Doba has quietly made a name for himself in the Palouse

By Craig Hill

The News Tribune

PULLMAN – Before Bill Doba became one of the top defensive coordinator’s in the Pacific-10 Conference, he was living a comfortable life in historic Charleston, S.C.

He lived in a nice apartment, he had a boat for trolling the Ashley and Cooper rivers, and he drove a Chrysler LeBaron. He was 48 and had a job he loved as the defensive coordinator at The Citadel, where he molded the Bulldogs into one of the best defensive teams in NCAA Division I-AA.

Then he got a call from a guy he’d never met who invited him to move to Pullman to coach linebackers at Washington State University.

“The Citadel is a great place and the fringe benefits were nice,” Doba said. “But I wasn’t making any money, so when Mike Price called me, I had to think about it.”

Price had just made the move from I-AA Weber State to WSU and was looking for an older coach to round out his young coaching staff. His new offensive coordinator, Joe Tiller, recommended Doba. Tiller and Doba were assistants together at Purdue in the mid-80s.

“I didn’t know much about Mike so I started calling around,” Doba said. “What got me was when I called (former WSU assistant and current Dallas coach) Dave Campo. He told me if he wasn’t going to the Cowboys he would apply for the job. That opinion seemed to be universal.”

So Doba sold his car and his boat, checked out of his apartment and moved to Pullman.

He’s still here. At 61, he is the dean of Pac-10 coordinators, makes $116,000 a year and couldn’t be happier.

“Pullman is the best place in the country to live,” Doba said. “And I love working with Coach Price, he’s one of the biggest reasons I’m still here.”

When Price promoted Doba to defensive coordinator in 1994, he immediately made a name for himself. That season his defense – the Palouse Posse – was one of the best in the country. The defense held opponents to seven points or fewer in nine games.

“When you think of Doba, you immediately think of all his good defenses,” said WSU safety Billy Newman. “He has to be the best defensive coach in the Pac-10.”

Perhaps Doba’s finest skill is developing talent.

“He has an image in his mind of what he wants at every position,” defensive backs coach Chris Ball said. “He has a great eye for talent.”

Rien Long and Isaac Brown came to WSU as tight ends. Long may now be the best young defensive tackle in the Pac-10 and Brown is third in the conference with eight sacks.

Newman and cornerback Marcus Trufant came to WSU as running backs. Lamont Thompson was a receiver. They’re now the foundation for what’s probably the best secondary in the Pac-10.

Every college in the country turns offensive players into defensive players, but Price says Doba does it more often and more successfully than most.

When Doba invited Newman to switch from running back to safety before the 1998 season, defensive backs coach Craig Bray, now Oregon State’s defensive coordinator, was skeptical.

“He didn’t want me because he thought I was too short,” said the 5-10 Newman. “He said I didn’t have the body to play safety. … I probably don’t, but Doba saw something.”

Newman earned second-team all-conference honors last season, and should do at least as well this season.

“Doba is very smart,” WSU linebacker Raonall Smith said. “He can handle anything.”

Doba proved that the week after Oregon ran over his defense for 446 yards. A week later, that same defense held UCLA and Heisman Trophy candidate DeShaun Foster to 85 yards rushing.

“He looks at the film and says, ‘Let’s put in another defensive lineman,’ “Smith said. “And the next week we are playing great. That’s the first thing I think of when I think about Doba. He’s smart.”

Others have noticed. Several small colleges, I-AA and smaller Division I-A schools, have offered Doba head coaching jobs. He has turned them all down.

“We are lucky to still have him here,” Price said. “He’s a great coach.”

Doba has been a head coach – from 1965 to 1976 at three different Indiana high schools. At Goshen High he turned an 0-8-1 team into an 8-2 team. He took state power Mishawaka to a second-place finish in ‘74.

But that was all the head coaching experience he needed.

He was 55 when he had his first college head coaching offer and he figured he was too old to lead a major university football program.

“I don’t think Ohio State will be hiring a 60-year-old coach,” Doba said. “Plus, this way I don’t have to go on the banquet circuit. … (public speaking) always made me a little nervous.”

So, Doba will stay with the Cougars until they ask him to leave or he stops having fun.

“I’ll coach here until it begins to feel like a job,” Doba said. “I’ll know its time to quit when I stop getting those butterflies before the games.”

In other words, he won’t be leaving soon.

“It’s Apple Cup week,” Doba said. “I started getting butterflies on Tuesday night.”