Kevin Kooyman's Diary: Week Two

PULLMAN -- Another week is in the books for us and we have come to the midpoint of our summer program. The impressive thing about this year is that we have already matched our high water mark of last year’s workload. Let me clarify..

Last year, we ended the summer with X number of striders (Tuesday conditioning) and Y number of pushes (Friday conditioning) -- both were pretty decent sized numbers.

But this year, we have already hit those numbers in both, despite being just halfway through the summer, meaning we are in better shape and will continue to push ourselves to be even better.

Since we have been working so hard every day, our bodies haven’t had time to fully recover, so coach (Darrin) Lovat has given us next week off to recover and prepare for the second half of our summer workouts.

It couldn’t have come at a better time than now -- we understand that recovery is a vital portion of a strict workout regimen.

With the week off most players, including myself, have summer classes until Thursday and then most will take off for the weekend to spend time with family and friends for the Fourth of July.

SOME NEW GUYS are here in Pullman and we are excited about what we are seeing. I'll be talking about many more of my teammates in coming entries but just to mention a couple of the new guys this week -- C.J. Mizell seems to have a great work ethic and looks like he will fit in well with the Coug D.

And Steven Hoffart caught my eye these last few days because as workouts have been getting more difficult, he is pushing himself to get better and never giving up when things get tough.

As far as roster guys are concerned Myron Beck, Bernard Wolfgramm and Daniel Simmons have been working hard since spring and have impressed me throughout the summer.

We will start 7-on-7 and 1-on-1 drills when we get back from our week off so there will be more exciting news as we start getting into more football situations.

To respond to some of your questions:

-- I was wondering if DT-weight is the ultimate goal for a post-collegiate professional football career?

I continue to hear that weight is very important for the next level, which does make some sense to me. I do feel that as you put on weight you lose some speed -- so finding the weight that allows you to play fast without getting tossed around is the key. I personally weigh 260 right now and want to be at 265 before the season.

-- Also, Which Cougar OT's give you the biggest challenge coming off the end other than JC transfers Wade Jacobson and David Gonzales?

The other OT that is the biggest challenge for me would probably be Tyson Pencer - he is a huge guy with good feet. Once he gets his hands better he will be a great player.

-- How do you feel Brandon Rankin has impacted the D Line? And what does he do different from DT’s the past few years?

Brandon Rankin is a huge addition to the d-line. He will cause mayhem in the middle along with Bernard Wolfgramm. The thing that separates B-Rank is that he has all the tools to be a great DT. In past years, we have had solid DTs that have excelled in a couple things, while B-Rank excels in most areas.

-- Which D ends do you feel will be able to give you a breather and also impact from the other end of the line?

Obviously, Travis Long is going to lock down the opposite side of the ball without question. Having Casey Hamlett is very reassuring -- he knows everything about the defense and is a solid DE. I never have to worry about him making a mistake. Also, Adam Coerper, Jordan Pu’u-Robinson, and Sekope Kaufusi are going to make huge contributions for the d-line.

Have questions about the Cougar D for Kevin? Post them on the CF.C message boards. He might not be able to answer every one of them, but he will read them all and answer any that he can.

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. The fifth year senior-to-be suffered an injury in the '09 opener and redshirted this past season. 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 frosh 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.