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The WSU version of the Hot Stove League has kicked off. The WSU Hot Stove League generally consists of off-season news that revolves around three things: recruiting, scheduling, and the coaching staff. We'll focus on each in separate articles this week. Earlier we covered out thoughts on the upcoming football schedule and recruiting. Now, we're going to talk about the current staff and our guess as to what is going to happen over the next few weeks.
Hit the jump below for the latest news and our thoughts on what's happening:
Staff Changes:
It sounds like Paul Wulff is open to changes on his coaching staff. Here at The Coug we have long endorsed this approach. In Wulff's latest interview  he indicates that staff evaluations are taking place over the next few weeks and that he is open to the possibility of making changes. Not exactly a ringing endorsement for keeping everyone on the staff. Of course, it's not exactly a concrete statement around making changes either.
Here is how we would like to see it break down and our best guess as to what is going to take place. The key date to watch is December 16th and we'll tell you why.
The one area that is most likely to see a guy fired is the offensive line. We don't see anything that indicates Harold Etheridge is worth keeping around. The line did have meaningful experience going into this season and it continued to perform at levels that cost us a running back and three quarterbacks this season. It would be nearly impossible to perform worse. There is the injury issue and it's a real one. However, the scheme and the ability to improve player performance is just not present. The other area where a position coach can bring value is recruiting. Currently, there isn't a single recruit that has Etheridge as his primary recruiter that is a commit.
If they plan to let Harold Etheridge go it will likely be sometime after December 16th. We are going after several JC offensive linemen and making a change now in their position coach would likely scare them away immediately. My guess is that if we see a few of these guys signed with Etheridge bringing them on board then you likely see him return. Regardless, I would be surprised if any firings take place before the 16th.
Here's what I hope to see. We let Etheridge go after the 16th and convince Keith Gilbertson to come on board as line coach. This is a job he's held previously and has a reputation as an excellent recruiter. He know the area high schools and he's got a great resume. If you hire Gibly you also have a back-up offensive coordinator if Sturdy doesn't work out. He's also held that job and done it well. There is no downside. Of course, you could try to hire Yarno back and make up for the AWFUL mistake that was made by not retaining him after Doba was let go. Not likely to happen since he's now coaching in the NFL for the Detroit Lions.
The other glaring area is special teams. Currently it's split among several coaches with Broussard running point for practice and organization. Our special teams have been bad. Really bad at time. However, when you are only dressing 43+ players a game how good is the coverage going to be? It's possible that they work to address this area by bringing on a special teams coach. I think this would make a segment of our alumni base happy but I'm willing to bet that you'll see significant special teams improvement next year without making a change. Depth and health will do wonders for how we cover and return kicks/punts.
Finally, the reach area is that of offensive coordinator. There is chatter around the performance of Todd Sturdy. Does he have what it takes to call plays and come up with creative game plans? There is little doubt that the offense has been historically bad over the past two years. This is truly a chicken/egg scenario. Is the offense bad because Sturdy can't manage a game or is it impossible for Sturdy to manage a game because we simply don't have players that can execute?
I don't think Todd Sturdy is going anywhere. Here's why. One, he is a very solid recruiter. He seems to be great at talking players through his offense and how they would fit in. Name an offensive skill player verbal commitment we have today and I'll show you a player that likes Todd Sturdy and feels like his system is going to be good for him. Second, the game plan report card should receive a decided N/A. Unlike the oline coach where the scheme doesn't seem to fit the players it's pretty obvious after watching a few of our games that Sturdy has an idea of how he wants to exploit a defense but it just can't be carried out. The dropped balls and missed blocks were sickening in the Apple Cup. The structure of the entire game is different if Simone, Karstetter, and Byers can hold on to critical passes at various points in the game. Sturdy should be scrutinized at this point but he needs another year to see if our guys can pick-up and run with the gameplan. Then we can determine if he's Chip Kelly or Timm Rosenbach.
So, there you have it. Watch for possible changes with the oline, special teams and if Wulff is feeling totally crazy…..offensive coordinator.
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