¶ Intro / Opening
Hey, this is Chuck Shute and I've got a great episode for you today. I've got Liam Ryan from the Washington state Cougars football team. If you enjoy this episode and you'd like my content, please hit that subscribe button. That way you'll never miss an episode.
[inaudible]
Welcome to the Chuck Shute podcast. I am excited, yes, I say it every episode. I am very excited. I've got a great guest today. It's exciting because it's the first sports guest I've had and it's not easy to get athletes or sports people for some reason. I don't know. It's kind of like, I guess I kind of have flashbacks to high school where I was a not part of the jock club, so it's just in , it's still kind of that way or it's hard to get in there with the jocks.
But somehow I weaseled my way in today and I was able to get this interview with Liam Ryan. It's probably my shortest no...It definitely is my shortest interview that I've had. He had a very strict time limit. I think it started out with , we said 45 minutes and then it went to 30, and then it went 20. And then right , right before I went on, they said 15 minutes but I think I squeezed a couple of extra minutes out of that , out of this interview.
So it's like 17, but , uh , we went over a lot of stuff. I think it was a really interesting stuff. Uh , I'm big Washington State Cougars fan. Um , went to games when I was a kid. My aunt took me to my first Cougar game. It was, I just remember it was freezing cold. I don't remember who they played or who won . I just remember I was freezing my butt off.
And I remember my parents gave me like $5, and somehow I was able to get a cup of hot chocolate and some M and ms and , uh, that sort of warmed me up. But I was still freezing. Um, watched games sporadically here and there. I went to the holiday bowl in 2003. That was pretty fun. San Diego, they won. They beat Vince young and Texas. That was fun to see. And I really got more into them when Leach came aboard. I was a Leach fan when he was at Texas tech.
He's just, I liked the way he coaches in his press conferences. Obviously he's is a personality and um , I just like how they throw the ball so much and they're just fun to watch right now and, and fun to root for the underdog. And so it's great to see them. And I have a lot, a lot of friends and family that are also big Cougar fans. I hope they enjoy this episode. Liam Ryan and Washington state cougars . Liam, how are you doing?
I'm good. How are you?
Good. So my first question I
¶ Mullet
gotta ask you, are you still rocking the mullet?
Yeah, I'll be rocking it for awhile . Maybe trim it up a little.
Okay. Now . So tell me the story with that, because I heard an interview where you're talking about how you and Minshew and like a bunch of you guys were going to do it, but then somehow only you got stuck with it.
Yeah. So me and Gardner were going to do it. And then Gardner got all these accolades and stuff. So his mom wasn't gonna allow them , well I dunno really allow him. But uh, he just said he had to clean up a little. So I was like, all right , one of my other buddies, Brian on the offensive line, he was g onna do it and then he k inda just chickened out at the end. And I was like, you know what, I'm tired of having long hair.
So at least in the front, c ause it gets i n my face and I just went with it. And now it's just kind of like a thing now.
No, yeah It's like your trademark for sure. So , um , going back to the beginning where you started, you played football at a Damien high school, but you , I don't know if
¶ Basketball Versus Football
people know this about you also played basketball and you actually, you played on the state championship team. Did you ever think of trying to play two sports? Try out for the basketball team at Wazzu?
No, not really. I mean, I kind of just like, I've always loved football and basketball and, I stopped growing kind of , , after my, my junior year I kind of peeked out like six, five, six, six. And , um, I dunno not , I was, I was a big man, so not, not many , six, six guys playing division one basketball. So I started putting my focus junior year towards football and I w as trying to start putting on weight and stuff, but, I still wanted to play basketball throughout my four years.
And then, I ended up starting my junior year for basketball and then, starting f or junior year for football, and then k inda just took it from there and then, kinda t ried to balance it out, but mainly all the basketball coaches knew I was probably some football and stuff.
Gotcha. So when you said put on
¶ Adding Weight
weight, was there, that was a plan thing? Like did you have to eat certain foods or how did you do that?
So like freshman , I was always a big kid, like freshman and sophomore year, but then going into junior year going, you're playing against guys who are a lot older than you. And I think I remember we , we played , upwind with Tyler's team and they had like 11 division one guys, like all t heir d efenders, like defense was like almost division one.
