Washington State University Athletics

Mike Price is synonymous with Cougar Football, having served three stints on the Washington State Football Coaching staff during his time in Pullman. His first came as a graduate assistant for Jim Sweeney from 1969-70 then returned to WSU from 1974-77, working with head coaches Sweeney, Jackie Sherrill and Warren Powers. Following eight years as the head coach at Weber State, Price returned to WSU in 1989, this time as head coach, where he stayed for the next 14 seasons. During his tenure with the Cougars, Price compiled an 83-77 record, including back-to-back 10-win seasons in Pullman. Price led the Cougs to a total of three 10-wins seasons (1997, 2001 and 2002) during his tenure. He is the only coach in the 100-plus year history of the program to coach WSU to five bowl games, including the 1992 Copper Bowl, 1994 Alamo Bowl, 1998 Rose Bowl, 2001 Sun Bowl and 2003 Rose Bowl. In 1997, Price earned coach of the year honors from the Pac-10 Conference along with numerous National Coach of the Year Awards, the first Cougar football coach to receive that honor. After posting a 10-2 record in 2001, Price was again named the Pac-10 Coach of the Year and a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award. During his 14 seasons as head coach, Price coached four Cougars picked in the first round of the NFL Draft and mentored WSU quarterbacks Drew Bledsoe, Ryan Leaf and Jason Gesser. With 177 career victories, and eight total bowl game appearances, Price was the sixth-winningest active head coach in the NCAA’s Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) prior to retiring at the end of the 2012 season after nine years at the University of Texas at El Paso.