Ever since the transfer portal became a thing, college coaches have added re-recruitment to their list of job duties. Not only must they recruit new players during the offseason—whether high schoolers,
junior college players or others looking to transfer—but they need to also re-recruit their own players.
If we’re assigning grades to that particular process, new WSU head coach Kirby Moore gets an A for his efforts thus far. Avid followers of WSU athletics may have seen the school go the unusual route announcing current players are re-signing with WSU. Here are the two most notable examples:
That’s wide receiver Tony Freeman and running back Kirby Vorhees announcing they’re returning to WSU. Both players had reportedly planned on entering the transfer portal, with Vorhees even opting out of the bowl game, which makes his announcement even more interesting.
Other players to announce a return to WSU include:
- Trey Leckner, tight end
- Beau Baker, tight end
- Maxwell Woods, running back
- Ashton Tripp, offensive line
- Jonny Lester, offensive line
- Kyle Martin, offensive line
- Jaylin Caldwell, offensive line
- Noah Dunham, offensive line
- Nick Bakken, offensive line
- Keith Brown, linebacker (he missed all of last season with an injury)
- Trey Ridley, safety
- Owen Eshelman, quarterback
- Jack Stevens, kicker
It’s a strange new world of college athletics when schools announce players are re-signing, but here we are, given the new world of NIL. Getting your top running backs and your entire offensive line to re-sign is big for a new head coach. Ditto for Keith Brown, as WSU will have to replenish its linebacking corps.
The most important position—quarterback—is still a question heading into the 2026 season. Eshelman is obviously staying, and the Cougs still have Julian Dugger and Ajani Sheppard on the roster (not to mention Jake Tiryakioglu). Remember, Jaxon Potter, who started the first few games, is entering the portal (until he isn’t, I suppose). Will Moore bring in a transfer quarterback or stick with the room he has? We’ll see!
Moore still has plenty of work to do as he enters his first season as a head coach, but he’s off to a great start in keeping the roster from exploding. Remember: WSU had more than 70 new faces on its roster heading into the 2025 season, which isn’t ideal, to put it kindly. Our pal Jimmy Rogers is having the same problem over at Iowa State, where, as of a couple days ago, there were only 16 players on the Cyclones’ roster. Yikes.
