The Coaching Career of Graham Harrell. (NCAA 14)

[TheOtherPotterGuy]

Around The League: Preseason (February 2014)
Top Story
Johnny Manzial to go number one overall to QB needy Raiders?

Draft experts are predicting the 2-13 Oakland Raiders to snag the talented but controversial former Aggie QB Johnny Manzial. Manzial would be an instant upgrade to a position that featured QB's Trevor Pryor and Matt McGloin last season. "Johnny would be an excellent addition to the team," General Manager Reggie McKenzie said, "But we also have other areas of need that can be upgraded with that pick." Time will soon tell what the Raiders will do but one thing is for certain, The two time Heisman winner will not have to wait long to hear his name be called.

Alabama Running Back arrested for possession

Junior Alabama Running Back, T.J Yeldon was arrested last night and charged with the possession of an illegal substance. Yeldon was driving home when a cop pulled him over for going 15 miles over the speed limit. When the officer investigated, he saw the bag of marijuana and arrested him immediately. In Alabama, possession of marijuana for personal use is a misdemeanor and carries a $6,000 fine and a possible one year jail sentence. The University of Alabama sent out this statement today:

We are disappointed to hear about what happened. The University of Alabama will investigate this matter and gain all the facts and will deal with T.J in a manner that is appropiate.

Yeldon, who rushed for 1357 yards and 13 touchdowns last season, is a key piece to an Alabama offense with SEC Championship and National Championship aspirations. If Yeldon is suspended, it could hurt those chances greatly.

[TheOtherPotterGuy]

Cougars Offense a Disaster During Annual Crimson and Grey Spring Game

Pullman,WA-Fans eager to see new offensive coordinator Graham Harrell's offense were sorely disappointed.

"It was like watching two warring siblings out there", Long time fan Steve Greyson said referring to Coaches Leach and Harrell, "It was pathetic and I hope they get their act together before the season starts."

The game began peacefully enough. Harrell and Senior QB Connor Halliday led a 6 play, 74 yard drive down field to the defense's 10 yard line. Halliday was 4-4 for 48 yards and running backs Marcus Mason and Teondray Caldwell combined for 26 yards on the ground. Then on the next play, Halliday rolled out on a play action and threw the ball into the end zone where it was intercepted by senior CB Tracy Clark. "It was a great play by Clark," Halliday said. "He read the play perfectly and snatched the ball away." Coach Leach however thought it was inexcusable.

On the next offensive series, Harrell would call out a play which would be overruled by Leach. "This is Graham's first time ever being in charge of play calling duties," said Leach talking to reporters on the way to the locker room, "There is going to be some growing pains and some mistakes and that is why I'am here."

The problem is the plays Leach was calling were from his playbook which confused the players leading to 4 more interceptions, 2 fumbles and 98 yards of total offense. "Right now Coach Leach is proving to his critics that he had no intention of giving up his offensive duties after he was pressured into making a change after a sub par season," said PAC 12 analyst Cameron Thompson, "By doing so, he is not only hurting Harrell, but he will hurt his team in the process."

The beginning of the season is still several months away, but for the WSU Cougars if things dont change soon, its going to be a long year.

[TheOtherPotterGuy]

March 28th, 2014

What a disaster. I knew I was on a short leash, but holy cow I did not expect Coach Leach to just take over like that. Even worse he was calling plays from his playbook which just confused the entire offense. The media is loving this. We have been ESPN's top story for a couple of weeks now and its not good publicity. After the game I talked for Coach Leach for several hours. He finally backed off a little bit and is letting me do my thing but I know now that I am under the microscope.

I gathered the entire offense together to let them know that this was just an anomaly and that I will continue calling plays and we will be using my playbook. I am not sure if they believe me but they are feeling the pressure to succeed as well. Afterwards, the QB's Connor and Austin pulled me aside and told me that they were playing for me and that they will follow everything I said. That was really reassuring because Connor has grown to be the leader of this team and with his support, hopefully this team can come together and play like a champion.

[TheOtherPotterGuy]

Around The League: Preseason (May 2014)

Top Story

Alabama Suspends Running Back T.J Yeldon indefinitely

In a move that many saw coming, Alabama has suspended Junior Running Back T.J Yeldon for the 2014 season indefinitely. This is a huge blow to an Alabama team looking to contend this year. Yeldon was arrested a couple months ago for possession of marijuana. While he did not go to jail, Yeldon still had to pay an undisclosed fine. "Its very disappointing, " said Yeldon and a statement released through his lawyer, "I made a stupid mistake and now I am paying the consequences. The University of Alabama had no choice and I respect that. All I can do now is stay in shape, support the team and hope I can come back soon." The University of Alabama had no comment.

