Why WSU’s Hudson Cedarland, moments away from walking away from the program, stuck things out

PULLMAN – Hudson Cedarland was ready to walk away from football, at least at Washington State.

After years of battling injuries and rising up the depth chart only to plummet when it mattered most, the linebacker put a plan in place: The day before the spring semester started, he would clear out his locker, head home to Gig Harbor, Washington, to train and enter the transfer portal in April.

One day in early January, Cedarland completed the first step of his plan. He cleared out his locker in the Cougar Football Complex. But that’s about when a thought occurred to him: What if he could move to tight end? He had already called head coach Jimmy Rogers about the idea, but he got a wait-and-see response from Rogers, who had only been on the job for about a week. He needed more time to assess the roster.

But what if, Cedarland thought, he could ask Rogers in person? He desired a fresh start, understanding he faced a steep climb up the depth chart at linebacker, and told himself he had nothing to lose.

Cedarland took the elevator up to the fifth floor, home to the Cougar coaches’ offices, where he ran into Rogers in a hallway. Cedarland introduced himself, reminded Rogers of their previous phone call. Cedarland was about to bring up his idea to move positions, but remembering the idea himself, Rogers cut him off.

“Wait,” Rogers said, smiling as he looked Cedarland up and down. “Hold on a second.”

Rogers pulled out his phone and dialed tight ends coach Chris Meyers, one of the many coaches he brought over from FCS South Dakota State. Before long, Meyers came striding down the hallway, where he saw Cedarland and Rogers.

“Hey man,” Meyers told Cedarland, “what’s your name?”

“I’m Hudson Cedarland,” Cedarland said.

“Welcome to the tight end room,” Meyers answered.

“I couldn’t stop playing the game without knowing that I didn’t give it one more shot at tight end,” said Cedarland, a redshirt junior. “I knew that’s something that I’ve always wanted to do, and that even when I was here playing linebacker with (former head coach Jake) Dickert’s staff and everything, deep down, I missed the offensive side of the ball, knowing that that could be an option down the road.

“Especially battling injuries, making good steps and maybe almost being the guy, and then getting hurt and then dropping back down the depth chart. It always felt like a battle to get to where I needed to be. So I was just ready for a change. Thankfully, the staff was willing to let me make that change.”

Cedarland entered the transfer portal in January, joining some 30 of his teammates in doing so. But he withdrew his name because of the confidence he felt from the Cougs’ new coaches, who supported his idea to switch to tight end, a position that might fit Cedarland better now with the way the new staff views it – more power and less finesse.

Cedarland is joining WSU’s tight end corps at an opportune time. Returning veteran Andre Dollar has missed each of the past two open practices – on Saturday, Rogers said Dollar is working through injuries – and outside of redshirt sophomore Trey Leckner, the Cougs’ unit is relatively thin, at least more so than in years past.

It figures to provide a window of opportunity for Cedarland, 6-foot-3 and 239 pounds, the player Rogers and Meyers see for the position – physical and strong, and open to blocking for what will likely be a much more run-centric offense than WSU has seen in quite some time.

“The transition’s gone great. I’m enjoying it,” Cedarland said. “I think I’m making good progress along the way. I’ve only practiced – today was practice 12, 12 days as a college tight end. I think I’m taking good steps in the right direction, and I’m just excited for the more opportunities that I can get, and just trying to make the most of every opportunity that I do get.”

In other news, two WSU receivers missed Saturday’s practice, junior college transfer Devin Ellison and redshirt sophomore Branden Ganashamoorthy. Rogers said Ellison, a clear-cut candidate to earn a starting role this fall, has “a muscle thing,” while Ganashamoorthy underwent surgery, Rogers said. Ganashamoorthy, who had been taking reps with the Cougs’ second-team offense, is expected to return “in the next month,” Rogers said.

Ganashamoorthy had his foot in a cast, getting around on a medical scooter during Saturday’s practice.

Cal Poly transfer cornerback Kai Rapolla also sat out with an injury, which Rogers said last month was a sprained ankle.

Also absent were cornerback Kamani Jackson, who posted on his Instagram story about a week ago that he underwent surgery, and linebacker Dajon Doss, whose profile has been removed from the online roster.

In an effort to avoid further injuries, Rogers and the Cougars kept the practice relatively light. WSU is also hosting its annual Crimson and Gray game next weekend – it’ll be more of a showcase-style practice, Rogers said, a measure to prevent injury and keep potential poachers from seeing more live reps – so the group is angling toward the end of its 15-practice spring schedule.

As the Cougs near the finish line, they’re making an effort to improve in tackling and communication, Rogers said.

Perhaps more important, they’re trying to make sure they’re healthy enough to check both boxes.

“My mindset of spring ball has always been, goal one is that we need to leave in one piece,” Rogers said.

“But they need this. I think injuries come the longer you do it. But we gotta get better at tackling and blocking and doing things full speed, and not worrying about always staying on our feet.”