No more twitter, says Leach

PULLMAN – Washington State head coach Mike Leach has banned his team from Twitter. In a day and age in which social media seemingly has no filters, Leach introduced some, making the call Tuesday that enough was enough. His players are now forbidden from tweeting and the consequences for doing so will be dire.

“Twitter is now banned around here so don’t expect anything on Twitter,” Mike Leach said. “Quite frankly, if after today you see anything on Twitter from our team… and I don’t care if it says ‘I love life’… I would like to see it, because I’ll suspend them.”

Leach didn’t expand much on the subject, but noted that it was his decision and made clear that absolutely nobody on the team will be allowed to use the social media site.

From this chair, social media had gotten a little out of control as of late. Several athletes from a variety of sports and schools had been become the center of attention on Twitter recently -- racial slurs, widespread profanity and prejudicial statements have been in ready supply, something Leach evidently wants to avoid.

Entering Tuesday, Washington State was the only team in the Pac-12 that had no social media policies.

“That’s as of today,” Leach said. “I decided to, that’s what prompted that.”

ON THE FIELD, senior quarterback Jeff Tuel continued to take the snaps with the first team. Results were mixed. Tuel had three interceptions on the day, but did look to have shaken off his apprehension troubles. Tuel spun a tight ball all evening, getting the ball to his intended receivers with urgency.

“Both (Tuel and Connor Halliday) did pretty well,” Leach said. “It was spotty at times, but it was real sharp at times.”

Leach said Tuel has developed a better knowledge for the system on a week-to-week basis, and believes it will only get better from here.

“I think he’s getting better all the time,” Leach said. “I think he’s getting better at picking things up off the film. I think he’s getting better at seeing the field. I think he’s getting better at understanding the dimensions of a lot of things.”

Leach added that the constant rotations of wide receivers has been difficult for the quarterbacks to handle, as developing a rhythm with so many different faces sometimes doesn’t come as quickly as everyone would like.

As for those receivers’ recent drops, outside receivers coach Dennis Simmons believes those are a thing of the past as the team moves forward.

“I thought we had a pretty good day today,” Simmons said. “The things that we’re doing, they’re not a personal vendetta. We’re here to make each other better. Their job is to do everything in their power to become better football players.”

Freshman running back Teondray Caldwell was again absent from practice. Caldwell watched from the sidelines for a couple minutes before heading inside with a strength and conditioning coach as practice began. Also absent from practice was senior offensive lineman Taylor Meighen.

Running with the 1’s for the scrimmage:

OFFENSE
LT- Gunnar Eklund (Brevick got some time)
LG- John Fullington (Goetz got some time)
C- Elliott Bosch
RG- Jake Rodgers (Goetz got some time)
RT- Wade Jacobson (Brevick got some time)
QB – Jeff Tuel (Connor Halliday got quite a few snaps as well)
RB –Marcus Mason/Carl Winston/Leon Brooks
X-WR – Marquess Wilson (Dominique Williams got some snaps)
Y-WR – Brett Bartolone (Gino Simone got a lot of reps)
Z-WR – Isiah Myers/Kristoff Williams/Gabe Marks
H-WR – Gino Simone, Bobby Ratliff

DEFENSE
LT- Matthew Bock
NT- Xavier Cooper
RT- Ioane Gauta (Steven Hoffart got some snaps)
BUCK- Travis Long (Logan Mayes got some time)
SAM- Cyrus Coen
MIKE- Darryl Monroe
WILL- Justin Sagote
CB- Anthony Carpenter
CB –Daniel Simmons
FS- Casey Locker and Tyree Toomer
SS- Deone Bucannon

SPECIAL TEAMS
LS - Alex Den Bleyker
P - Mike Bowlin
KO - Bowlin
FG - Andrew Furney
KR - Gino Simone, Rahmel Dockery, and Brett Bartolone
PR - Brett Bartolone, Rahmel Dockery and Marcus Mason