March 1 – Pullman – A sweet breeze passed through the hair of Zevi Eckhaus and the morning sun shone on his face, where the quarter of the state of Washington had a large smile.
The cougars had just finished their first day of spring practice late Saturday morning, launching the list of 15 practices earlier than this program for some time, and their QB1 probably was happy to talk about it. Finally, the conversation with the media moved to differences in practices under the current coach Jimmy Rogers and the predecessor Jake Dickert.
“Something that has really followed today is that you fly at any time. There are really no breaks, which is good,” said Eckhaus. “Obviously, you will have a second to have water. But we move quickly. We try to use every minute that we have to practice.
“I’m sure it’s going to be even more tempo on Tuesday and Thursday, because we have school. But yes, it was fun to fly. He made a point – we have to be more conditioned, and we will work on these things. No loss of time, no loss of minutes. Using definitely each time we have come out here.”
With this approach, Rogers seemed to set the tone for what this new Washington state of football will look like. Already a coach without frills, Rogers led a tight ship during the first spring of cougars at Rogers Field, where a handful of returneurs and a cargo of state transfers from the southern Dakota emitted for the first time on the ground.
Bearing only helmets and no pads, as dictated by NCAA rules, cougars have had the chance to assess the trends that can do or break their first season under Rogers this fall. For WSU, some were more positive than others.
Transfer runner Angel Johnson, considered one of the largest names of SDSU, will miss the whole list of spring with an injury, said Rogers. Johnson, who totaled 91 races for 646 yards and three touched last season in a secondary role, went to a scooter during the practice of Saturday, signaling a kind of ankle / foot injury.
It’s a bit of a blow for the running back room, which is already full of candidates for the starting work. The others include Leo Pulalasi and Djouvensky Schlenbaker, as well as SDSU Kirby Vorhees and Maxwell Woods transfers, and maybe even the Josh Joyner Redshirt’s first-year turner. Pulalasi and Schlenbaker Split take place with the unit of the first team in Saturday training.
The prospects are a little better for the second Keith Brown, who also missed training with his own injury. Brown will be able to return to action after the spring holidays, said Rogers, which puts him on the right track to miss the first three practices of spring. Brown, who came strong towards the end of last season, should play a starting role in his second season on the Palouse.
“The right outfit,” said Rogers. “He is an older player who did a little through it. Knows the system. He did a very good job with regard to management. I think he would have stood out from the point of view of leadership. He had great energy along the way.”
During training, which revolves around more individual competence work than the 11 sessions against 11, Eckhaus showed a penchant for some new favorite targets. The first is Junior Devin Ellison, a junior college transfer, which has transported several difficult captures from Eckhaus. Six feet two and 192 pounds, Ellison has the tools to make him an easy starting candidate, and he is already showing him with a shovel.
Ellison, off competition at the Monterey Peninsula College (California), chose WSU on the Boise and UCF finalists. Its acquisition is enormous for WSU, which turns a lot in the receiver’s position, losing the Kyle Williams key toils, Kris Hutson and Carlos Hernandez, the last of whom transferred while Williams spent on Saturday leading a 40 second dashboard of 40 seconds to NFL combines.
If the offensive of the cougs thrives this fall, will be thanks in part to Ellison, whose chemistry with Eckhaus will be looming on the success or failure of this unit. After the training on Saturday, Ellison’s name came with Rogers, who said that Ellison distinguished himself with her game.
“He looked great there. I mean, all the receivers did,” said Eckhaus. “Obviously, it is a new offense for everyone, whether you are here last year or that you were not. Everyone is trying to win and adapt, which is great. Obviously, it is new here. Many other guys are new. Many guys have been here. Just try that everyone is integrated into the offense as much as they can.”
Regarding the start of the spring ball, Rogers had an explanation. This is the transfer portal, he said, which opens on April 16-four days after the Spring match of the Cougs on April 12. The coaches of Rogers and WSU seemed to have calculated that by finishing spring training before the opening of the portal, they can give the players ready to do so, which, in turn, gives themselves a chance to find their replacements during the summer.
“There are difficult conversations that must have to have,” said Rogers, “and these guys must compete in the spring right now. This also allows us to set foot in before going out and making spring recruitment, which is quite enormous.”
