Washington State
Washington State

Washington State Team Report

Updated: February 03, 2012 01:55 EST

New Washington State Coach Mike Leach came to Pullman with a reputation for explosive offenses and developing great skill players.

But he knows he can't win consistently without getting the Cougars sturdier up front.

That's what Leach tried to fix most in his first WSU recruiting class, with 11 of 28 signees being either offensive or defensive linemen.

Another five are linebackers as Leach tried to solidify WSU's shaky defensive front seven. He also signed five linebackers, five wide receivers, three safeties, two running backs, one quarterback and a kicker.

"We looked for three things in particular: we needed offensive linemen, we needed defensive linemen and we looked for guys that were good football players," he said.

Leach didn't have a lot of time to put the class together as he wasn't hired until late November. The former staff had a dozen or so commits at the time, and Leach spent the first few weeks going over those recruits, telling a few they no longer had scholarships at WSU.

Ultimately, it was a class that was ranked at the bottom of the conference by most analysts -- not atypical for WSU classes - but one analysts said was better than some WSU has put together in recent years.

Leach also showed an ability to get in the hunt quickly for some top skill guys -- he almost turned four-star WR Cedric Dozier, who had been a longtime commit to Cal and ruled out nearby Washington -- before Dozier decided to stick with his Cal commitment.

"Our reception with receivers is understandably high," Leach said.

Leach and his staff also tried to increase WSU's profile in the Los Angeles area, a spot former Coach Paul Wulff had not mined as much. WSU got several key recruits out of there, including four-star Venice High WR Gabriel Marks, who had committed to SMU.

TOP OF THE CLASS

--WR Gabriel Marks, Los Angeles (Venice) -- Rated as high as 15 overall in the state of California by one recruiting site, is probably the most decorated player in WSU's class and could play right away even in what appears to be a deep Cougars receiving corps. Not imposing, at 5-11, 175, but earned reputation for simply making plays.

--QB Austin Apodaca, Longmont, Colo. (Silver Creek High) -- Committed to WSU last June to former Coach Paul Wulff, then had to wait and see if Leach would honor that offer. Leach did, deciding Apodaca could fit his offense. Known for mobility as well as accuracy.

--G Niu Sale, Los Alamitos, Calif. (LA Harbor JC) -- Highly touted out of high school when he almost signed with Washington before academic issues got in the way, he could be an immediate starter up front.

--WR Robert Lewis, South Gate, Calif. (South Gate High) -- At 5-10, 160, has drawn comparisons to Oregon's De'Anthony Thomas. Rushed for 2,023 yards and 30 touchdowns as a senior.

--WSU's home schedule includes the Apple Cup game against Washington on the Friday after Thanksgiving. WSU officials had long resisted playing the game at home on a week when school is out, worried about the attendance. But WSU had little choice per terms of the conference's new TV contracts calling for teams to agree to be flexible, and Cougar officials say they are confident students will come back early to attend the game.

--Jason Loscalzo, the football strength and conditioning coach at Boston College since 2009, was hired for the same role at WSU.

--The school is in the midst of a gradual expansion of the stadium which recently included replacing the press box that had been in place for more than 30 years.

SPRING SNAPSHOT:

Practice priorities: The big emphasis in the spring will obviously be learning the new offense of Coach Mike Leach, as well as sorting out the quarterback spot with senior Jeff Tuel and sophomore Connor Halliday each coming back from injuries. Both could be ready for the spring to begin a battle that could last well into fall camp. Leach's offense has some similarities to what WSU had done previously, so the hope is that the adjustment may not take all that long. WSU was young on both sides of the ball in 2012 so there are lots of returning players. But nearly every job figures to be up for grabs with new coaches at every spot.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "It was the same as when I selected our staff. If you look at our staff every one of them on some level is in the habit of winning. With regard to these football players we tried to select guys that were the same. Not how big is he? How fast is he? How strong is he? Can he play football is the first question we asked." -- WSU Coach Mike Leach on what he looked for in his first recruiting class with the Cougars.

KEY LOSSES: The Cougars started only five seniors in the Apple Cup loss to Washington -- three on offense and two on defense. The most felt loss may be that of linebacker Alex Hoffman-Ellis, the leading tackler and heart and soul of the defense. WSU also loses two starters off the offensive line. But that was a unit that struggled a lot of the year and figures to be remade under new coach Mike Leach and his staff, so hard to tell if that will be much of a loss. Also gone is WR Jared Karstetter. But the Cougars return lots of receivers and recruited that position well in the 2012 class.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

--QB Jeff Tuel -- The senior could return to the starting job after missing most of 2011 with injuries. He was regarded as one of the real up-and-comers in the conference before his lost 2011 season, in which he was injured in the first game, suffering a broken clavicle, and never really got healthy. If he adapts well to Leach's offense he could have a breakthrough season.

--WR Marquess Wilson -- The junior is already one of the best receivers in the Pac-12 and obviously should have even more opportunity in the offense of Leach. No reason to think he won't contend to be the leading receiver in the Pac-12 in 2012.

--DE Travis Long -- The senior also battled injuries much of last season. But when healthy he has shown all-conference ability and he could have a breakout year in 2012.

--S Deone Bucannon -- He was one of the leading tacklers in the Pac-12 as a sophomore and seems ready to take the next step in the new coaching regime.

PLAYER NOTES

--WSU added to its receiver corps when Rahmel Dockery of Tacoma -- a heralded member of the Class of 2011 -- was finally deemed eligible and allowed to enroll in school. He could have a big role immediately as a returner and inside receiver.

--The Cougars made an interesting addition to their special teams in Mike Bowlin, who was at Oregon in 2009 before leaving when he was involved in an infamous campus brawl in which kicker Rob Beard suffered some serious facial injuries. He had been attending Saddleback Junior College. He already is enrolled in school.

--Also already enrolled is RB Teondray Caldwell of Los Angeles, who signed with Nevada in 2011 but didn't enroll.