You never know. It's a totally new system. When (former coach) Terry Porter was here the first year, we jelled right away. It could happen again. If we have everybody healthy, it shouldn't take too long.

Nebraska is a storied program. When [former Nebraska coach] Terry Pettit put in his program, I copied and learned. He not only built the university but the entire state and region. I wanted to do the same thing in the Northwest. It's hard to reflect on it now, but it's just a great win.

When we saw this we were amazed. The first year we came out here, it was just a tomato field.

Last year, we played well in the first year in the system,

I'm flattered to be a finalist. For a first-year coach it doesn't get any better than that. But Tom Higgins took a team that hadn't made the playoffs for the last few years and led them to a playoff berth and second place in the West.

I think the sign of a successful program is when your former wrestlers come back to coach, so we're very lucky to have all of them with us. Wrestling was never a really big sport on campus, and there were times when we were in a drought.