Coaches have been hired, spring practices have been scheduled.
We interrupt your WSU basketball fandom to bring you news from the Football Operations Building. It’s there that head coach Jake Dickert has been assembling the rest of his football staff and preparing for spring practices.
The Cougs are coming off a disappointing 5-7 season in which they started 4-0, including wins over no. 19 Wisconsin and no. 14 Oregon State, before face planting and losing six in a row. A near-upset in the Apple Cup ended WSU’s chances of an eighth straight bowl game appearance.
Since then, the Cougs have replaced two assistants and scheduled a bunch of games with Mountain West opponents. First, let’s look at the coaches who are new to their jobs:
Jared Kaster, Offensive Line Coach
WSU announced Kaster’s hiring on March 1, as he replaces Clay McGuire, who moved on to Texas Tech, which means he’ll return to Pullman along with Josh Kelly on Sept. 7.
In comes Kaster from Austin Peay where he coached the offensive line and was co-offensive coordinator. Kaster is a Texas Tech alum, and I’m sensing a theme with this hire.
Under Kaster, the Governors (seriously, that’s Austin Peay’s nickname) averaged 152.7 yards rushing per game, which would be a nice number for WSU considering the lack of success the Cougs had running the ball last season. Austin Peay quarterbacks were sacked 18 times last year (WSU gave up 24 sacks, for comparisons sake).
Allen Brown, Cornerbacks Coach
Allen Brown replaces Ray Brown, who left this offseason for Boston College.
The new Brown was most recently a quality control coach at Florida. Prior to that, he was in the same position at Cal and he’s coached the secondary at Eastern Washington and Cal Poly. He’s a graduate of Eastern Washington, where he was a three-time all-Big Sky selection at cornerback. He played at Eastern with current WSU wide receivers coach Nick Edwards and played under current WSU defensive coordinator Jeff Schmedding.
Spring Practice Schedule
If you’re into spring practices, they start March 26 and conclude with the annual Crimson and Gray Game on April 27. WSU will have 14 practices and three scrimmages, including the Crimson and Gray Game. WSU will go with a Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday schedule, with weekday practices starting at 7:55 a.m. and Saturday practices and scrimmages going at 10:30 a.m.
The Crimson and Gray Game will start at 3 p.m. on April 27.
Cougs Compete at NFL Combine
Three former Cougs—Brennan Jackson, Jaden Hicks and Chau Smith-Wade—participated in the NFL’s annual cattle prod recently, trying to impress NFL scouts ahead of the NFL Draft April 25-27.
You can see online how Jackson, Hicks and Smith-Wade performed, with Jackson and Hicks both grading out as “Good backup with the potential to develop into a starter.” Smith-Wade was judged to be an “Average backup special teamer.”
Best of luck to all three as they work toward a pro football career.