The River Clyde flows strong in Pullman, too. 

Just as the body of water is important in Scotland, so too is the freshman player with the same name here on the WSU Cougar football team. 

River Clyde Cracraft has immediately made an impact for the Cougars, earning a starting role soon after he arrived. He said he is trying to follow after his father and brother in their mindset of attacking everything whole-heartedly.

“My dad and my brother are huge role models to me,” Cracraft said. “Just the way they go about life, the way they attack everything is a little inspiring to me.”

Head Coach Mike Leach noticed right away that Cracraft gives his maximum effort in everything he does. 

“He just quietly went fast and went hard every single play,” Leach said. “If you get guys who will go hard every play and not slow themselves down, typically because of anxiety, sometimes because they loaf, then they get a level of consistency and they can build and develop their skills, which he did.”

Leach said Cracraft reminds him of Danny Amendola, who is now an NFL wide receiver. While Cracraft isn’t perfect, if a play is written on the board, he will do exactly what the board says at full speed. 

“With guys like that, you’ve got to make sure how you draw the lines on the board because they’ll duplicate it exactly,” he said.

Cracraft bought into Leach’s system and came to WSU because of the direction the program was going. 

 “I came here because I knew we were on the rise. I knew Coach Leach was going to do something with this program,” Cracraft said. “I wouldn’t say there are much challenges as just attacking every day. I know we are going to bring this program around.”

The players already on the roster made Cracraft feel at home when he visited and displayed a desire for wanting to change the program instead of accepting losses, he said.

The freshman was a standout at Santa Margarita High School in California and earned spots on the leaderboards in multiple categories. Cracraft finished high school second in career receptions and third in career receiving yards. 

However, records don’t mean much to Cracraft. Instead, he said he cares more for helping his team win rather than getting to the top of the record book. 

 “It’s not a strong desire of mine,” he said. “I want to win some games and bring this team up. Personally, I don’t really care for records or anything.”

Leach said Cracraft didn’t let himself get distracted by the elements of college. Rather, he came to play right away and was not afraid to compete. 

Cracraft is also passionate about baseball, which he played in high school. His dad also played baseball at Taft Junior College.

Cracraft ran track for a year as well.

The wide receiver said during his sophomore year of high school he set a goal for himself that he would play Division-I football, and he focused all his time on achieving this.

Ever since, Cracraft has not let anything distract him or move him off the path that he follows at full speed. If his impact on the program as a freshman is any indication, the river will flow even stronger by the time Cracraft finishes his career with the Cougars.