Johnny Manzial goes Number One to Oakland

Johnny "Football" is heading to the black hole! After months of speculation, the Oakland Raiders surprised no one with their selection of Texas A&M QB Johnny Manzial with the number one pick. "I am very excited to be an Oakland Raider," Manzial told Deion Sanders after he was picked, "Its a dream of every kid to be drafted into the NFL and to go number one is an honor. Now its time to get that money and bring a super bowl to Oakland!"

The first round saw a total of 11 QB's go off the board. "Its a pass happy league," said NFL Draft expert Mike Mayock, "Every team is looking for that franchise QB who will lead your team to the championship." Round one also had some interesting trades. The Cincinnati Bengals traded back into the first round to take Michigan Tackle Taylor Lewan at number 30 after taking Miami QB Stephen Morris at number 8. The Miami Dolphins improved their offense immensely with the selection of Louisville QB Teddy Bridgewater at number 2 and Oregon State WR Brandin Cooks at number 28. South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney slipped to the Baltimore Ravens at number 16. Here is all the picks of the first round last night:

NFL Draft - Round 1 Recap
Pick	Team	Player	Pos	Ht	Wt
1	Oakland Raiders	Johnny Manzial (Texas A&M)	QB	6'0	207
2	Miami Dolphins	Teddy Bridgewater (Louisville)	QB	6'2	214
3	New York Giants	Eric Ebron (North Carolina)	TE	6'4	250
4	Pittsburgh Steelers	Joel Bitonio (Nevada)	T	6'4	302
5	St.Louis Rams	Marcus Mariota (Oregon)	QB	6'4	220
6	Carolina Panthers	Vinnie Sunseri (Alabama)	SS	5'11	210
7	Arizona Cardinals	Zach Mettenberger (LSU)	QB	6'5	224
8	Cincinnati Bengals	Stephen Morris (Miami)	QB	6'2	213
9	New York Jets	Anthony Barr (UCLA)	OLB	6'5	255
10	San Diego Chargers	Justin Gilbert (OK State)	CB	6'0	202
11	Houston Texans	Tajh Boyd (Clemson)	QB	6'1	222
12	Indianapolis Colts	Jason Verrett (TCU)	CB	5'9	189
13	St.Louis Rams	Aaron Donald (Pitt)	DT	6'1	285
14	Jacksonville Jaguars	Kevin Pierre-Louis (Boston College)	OLB	6'0	232
15	San Francisco 49ers	Lamarcus Joyner (Florida State)	CB	5'8	184
16	Baltimore Ravens	Jadeveon Clowney (South Carolina)	DE	6'5	274
17	Kansas City Chiefs	Marqise Lee (USC)	WR	6'0	192
18	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Dee Ford (Auburn)	DE	6'2	251
19	Detriot Lions	Kelvin Benjamin (Florida State)	WR	6'5	240
20	Dallas Cowboys	Louis Nix lll (Notre Dame)	DT	6'2	331
21	Cleveland Browns	Logan Thomas (Virginia Tech)	QB	6'6	248
22	Detroit Lions	Ryan Shazier (Ohio State)	OLB	6'1	237
23	Denver Broncos	Keith Price (Washington)	QB	6'1	202
24	Philadelphia Eagles	Derek Carr (Fresno State)	QB	6'2	214
25	Chicago Bears	Demarcus Lawrence (Boise State)	DE	6'3	251
26	Buffalo Bills	Ka'Deem Carey (Arizona)	HB	5'9	207
27	Green Bay Packers	Nick O'Leary (Florida State)	TE	6'3	238
28	Miami Dolphins	Brandin Cooks (OR State)	WR	5'10	189
29	Tennessee Titans	A.J McCarron (Alabama)	QB	6'3	220
30	Cincinnati Bengals	Taylor Lewan (Michigan)	T	6'7	309
31	New England Patriots	Brendon Kay (Cincinnati)	QB	6'4	233
32	Atlanta Falcons	Tre Mason (Auburn)	HB	5'8	207

[TheOtherPotterGuy]

Season Preview
Can Oregon repeat as Conference Champs?

Oregon is attempting to repeat as conference champs without their 2013 All American QB Marcus Mariota who went to the NFL. Oregon will start Sophomore Jake Rodrigues who will play his first ever college game against Wyoming. Rodrigues will need help from All American running back Byron Marshall and Junior wide receiver Bralon Addison to make it back to the championship game. To make it back, they will have to go through several PAC 12 powerhouse teams who have lost QB's to the NFL. Washington lost Keith Price and will start Sophomore Jeff Lindquist, and UCLA lost Brett Hundley and will start Sophomore Jerry Neuheisel.

