PULLMAN – Since they began working together in the early days of 2023, Washington States Edges coach Frank Maile and defensive tackles coach Pete Kaligis have been careful to align their training styles.
They understand how similar their position groups are, and therefore there are a lot of similarities in the way they train their players: block destruction, mentality, everything.
“There’s no decline in terms of the knowledge and technique we teach here,” Maile said. “It just allows us to have more guys that we can move inside and outside to cause problems for the O-line.”
That approach has never played such a prominent role in the Cougars’ defensive strategy. Before WSU’s season opener against FCS Portland State on Saturday, the Cougars’ initial roster contains 24 “ORs,” meaning the coaches are still deciding on the starters at that position and still playing out those position battles on the field – and six of those come from the edge position alone.
Players in that room include Syrus Webster, who transferred from Utah Tech, Isaac Terrell, veterans Quinn Roff and Raam Stevenson, and seniors Nusi Malani and Andrew Edson, the last two of whom are a testament to Mailes and Kaligis’ approach. Malani, a longtime defensive tackle, moved to the edge position last season. Edson, who was an edge for the first three years of his WSU career, is expected to move to the defensive tackle position for about 10-15 snaps per game.
It speaks to a larger trend within the Cougs’ team as a whole. Not since the late Mike Leach was boss has WSU added this many “ORs” to the depth chart, and in the eyes of the Cougs’ current coaches, it’s an indication of depth the team hasn’t had in some time.
“I think that’s the state of our football team,” WSU coach Jake Dickert said. “I’ve been saying it all season that we have more competitive depth than we’ve ever had, and I think that’s a positive thing. But we also have the least confident guys who have been able to pull it off when the lights come on. So I think that’s a little bit of a product of that.”
That’s especially true of the Cougars’ fringe. Even their most experienced players, seniors Edson and Roff, have served as backups for the past three years. That was largely because of who was in front of them — good luck trying to fight for playing time against Brennan Jackson and Ron Stone Jr. — but it gives a glimpse into the inexperience in the room.
Last season, Edson had 32 snaps, many of them in a lopsided loss to Arizona. Malani had a high snap count, but this is his first season playing edge. Roff was off the roster last year due to injury and only played six games. Webster is playing FBS football for the first time, Terrell never played more than 7 snaps against FBS opponents last year, and although Stevenson had over 20 snaps in four games, he will be asked to play a lot more now.
In this regard, the Cougars are not only strong but also inexperienced in terms of snap count, but they have a little more to offer in terms of years of experience.
The last time WSU played Portland State was in 2021, a 44-24 win for the Cougars. If you watch the video of that game, you might notice a few faces. Both Edson and Roff, then-complete freshmen, came in from the outside and made their college debuts. Three years later, Roff has used that to his advantage.
“That’s what he brings,” Maile said. “He brings a lot of experience and knowledge that a lot of these guys benefit from because he’s been in the fight for a long time. We actually watched the game and he and Eddie have both been on film since their freshman year, so it’s refreshing to have those guys there.”
“I think we had a great week of preparation and some things still need to be revealed,” Dickert added, “but these guys deserve to be there and I’m proud of the competitive nature of this football team.”
