After a week off, Cougar Calls with Bill Moos returned yesterday morning. The WSU athletic director spoke with radio host Bud Nameck and football analyst Jason Gesser about the current sports landscape at Washington State University.

Spring football update

Spring football practices continue as the spring game fast approaches. Defensive coordinator Alex Grinch spoke about how important these practices are for the defense to improve.

“I think it’s an exciting time,” he said. “Each and every day, though we’re getting better, there is a learning curve.”

Grinch’s defensive philosophy is to cause turnovers. It’s all about encouraging his players to get their hands on the ball, and tipped passes or trying to strip the football from an opposing runner could lead to more turnovers.

“The goal is to get the ball back to the offense,” Grinch said.

An important thing to remember is that all five starting offensive lineman are returning next season, and they’re backed up by five players who could be starters, too. Moos said this is key for keeping Falk upright and giving him enough time to go through his reads. It also gives Head Coach Mike Leach more options in the event that one of his offensive linemen gets injured.

Having matched up against the offense all spring, Grinch agrees that opposing defenses will have their hands full with the Cougar offense next season. As for his defense, they’ve been able to hold their own against the high-flying attack so far.

“Every time I watch the defensive side of the ball, I see tremendous energy and enthusiasm,” Moos said.

Since Grinch has arrived in Pullman, he has been impressed with WSU’s facilities, saying that they can compete with some schools from the SEC, like Georgia, Tennessee, and Missouri. But he’s not as concerned about how the Cougars perform now so much as when the lights are turned on and the competition is for real.

“We don’t want to feel good in April, we want to feel good in the fall,” Grinch said.

New coach for women’s soccer

Brand new women’s soccer coach Todd Shulenberger is coming to Pullman, and he’s looking to join the Cougars in their quest for the postseason.

The former skipper for the Texas Tech Red Raiders, Shulenberger said he’s excited about coming to WSU to work with the women’s soccer team.

“I think with this group, they’re good, they’re organized,” Shulenberger said. “This is a winning team, and this is a great academic school.”

As for the Cougars, they’re hoping that Shulenberber can provide some much-needed stability to the program, after going through four coaches in the last five years. Shulenberber may be the right fit for the Cougs as he talked about settling down for the long haul.

“This is a great college town, and I’ve got a young family,” Shulenberger said. “This seems like a fantastic place to raise a family.”

The new coach stated that he wants to win with offense. According to Shulenberger, while you do have to play well defensively, you win games by scoring goals.

“I think he’s a tremendous addition to our coaching staff, and I by that I mean all our head coaches,” Moos said. “Our future continues to be very bright in women’s soccer at Washington State.”

Extra points

With their second straight series victory over a Pac-12 opponent, Moos and Nameck both think that the Cougar baseball team could be considered for postseason play if they finish strong. After Saturday’s 5-2 loss to the Huskies, WSU is now 5-10 in Pac-12 play.

Pullman will be the site for the Pac-12 men’s golf tournament starting Monday, April 27. The plan is to broadcast Cougar Calls with Bill Moos live from the Palouse Ridge golf course during the event.