Pullman prepares for new season with new coach

Following six days of two-a-days, the Pullman Greyhounds drove up College Hill and watched the other Pullman-based football team play.

The Greyhounds were treated to a 70-30 Washington State Cougar win over Portland State.

They also got to tour the Cougar Football Complex, a place where some of the Hounds had been before.

“We walk through the coaches’ offices, and a young lady that I have in class is sitting there in her dad’s office,” Pullman coach Kevin Agnew said. “She knows all the kids, so it’s kind of funny. And then the other two boys ... they’re like, ‘Well, can we go sit in our dad’s office now?’”

That is the quirk of a high school in a town of about 34,000 where the majority of the population is connected to an R1 research institution with a Division-I college athletics program.

“It’s such a small town that everybody kind of bumps into each other,” Agnew said.

The Hounds appreciated the opportunity to see the Cougs after a tough week of preseason prep.

“They were blown away by the size of the players on the field when we got to be at pregame,” he said.

Agnew, who has also coached Pullman baseball for the past five years, enters his first season as the Greyhounds’ football coach. He served as the Hounds’ defensive coordinator for the past three seasons and as an assistant coach the year before that to former coach David Cofer.

The first-year football head coach graduated from WSU, where he met his wife. The two lived in Seattle before striking on an opportunity to move back to Pullman. Agnew’s wife, Kate, teaches physical education at Pullman High School and Agnew taught at Lincoln Middle School before starting a new job as Pullman’s career choices and leadership teacher.

His path to coaching follows his father’s, who also coached baseball and football at Woodinville High School in Washington. His father coached baseball for 28 years and coached football for 12 of those, Agnew said.

“This has always been a kind of a calling to me,” Agnew said. “I enjoy it, you know. I just love the competitiveness of it. I think the thing that drew me to football was just, you know, this is one of the last kind of areas in public schools where we can really take a young man and change his life for the better.”

Agnew replaces Cofer, who is now Colfax’s coach.

The Hounds had a couple of kids who got hurt over the summer or otherwise did not return. They have a core group of upperclassmen, such as Ryan Anderson, who played before, but mostly on the defensive side of the ball.

Leading the Hounds is sophomore quarterback Connor Stewart, who made a handful of starts at the end of last season. Stewart possesses a good arm, solid decision making and the ability to spread the ball out to different levels of the offense.

“(Stewart) wants to be a good player,” Agnew said. “He works at it. He’s a football guy first, and wants to be a good quarterback, and takes a lot of pride in that.”

Protecting Stewart and rushing opposing quarterbacks are a pair of linemen poised for success.

Sam Sears and Ahmad Alssalem return to Pullman with a chance at imposing their will as two of the biggest and strongest Hounds around.

“They’re kind of big boys on campus, and they kind of push guys around in practice and stuff and in our drills,” Agnew said. “So just that tone, that intensity, aggressiveness up front, I think, is what we’re looking for from those guys.”

Returning to the starting center role and playing some defensive line for the Hounds is Lucas Clark.

The Greyhounds compete in a tough Greater Spokane League, playing some of the finest teams in eastern Washington along with local rivals Moscow and Clarkston.

Moscow has outscored its first two opponents 97-0. Clarkston is the reigning 2A GSL regular season champion.

“Every week presents a challenge in year one, trying to create your own culture and build on the positives from the past,” Agnew said. “Pullman football has got a proud tradition. It’s been a good football program for a long time, and we’re trying to kind of just build off of that and leave our own legacy during the time that we’re here.”

In Year 1 of his tenure, Agnew wants his team to be accountable, consistently intense and relentless.

Off the gridiron, he wants the Greyhounds to have an indelible reputation.

“We want our community to say, ‘There’s a Pullman football player right there. I can trust that kid. I know he’s going to show up, he’s going to be on time, he’s going to work hard, he’s going to be honest, he’s going to be respectful,’” Agnew said. “I want people to look at that and just be proud of the work these kids are putting in and the effort that they’re putting in.”

3 things to watch

• Kevin Agnew is Pullman’s new coach. The Hounds’ baseball coach of five years takes on the role of head football coach after serving as the team’s defensive coordinator for three years. How will Pullman look in Year 1 of the Agnew era?
• Pullman returns two talented linemen — Sam Sears and Ahmad Alssalem who figure to anchor the Hounds’ offense and provide a boost to Pullman’s defensive efforts. How many winning moments will the pair create?
• Pullman’s quarterback, Connor Stewart, got a handful of starts under his belt at the end of last season. How good can the Hounds be with Stewart under center full-time?

PULLMAN

COACH — Kevin Agnew (First year)

LAST YEAR’S RECORD — 5-5 overall, 3-3 2A Greater Spokane League

RETURNING LETTERWINNERS — Brady Coulter, sr., RB/LB; Evan Anderson, sr., WR/FS; Connor Stewart, so., QB; Ahmad Alssalem, sr., DT; Lucas Clark, sr., C/DL; Sam Sears, sr., NG; Will Focht, sr.; Hunter Recknagle, jr., LB; Caleb Ratfliff, sr., DB.

SCHEDULE

9/5 — vs. Lakeside, 7 p.m.

9/13 — at Moscow, 7 p.m.

9/20 — vs. Deer Park, 7 p.m.

9/27 — at West Valley, 7 p.m.

10/4 — vs. East Valley 7 p.m.

10/11 — at Rogers 8 p.m.

10/17 — at North Central 5 p.m.

10/25 — vs. Clarkston 7 p.m.

Taylor can be reached at 208-848-2268, staylor@lmtribune.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @Sam_C_Taylor.