Kevin Kooyman's Diary: Week One

PULLMAN -- Hello Cougfans, this is Kevin Kooyman and I’ll be keeping you company this summer and filling you in on the Cougs. We started our summer workouts almost a month ago, they began June 1, but we’ve got a lot more work to do before the summer ends and we get into fall camp. Here's the latest, plus two guys who have stood out to me so far..

These summer workouts are voluntary, but we have consistently had more than 90-percent attendance this year.

Most of the team arrived at the beginning of June, but there were a handful of guys who remained in Pullman during the month of May, mostly to rehab injuries from spring practice.

Our new strength coach, Darin Lovat, has our workouts geared in a unique way, and the focus is squarely on improving our strength and quickness.

Two Cougs that have stood out to me on the defensive line so far are Casey Hamlett and Jesse Feagin.

Both those guys are always out on the field with me doing extra stuff and trying to get that last little extra bit in and get better. They both have shown this summer a great work ethic and that's what we need.

We generally begin our days on Rogers Field, (our practice field), where through a variety of different exercises we do agility work. The entire aim is building strength and explosiveness and some of that stuff that entails is the hardest thing I’ve ever done.

After conditioning we head down to the weight room where we focus on building core strength, including the always infamous squat day.

The summer is also about school, and most of us are taking summer school classes so we can get ahead in our classes.

After classes, two days a week, the entire team meets up to run drills. The offense runs through plays while the defense breaks up into position groups and does individual drills.

As for my position group, the defensive line is coming together and showing a renewed commitment to the voluntary summer program.

On the defensive line, we have really made this summer a concerted effort on explosive get-offs and striking with our hands.

I’m pretty well focused on the matter at hand but from what I’ve seen, the linebackers, safeties and cornerbacks all look like they are getting better as well.

If we continue working this hard the rest of the summer, we will undoubtedly put a lot more numbers into that win column and keep our loyal COUG fans happy.

If you have any questions, post them on the CF.C message boards. I might not be able to answer them all but I’ll read them and answer any that I can.

GO COUGS!
Kevin Kooyman

Cougar defensive end Kevin Kooyman hails from Maple Valley, Wash. where he was named the statewide high school Male Athlete of the Year for 2005-06 by the Seattle Times. He played in 12 games in 2008 for WSU, starting six and posting 31 tackles. Injuries wiped out half his sophomore year but he still earned two starts on the d-line. As a true freshman in 2006, he saw action in 11 games, registering six tackles, one sack and 1 QB hurry. He was also a two-time state wrestling champion in high school.