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Aaron BestHead Coach2018 BSC COACH OF THE YEAR & FCS COACH OF

THE YEAR (Hero Sports Fan Vote)

• 3rd Season as Head Coach at EWU in 2018• 19th Season Overall as a Coach at EWU in 2018• 23rd Season as a Player/Coach at EWU in 2018• Eastern Washington ‘01

Aaron Best set some history in his first season as a head coach, but topped it in his second.

Best, who enters his 23rd season as a player or coach for the Eagles in 2019, was the Big Sky Confer-ence co-Coach of the Year in 2018 after guiding Eastern to a league co-championship and an appearance in the NCAA Division I Championship Game. He was also voted by fans nationwide as the NCAA Football Champi-onship Subdivision Coach of the Year by Hero Sports.

The Eagles, who finished 12-3 in Best’s second year at the helm, fell 38-24 to North Dakota State on Jan. 5, 2019, in Frisco, Texas, for the NCAA Division I Champi-onship. Eastern won the title in 2010 and NDSU has now won seven of the eight years since.

In two years at the helm, he has compiled a 19-7 record overall (73.1 percent) and 13-3 mark in the league (81.3 percent). Both percentages currently rank as the best in school history, just ahead of the Beau Baldwin with an 85-32 overall mark (72.6 percent) in nine seasons from 2008-16, and a 58-14 league record (80.6 percent).

Best is expected to be a fixture in Cheney, Wash., for several more years to come. The Eastern head

coach agreed to terms for a new two-year extension to his contract. The extension was announced on Jan. 10, 2019, and runs through 2024.

“I am certainly grateful and humbled at the oppor-tunity to be the head football coach for the foreseeable future,” said Best. “EWU and Cheney are special to our family.”

In his 22 seasons associated with the Eagle program, Best has been a part of teams who have won nine Big Sky Conference titles with a collective record of 120-51 (70.2 percent), have made 10 NCAA Football Champion-ship Subdivision Playoff appearances and have an overall record of 178-92 (65.9 percent) in more than two decades (1996-2006 and 2008-2018).

“We are thrilled to be able to provide Aaron this exten-sion and keep him at Eastern for years to come,” said Eastern Director of Athletics Lynn Hickey. “We appreciate his leadership and success of our football program, and Eagle Nation was excited to see the 2018 season end in Frisco, Texas, at the championship game. We know Aaron has big expectations for the future and we are anxious to see how that unfolds.”

Eastern annually leads the Big Sky Conference in Academic All-Conference honors won. Eastern’s football players combined for a 3.07 grade point average in the 2018 fall quarter, and the team has a 3.15 accumulative GPA overall. The program is also extremely active in the community as well.

“This is home for our family and with the support of our administration -- Dr. Cullinan, Mary Voves, and Lynn Hickey -- we will continue to compete in pushing the academic standard along with competing for champion-ships on the field as well,” Best added. “Eagle Nation can be assured we will continue to have high expectations of our program as a staff. We thank everybody involved for this continued opportunity.”

March to National Championship Game Results in Big Honors . . .

With a late push of votes from Eagle Nation, Best was declared by Hero Sports as the FCS Coach of the Year in voting which concluded Dec. 21, 2018. Best received nearly 40 percent of the total votes cast, with a total of 2,078 to out-distance North Dakota State’s Chris Klieman with 1,127.

Eastern advanced to the NCAA Division I Champion-ship Game in Frisco, Texas, with a 50-19 win over Maine in the semifinals on Dec. 15.

Prior to that, Best was selected on Nov. 21, 2018, as the Big Sky Conference co-Coach of the Year as selected by his peers in the league. Best guided Eastern to a 9-2 regular season record overall and 7-1 mark in the Big Sky to share the league title with UC Davis and Weber State.

“This has everything to do with the people we are surrounded with daily, and the resources available to us,” said Best, who became the fifth different Eastern football head coach to win the honor. “I can’t be happier for our 10 assistants and the people behind the scenes who are able to make the days happy and productive. You are only as good as your staff members and your supporting cast.”

