Led by veteran coach Justin Green, WSU's running backs 'want to be great

Jul. 31—When someone shouts "Kirby" during a Washington State football practice, it can get a little confusing.

They might grab the attention of the big boss: first-year coach Kirby Moore, or the 5-foot-11, 207-pound bruiser of a running back known as Kirby Vorhees.

Or they could summon both.

Moore said that beyond Vorhees, he does not personally know any other Kirbys.

Including Moore, Vorhees said he has only ever met two other Kirbys besides himself.

The Cougars appear to be in a promising place with two members of the exclusive Kirby club saddled up and ready to do battle in the crimson and gray.

It almost didn't happen.

But it did, and WSU's two other top running backs joined Vorhees to form a room led by former Montana RBs coach Justin Green — another Moore assistant with a long track record of success.

"I love how hungry they are. They want to be great," Green said of Wazzu's running backs. "In this business of college football, how things are, what kind of money is being thrown at guys. These guys want to play football more than anything else."

'Numbers don't lie'

Vorhees was one of the most prominent Cougs to announce his intention to enter the transfer portal last December when former coach Jimmy Rogers took the same post at Iowa State.

He sat out the bowl game, then was among the first Cougs to sign a revenue-sharing agreement to return to the WSU football team.

Soon after, rising sophomore Maxwell Woods signed his name on the dotted line to return and junior Leo Pulalasi was on his way back, too.

Vorhees, who ended the regular season as WSU's No. 1 running back, said that the opportunity to play, coupled with the quality of his relationships with other returning players, sealed the deal.

Unspoken, but nonetheless relevant, is a likely significant name, image and likeness package for Vorhees and the two other prominent running backs.

Woods said that the running backs talked to each other about their future every day last winter before they each decided to return.

"We all kinda had an idea, 'We really could run this back and really do what we do and do our best to take over,'" Woods said. "I'm really grateful that we are getting another year together."

Woods said that the chance to talk with Moore around the Potato Bowl in Boise sealed the deal for his return

"I just think it was more of the trust factor," Woods said of Moore. "The numbers really don't lie. He's been an elite offensive coordinator."

With 228.3 yards per game last year, Moore's Missouri Tigers were the eighth-best rushing team in the nation.

Vorhees, WSU's leading rusher in 2025, is a prototypical east-west slasher, dialing up physicality at the point of attack, said the Cougars' running back coach Justin Green.

Woods presents similar slasher skill coupled with remarkable speed, while Pulalasi packs an advanced football sense and ability to "make football plays for the football team," Green said.

"There's no overthinking when it comes to him, which I love as far as his football talent," Green said of Pulalasi. "And that's going to help us."

Freshman Tremayne Hill and Central Washington transfer Beau Phillips could also factor into the room, Green said.

Coach Green: 'Very wise ... very detailed'

When the three backs re-signed with WSU, they had no idea who their new position coach would be. Woods said he placed his trust in Moore to get that hire right, and, as proven through April's spring game, he did.

Green, who spent the last 14 years molding all-conference running backs at Montana, joins WSU as the assistant head coach/running backs coach.

Moore said that he ran into Green on the recruiting trail in the San Diego area and was impressed by his track record of success.

"We're teachers first," Moore said. "And he's done a very, very nice job."

Green left Montana after having coached half of UM's all-time top 10 rushers, including Eli Gillman, the 2023 Jerry Rice Award winner, reserved for the best freshman in the Football Championship Subdivision.

That experience has presented itself in the way that Green teaches the game of football, Vorhees and Woods said.

"Very smart, just very, very wise and very detailed," Woods said of Green. "Very detailed with every little thing, as little as steps, even just like getting the hand-off. There's so much detail."

That detail, Woods said, has expanded his understanding of football.

Green, Vorhees said, "is the smartest running back coach (he has) been around when it comes to knowing the scheme and the entirety of football itself."

Over the course of spring camp, Woods emerged as the star of the show, breaking out into several quality runs. When fall camp fires up on Aug. 6, he could make a big push for the starting job.

That's the thing about the running back room that Green didn't have to foster, he said.

"They all have different personalities and different likes and wants," Green said. "And what I noticed, probably more than anything else, is how tight their bond is. They are very bonded. They hang out with each other, they laugh, they have a good time."

It's the kind of bond Green said he has created within his Grizzlies' RB rooms — and it was already in place at Wazzu when he arrived.

Green's 'why'

Green's father, Anthony Green, was a Pop Warner and high school football coach in San Diego.

The future coach saw how hard his father worked, raising 12 kids (Justin Green has 10 brothers and one sister) and giving his best to his players.

"When you've got a guy, as far as a coach who loves you, you're willing to run through a brick wall for them because that's how you show your love back," Green said. "Growing up ...

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