PAC 12 Championship game moved to Hawaii

PAC 12 commissioner Larry Scott announced today that the PAC 12 championship game will be played in Hawaii this season. "This is a wonderful opportunity for us," said Scott, "Not only will players and coaches enjoy going to a beautiful location to play a championship game, but it will be a good chance to extend our influence to our brothers and sisters on the big island." There had been rumors that the PAC 12 was seriously considering admitting Hawaii to the conference. Depending on the outcome of this upcoming season, some believe that the PAC 12 will swap Colorado for Hawaii.

Here is a look at the PAC 12 preseason predictions:

1. #5 Oregon
2. #6 Washington
3. #7 USC
4. #15 Arizona State
5. Stanford
6. UCLA
7. Utah
8. Oregon State
9. Arizona
10. Washington State
11. California
12. Colorado

[TheOtherPotterGuy]

Cougar Fans Not Expecting Much This Season

Pullman,WA- It's a tale of two very different seasons.

Last year, Cougar fans and players had high hopes and were optimistic about the coming season. After starting the season 0-2, those hopes vanished. This year, Cougar fans are anxious and nervous for this new season after a very public rift between offensive coordinator Graham Harrell and head coach Mike Leach during the spring game and another rough schedule with three road games at Idaho, BYU, and UCLA during the month of September. "All y'all guys worry to dang much," said Coach Leach after a practice, "I believe in these kids, I know they will play well and I believe Graham is on the right track with them." When asked if Leach would take control of the offense if Harrell struggles, Leach deflected the question, "We like to keep it interesting, cant have our opponents know our game plan now can we?"

After boasting that his team can go to Auburn and Los Angeles and beat USC and the Tigers on the road last year, Leach has been noticeably quieter this time around. With Washington State sitting near the bottom of the polls and with Leach possibly on the hot seat, there is not a lot to boast about.

Offensive Coordinator Graham Harrell the subject of intense scrutiny during the preseason had nothing but praise for his offense. "I expect great things from this offense," He said, "Halliday has embraced his role as the leader of this team and I see this offense being able to contend with the powerhouses of this conference and possibly this country."

With an offense that scored an average of 20 points a game last season and ranked near the bottom in passing yards and rushing yards, some are skeptical that any improvement will happen.

On the other side of the ball, the defense is once again coming into the season as one of the worst on paper. "Whats on paper and what happens in real life are two completely different things," said defensive coordinator Mike Brenske, "These kids are capable of big things and if they work together we can win games."

Right now the coaches are only telling the fans what they want to hear. With the public rift between Harrell and Leach and with a demanding schedule, there are few signs of hope for this team. The Cougars will open up the 2014 season on August 30th, with a home game against Wisconsin.

Here is a look at the WSU Cougars 2014 schedule:

Washington State University Cougars 2014 Schedule
DATE	OPPONENT	RESULT
Aug 30	vs Wisconsin Badgers
Sep 6	at Idaho Vandals
Sep 13	at BYU Cougars
Sep 20	at UCLA Bruins
Sep 27	vs Colorado Buffalos
Oct 4	at Stanford Cardinal
Oct 18	vs California Golden Bears
Oct 25	vs Arizona Wildcats
Nov 1	at Arizona State Sun Devils
Nov 15	at Oregon Ducks
Nov 22	vs Oregon State Beavers
Nov 29	vs Washington Huskies

Here is your 2014 Washington State University Cougars starters. Six true freshman will play this season, TE Cameron Broussard, FB Victor Jackson, T Ben Randall, CB Chad Perry, K Jeremy Davis, and P James Neal:

Washington State University Cougars Depth Chart - 2014
Regular Offense
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
WR	Gabe Marks (88)	Dom Williams (85)
TE	Kristoff Williams (84)	Cameron Broussard (64)
LT	Gunnar Eklund (84)	Pierson Villarrubia (80)
LG	Joe Dahl (85)
C	Denzell Dotson (75)	Carlos Freeman (74)
RG	Cole Madison (81)
RT	Ben Randall (77)
WR	Rickey Galvin (88)	Bobby Ratliff (85)
QB	Connor Halliday (96)	Austin Apodaca (75)	Tyler Bruggman (75)
FB	Victor Jackson (75)
HB	Marcus Mason (83)	Teondray Caldwell (82)	Jeremiah Laufasa (80)
Base 4-3 Defense
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
LDE	Xavier Cooper (86)	Robert Barber (78)
LDT	Kalafitoni Pole (86)	Daniel Ekuale (74)
RDT	Moritz Christ (82)
RDE	Destiny Vaeao (83)	Darryl Paulo (78)
WLB	Kache Palacio (78)	Ivan Mclennan (77)
MLB	Darryl Monroe (85)	Chester Su'a (77)
SLB	Cyrus Coen (83)	Jeremiah Allison (77)
CB	Tracy Clark (79)	Alex Jackson (75)
SS	David Buchannon (80)
FS	Taylor Taliulu (82)
CB	Daquawn Brown (79)	Chad Perry (69)
Special Teams
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
K	Jeremy Davis (72)
P	James Neal (62)

