The storyline heading into last week’s Holiday Bowl was that the WSU football team was decimated due to transfer portal entries and a barren coaching staff cupboard. Since then, the program has slowly started to replenish itself. Namely, the hiring of Jimmy Rogers as the new head coach, but there has also been some portal flip flops.
The biggest name to dip into the portal before jumping out like a kid in a cold pool is quarterback Zevi Eckhaus. The 2024 backup shined in the Holiday Bowl in uncertain circumstances and has one year of eligibility remaining since he played in just two game this last season, preserving a redshirt year. That, combined with the news that South Dakota State stud quarterback Mark Gronowski was entering the portal seemed to indicate the possibility of a new quarterback in Pullman.
Alas, Gronowski, who is not just in the portal but also eying a potential entry in the NFL Draft, does not appear to be heading to Pullman. I can only assume that’s why Eckhaus pulled his name from the portal this week and will remain a Coug for the time being.
And Eckhaus isn’t the only Coug to remove himself from the portal: Wide receivers Josh Meredith and Tre Shackelford, as well as defensive back Jamorri Colson and walk-on Aslan Fraser also will remain in Pullman.
That’s good news for WSU. Meredith came on big this season and had a huge TD in the Apple cup. Shackelford gives Eckhaus another weapon, and Colson has two years of experience, mostly as a backup, but still with plenty of reps under his belt.
With so many portal defections ahead of the Holiday Bowl, it’s nice to hear some key players audible and return. Perhaps these were Rogers’ first big recruits of his tenure.
WSU coaching staff slowly coming into focus
Rogers is slowly building his staff and bringing two assistants from South Dakota State with him.
Danny Freund will be the team’s offensive coordinator. Freund spent one season as the co-offensive coordinator under Rogers at South Dakota State last season. Before that, he spent 12 years at North Dakota coordinating the offense and coaching quarterbacks and running backs.
You can’t really pin a specific style of offense on Freund, as South Dakota State used a pretty balanced rushing vs. passing attack this past season. It will be a change from the Air Raid/Run and Shoot offense we’ve been used to since 2012.
Rogers also hired his defensive coordinator in Jesse Bobbit, a former grad assistant at WSU from 2020-2021. A South Dakota State alum, Bobbit was the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach under Rogers the past two seasons. His defense at South Dakota State was always stout and allowed just 9.3 points a game in 2023.
The other coach added to the staff is defensive line coach Everette Thompson. If that names sounds familiar, it’s because Thompson prepped at Kennedy Catholic and played at Washington. He was most recently coaching at Cal Poly.