And, I mean t hey'll, they all went all over the country, so they're already like big and stuff, focusing on football, c ause u p o ne was a big football school. And, and even a lot of other schools in our league w ere big football schools too. So, I do n't k n ow. I, I was, I was at like two 30 my sophomore year. Yea h. I want to play football. I got ta ge t up. So li ke at least two 50, two 60 for my junior year and then keep gaining up.
Yeah. So then you were rated the, I don't know if you know this, you were rated the 119th best offensive
¶ Ratings
tackle in the country by ESPN and that's pretty, I think that's pretty amazing. Did you think that was amazing or where you think I should higher?
I mean, I don't really look i nto that.
Okay .
I don't like going on like social media looking at that stuff.
Gotcha.
I just kind of just keep my head , capable . What we always say here, put your blinders on and just working. And , I mean I had big shoes to fill with Andre leaving, so trying to learn from him all summer and just kind of watch his film and just take that. And I mean, I can always get better in certain aspects of my game and that's , that's what I'm trying to do.
That's awesome. And you were, so you're a three-star recruit and you had offers from San Diego state, Nevada air force
¶ Choosing WSU
, what made you choose Pullman and WSU besides obviously coach M ike Leach.
I d on't k now. I just, when I came up here, i t reminded me of my home p ack back home a nd C hino Hills rolling Hills and stuff like that.
I was going to say I saw a picture and it looked very similar.
Yeah. Obviously it's a lot colder and it snows, but I'd rather be cold than hot. Mainly why I chose WSU because , I had , Arizona state and I didn't really, when I went out there it was like 150. Yeah. I'd rather, I'd rather suffer in the cold and suffer in the heat.
Yeah. I wonder how some of these kids, I mean I live in Arizona and I just, I wonder, cause their football practice has started in August and July the camps and I'm like, how do you play outside in this? I dunno , it's crazy. But so
I know a lot of their practices are in the morning. Is you ? And , yeah, they do a lot of their practices in the morning before it gets hot. But , I d unno, everything up here kind of reminds me of the same kind of schedule in high school and just like, I don't know, Leach is an nteresting. Dude. You never know what you're g oing t o get with h im.
Yes. I was going to ask you about that. So you must
¶ Mike Leach and Jackalopes
be a fan of his to go to Wazzu. Do you just laugh with him every day? Like is there or is there, do you have a story that's like, not from a press conference or, cause there's lots of videos and press conferences, but is there stuff that's behind the scenes that you can tell me that's , I guess appropriate for a podcast?
Yeah. I mean t here's a , there's a lot of different things that h e does every day that will make you chuckle or make you laugh. One of them I thought t hat really stuck out to me. I t was pretty funny. We went and played Wyoming last year and we're kind of in his, in his home state close to where he lived. And he was telling us that he would hunt these jackalopes an d w e w e re l ike, what? And he was like, yeah, th ese j ackalopes. And he's like, you never heard of hi m o r like, no .
And he would tell us th at l ike, these jackalopes are rare and stuff only in Wyoming. And basically the y're li ke a rabbit with horns on them. And he was like, I was like, what? And all li ke, there's no way there's rab bits ha ve horns on the m. B ut he was kin d of me ssing around. He said he would you'd catch these little bunnies or whatever and basically cut off like deer antlers and glue them on andkind of have them as like a trophy, like a trophy animal.
And you'd call it a jackalope and stuff. So that was,
Oh gosh, there's so many funny Leach stories, but one thing he did say he had a quote this
¶ Fat, Dumb, Happy and Entitled
year that was a very well publicized, I'm sure you remember this one. It was probably right. I think it was right after the UCLA game, he called the players "fat, dumb, happy and entitled." But I don't, I don't remember one player arguing or seeing anything on social media, people talking and arguing against him or talking against him. So how did the players take that quote? What, what did you, what did the locker room say about that?
I mean a lot of us just kind of, w e, we t ry to get the guys together. You're not gonna win games when everyone's k inda separated in the locker room. So, we always try to listen to the message and not how the tone is like being said. So at the end of the day yeah, it was a tough loss.
