SEATTLE — On a farm outside Waco, Texas, Kolt Dieterich grew up helping his dad tend to their crop of corn, wheat and cotton, and, for a time, some cattle.
“I’ve pretty much sat in a tractor every summer since I was, like, 12 or 13,” Dieterich said after Washington’s Friday practice.
That was his favorite part about the chores — driving the tractor and “sitting in the AC,” of course — though in hindsight the fourth-year offensive lineman can identify a practical application.
“It kind of sounds dumb, but my dad was like my coach, right? He was the one telling me what to do and when I could do it,” Dieterich said. “Just learning to take orders from somebody at a young age, I think, put me in a good position to be coachable and learn things.”
Like playing center, perhaps even as Washington’s starter in its season opener.