Beau Baldwin, Paul Wulff, Mike Kramer and Dick Zornes are the four coaches who came before him, and all were honored at least once. Best played for Kramer, who won in 1997, and then served as an assistant coach under Paul Wulff (2001, 2004, 2005) and Beau Baldwin (2012, 2013).

“I’m happy and thrilled for Aaron,” said Baldwin, who left EWU after the 2016 season to become offensive coordinator at Cal. “He’s very deserving, and it’s amazing what he’s done after the change that occurred from 2016 to 2017 with the coaching staff. He still was able to do a great job in 2017 and back that up in 2018. It says a lot about his leadership and the guys 100 percent buying in.”

“To be mentioned in the same breath as Coach B, Coach Wulff, Coach Kramer and Coach Zornes, there are very few words to be able to describe that,” Best said. “I’ve never envisioned this. Obviously, you want your team to have success, and this is a coaching staff award that comes as a result.”

Wulff also won the honor in his second year at the helm, while Kramer won in his fourth. Best’s conference winning percentage of .813 is currently slightly better than Baldwin (.806), who won his first coach of the year honor in his fifth season at the helm. Overall, Best (.731) is just ahead of Baldwin (.726) and Dave Holmes

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BIG SKY CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1992•1997•2004•2005•2010•2012•2013•2014•2016•2018

EASTERN 2019 FOOTBALL

(.719), who coached five seasons from 1963-67. Zornes, who coached 15 seasons from 1979-93, won his honor in EWU’s sixth year in the league after joining the Big Sky in 1987. Zornes and Best are both graduates of Eastern as well.

“The award means a ton, but team awards and individual player awards trump the coach of the year award,” Best added. “It’s humbling to be recognized

by your peers in anything, but especially as intense as college football head coaching is. I’ve only found that out in two years.”

Best guided Eastern to a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Football Championships -- his first playoff appear-

ance as a head coach, but 10th overall. He was a player in 1997, then coached in 2004,

2005, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016 and now 2018. The Eagles won three

home playoff games to advance to the NCAA Division I Championship

Game on Jan. 5, 2019, in Frisco, Texas.

He has now been a part of 26 playoff games (17-9), with 23 as a coach (15-8) and three

as a player (2-1). He has been involved in 21 of those games at home (15-6), just three on the road (1-2) and was offensive coordinator and offensive line coach in 2010 when the Eagles won the NCAA Division I title with a 20-19 victory over Delaware on a neutral field in Frisco, Texas.

The Eagles set school records offensively for

total points (623) and most games of 50 points or more

(6, tied with the 2014 team), and defensively tied a school record with nine

games of allowing 20 points or fewer (also in 1997, 1981, 1964 and 1949). Amazingly, the Eagles did that without the services of a bevy of players lost because of injuries. In fact, EWU’s starting lineup from its second game of the season versus Northern Arizona was minus nine players -- three on offense and six on defense -- versus Maine in the semifinals of the FCS Playoffs.

“We are very proud of Coach Best for his leader-ship of our football program,” praised EWU Director of Athletics Lynn Hickey. “He is a person of impact with his students, on our campus as a whole, and within the entire Cheney/Spokane community. He is an outstanding coach with a tireless work ethic -- but most importantly is a really good person who stands by his values. He guided his staff and team through a lot of adversity due to injuries, but inspired them to move forward and leave no doubt that they were champions.”

What the Eagles accomplished in 2018 was not lost on Kramer himself, a former veteran coach in the Big Sky and now retired. Eastern lost All-America quarterback Gage Gubrud at mid-season, but went on a seven-game winning streak while out-scoring opponents 345-139 for an average score of 49-20 and a winning margin of 29.4 points.

“Aaron and his staff weathered the loss of one of the iconic players in Big Sky history,” said Kramer, who was also head coach at Montana State and Idaho State. “That is leadership. They never wavered.”