But all we cou ld do is try to get everyone together, get all the coaching staff and everybody on the same track to get ready for the next week and kin d of ju st look when you, when you lose a game, kin d ki n da ju st wan t to lo ok onto the next week and not really focus on it.
So right after we wat ch fi lm, we kin d of ma ke our corrections and then whatever the coach is saying, u m , ei ther position coaches or lee ch, h owever the tone is, I may not, it may not be the tone that you want and it may sound angry, but you ju st got to lo ok at the message at the end of the day.
Hmm . It must be something like he must recruit the players that understand that too and have that kind of mentality and are , aren't gonna fly off the handle at something like that. Right.
Yeah. I mean they all try to recruit good guys and guys who are gonna take care of their stuff and not be a liability off the field. And , I mean he , he definitely recruits that. But I , I definitely think it was brought from the older guy when I came here is definitely brought upon by the Cole , Madison and Peyton bluer or all those older guys that were here. And , it was kind of a standard that we've, we've upheld for a couple of years and I think that's why we've, we've been successful.
And , this last year, it wasn't really the way that we've gotten it, but that we wanted, but , at the end of the day, we're g onna keep everyone together and uphold our s tandards that we have here.
Yeah, no, that's great.
¶ Toughest Matchups
I've got a question t oo. Who is the most difficult player that you've had to go up against in your career so far?
There's been a lot of them. I mean, Oregon always has great players. I would probably say Utah proudly and night . It was just really explosive off the ball... really good with his hands and stuff like that. Utah had some pretty good interior linemen when I played guard. I think number 99 was really, really good. Utah in , Oregon always h ad some pretty, pretty good s tuds on their D line, but everyone in the P AC 12 is not, shouldn't be overlooked.
I mean, everyone was really, really good, especially, u m, the guy from Oregon state. I mean, you had a cast when we were playing him. But I mean I think i t, I can't remember his name, but i t w as number nine from Oregon state and he w as, I think leading, l eading sacks an d t he whole country, so , yo u k n ow, kind of ha d t o t arget him to o. So I mean everybody in t h e, in the pa ck 1 2 is really competitive and shouldn't be overlooked.
I mean there's a lot of good players out there I think.
Absolutely. Speaking of good players, tell me how good is Max Borghi cause when I watch him
¶ Max Borghi
on TV, he just seems like he's insanely unstoppable. Like is he the next Christian McCaffrey?
I dunno. I mean they're from the same, they're from Colorado and I know Max is a , broke a lot of his records in high school, but it's a different office. I mean where people aren't going to say we run the ball as much, but Max has had a couple of hundred yard games and stuff like that. So I think we're always trying to improve the running game whenever we get a chance. And, I mean he's something special to watch ca use h e c a n c atch the ball in t he fl ights a nd stuff like that.
Um , a nd then you can shake defenders when running the ball. So it's definitely a big help when you, when you have a ba ck w ho can definitely get defenders on their heels and get extra yards after play.
Absolutely. Yeah. So I gotta ask about, I know this, I don't want to like pour salt on
¶ Apple Cup
the wounds, but the Apple cup, that was, that was rough. U m, and Leach said that he always thinks that the losses are because U-Dub gets better recruits. I guess my question on that is you guys beat some of the teams that they lose t oo. So do you think there's a psychological piece to those losses at all? Or what is your theory with the Huskies and why you guys can't beat them?
I don't really know. I think we take every game serious as it is. Cause then at the end of the day, it's another game and, i t' s a rivalry and it's going to be chippy and stuff like that. I just think it comes down to execution and we're exec uting in the first half and then we kind of fell off towards the second half. We had a co uple turnovers and stuff and that's probably, that's a 14 point swing. I think we got into the red zone, that's 14 points right there.
And um, I t h ink the first drive we didn't, we took a field goal and I th ink we had a penalty or something like that and kinda took us back out of the red zone. So I think it comes down to all of the e x ecu tion. People are going to sa y a re authentic, easy to cover and stuff like that, but it's just repetition. Basically, bein g precise with what we do. Every, every play that we get. And that's basically like our office is based on is con si stency.
