WSU Football | Cougars still inspired by pied piper

An early fall walk-through in street clothes for the Washington State football team is great theater.

George Yarno performs a one-man show.

The offensive players assume stances, then walk to the defensive players they are supposed to block and grab them.

"I see EVERYTHING!" shouts Yarno, the offensive-line coach. "It's a gift from God!"

A tackle is indecisive.

"You don't know your assignment, do you?" Yarno snarls. "You know why I know you don't know your assignment? Because I'm looking at your eyes."

Yarno, 50, is a former Cougars defensive lineman from Ferris High School in Spokane. He spent 11 years in the NFL as an offensive lineman and deep-snapper, eight with Tampa Bay. He was on Mike Price's Cougars staff from 1991 to 1994, then had stops at Idaho (offensive coordinator), Houston, Arizona State and Louisiana State before rejoining the Cougars in 2003.

"Sometimes, I'm a hard person to get along with," Yarno said. "I'm competitive and aggressive. The other side of me is the side that cares about the kids. I want them to know that they can bring any kind of trouble or problem they have to me and I'll try to help them."

The key, he said, is to let players know that "you care about them as people ... they'll give more and take more."

Senior guard Bobby Byrd said, "Behind the scenes, he's a real great guy. ... Our meetings are fun. ... Once we get on the field, the intensity goes up."

The offensive line performed well with two new tackles, Micah Hannam and Vaughn Lesuma, at Wisconsin. The Cougars allowed only one sack.

One-on-one pass-rush drills were a spectator treat at WSU from 2003 to 2006, when Yarno's linemen faced those of equally demonstrative Robb Akey, the defensive coordinator who now is head coach at Idaho.

"Coach Akey told us, 'When we get Yarno yelling, that means we're doing something good,' " explained former defensive end Mkristo Bruce after a late-season practice.

Yarno never has lacked aggressiveness.

After the 1976 season, coach Jackie Sherrill called the team together and announced that he had taken the head-coaching job at Pittsburgh.

One version is that Yarno stood up and shouted, "Get the hell out of here!"

"Actually, it was more graphic than that," Yarno said.

Former Cougars coach Mike Price didn't intend to hire Yarno when he interviewed him before the 1991 season.

"It was a courtesy interview," Price said. "But then it was like, 'Wow, this guy really knows what he's talking about.' "

Price said of Yarno's rookie year, "He was like a pied piper, he had the kids believing in him 100 percent. Whatever he said, they would do."

That doesn't seem to have changed.

Notes

• DE Lance Broadus (shoulder) may play against San Diego State at 4 p.m. Saturday at Qwest Field, said coach Bill Doba.

• Doba said Ropati Pitoitua will start alongside Aaron Johnson. Mike Graise will start at DE.

• WSU officials said safety Terry Mixon, who quit the team Wednesday and was given his release, will be eligible to play this season if he enrolls at a school outside the Pac-10 where classes haven't started.

Craig Smith: 206-464-8279 or csmith@seattletimes.com