Story provided more because of its description of Pullman and WSU than for the Pulllman High 2024 football preview
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Pullman is ‘such a small town that
everybody kind of bumps into each other’
Trib headlines: Pullman prepares for new season with new coach;
Kevin Agnew, the Hounds’ baseball coach, takes football reins
By
Sam Taylor, Lewiston Tribune Sports, Sept 5, 2024
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.
