Power of perseverance

First-year Washington State football coach Paul Wulff, who has persevered through tragic events in his life, will tell his inspiring story at Lodi's Century Assembly Church on Sunday. (Courtesy photo)

Power of perseverance

Washington St. football coach to tell his inspiring story in Lodi

By Ted Mero
News-Sentinel Staff Writer

Saturday, May 17, 2008 5:51 AM PDT

Comments (1 comment(s))

Pac-10 football fans, there's a new sheriff in Pullman, Wash.

At age 41, Paul Wulff, the new coach at Washington State, is the youngest leading man in the conference. His rise from volunteer assistant at Eastern Washington is an improbable one, considering the tragic events that have molded, but not made him, into the man he is today.

When Wulff was 12, his mother disappeared from her Yolo County home. She was never found, but investigators and the Wulff family believed that she was murdered by Wulff's father. Carl Wulff Sr. was arrested years after his wife's disappearance, but a judged dismissed the case and he died alone and estranged from his family three years ago — the truth dying with him.

In 2002, Paul Wulff's first wife and college sweetheart, Tammy, died in his arms at the age of 39, ending a five-year battle with brain cancer.

While the coach's story is one of tragedy, it's also a tale of great perseverance, and Lodi residents will have the opportunity to hear Wulff tell it himself this Sunday at Century Assembly Church. The discussion will be open to the public.

Wulff's brother, Tom, has lived in Lodi with his wife the past 10 years, and he encouraged his brother to come speak in his hometown — something Paul doesn't normally do. But the coach knows the good his story can do for others.

"I think that it's so easy to get caught up in the negativity in our lives and our society," Wulff told the News-Sentinel on Wednesday. "There are so many people out there who have gone through tough times in their lives and have still pushed through and had a positive impact on other peoples' lives. I've found you cannot only persevere, but come out ahead. And that involves hope and faith. I think I've been put in a position as proof of that."

Wulff is now remarried with three children as he embarks on his first season as coach of his alma mater. He played center for the Cougars from 1986-89.

As the drama of Wulff's parents unfolded during his childhood, he was taken in by his uncle and older brother, raised in the country outside of Davis. When he started school at Davis High, football became his outlet.

"My first year in ninth grade, I was terrible," Wulff admits. "I was afraid and didn't know what to do."

That didn't last. By the time he was a senior, nearly all the Pac-10 schools came calling. Being the small-town guy that he is, and wanting to get out of California, Washington State was an obvious choice for him.

After a standout career for the Cougars, Wulff was signed by the New York Jets as a free agent. He was released on the final cut and went on to play two seasons of World League Football, later known as NFL Europe.

When a friend from Eastern Washington talked him into coaching, Wulff and Tammy moved into a trailer in Cheney, Wash., where he joined the university's football program as a volunteer assistant.

In less than 10 years, Wulff made the climb from volunteer to offensive line coach to offensive coordinator and, in 2000, to head coach.

But the success was bittersweet, as Tammy was diagnosed with cancer in 1997. "It was very hard obviously," Wulff said. "But she was so good through it; she really gave me freedom knowing that I could still do my job under the circumstances."

When she passed away, Wulff had lost the two women closest to him — his wife and mother. But the coach, who took Eastern Washington to the I-AA playoffs in three of his final four seasons, says he'd never be coaching at this level had it not been for the challenges he faced.

"No way I would be where I was today, in terms of the path I ended up going once I got into high school and college, if the scenario didn't happen the way it did," Wulff said. "I would totally be doing something different, no question. It forced me to be a little more driven, to create more of a survival mode in my life, and maybe hardened me to a certain degree."

It's no surprise then, that Wulff's top focus as a coach is discipline, a key first step for a Cougar program looking to return to the upper echelon of the Pac-10. Of course, his objectives extend much deeper than simply winning football games.

"We want to be able to hang our hat on developing young men into leaders and doing all the things off the field that can translate back onto the field," Wulff explained. "And if we can do that, we'll get the max out of our players. Until we can do that, we'll never get their full potential on the football field."

And after what Wulff's been through, who would know better than he?

Reader Feedback

TW wrote on May 17, 2008 9:09 AM:

" What a great oportunity to meet this young man and hear the story of how perserverance and faith in God can lead to great things not only on the field but off of it as well. What a better way to go about living your life than being able to touch and shape so many young mens futures. "

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