“It’s a sign of a very senior-laden team, and guys who don’t flinch because they’ve experienced a ton of rocks on the windshield along their journey,” explained Best. “It’s great to connect and integrate former Eagles with our current Eagles, and coach Kramer talked to our team last summer. We are all connected in some way and know how special this place is, and he told the team three words that I’ll never forget: ‘Take the Candy.’

He’s had some very special teams along the way, and he felt like a couple of those teams didn’t take the candy in terms of understanding how privileged they are, how well-equipped they are and how talented they are. Our team did that in 2018 – they did take the candy.”

Best himself is a product from the state of Washing-ton, and that has long been a trademark of the Eagle program as “Washington’s Team.” The Eagles had 105 players in their program in 2018, and 82 of them – 78 percent – were from the state of Washington. Eastern’s coaching staff was Washington-based as well, with eight of the team’s 11 full-time coaches (73 percent) hailing from the Evergreen State. Best is a 1996 graduate of Curtis High School in Tacoma, Wash., and shares the same alma mater with Eastern assistant Brian Strandley (1990).

Best made his head coaching debut versus Texas Tech in a 56-10 loss on Sept. 2, 2017 in Lubbock, Texas. It came versus the same team Baldwin made his EWU head coaching debut against back on Aug. 30, 2008, in a 49-24 Red Raider victory. Interestingly, Baldwin also graduated from Curtis, six years earlier than Best in 1990. Best was making his debut as Baldwin’s offensive line coach in that 2008 game.

“The thing I like the most about coach Best is that he is authentically going to do it his way,” added Baldwin. He’s not going to do it like anyone else before him. It’s what he believes in and it’s rubbing through. The team sees that and respects that. The team and staff bought into his vision and that’s why they were in the position at the end of the regular season at 9-2 and a No. 3 seed nationally. It’s all been earned, and I couldn’t be happier with the job he’s done since the moment he stepped in.”

Best started 22-straight games at center for Eastern in 1998 and 1999, earning honorable mention All-Big Sky honors as a junior and first team honors as a senior. He also earned honorable mention All-America honors his final season.

An outstanding student with a 3.3 grade point


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average, as a senior he was selected to the CoSIDA Academic All-District VIII team and was selected to the FCS Athletic Directors Academic All-Star Team. Twice he was selected to the Big Sky All-Academic team. He received his bachelor’s degree in social science from EWU in 2001.

He was Eastern’s long-snapper for four seasons and was a backup lineman in 1997 when Eastern led the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision in total offense (505.6 yards per game). That team finished 12-2 and advanced to the FCS “Final Four.” The Eagles were 30-17 in the four seasons Best played for EWU, and Eastern had a 1,000-yard rusher each year. In all, the Eagles have had a 1,000-yard rusher in 11 of the 21 seasons Best has been at EWU.

Best graduated in 1996 from Curtis High School in Tacoma, Wash., where he had a 3.75 grade point aver-age. He was co-captain his senior season as Curtis won the State AAA championship.

Best was born Jan. 27, 1978, in Tacoma, Wash. He and the former Kim Walker were married on July 15, 2007, in Everett, Wash. They have three children – one son, Tank (10), and two daughters, Tenli (9) and Texis (5).

First Season at the Helm Was Historic Too . . .

Best was named as EWU’s 21st head football coach on Jan. 21, 2017, and guided Eastern to a 7-4 overall record and 6-2 Big Sky finish later that fall. His debut season was even better than those of previous Eagle head coaches Beau Baldwin (6-5/5-3), Paul Wulff (6-5/5-

3) and Mike Kramer (4-7/2-5).Before taking over as head coach, Best spent 20

previous seasons since the fall of 1996 as a player and coach at Eastern. The previous nine seasons were spent as Eastern’s offensive line coach under former head coach Beau Baldwin. Best is just the second Eastern graduate to become EWU’s head football coach in more than 50 years.

In Best’s first year as head coach, he helped put the Eagles on the cusp of a postseason playoff berth and the league championship. But getting denied a berth in the FCS Playoffs by the selection committee only added fuel to the fire, and the Eagles adopted the theme “Leave No Doubt” for the 2018 campaign.

