Washington State confirms involvement in HBO Hard Knocks-style show
Sam Cooper
August 17, 2019, 12:05 PM CDT
Ad:
It looks like the rumored Hard Knocks-style college football show on HBO is coming to fruition.
Washington State confirmed on Saturday that it is partnering with HBO for a new show. Cameras were present at the team's practice on Friday, but no other details about the show were immediately available.
Washington State Football
@WSUCougarFB
This should be fun! #GoCougs #JoinTheHunt
View image on Twitter
660
10:25 AM - Aug 17, 2019
Twitter Ads info and privacy
235 people are talking about this
Devils Digest, the Arizona State Rivals.com affiliate, reported last week that there were four programs involved in a show similar to HBO's popular "Hard Knocks" series, which follows an NFL team throughout training camp and leading up to final roster cuts. The site said Arizona State, Alabama, Penn State and Washington State were the four schools chosen for the show and that ASU would be featured during the lead up to its home game against Washington State on Oct. 12.
Mike Leach and the Washington State Cougars will be featured on an upcoming HBO show. (Photo by Daniel Dunn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Mike Leach and the Washington State Cougars will be featured on an upcoming HBO show. (Photo by Daniel Dunn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Last week, ESPN reported that HBO is "in negotiations" with those four programs for a "behind-the-scenes-access show" for the upcoming season. Per ESPN, the schools discussed "allowing cameras to document each program for a week."
Penn State subsequently released a statement saying it was "exploring the prospect" of working on the project. Nittany Lions coach James Franklin told reporters that it's "great" that Penn State is involved in the discussions.
[Join or create a 2019 Yahoo College Fantasy Football league for free today]
"It's great that we're in that conversation, but no decisions have been made at this time," Franklin said per PennLive.com. "As you can imagine, there's a lot that goes into it, not just with Penn State but with the Big Ten and a lot of other things factor into it. At this point, we haven't made a decision, but once we have all the details, we can make a decision at that point."
HBO has yet to make an announcement about the show. However, HBO camera crews were in Pullman filming WSU's practice on Friday.
Theo Lawson
@TheoLawson_SR
"Hard Knocks" has descended on #WSU. Sounds like a deal still hasn't been finalized, but all signs are pointing to the HBO program featuring the Cougars this fall.
View image on TwitterView image on TwitterView image on Twitter
352
7:24 PM - Aug 16, 2019
Twitter Ads info and privacy
86 people are talking about this
WSU head coach Mike Leach said he told his team to do their best to ignore the cameras.
"It's alright. Just ignore them," Leach said. "They want a genuine look and we're not going to get our work done unless we effectively ignore one another. So it seemed like it worked pretty good for both sides."
If Leach is involved, it will definitely be must-see TV.
