Cougs share first impressions of new Wazzu coach Jimmy Rogers (2025)

Apr. 17—PULLMAN — Hudson Cedarland was prepared to leave Pullman.

The day before Washington State's spring semester started, Cedarland had cleared out his locker.

He wanted to switch to tight end after spending the previous three seasons as a linebacker. Cedarland had not yet met Jimmy Rogers, the Cougars' new head football coach, but a phone conversation with the new staff had given him no such guarantees of joining the WSU offense.

With his chances of playing tight end at WSU dwindling on the eve of the new semester, Cedarland decided to venture up to the fifth floor of the Cougar Football Complex to make one more attempt at staying in Pullman.

"So I walked up there, saw coach Rogers, introduced myself to him. I said, 'I know we talked on the phone. You said tight end probably wasn't going to work for me here.' And he was like, 'Wait, hold on a second,'" Cedarland said. "(Tight ends) coach (Chris) Meyers came down the hallway from his office, looked at me and was just like, 'Hey man, what's your name?' I'm like, 'Hudson Cedarland.' They're like, 'Hey, man, welcome to the tight end room.'"

One decision to seek out a face-to-face conversation kept Cedarland, a Gig Harbor, Wash., native, in his home state.

Cedarland became one of 13 Cougs to withdraw his name from the transfer portal in January and return to WSU and one of 60 players to remain with the team through the coaching change, about 20 of whom logged significant playing time on last year's roster.

At least 13 Cougs have entered the spring transfer portal as of Wednesday according to announcements on their personal social media accounts and reports. In total, 52 players have entered the portal in the fall and the spring combined according to 247sports.com.

However, for the Cougs who played for former coach Jake Dickert and elected to stay and carve out a role on Rogers' 2025 squad, the new WSU headman provides a new opportunity.

"Rogers — he's a great leader. I love that," Cedarland said. "He's all business. We're here to play football. There's not a lot of flashy stuff, and I really respect him for that. He's going to tell you straight up how it is."

A call from coach

WSU walk-on defensive tackle Bryson Lamb played in all 13 games last season but he never got a call from his head coach.

That changed days into Rogers' tenure when Lamb had entered the portal.

"Having a head coach actually call my phone for the first time ever being in college really speaks a lot of volume for the person that he is, and it made the decision pretty easy," Lamb said. "After meeting (Rogers) and having about four months with him, I know I made the right decision."

Lamb said that Rogers, defensive line coach Jalon Bibbs and the other members of the new staff have taken the time to get to know the players. As a walk-on, Lamb said he never experienced the courting accustomed with recruiting.

The Sunday before the spring semester, Rogers and his staff took the team out to Zeppoz bowling alley in Pullman. For a lot of Cougs — including Lamb — it was their first impression of the new staff.

"I've never had so many coaches come up to me and shake my hand," Lamb said. "It's so joyful and it's refreshing because these are human beings but they're coaches at a high level. So you expect so much out of them and they expect so much out of you. I just really appreciate their genuineness and it makes me want to be the best football player I can for them."

Lamb, entering his fourth year on the Palouse, saw the field in all 13 games last season, made 18 tackles and recovered a fumble after playing a reserve role in 2023 and redshirting in 2022.

The 6-foot-2, 301-pound defensive tackle figures to play a larger role in the Cougars' defensive line next season, with Rogers' scheme featuring frequent rotation in the trenches.

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Leaders along the offensive line

While the WSU roster underwent significant turnover, offensive linemen Christian Hilborn and Brock Dieu are two stalwarts who stayed.

"I genuinely love every single one of these guys," Hilborn said of his teammates. " I felt like it would have been a disservice to leave. I didn't really want to leave in the first place."

After playing right tackle and left guard, Hilborn has settled in as the Cougars' starting right tackle. Dieu played most of his snaps at right guard last season but has slid over to center full time.

Rogers praised the pair for their leadership.

"They've been huge for us as coaches," Rogers said."Just guys to lean on that are cornerstone players here in the program that have been here the entire time, want to stay here and want to end their career as a Coug."

Rogers said that Hilborn is comfortable giving his teammates feedback — both encouragement and criticism.

"It all starts from having a genuine connection with your teammates. You have to spend time in building those relationships," Hilborn said. "Since I have put in that time to do that, a lot of guys respect what I have to say."

Rogers and his staff made the decision to stay an easy one for Hilborn, Lamb and a slew of other players — and that impression has lasted through the spring.

"The coaching staff, man, there's something different about it," Hilborn said. "There genuinely is something different about these guys. I really, really, really enjoy these guys."

Other impressions

Some Cougs were attracted by Rogers' winning resume as a back-to-back FCS national champion in 2022 and 2023. Others appreciated Rogers' no-nonsense approach to football, faster-paced practices or general "edge."

"He has a little edge to him, which I like," linebacker Keith Brown said. "He obviously knows how to win, knows what it takes to win. And then tells us the blueprint and the path of how to do that too."

Cougars lose more players to portal

With Rogers bringing 16 South Dakota State transfers and signing other players, the first-year coach said that he expected some guys to hit the spring transfer portal, which opened Wednesday.

WSU lost offensive lineman Zack Miller, freshman safety Aiden Knapke, a three-star early enrollee, and running backs Djouvensky Schlenbaker and Josh Joyner among others.

First 2026 High school commit

WSU on Wednesday also secured its first high school commit of the 2026 season in offensive lineman Kingston Fotualii, a 6-foot-3-inch, 290-pound 3A state champion out of O'Dea High School in Seattle.

Taylor can be reached at 208-848-2268, staylor@lmtribune.com, or on X or Instagram @Sam_C_Taylor.