Canzano: This first date hit some sweet notes
Kirby Moore has been paying attention.
I received a somber note after head coach Jimmy Rogers ditched Washington State. It was from a concerned father in Pullman. His daughter is a student at WSU and had just gone on a third date with a football player.
The player was a transfer that Rogers had brought to campus with him from South Dakota State months earlier. They met at the Catholic student center on campus and started dating. Things were going well with the couple. And on that third date, dad reported, “The young man asked her if she would be his girlfriend.”
Also, on the very same date, the player got a message from the head coach telling him he’d like him to come with him to Iowa State.
Hold that thought.
Jake Dickert was the 34th football coach in Washington State’s history. He ditched for a job at Wake Forest of all god-forsaken places. Then, the 35th coach, Rogers, bailed after only 11 months on the job.
Coach No. 36?
He demonstrated that he’s been paying attention. Kirby Moore wasn’t perfect in his introductory news conference on Tuesday in Pullman, but he hit the sweetest of notes in a room filled with people tired of the parade of moving vans and broken promises.
“It feels great to be home,” Moore said.
He’s definitely tuned in. Fans watched Dickert and Rogers bail, and saw quarterbacks Cam Ward and John Mateer leave for better deals, too. They were starving for someone to say, “This is home.” Especially if they mean it.
A key component of human connection is understanding. Moore wasn’t just sucking up to donors; he was telling them, “Hey, I get it. I’ve been watching. You’ve been through some crummy stuff. It sucks. I’m aware.”
Modern college football coaches have turned into celebrity CEOs with carefully manicured acts. They get media training and have a marketing person helping with messaging and branding. Their social media accounts are often managed. Moore’s wardrobe choice, a crisp suit in school colors, wasn’t accidental.
The whole scene reminded me a little of when Dan Lanning showed up at his first news conference at Oregon. Lanning was an outsider who knew he needed to connect immediately. Remember the importance of the aftermath of that hire? And how Lanning navigated it?