It’s a step up for everyone.
To begin this Saturday, let’s examine a section of Vince Grippi’s daily look around the world of regional sports. This came on Tuesday:
Thinking Rogers might be making a mistake another former FCS coach made when he moved to Pullman can be excused, right?
Rogers’ Cougar staff includes more than a handful of guys who coached with him at South Dakota State. Just like Paul Wulff’s first staff included a few of his former Eastern Washington coaches. It took Wulff a couple years to realize his mistake. By then it was too late.
Then again, 2025 isn’t 2008. The Cougars are not playing in what was then the best the Pac-10 would be. Pete Carroll and Jim Harbaugh and Jeff Tedford-coached teams are not on the schedule. Besides, Wulff told me once there were at least a half-dozen EWU players who were as good or better than anyone on his first Wazzu roster. Guys that could have helped the Cougs win a few more games. But he had to leave them behind.
Rogers probably had even more at SDSU. These days, they can follow. Many of them did.
This is one sentiment I’ve had since WSU hired Rogers. WSU went from a Mike Leach staff that has branches still coaching across the country. A staff that saw multiple coaches leave for bigger jobs at bigger schools. A staff that knew how to recruit talented FBS players because that’s what they’d been doing already.
The Nick Rolovich staff had plenty of FBS experience, though to a lesser degree than Leach’s guys. Same with Jake Dicket’s staff.
That brings us to Rogers’ staff. The step down in experience level is to be expected, as Grippi alludes to, given how much the college football landscape has changed and the negative downstream effects it’s had on WSU.
Rogers’ staff reminded me of Paul Wulff’s when Wulff was hired in late 2007. Wulff was perhaps all WSU could afford at the time, and his staff reflected that. Some of his assistant coaches had hardly any FCS experience and were suddenly leading a Pac-10 team that went up against the likes of USC, Oregon, Andrew Luck’s Stanford, etc.
Here is Rogers’ on-field staff and where they came from (on-field coaching experience listed only):
Jesse Bobbit – Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers Coach
South Dakota State for three years, one as defensive coordinator
Danny Freund – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach
South Dakota State for one year
North Dakota for 12 years
Pat Cashmore – Special Teams Coordinator
South Dakota State for two years
Pittsburg State (Kansans) for one year (D-II)
Mike Banks – Cornerbacks Coach
South Dakota State for three years
Illinois State for five years
Jalon Bibbs – Defensive Line Coach
South Dakota State for two years
Grand Valley State for four years (D-II)
Taylor Lucas – Offensive Line Coach
South Dakota State for one year as an assistant offensive line coach
Wyoming for two seasons as an assistant offensive line coach
Wisconsin-Stevens Point for one year (D-iII)
Saint Anselm for three years (D-II)
Carroll University for two years (D-III)
Jake Menage – Wide Receivers Coach
South Dakota State for two years
Northwestern College for one year
Northern Illinois for three. years
Chris Meyers – Tight Ends Coach/Recruiting Coordinator
South Dakota State for three years
Robbie Rouse – Running Backs Coach
South Dakota State for two years
Cal Poly for one year
Full disclosure: I have precisely zero years of experience coaching any level of football, unless you count those flag football camps I managed each summer in college for kids ages 7 to 14 (you definitely shouldn’t count that).
Perhaps this staff rises to the occasion and leads WSU to glory. As I’ve written before, we’re a mid-major now, whether we like it or not. It’s probably (definitely?) unfair to compare Rogers’ staff to Leach’s all-star cast (not you, Mike Breske). WSU is what it is now.
But the last time WSU hired an FCS coach who brought his fellow FCS coaches to Pullman, it didn’t go so well. Again, different eras, different circumstances. I’m optimistic Rogers’ staff will succeed. Heck, a bunch of them have national championship rings, so they definitely know how to coach football. All I got coaching flag football was a broken thumb (seriously).
On the other hand, the lack of FBS experience may show its ugly face this fall. We’re only playing three Power 4 teams (UW, Ole Miss and Virginia) and the rest are against mid-majors and Idaho (we play Oregon State twice, too). Pete Carroll, John Harbaugh, Jeff Tedford, Mike Bellotti and Chip Kelly won’t be on the opposing sidelines in Pullman.
So while the worries of an FCS coaching staff suddenly coaching at WSU are understandable, it probably won’t be like the Wulff era. We hope.