The Seattle Times’ Bud Withers tracked down UTEP head coach Mike Price to get his thoughts on the Sports Illustrated article centering on agent contact involving members of his Washington State teams in the 1990s. Price said he knew nothing of players receiving compensation from Josh Luchs, the agent in question, and wondered why fringe talent would receive benefits from Luchs.
“I find that very, very hard to believe. Ryan (Leaf) was never really courted by anybody that wasn’t very, very responsible and a top-notch agent.
“And those other guys (Bender excluded), they weren’t that highly draftable. It’s news to me.”
Withers also gets ahold of Drew Bledsoe’s father, though Bledsoe was not named in the report. His father makes clear that he was the one that handled Bledsoe’s matters and there was never any impropriety.