Pullman, Wash. | Catching up with Washington State’s second-year football coach Paul Wulff as he takes a few minutes away from the Cougars’ spring practice to talk about a few college football-related topics:
Related: (Click here to hear a podcast of WSU’s Xavier Hicks talk Cougar football)
Question: As someone who experienced a playoff at the Division I-AA level, what is your feeling about a playoff system for Division I-A?
Wulff: I am in favor of bowls No. 1, but I am not opposed to a playoff system where potentially after the bowls you can pull six to eight teams together or tie it into it. I still think bowls are the best thing for college sports. If you want to know who the best team in America is, watch the NFL. That’s the best team in America. That’s why they have the Super Bowl. There’s a lot of value to teams finishing the season on a win. I’ve been involved in the playoffs at Eastern Washington … you know, it’s great, but at the same time, every team loses except at the end.
I think people are losing sight of the big picture. They’re college students, the experience at what they learn at this age, from 18 to 23, whatever that experience is they need to carry that on the rest of their lives and make the world a better place. People are losing complete sight of what’s No. 1 and who’s No. 1 and that’s all that matters. That’s part of the reason we go in the direction our society is. They get too caught up in one thing, instead of looking at the reality, what are the nuts and bolts that makes up college athletics? People lose sight of it. I don’t.
Would we love to win a national championship? Sure. But that’s by no means what we do. I sit here every day dealing with issues with kids that have personal issues, family issues, family members dying in their lives, are they eating right, are they sleeping right? People don’t realize that’s what makes up all the time in what we’re doing. We don’t sit here stressing on winning a bowl game or winning a national championship or the rivalry game. There are so many more things that are important for these people, these players.
Question: If incoming Pacific-10 commissioner Larry Scott asked for some input, what would you tell him?
Wulff: The biggest thing I would ask is just to make sure all the schools are on a level playing field. And by that I mean we all have the same opportunities for our players for development. I’ve got a little bit of an issue with the semester schools vs. the quarter schools and the amount of time the semester schools get vs. what the quarter schools get, because there is a difference with the training and the amount of time you’re able to spend with the players.
Question: What’s something really cool about your job that people might not realize?
Wulff: I don’t know if it’s mundane to say this, but what’s cool is you get to talk to these players and work with these guys and help them become better people. You see players, and you can see they are extremely stressed, they’ve got issues in their lives. And yet you can help them feel better. You can help give them direction. And give them some ease of mind when they don’t know how to handle it. They’re not ready to handle it at 18, 19 years of age. That is what I feel the best about. I can go, when a kid is struggling and I can help make his day a lot better.
Question: How big is the loss to Washington State in (basketball coach) Tony Bennett leaving for Virginia?
Wulff: Hmmmm. That’s hard to measure right now. It’s too early to say. They’re going to hire a good coach (WSU did, Ken Bone on Monday afternoon) and he’s going to do a good job. Bottom line is, they continue to bring in high-character kids and keep the program going the way it was going. Three years before Tony was the head coach and (Bennett’s father) Dick was working here, people questioned whether Dick was the right guy because they finished last three years in a row. And then as it was ready to mature and grow, Tony took over and then everybody thought it was the best thing ever.
The reality is, people have to stand back and look at the big picture. There are going to be good times and bad times. Tony will do a great job wherever he goes, because he’s a good, solid guy and coach. If they can replace him and bring in another good, solid coach, I don’t think the loss will be as great as people think.
Question: Obviously you can’t change the 2009 schedule, but do you like opening with a Pac-10 opponent (Stanford)?
Wulff: Not really. Where we’re at with the program right now, it would be a little nicer to open with a non-conference opponent. But at the same time, the fact that it’s home, I like that a lot. It’s their first game, too, I can’t really complain about it.
Question: And, you have a chance at a two-game winning streak in Pac-10 play.
Wulff: (laughs). I never thought of that. It’s going to be a tough game. But I think we have a lot of good feelings that this team is taking the right steps.
Question: From a fan’s perspective, the most interesting game on the schedule looks like against Notre Dame at San Antonio.
Wulff: From an entertainment standpoint, from a fan’s standpoint, you can get a lot out of the time that you’re there. You get to watch a great game in an excellent venue, visit a town that historic, do the RiverWalk. It would be money well spent to go just for two or three days.
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