MIKE LEACH has hired former Minnesota assistant Jeff Phelps as the Cougs’ new defensive line coach, multiple sources with knowledge tell Cougfan.com. An official announceme...

But before we get to the breadcrumb trail on the hire, it's clear from this chair Leach didn’t hire Phelps based on how Minnesota's defensive line handled the Cougar o-line in the Holiday Bowl. One game is one game. But Washington State studied a ton of tape on Minnesota before heading to San Diego for its bowl.



And at some point, in watching game after game of the Minnesota defensive line, I’d wager Leach (and in turn defensive coordinator Alex Grinch) were summarily impressed by a consistently well-coached and productive Minnesota defensive line. And so it makes perfect sense to me that it was the body of Phelps' d-line work, first in 2016 and then over Phelps' coaching career as WSU began to do its research, that was the genesis in Leach going after Phelps to replace Joe Salave’a.



Minnesota ranked 12th nationally in tackles for loss this past season, 21st in total defense, 22nd in sacks and 27th in pass efficiency defense. WSU ranked 78th, 93rd, 108th and 62nd in those categories in 2016, respectively.



We don’t yet know what Phelps’ recruiting territories were at Minnesota (six years) or Northern Illinois (five years) nor the terms of Phelps’ new WSU contract. But we do know this isn’t a guy who has jumped around from job to job. The guess here based on his history is that Phelps is looking to build something on the Cougar d-line in the seasons to come.



As for the clues that Phelps was coming to WSU: after CF.C's article on Phelps (see related story at bottom of this article) Fox's Bruce Feldman, who co-wrote a book with Leach, tweeted that Phelps had emerged as a strong candidate to replace Joe Salave'a. Phelps soon changed his Twitter bio to read "DL coach" from "DL coach looking for work." Most recently, Phelps followed Leach and most of the WSU assistant coaches and GAs -- plus the official WSU Cougar Football and CAF accounts and more on Twitter.

None of that escaped CougFans on Twitter.



An official announcement by WSU is not expected today and it may be several days, sources tell CF.C. And for fans wondering why the delay -- look how long it took for Oregon to officially announce Salave'a's hire after it was first reported. Coaching contracts go through a myriad of approval stages before they become officially official. It's a lengthy process.



Phelps began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Ball State, in 1999. He then spent three seasons at DePauw, where he coached running backs for two seasons before going to the defensive side of the ball to coach linebackers. He then spent three seasons at Hillsdale (Mich.) College, where he coached the defensive line from 2003-05 before joining the staff at NIU.



As a player at Ball State, Phelps was a second-team All-MAC outside linebacker as a senior and honorable mention as a junior. Phelps is a graduate of Crete-Monee High School near Chicago, where he was a standout in football, wrestling and track & field ).



He and his wife Tyla have a son, Carsen, and a daughter, Harlyn.



Stay tuned, we’ll have more soon on CF.C.

NOTABLE NOTE:

Phelps made $264,000 last season at Minnesota. Salave’a’s 2016 salary at Washington State was $375,000.



RELATED: Is WSU’s next DL coach from Gopherland?