If you're not going to be consistent, you probably won't play here. But, that ' s, that's where w e hav e to do every game. And
¶ Air Force
even coming up against this bowl ga me, cause a ir fo rce is going t o hel p t h e ba ll a lot cause t hey r un the ball. So
yeah, they do run the ball, but so do they. What do you, what can you tell me? I know they run the ball, I think they're one of the best running teams in the country, but what about the , what can you tell you about their defense? Have you studied it at all?
Yeah, we watched a lot of film on them. I think they're pretty undersized compared to what we've seen, but they played super hard and passionate about what they do. And you can't take anybody lightly, especially in Academy school. They're gon na pl ay super hard. And, I expected it to be a really, really big battle out there and it's goi ng to be a fun game, I think.
Do you have a score prediction?
Uh, no. Hopefully just trying to go into the break and get a win and have a winning another winning season. Cause that's what, that's what we're all about. We want to have another winning year.
Oh absolutely. Yeah. I
¶ Players Skipping Bowl Games
heard an interview the other day with Leach where he was talking about, he was asked about players who skip ballgames , too , cause they don't wanna get hurt for the NFL draft. And he said that he thinks that that's you're kind of abandoning the players and the coaches that help get you there. Do you agree with that statement or do you think it's okay for players to skip their bowl games so they don't get injured?
I mean, it just depends with every, every person. Some person could be have injuries over their years and they're just trying to save their bodies for their future in NFL. I mean I , I think it's, I think they should play and players who kind of opt out, it does leave not t o dry. And you've worked so hard all season just to get to a b owl g ame, one o p play. And y ou h ave w hole m ore opportunity and it could be your last opportunity to play with your college teams.
But yeah, I think it just depends with every player situation, you don't know t hat anybody's g oing through. S o I'm definitely gonna try to p ut i n m y, m y all my senior year games.
Yeah, I look forward to that for, so I know you've got to get going here, but I did have one more question
¶ Next Year's Quarterback
for next year if we're looking forward to next year. Do you have any prediction on who will be the starting quarterback, cause it seems like that's kind of up in the air right now. Like who do you think is the, just based on the practices you've seen, which quarterback is the front runner?
I mean they're all good. I mean Gage came into from Eastern Washington and he's a great player too, but I think it just comes down to being consistent and controlling the huddle. So , all these , all these guys have been around here or I think Gunner and Cammon and there's a couple other guys who have been around here. And then I'm hearing a lot of things about this freshmen coming in.
I mean whoever can control a huddle, I mean at the end of the day I'm g oing to say what has to be said in the huddle, but it c an't all be just f rom me, t hat he's leading our team and he ac tually b e the guy who comes in an d t he huddle, b eing most consistent with hi s p lay and then basically taking, ta king t he of fense b y reign.
[inaudible]
definitely. Well, I know you've got to get going. So I do want to thank you so much for just doing this quick little interview with me here. I look forward to, I'll see you guys at the Cheeze It bowl. And then I did
¶ Hilinski's Hope
also want to mention , I always end with a charity. And so I think we talked to Hillinski's Hope is what the one that you want to raise awareness about. Obviously the people can go on the website and I've actually mentioned that before my podcast, so they know the whole story. Would that raise awareness of mental health issues? So is there anything else you'd like to say before we wrap up?
No , I think that's good. Um, yeah, probably Tyler's Hillinski's Hope is helping raise awareness for people who , who are mentally down and there's always people around for help and stuff like that. So definitely preach that and if you're going through a hard time just there's always people that's going to be there for you and so,
Absolutely. Yeah. Well thanks so much for taking the time to do this interview. I know you're super busy. And I wish you a lot of luck against Air Force this Friday and I'll be there. So Go Cougs!
yeah, Go Cougs Thank you.
Okay, thanks Liam.
Yup. Bye. Bye.
Okay. All right. Liam Ryan from WSU, Washington State cougars football team is a little shorter interview than I'm usually do here, but that's just, they gave me a time limit, so I was like, all right , I'm going to make it work. So I hope you guys enjoyed that. If you're a Coug fan, you probably were really interested. If you're not, I think it's still kind of interesting to hear about the football. The inside , i nsider's scoop and M ike Leach is just a fascinating coach.
So hearing stuff about him i s always interesting as well. So, u m, that's it for me. I , I, hopefully w e'll have another interview coming up soon, u m, until then, happy holidays and enjoy the rest of this year. Thanks.