WSU’s Doba having the time of his life

Published 9:00 pm Friday, November 14, 2003

Football coaches get mail.

They get laudatory mail when they win.

They get critical mail when they lose.

And sometimes, they get both – win or lose.

They hear from the alums. The non-alums. The students.

Gutty call when you went for it on fourth-and-one.

Stupid call when you went for it on fourth-and-one.

Why don’t you pass more?

You pass too much.

Why don’t you run more?

You run too much.

Bill Doba has heard from them all in his first year as head football coach of the Washington State Cougars.

He keeps a file of the “nice letters and the hate letters.” And he even answers some of the latter.

Three weeks ago, he heard from a disgruntled fan – this after WSU beat Oregon State, 36-30.

It seems as though this fellow was unhappy that, with three seconds remaining, Doba called for a safety as the clock ticked down to zero.

Smart call? Absolutely.

Popular call? Not entirely.

The betting line had Washington State winning by eight points. The e-mail was terse.

Tell that idiot coach some fans bet on the games. I hope you choke on your (bleep) and never win another game.

Doba laughed heartily as he told that story on the phone the other day.

You can laugh at about anything when you’re having the kind of year he’s having.

His team is ranked No. 8 in the country, leads the Pac-10, and still has a shot at a BCS game and a third straight 10-victory season heading into a meeting with Arizona State this afternoon at Martin Stadium.

Life couldn’t be much better for the 63-year-old Indiana native.

“Yeah, I’m having a good time,” he said. “It was quite a bit different at first to give up coaching the linebackers and the defense, to go from having that little group of guys to having 120 guys. I’m kind of a glorified cheerleader and a surrogate father. You discipline kids and you pat them on the back a lot.”

While he knew faces and names before, he didn’t really know all the players that well. Now he tries to talk with a couple every day. “Especially the younger kids,” he said, “how’re the grades? How’s your mom and dad?”

I don’t know Doba that well, having had just a few conversations with him over the years, but he seems to be a friendly and sincere man. The sort of guy who’d shut down his lawn mower to go over and talk with his next-door neighbor.

And he does still mow his lawn, though “not as much as I used to.” He has a kid come in and help him.

Coaches sometimes change when they become the head man, for whatever reason. Doba said he likes who he is and doesn’t want to change.

“I’m trying to stay the same guy I am,” said the man whose last head coaching job was at Mishawaka (Ind.) High School from 1971-76. “If you think about other people’s feelings before you speak, it helps keep things in perspective. I don’t always do that, especially on game day, but that doesn’t count.”

He doesn’t get to do as much hands-on coaching as he used to when he was the defensive coordinator, but jokingly said linebackers coach Leon Burtnett lets him work with his kids, but for no more than about “five minutes every two weeks so I don’t mess them up.”

The guy who ran the Cougs’ defense the previous nine years now finds himself spending more time watching the offense so he can learn the terminology. If you injected truth serum in him, though, you’d probably find that his heart still belongs to the defense, which has played superbly.

“I thought after spring ball we’d be pretty good defensively,” he said. “I thought the offensive line had to come together and it has. I never really had a concern about (quarterback) Matt Kegel. I know the media and a lot of fans did, but coach (Timm) Rosenbach has done a great job with him.”

One of the biggest changes involved in stepping up from assistant coach to head coach is time spent dealing with the media.

It’s an everyday thing, though not quite as intense in Pullman as it is in Seattle.

“Bill professed to be very nervous about it, but he’s done a bang-up job,” said Rod Commons, the WSU sports information director.

Many years ago, Doba served on the staff at Indiana, and head coach Lee Corso passed along a maxim that Doba uses in his new role: The head coach is responsible for nothing and accountable for everything.

“If I’ve got a reporter asking why this play won’t work, I don’t want to lie to the press but I don’t want to criticize a coach or player, either,” he said. “So if we’re not blocking well in the offensive line, it’s my fault.”

Every coach has a favorite line and Doba is no exception. His is, “I could tell you that, but if I did, I’d have to kill you.”

Besides being the team spokesman, he also has the final say on who the Cougs recruit, no simple task.

He deals with such questions as, “do we offer this kid (a scholarship) now or wait until we get something better? Are we offering too many (scholarships) or are we going to run out?”

Then there’s the unease of never knowing if a kid is going to sign a letter of intent after verbally committing to your program.

Doba has learned a few lessons about the recruiting game in his 26 years of college coaching.

“If you don’t high-pressure a kid and he calls and says he wants to be a Cougar, 99 percent of those kids will honor their commitment,” he said. “If you put pressure on them and they (verbally) commit to you, there’s a greater chance of losing that kid when Mr. Right, a Michigan or an Oklahoma, comes along.”

Doba, it seems to me, would be a terrific recruiter just because he’s so likable and real.

Commons recalled stopping by the coach’s office before a recent game to say “hi.”

“Come on in here and sit down,” Doba said. “How’re you doin’?”

“That’s the first thing he always asks,” Commons said. “How’re you doin’?”

Doba had put together a video of questionable officiating calls and as the film rolled, he asked, “Now look at that. Is that a penalty?”

It’s pretty clear that Bill Doba is doin’ well.