WSU Football | Tending homegrown talent

PULLMAN — The new football coach at Washington State plans to run a no-huddle offense and build the team around in-state players.

"My goal is to turn this program into the state of Washington's team," said Paul Wulff, a former WSU player who has been head coach the past eight years at Eastern Washington University.

Wulff said, "We obviously need to recruit the western United States to a high level" but said the core of the program needs to be "Washington kids who come here and are here for five years."

"That's how you build a program," he said.

Wulff said beating the University of Washington is a priority.

"That is a battle that we will win," he said. "We are going to go after those guys, and we're going to attack them. We are going to find a way to take control of this deal and run the best program in the state of Washington."

Wulff said he told WSU president Elson S. Floyd and athletic director Jim Sterk that "dogs hunt and bark, but Cougars fight and kill."

He said, "I really don't like purple."

Wulff, 40, has agreed to a five-year contract, and details are being worked out. Sterk said Wulff will receive roughly what former coach Bill Doba was receiving. That was about $600,000 a year in total compensation.

Wulff said there are "some culture changes we need to make" in the football program. He said he was referring to "internal expectations" and "the commitment they [players] make to the team and the hard work it's going to take."

The immediate priority for Wulff is to put a nine-member coaching staff together and begin recruiting. As many as five members of his EWU staff might join him in Pullman, but he would confirm only three: Todd Sturdy, offensive coordinator; Jody Sears, defensive coordinator, and Rich Rasmussen, tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator. He said assignments might switch in Pullman.

There is speculation that EWU linebacker coach Travis Niekamp and defensive tackles coach Malik Roberson could wind up on the WSU staff.

It is unclear how many of the current WSU staff members will be hired by Wulff. Running-backs coach Steve Broussard and quarterbacks coach Timm Rosenbach were Wulff's teammates on the Aloha Bowl team of 1988.

WSU is behind in recruiting and has only three oral commitments. A recruiting "dead period" with no contact permitted begins Monday and runs until Jan. 1.

Wulff said the Cougars will "hustle and do the best we can this year, and I believe we'll do well." He said his staff will talk to athletes who have made oral commitments elsewhere to see whether they have an interest in WSU now that the coach has been chosen.

Sterk said president Floyd has offered to meet with recruits when they visit the campus.

Sterk said WSU started its coach search with a list of 70 prospects and interviewed six in Salt Lake City last week. He said Salt Lake City was chosen because it was away from Northwest media. Wulff was the only one of the six brought to the WSU campus for more interviews.

"Those who know him [Wulff] think it's the best hire we could have made," said Sterk.

Sterk said Wulff has a better chance of success because he has been a head coach. He said the success rate nationally is higher when schools hire head coaches instead of candidates who haven't risen above offensive or defensive coordinator.

Two of the past three Cougars coaches, Dennis Erickson and Mike Price, got their starts as head coaches in the Big Sky Conference, where Wulff has a 53-40 record and only one losing season.

Wulff met with the Cougars team before the 3 p.m. news conference, and players said he made a favorable impression.

"I think it's a good fit," said guard Dan Rowlands, who will be a senior in the fall. "He seems like a fun guy to play for."

Center Kenny Alfred, whose brother Matt just finished his senior season under Wulff at EWU, seemed impressed and said, "I think change is always exciting."

Wulff's three brothers and sister, all from California, plus other relatives, attended the news conference and a reception.

"They are a big part of my life," said Wulff, whose mother disappeared when he was 12. His father, who died a year and a half ago, was a suspect but never was arrested.

"They helped raise me, helped me get to Washington State as a teenager," Wulff said of his brothers and sisters and other relatives. "They kept me on track."

Also present was Wulff's wife, Sherry, and their children.

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