'I know you can win here if you get the right people': Washington State introduces new baseball coach Nathan Choate

Jun. 29—PULLMAN — Speaking at his introductory news conference, Washington State's new baseball coach asked supporters to "give us time to earn your respect and trust."

Nathan Choate didn't get too far ahead of himself during a welcoming event Thursday at Gesa Field. He didn't make grand promises about the program's future or guarantee a quick turnaround.

"I can sit here and promise the world, but it's going to take some time," he said.

Yet Choate conveyed a strong sense of belief in WSU's potential. He spoke of the program's history of success — mentioning legendary former coaches Bobo Brayton and Buck Bailey, and 1980s superstar John Olerud — and the Cougars' high-class facilities

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"I think there's a lot of resources here to win," Choate said. "That's the thing I want the players to understand — we're here to win and I believe in my heart of hearts that you can win here if you get the right people in the room.

"I'm telling you, with the way we're gonna play, we're gonna get people that want to come to Pullman and play baseball at this university."

Choate, 44, was hired by WSU last week after spending the past four seasons at Loyola Marymount. He earned West Coast Conference Coach of the Year honors after leading the Lions to a WCC regular-season title — the program's first conference championship in 25 years. Choate replaces Brian Green, who left the program for the head coaching job at Wichita State.

WSU "felt like a great fit" for Choate and his wife, Lori, and their four children. When Choate was offered the job, he asked Lori what she thought about moving to Pullman.

"This was her question: 'Can you win there?' " Choate said. "I said, 'Yeah, you can win there.' And that was it."

Choate accepted the job without taking a visit to Pullman. He arrived in town June 20 and bought a house the same day.

"I took the job because I know you can win here if you get the right people — people that want to be part of the community, people that want to be here and win in our program," Choate said. "That's what we're going to do. We're going to identify the right people.

"If you get the right people in the building, you can win anywhere. And with the resources we have here, it can help you get the right people."

Over the past several days, Choate has heard from plenty of WSU alums. They've been asking about his vision and goals for the program, which hasn't reached the postseason since 2010.

"I don't really focus on the things that haven't happened, or how long it's been," Choate told media members after his time on the stage in the Alger Family Club Room. "I just want to get the right people in the room and play good baseball. If you keep your head down and mouth shut, and just work, then the play will take care of itself."

Choate hopes to build a "team-first mentality" at WSU. Nodding toward a group of players in the audience, Choate said, "It's not my program — it's our program.

"The very first thing I need to do is earn the players' respect and trust."

Choate said he's looking to create a gritty team. Playing games in the cold weather, for instance, should be an advantage for the Cougars, "because we're tough," he said. Choate wants his players to be aggressive, resilient and grateful for the opportunity to represent WSU.

"We're going to be a team. We're going to have toughness," Choate said. "We're going to be grateful for (the facilities). We're going to be grateful for the support on campus. ... We need to have gratitude for the people that came before us, for the people who won championships, for the people who donated to the BTO (WSU's clubhouse).

"We've been given all the resources. ... We understand the task at hand and we're super excited, and we look forward to earning your respect."

Choate has already brought in his staff, and he will spend the next few weeks shaping his roster. A couple of WSU players are prospects for the MLB draft, which will begin July 9.

"We have some guys in the program that we have to monitor to see if they get drafted," Choate said. "The transfer portal closes July 13, so we need to make sure we add a couple of pieces from there. ... The No. 1 thing is the players. We need to secure the roster, bring in some people and we'll go from there."

Choate said he wants his players to "dream big," pursue the highest level of collegiate play and aspire to a professional career.

"I want guys that have a huge imagination," he said, "that feel like they can play in the big leagues, that feel like they can go to Omaha (for the College World Series). People are going to laugh, 'You haven't gone to one since 1976 and you haven't been a regional since 2010.' ... You need to have a chip on your shoulder. I have a chip on my shoulder.

"This program has a lot of history and I understand the responsibility of taking over this job. ... I want our players to have huge dreams, and when people laugh at those dreams, you have to have the chip on your shoulder to prove them wrong."

Despite the coaching change, the Cougars have retained most of their roster . Seven WSU players have entered the transfer portal over the past month, including standout infielder Elijah Hainline.

"There are a lot of the right players in the program right now," Choate said. "The fact that not as many guys went into the portal as most places when coaches leave, that's pretty telling about the culture already in the program."

After completing his collegiate career as a pitcher at Cal Poly in the early 2000s, Choate began his coaching career as an assistant at Esperanza High in Anaheim, California, in 2005. He broke into the college ranks in 2007 as an assistant at UC Irvine, then worked with pitchers at UC Riverside (2008-11), Grand Canyon University (2012-16) and San Diego (2017-18) before taking an assistant position at LMU in 2019. Choate landed his first head coaching job in June 2019 with LMU.

The Lions went 8-8 during Choate's first year, the coronavirus-shortened 2020 season. LMU finished the 2021 season with a 28-37 overall record and went 13-14 in WCC play to finish sixth in the conference. The Lions also placed sixth in the WCC in 2022 after going 20-34-1 overall and 14-13 against WCC opponents.

LMU finished 29-24 overall and went 21-6 in WCC play last season, but bowed out of the conference tournament after two games.

"We had a lot of young players in the last couple of years, then (in 2023), when you fight through adversity, you reap the rewards," Choate said. "We didn't have the most talented players, but we had the best team. So, that's one thing we're going to preach with these guys — team, team, team."

The Cougars finished 29-23 and 10-19 in the Pac-12 last season, finishing 10th in the conference. Pitching was a glaring issue for WSU in 2023, but the team's new coach specializes in that area .

"There are a lot of talented (pitchers) here," Choate said. "There's some pitch-plan stuff that we're going to change. ... Nobody likes to hit fastballs in, especially when it's 38 degrees. We're going to attack the other half with fastballs. We're going to be aggressive and have some conviction behind it. (Pitchers) set the tone."

Choate announces WSU staff

Assembling a coaching staff was the first priority for Choate, who will be joined in the dugout by assistants Joe Perez, Eric Hutting and Jake Valentine.

Perez and Choate worked together at Grand Canyon University. Perez comes to WSU after eight years at Central Arizona College, which won the junior college national championship in 2019 and 2022. Perez, who mentored infielders at Central Arizona, was named ABCA national assistant coach of the year in 2021.

Cuddy spent the past two seasons alongside Choate at LMU.

"He was a huge part of our success," Choate said. "I call him the Swiss Army Knife. He can do anything. He coached third base and worked with hitters as well. ... He's going to help me with pitchers and he's our catching coach."

Valentine is staying on staff for his second season as WSU's recruiting coordinator and assistant hitting coach. Valentine was an assistant at Portland, a WCC program, between 2016-22.

"I was in the WCC for several years and there was one coach, before this all happened, that I thought was doing an unbelievable job," Choate said. "Jake Valentine was crushing it at the University of Portland. He was bringing in players left and right. The relationships he was developing between the lines, I saw it. ... He's a relationships guy throughout the Northwest. I'm thrilled he decided to stay on staff."