“A quarter of our 2018 team – 27 out of 105 – were seniors,” explained Best. “They got stung as juniors, and it’s a lot easier when you echo something when it’s heard and driven home by a quarter of the team. It truly helps when you have that type of veteran leadership on both sides of the ball. We learned from going 7-4 – we said we needed to get to eight to give us a better chance and leave no doubt. We exceeded those expectations in 2019.”

Besides coaching the offensive line as a full-time assistant for 14 of his first 16 seasons on the coaching staff, Best has also served in various coordinator positions, most recently as the team’s running game coordinator and as the program’s long-time aca-

demic coordinator. He was a student assistant coach in 2000 and a graduate assistant in 2001, then became the school’s primary offensive line coach from 2002-2006, and again from 2008-16.

Best is among the 20 offensive linemen who have earned All-America honors since 1996 when he first arrived on the Cheney campus. He himself and four teammates were All-Americans, then he had a hand in coaching the next 15. Those players have also combined for nine appearances in postseason all-star games, with many going on to professional careers.

The most recent All-American was center Spencer Blackburn, who was honored in 2018 and will return as a sixth-year senior in 2019. Most notable was Michael Roos, who went on to a 10-year career with the Tennes-see Titans in the National Football League. Two recent linemen were on NFL rosters in 2018 – Jake Rodgers (Baltimore Ravens) and Aaron Neary (Los Angeles Rams), with Clay DeBord (Dallas Cowboys) playing in the 2016 and 2017 seasons.

Roos became the highest NFL draft choice in school history when he was chosen in the second round – 41st overall – by the Tennessee Titans in 2005. A season-ending knee injury in 2014 led to his retirement from the NFL after 10 seasons. He credited Best in his retirement statement on Instagram on Feb. 26, 2015.

“I was very lucky to have the best offensive line coach possible in Aaron Best,” praised Roos, who had his

I think AB is the perfect hire for Eastern’s new head coach. He bleeds Eastern red and has given everything he has to the program. He’s the kind of coach that gets the most out of players, and respects and loves each one like a son. I don’t think it could have happened to a better man. It’s a testament to someone who puts hard work into his passion day-in and day-out and gets rewarded deservedly. I believe he will put his stamp on the team from the start they will play hard and smart because that’s the way he coaches. I know he’ll succeed and can’t wait for the season to come watch the Eagles play. Go Eags! – Michael Roos on the 2017 Hiring of Aaron Best

“

”

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jersey retired at EWU on Oct. 24, 2009. “He taught all of us the meaning of hard work and perseverance.”

With Best on the coaching staff, Eastern offensive linemen have won first team All-Big Sky Conference honors on 15 occasions. In all, in Best’s 22 seasons as an Eagle, EWU offensive linemen have won 21 first team All-BSC honors, 22 second team accolades, two third team honors and 32 honorable mentions.

Best is only the fifth head coach since 1979 for the Eagles, and the third since then who played collegiately as an offensive lineman. Dick Zornes, who is also an Eastern graduate, coached at EWU from 1979-93 before former Idaho offensive lineman Mike Kramer took over from 1994-99. Washington State offensive lineman Paul Wulff took over from 2000-2007 until Baldwin, a Central Washington graduate, took the reins in 2008.

Best is the first to admit the offensive line legacy started under Zornes, as well as offensive line coaches Larry Hattemer and Kramer. That tradition – including eventual NFL players Ed Simmons, Kevin Sargent, Jeff Mickel, Trent Pollard and Tom Ackerman – was a big reason Best chose to be an Eagle. His head coach at EWU for four seasons was Kramer, and his of-fensive line coach at EWU was Wulff, who subsequently hired Best.

