PULLMAN, Wash. —
Today was one of the final firsts for head coach Jake Dickert as he prepares to begin his first full season in charge of the Washington State football program.
It was the first day in which players wore full pads in practice at fall camp. This brought a heightened energy to the practice field and perhaps no one was more energized than the biggest kid on the field.
Coach Dickert was running all over the field today, hitting pads, playing defensive back and teaching wide receivers the art of tackling shoulder first.
"I want to show these guys I still got it, I love being out here period. I love being with the guys, you know? I can never just stand still. I was playing DB and (Zeriah) knocked me on my tail. That's bad footwork. I need to work on that. I want these guys to see me on both sides and see how much I'm invested in them," Dickert said.
Physicality was the key to today's practice and that message was expressed loudly and clearly from the top down.
"There's a mentality in full pads that makes it feel just a little bit more game like, a little bit more real," Dickert said.
The Cougs are attempting to establish an identity as a fast, physical team that creates turnovers, so the ability to fully suit up was a welcome change for players.
"We're trying to build a tough mentality in the program and the standard of getting physical and getting down when we have to," WSU linebacker Travion Brown said.
Today's story of practice was the wide receivers. This year's team is without Calvin Jackson Jr. and Travell Harris, but Coach Dickert has faith in this group, especially outside receivers Donovan Ollie and Dezhaun Stribling.
"We need those big boy receivers. There's no way in the Coug raid you can function without big time receivers, especially red zone threats on the outside. So, we are working towards that consistency, but it was good to see those guys do a better job today in the explosive pass game," Dickert said.
Ollie and Stribling are matched up with starting corners Chau Smith-Wade and Derrick Langford Jr. in practice and those matchups have been highly competitive and fun to watch thus far in camp.
"Iron sharpens iron, man. We are just going back and forth every single time and it just gets so competitive and we are just making each other better in the process. It's really good and I love going against them every single day," WSU wide receiver Dezhaun Stribling said.
Next up, the Cougs will have an intersquad scrimmage on Saturday morning at Martin Stadium. We will have continuing coverage of the conclusion of fall camp in the lead up to WSU's first game.
We sit just three weeks away from WSU's regular season opener. The Cougs welcome the Idaho Vandals to Martin Stadium on September 3rd. That game is scheduled to kickoff at 6:30 PM.
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