[TheOtherPotterGuy]

August 21st, 2014

Thank goodness opening day is just around the corner. There is nothing worse then sitting around waiting for game day while the media rips you and your team apart. Coach Leach has stuck to his word and is not over ruling me in practice. The kids look great. Halliday has really stepped it up this season. The Halliday to Galvin connection was good last year but I expect it to be amazing this year. My dark horse MVP for the offense this year though has to be Tight End Kristoff Williams. I know Tight Ends are not usually a big part of an offense but this kid has been special this preseason. He has great speed, good hands, and great route running abilities. He still struggles in the blocking game but he has really improved.

Like last year, this year I am in charge of recruiting on the offensive side while Mike Brenske is in charge of the defensive side. Our offense this season is very young so there is not a whole lot of needs but with Halliday being a senior, QB becomes a priority this year on the recruiting trail. There is not a lot of QB's that pop out at first glance. Right now I just have Antwan Turner from Downey, CA on my board. He has good arm strength but struggles with reading coverages and accuracy. I also have another tight end, Patrick Lee from Lafayette, IN. He has great speed and hands but struggles with route running and blocking. My "gem" of the board is Center Rasheed Scott from Stanford, CA. He is the number one center in the class and he has great run and pass blocking skills. I plan on visiting him after the Wisconsin game.

Home life has been stressful here lately. My fiance is trying her best to plan this wedding but its hard for her when she is away from all our family and friends back in Texas and with me working all the time. Its also been hard for her to here my name being scrutinized in the media constantly. I was thinking about possibly suggesting she go live in Texas this season. Maybe things will be easier for her there.

[TheOtherPotterGuy]

Around The League: 2014 Season Preview

Top Story

Auburn Looking to Repeat as National Champs

Heisman Hopeful QB Nick Marshall and his Auburn Tigers are looking to repeat as SEC and National Champions this season. Second year Head Coach Gene Malzahn are optimistic as Auburn will return a good majority of their players this year. With rival Alabama dealing with the suspension of their star running back, there doesnt seem to be many teams that can stop this excellent Auburn team.

ESPN's Behind The Helmet Series Picks New Candidate

ESPN has announced today that the player they will feature in their season long segment will be Utah State QB Chuckie Keeton. Keeton is coming of an excellent 2013 season where he threw for 2941 yards and 32 touchdowns. "Keeton is a great story," said host Rob Lawrence, "His playing style is reminiscent of Johnny Manzial and he has a great background story. Viewers are going to love him this season." It is surprising that ESPN will feature a player on a team few people know about instead of someone like Braxton Miller at Ohio State, or Nick Marshall at Auburn. However, Keeton is a good underdog story and it will make for great television.

Conference Realignment Rumors Gain Steam

The rumors that the NCAA is looking at total conference realignment gained some credence today with the announcement that all the conference commissioners will meet with President Mark Emmert today. "It is a meeting to discuss scheduling rivalries and finances, nothing more." said an adviser for Emmert. However, fans and other experts are speculating that the NCAA will entertain the idea of realignment with the rumor that the PAC 12 is looking to add Hawaii and the Big 10 Notre Dame. It remains to be seen whether any changes will occur but for right now the NCAA is doing their best to dispel any and all rumors.

Heisman Watch

For the second year in a row, QB's dominate the Heisman Watch during the preseason. Newcomers Trevone Boykin from TCU, and Chuckie Keeton from Utah State are hoping to lead their teams to a championship. Michigan State running back Jeremy Langford is the only back on the list.

Heisman Watch - Updated: Aug 27, 2014
NAME	POS	SCHOOL		SEASON STATS
Trevone Boykin	QB	TCU
Chuckie Keeton	QB	Utah State
Jeremy Langford	HB	Michigan State
Braxton Miller	QB	Ohio State
Nick Marshall	QB	Auburn