“I wish I could have played directly for Dick Zornes – we would have been a tandem to be dealt with, so to speak,” Best said of EWU’s all-time coaching leader with 89 victories (Baldwin had 85). “He was the athletic director here at the time, and the first thing he asked Coach Wulff was, ‘you recruited this kid?’ From there our friendship blossomed. I appreciate and thank Paul Wulff wholeheartedly for giving me the opportunity to be a student-athlete here. Under his tutelage, I became an offensive line coach after I received my degree.”

In the last 15 seasons (2004-18) – 14 with Best on the coaching staff -- EWU has ranked in the top 10 in passing 12 times, in total offense on 11 occasions and scoring six times. In 2018, Eastern ended the season third in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision in total offense at 528.2 yards per game, 10th in rushing offense (255.9), 20th in passing (272.3) and fourth in scoring (43.1).

In 2016, Blackburn was a second team All-Big Sky selection and went on to earn sophomore All-America accolades, then was a second team all-league selection again in 2017 and 2018. Tristen Taylor earned honorable mention in 2016 and 2017, with Chris Schlichting and Caleb Levao also earning second team accolades in 2018. All four of those players return in 2019.

All-America skill players have captured the most headlines in recent years, as Eastern’s offense has a long history of being one of the best in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision. All the while, Best

was learning from Baldwin, who is now offensive coordinator at Cal.

“I thank Coach Baldwin immensely,” said Best. “I went to Curtis and Coach Baldwin went to Curtis, and people seem to think we graduated in the same class. Untrue – he is older. Before I worked for him, I rooted for him some 30 years ago.

“He’s done wonders for this university and football program. I’ve taken physical notes and mental notes – I couldn’t take enough and burned through a lot of paper because of all the things you can grasp from that man. I knew one day this would occur and Coach Baldwin would go a different direction, and I’m forever grateful for all he taught me and the time I spent with him. He’s not only a great football coach, but he’s a great family man, a great mentor and, even better, he’s a great friend.”

Best Had Challenging Task in 2016 After Losing Seven Seniors . . .

Eastern entered the 2016 season coming off a 6-5 finish in 2015, plus lost seven seniors to graduation. Five of them were starters, including a pair (Aaron Neary and Clay DeBord) who would eventually sign free agent con-tracts with NFL teams. Moreover, the lone senior in the 2016 season (senior center Jerrod Jones) was injured in EWU’s fourth game and missed the rest of the year. As a result, Eastern moved a defensive lineman (Jakob Stoll) to the offensive line, as well as a tight end (Beau Byus), who caught a game-winning catch on a fake field goal earlier in the season.

But the results were nothing short of astonishing, as EWU finished 12-2 overall and a perfect 8-0 in the Big Sky with Best serving as running game coordinator for the third season. With three sophomores and a pair of redshirt freshman starting most of the season, the Eagles allowed just 24 sacks in 14 games, and the offense set seven Big Sky Conference team records and a total of nine school records. Eastern finished the year ranked second in FCS in total offense with an average of 529.6 yards per game and was the FCS leader in passing offense (401.0 yards per game). Eastern was also third in scoring offense (42.4).

Spencer Blackburn, who was Jones’ backup in the first four games, ended up earning second team All-Big Sky honors and was selected to the sophomore-only All-America squad. Sophomore tackle Nick Ellison and freshman redshirt tackle Tristen Taylor both earned All-Big Sky honorable mention honors.

Eastern’s offense in 2015 led FCS in passing offense with an average of 353.3 yards per game, and was eighth in total offense (478.5). Three of his offensive linemen were honored on the All-Big Sky Conference team, including first team selections Aaron Neary (guard) and Clay DeBord (tackle) and honorable mention choice Thomas Gomez (guard). DeBord finished his career with a school-record 51 games started, and both he and Neary were selected to play in the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) Collegiate Bowl. They eventually signed free agent contracts in the NFL with Arizona (DeBord, who later was with the Dallas Cowboys) and Denver (Neary, who later joined the Los


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Angeles Rams), and both earned several All-America honors.

