PULLMAN – As Washington State angles toward fall camp, beginning on Wednesday morning and ushering in the Jimmy Rogers era, the new head coach finds himself empathizing with one veteran wide receiver.
Josh Meredith, a San Diego native, is headed into his fifth season of college football. He’s meeting his third new coaching staff, all at WSU. He established something resembling a consistent role last season, averaging a few catches per game, but he has yet to break out. More often during the past four years , he’s found himself several rungs down the pecking order at wideout.
“To hear it one more time, a different regime talk about what they think is important, after a while, I think that gets hard for a player,” Rogers said on a Zoom news conference Tuesday afternoon, “especially when it’s your senior year. (Meredith) stayed here for a reason, and we’re trying to deliver our best to him to make sure that it was worth it.”
Rogers took care to point out that Meredith looks noticeably faster than he did in the spring – “and I think he feels faster,” Rogers added – but the truth is Meredith will have to earn his playing time. The same goes for players at nearly every position group, underscoring the importance for Rogers and the rest of the Cougars’ coaching staff to integrate 74 newcomers over the next two weeks, all in preparation for WSU’s season-opener at home against FCS Idaho on Aug. 30.
WSU’s first three days of fall camp will be split into two-a-days, with one practice set for 9 a.m. and the next for 2:20 p.m. After that, the Cougs will practice at 10 a.m. Monday through Friday, with the exception of Aug. 13, which will feature an earlier practice to make room for media day interviews and photographs in the afternoon.
Thanks to NCAA rules, WSU will conduct helmets-only practices for the first two days of fall camp, adding shoulder pads on the third day. The Cougars’ first practice in full pads is set for Monday. The academic year starts on Aug. 18, which is when the team will turn its focus to Idaho and begin regular-season practices.
“‘I’m excited about the start of fall camp,” Rogers said. “It’s been a great summer so far. Our guys got bigger, faster and stronger and became closer as a whole football team. It was much needed, especially with the transfers that we brought in at the spring. Overall, these last seven, eight months has been a sprint, for sure, and today is check-in for fall camp. Really excited to get to work with these guys.”
Perhaps top of mind around the program is the starting quarterback situation. The front-runner is incumbent senior Zevi Eckhaus, who started WSU’s Holiday Bowl loss to Syracuse last winter, but he will have competition. In the spring, the Cougars landed commitments from transfer QBs Julian Dugger (Pitt) and Ajani Sheppard (Rutgers). They also return third-year sophomore Jaxon Potter, who has impressed Rogers and offensive coordinator/QB coach Danny Freund, leading the two coaches to consider all four for starting duties this season.
To Rogers, this is where the importance of split practices comes in. While one half of the team is lifting or studying film, the other will be on the practice field, giving quarterbacks chances to work with their own units. Rogers did not say which quarterbacks will be working with which players, but because fall camp practices will be open to the media, those details will be reported in the days ahead.
“It gives quarterbacks an opportunity to lead and to have a voice of their own without another person there to where they feel like it’s combative,” Rogers said. “I think at the quarterback position, it’s really important to have a voice of one and people to believe in you.
“So there is gonna be a competition. They’re gonna get graded daily, and they’re gonna be pushed on things to improve on, and the best player will play, will be the starter. When I determine that, it’s up in the air. I gotta see how these guys progress before we claim anybody anything.”
In an interesting twist, Rogers added, “Could there be a role for multiple quarterbacks? We’ll address that if that’s the case.”
Rogers said there will be far more position battles than just quarterback. The Cougars will also host competitions at offensive line, where returners Brock Dieu and Christian Hilborn will anchor the unit, plus at defensive line, cornerback, wide receiver. They might be in good shape at linebacker – veteran returners Keith Brown and Parker McKenna will likely join South Dakota State transfer Caleb Francl at that spot – but they have holes to fill at other positions.
SDSU transfer running back Angel Johnson, who missed spring ball with an injury, is back healthy, Rogers confirmed.
The same goes for fellow running back Dylan Paine, who went down with a torn ACL early last season. The only injured players at the moment are SMU transfer defensive tackle Mike Sandjo, who is expected to miss a couple of weeks before returning for the team’s season opener, and freshman linebacker Jovan Clark, who will miss the first week of fall camp with a back injury, Rogers said.
As WSU prepares for the season, the roster stands at 117 players, a dozen over the new roster limits of 105 established by the House vs. NCAA settlement.
But one provision of the settlement allowed for the “grandfathering in” of returning players who don’t count against the roster limits, explaining why the Cougars can operate over the limits.
Some younger faces might get lost in that shuffle. Not freshman linebacker Sullivan Schlimgen and freshman cornerback Trillion Sorrell, Rogers said, indicating that if any freshmen enter the mix for snaps this fall, those two are the most likely.
