Washington State will welcome back quarterback Luke Falk for the 2017 season, Cougars head coach Mike Leach announced on Monday during a press conference leading up to the Holiday Bowl.
“It won’t be his last game,” Leach said, according to Stefanie Loh of The Seattle Times. “We’ll see what his last game means to the program.”
Falk did reportedly contemplate a possible early departure for the NFL, but Leach said any conversations he had with his quarterback will remain between them. Falk has been fending off NFL rumors for a while now, but his decision to return for another year is a bit of a mild surprise. However, another year in college could potentially see Falk’s NFL draft stock go up with another good season. The drawback, of course, is he tends to be seen by some as a system quarterback, something Leach’s quarterbacks have battled going back to his days at Texas Tech.
Of course, this does not mean Falk will indeed be back in Pullman for sure. There is plenty of time to change his mind, if his mind is indeed made up to return in 2017.
Falk passed for 4,204 yards and 37 touchdowns this season for Washington State. Last season, Falk passed for 4,561 yards and 38 touchdowns.