The 2014 season – the first with Best as running game coordinator -- was punctuated by a high-scoring offense for the Eagles, who broke school and Big Sky records with 618 points and 84 touchdowns. The Eagles established a school record for average points per game with a mark of 44.1 to rank first in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision. En route to finishing 11-3 overall and winning the outright league title at 7-1, EWU also ranked third in FCS in total offense (513.4) and second in passing offense (328.6).

His offensive line in 2014 featured consensus All-American Jake Rodgers, who was eventually drafted in the seventh round of the NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons. Neary also earned All-America recognition and joined Rodgers on the All-Big Sky first team list, while two other Eagles (DeBord and center Jase Butorac) earned honorable mention.

In 2013 in his fifth season as offensive coordinator, EWU led the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision in passing efficiency (school record 182.6), and was fourth in total offense (533.5 per game), fourth in passing (349.8), 41st in rushing (183.7) and seventh in scoring (39.5). The Eagles finished 12-3 and advanced to the semifinals of the FCS Playoffs for the third time in four seasons after finishing with the school’s first-ever unde-feated Big Sky Conference season at 8-0. Center Ashton Miller, quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. and wide receiver Cooper Kupp earned All-America honors for the Eagles. Other offensive linemen earning All-Big Sky honors included guards Steven Forgette and Brandon Murphy, and tackles Clay DeBord and Cassidy Curtis. That group allowed 27 sacks in 15 games – 1.8 per game and just one for every 13.0 pass attempts.

In 2012, Eastern’s offense ranked seventh in the FCS with an average of 318.9 passing yards per game, and was also 14th in total offense (442.0) and 17th in scoring offense (33.7). The Eagles featured All-America offensive linemen Will Post and Forgette, and All-America wide receiver Brandon Kaufman. Eastern finished 12-2 and shared the league title with Cal Poly and Montana State.

In 2011, the Eagles ranked first in the FCS in passing with an aver-age of 368.5 per game, and were sixth overall in total offense (447.4) and 22nd in scoring (32.4). The of-fense featured four All-Americans, including center Chris Powers, quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell and wide receivers Nicholas Edwards and Greg Herd. Mitchell won the Walter Payton Award given by The Sports Network to the top player in the FCS.

However, Best’s job as of-fensive line coach in 2011 was made significantly harder when a trio of starters were lost early in the season because of injuries, as well as three starts missed by Powers. In all, 10 players started along the offensive line – including a con-verted tight end and a converted defensive lineman – and only one offensive lineman (senior Gabriel Jackson) started all 11 games. Powers was a first team All-Big

Sky Conference selection in 2011, and Jackson and Post earned honorable mention.

During EWU’s 2010 NCAA Division I championship season, Best helped Eastern’s offense rank 22nd in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision in yards per game (397.1) and 18th in scoring (31.5). The Eagle offense featured a trio of All-Americans, including running back Taiwan Jones, Kaufman and Powers.

Four of the offensive linemen he coached earned All-Big Sky honors – Powers (first team), Jackson (second team), senior guard Nikolai Myers (honorable mention) and Forgette (honorable mention). Eastern quarterbacks were sacked only 24 times, including just seven times in four playoff games.

In 2009, his first season as offensive coordinator, the Eagles finished ranked in the top 10 in four offensive categories in the FCS, including passing (3rd, 321.3), total offense (4th, 462.2), scoring (8th, 33.7) and passing efficiency (4th, 154.5). Senior quarterback Matt Nichols, senior tight end Nathan Overbay and Jones all won All-

America honors and first team All-Big Sky honors.He coached a trio of All-Big Sky Conference offensive

linemen in 2009 – senior tackle Chris Thomas, senior guard Ryan Forney and Powers – who all earned honor-able mention accolades. In 2008, three earned honorable mention as senior center Charlie Wulff was joined by Thomas and sophomore tackle Brice Leahy.

Best spent the 2007 season as an offensive line spe-cialist for the Toronto Argonauts in the Canadian Football League. Best helped the Argonauts win the Eastern Divi-sion championship with an 11-7 record before losing in the first round of the playoffs. Although Toronto was last in the league in total offense, Best’s offensive line ranked third in fewest sacks allowed with 40. Eastern Hall of Fame member Bill Diedrick Jr., was also an offensive coach for the Argonauts.

