougar Nation. |
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| marty, vancouver: Coach, who made the biggest strides from the end of the season through spring practices? |
| Paul Wulff: Marty, I feel several players deserve mention of improvement. I can't really say, in all honesty, one or two made the biggest jumps. What I can say is several made very good improvement during spring ball. |
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| Nate (Pullman): Coach, what's the injury report like? It seems like we have a higher number of injuries this year than usual. Are these just dings and scrapes? Worried about depth/strength on DL. |
| Paul Wulff: Nate, our injury front this spring was the least amount that we've had since we've been here. I feel like by fall, we should be very healthy and ready to go with the exception of Blair Bomber. |
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| Alex (Cheney): While it's nice to see we don't play USC this year, how different do you think the conference will be with Colorado and Utah now in the mix? |
| Paul Wulff: Alex, it's a good question. I'm not sure how that is going to all unfold. But, with the dynamics of having a north-south division that does give teams an opportunity to win another championship in that season. When you look at divisional championships and then a championship game, and then a bowl game championship, it gives our players one more goal to strive for. |
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| Mike D. (Issaquah): Are we going to be able to get Rankin out as an end, or is depth still going to be an issue to make the move? |
| Paul Wulff: Mike, we are still not 100 percent sure where Brandon will end up. At this point, he clearly does some things better at defensive tackle than he does at defensive end, and vice versa. He still has a lot of fundamental work to do with his technique regardless of what position he plays. |
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| ron Spokane: I always feel we need a good blocking and short yard fullback. How are we at that position |
| Paul Wulff: Ron, we feel like we have better options this year than we've had in the past with a couple tight ends and a couple of fullbacks. Tight-end wise Andri Lintz, Aaron Dunn and then at fullback Jared Byers and Cory Laufasa. |
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| Cindy (Spokane): Coach I at the SPokane scrimmage last week but I noticed the huge turnout not only in the crowd but the former players too, is that common elsewhere? |
| Paul Wulff: Cindy, I think the fan turnout was very solid and I appreciate everyone who turned out. This is clearly an event that can double in size and be even a bigger and better event in the years to come at the same venue. We probably have a few more former players back than most. It is so critical to have former players continue to be part of the future of Cougar Football and Cougar Athletics. They need to be honored for their contributions and they need to have a stake in the future of the program. |
| Moderator: Okay, that's all the time we have. Coach, thank you for joining us once again. |
| Paul Wulff: I look forward to the 2011 season and I am very excited about the growth of the players and ready to see what unfolds for Cougar Football this next year. Hopefully I will run into sometime this spring or summer before this season gets underway. And if I don't, I will see you during the 2011 season. Go Cougs! |
| Moderator: Thank you to everyone for your questions. Please join us tomorrow at 3 p.m. for a chat with Director of Athletic Bill Moos by clicking HERE. |
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