Plan "B" In State Cougar Class

When it is all said and done the Cougars will end up with the tenth rated recruiting class in the Pac Ten. Even when the Cougars are recruiting well by their standards the sum total of their recruits usually rank near the bottom of the conference. Using that unlikely formula for success the Cougars went to two Rose Bowls under Mike Price and won ten or more games three years in a row earlier this decade. I'm not saying they are on the verge of doing that again, but I do like the in state recruits they have picked up so far.

Paul Wulff got a late start after being hired to replace Bill Doba, but he is taking advantage of premium recruiting year in state to pick up some of the kids that Washington didn't offer. These kids may not be the top kids in the state right now, but four to five years from now Husky fans just may be saying what if.

QB Calvin Schmidtke from Lakes fits this profile. Cal's family are big UW fans, but they will switching allegiance for at least the next five years while Calvin competes for the starting QB job. Cal reminds some people a little bit of Jason Gesser a kid UW passed on that they later regretted not offering. In camps and combines this past season Cal was ranked as the best QB in the state. His height seems to be the only thing holding him back. He didn't have a great state championship game going up against Eastlake's phenom Jake Heaps, but he is a guy that will jold his own.

DE Dan Spitz is another kid who Washington ran out of room for who has a lot of potential to wreak havoc on Saturdays. Spitz has nice size and speed and the Cougars did well picking up this sleeper from Spokane.

TE Skyler Stormo probably has the greatest name in Washington high school football this year. With room for maybe only Middleton at TE UW let this talented kid slide to the Cougars.

TE Andre Lintz from Bellingham is another TE who has good measurables who will sign with the Cougars. Lintz has very good speed. (Chris Ames the son of Meridian head coach Ed ames was kind enough to send us a link with Andre's statistics.)

WR Jared Karstetter is the Cougars top in state recruit at this point. He has great size, decent speed, and is definitely a Pac Ten player.

The Cougars also have a half decent chance with Washington "Soft" Verbal OLB/WR Cory MacKay, and reportedly are still still sniffing around Prosser WR Cody Bruns. Convincing those two to attend WSU is unlikely, but you can't blame Wulf for trying. The bulk of the Cougar class will come from California with a few surprises as usual mixed in from such as exotic places as Texas.

Wulff will have a tough job filling up his class over the next month just as any new coach does, but he will be laying groundwork for the future at the same time.