Best was a guest coach at Toronto’s training camp in May 2007, and then was asked to return as a full-time coach in July. In 2006, he attended the Calgary Stampeders training camp as a guest coach to offensive coordinator Steve Buratto, who graduated from the University of Idaho and spent the 2007 season coaching in Toronto.

Best Serves Seven Seasons Under Head Coach Paul Wulff . . .

In his previous seven-year stint at Eastern from 2000-2006, Best had the opportunity to coach two All-Ameri-cans in the 2004 season and another in 2005. He was the school’s primary offensive line coach from 2002-2006 after previously helping coach that unit as a graduate assistant in 2001 and as a student assistant in 2000.

Matt Alfred earned All-America honors in 2005, and he was recognized on the All-Big Sky squad along with Kraig Sigler and Rocky Hanni. All five of Eastern’s starting offensive linemen earned All-Big Sky Conference honors in 2004, including first team selections Michael Roos and Rocky Hanni. Both players went on to earn All-America honors, with Roos also being selected as the Lineman of the Year by I-AA.Org.

Roos played in the Senior Bowl and the East-West Shrine Game, and was invited to the NFL Scouting Combine. He became the highest NFL draft choice in school history when he was chosen in the second round

Representing 31 years as head coaches at EWU are (from left) Mike Kramer (1994-99), Dick Zornes (1979-93), Aaron Best (2017-present) and Paul Wulff (2000-2007).

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– 41st overall – by the Tennessee Titans in 2005.

Roos started every football game he played from 2002-14, and that streak ended at 226 after Roos suffered a knee injury on Oct. 5, 2014, and subsequently retired. He started 190 of a possible 190 games he could play in until an appendicitis attack and subsequent surgery in October 2012. His 191 starts as a Titan included two AFC playoff games, 148 regular season games, 40 pre-season contests and as a starter in his first-ever Pro Bowl on Feb. 8, 2009. In his last 13 seasons as a football player, Roos started every game he played. His last 35 starts were at EWU from 2002-04 when he originally became an offensive lineman.

Eastern’s offensive lines helped the Eagles rank fourth in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision in total offense in both 2004 and 2005. In 2005, the Eagles averaged 477.8 yards per game, and were 13th in scoring (35.0). A year earlier, the Eagles averaged 475.5 yards and 37.5 points per game to rank sixth.

In 2003, Eastern averaged 380.0 yards per game and ranked 21st in the FCS in passing offense (247.3). In 2002, the Eagles finished third nationally in passing offense (317.6) and were sixth in total of-fense (447.6), a year after leading the FCS in total offense (514.5) and scoring (41.9) in 2001.

Aaron Best’s Coaching CareerYear School Coaching Assignment Head Coach Record/Big Sky2018 Eastern Wash. Head Coach @12-3/7-1 (1st)2017 Eastern Wash. Head Coach 7-4/6-2 (t-3rd)Totals as Head Coach (2 seasons) 19-7 (.731)/13-3 (.813)

2016 Eastern Wash. Run. Game Coord./OL/Acad. Beau Baldwin <12-2/8-02015 Eastern Wash. Run. Game Coord./OL/Acad. Beau Baldwin 6-5/5-32014 Eastern Wash. Run. Game Coord./OL/Acad. Beau Baldwin >11-3/7-12013 Eastern Wash. Off. Coord./OL Coach/Acad. Beau Baldwin =12-3/8-02012 Eastern Wash. Off. Coord./OL Coach/Acad. Beau Baldwin $11-3/7-12011 Eastern Wash. Off. Coord./OL Coach/Acad. Beau Baldwin 6-5/5-32010 Eastern Wash. Off. Coord./OL Coach/Acad. Beau Baldwin +13-2/7-12009 Eastern Wash. Off. Coord./OL Coach/Acad. Beau Baldwin *8-4/6-22008 Eastern Wash. Offensive Line Coach Beau Baldwin 6-5/5-3Totals as O-Line Coach Under Beau Baldwin (9 seasons) 85-32 (.726)/58-14 (.806)

2007 Toronto Argonauts Offensive Line Coach Michael Clemons 11-8

2006 Eastern Wash. Offensive Line Coach Paul Wulff 3-8/3-52005 Eastern Wash. Offensive Line Coach Paul Wulff &7-5/5-22004 Eastern Wash. Offensive Line Coach Paul Wulff ~9-4/6-12003 Eastern Wash. Offensive Line Coach Paul Wulff 6-5/3-42002 Eastern Wash. Offensive Line Coach Paul Wulff 6-5/3-42001 Eastern Wash. Graduate Assistant Coach Paul Wulff 7-4/3-42000 Eastern Wash. Student Assistant Coach Paul Wulff 6-5/5-3Totals as EWU Coach Under Paul Wulff (7 seasons) 44-36 (.550)/28-23 (.549)

Totals as Collegiate Coach at Eastern (18 seasons) 148-75 (.664)/99-40 (.712)

@NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Runner-Up (Defeated Nicholls 42-21, defeated UC Davis 34-29, defeated Maine 50-19, lost to North Dakota State 32-24); Big Sky Conference Champions.

< NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs (Defeated Central Arkansas 31-14, defeated Richmond 38-0, lost to Youngstown State 40-38); Big Sky Conference Champions.

> NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs (Defeated Montana 37-20, lost to Illinois State 59-46); Big Sky Conference Champions.

= NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs (Defeated South Dakota State 41-17, defeated Jacksonville State 35-24, lost to Towson 35-31); Big Sky Conference Champions.

$NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs (Defeated Wagner 29-19, defeated Illinois State 51-35, lost to Sam Houston State 45-52); Big Sky Conference Champions.

+NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Champion (Defeated Southeast Missouri State 37-17, defeated North Dakota State 38-31 in overtime, defeated Villanova 41-31, defeated Delaware 20-19); Big Sky Conference Champions.

*NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs (Lost to Stephen F. Austin 44-33); &NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs (Lost to Northern Iowa 41-38); Big Sky Confer-

ence Champions~NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs (Defeated Southern Illinois 35-31, lost to Sam

Houston State 35-34); Big Sky Conference Champions! Won Eastern Division Championship in the Canadian Football League and advanced to the playoffs

(Lost to Winnipeg 19-9 in East Final)

Playing Career at Eastern Wash. 1996 - 6-5/4-4 Big Sky - Backup Center & Long Snapper1997 - #12-2/7-1 Big Sky - Backup Center & Long Snapper1998 - 5-6/4-4 - Starting Center (11 games) - Honorable Mention All-Big Sky 1999 - 7-4/6-2 - Starting Center (11 games) - Honorable Mention All-Amer-

ica; First Team All-Big Sky; Big Sky All-Academic; CoSIDA All-District VIII; FCS Athletic Directors Academic All-Star Team

Record as a Player (all under head coach Mike Kramer): 30-17 (.638)/21-11 (.656)

Totals as a Player and EWU Coach (22 seasons): 178-91 (.659)/120-51 (.702).

#NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs (Defeated Northwestern State 40-10, defeated Western Kentucky 38-21, lost to Youngstown State 25-14); Big Sky Conference Champions.

Education Bachelor’s degree in social science, Eastern Wash. University, 2001Graduate of Curtis High School in Tacoma, Wash., 1996


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EWU Offensive Line Legacy With Aaron Best as an Eagle (1996-2006, 2008-Present) . . .

BOWL/ALL-STAR GAMES2015 (2016 NFLPA Collegiate Bowl) - Clay DeBord, T2015 (2016 NFLPA Collegiate Bowl) - Aaron Neary, G2014 (2015 NFLPA Collegiate Bowl) - Jake Rodgers, T2004 (2005 Senior Bowl) - Michael Roos, Tackle2004 (2005 East West Shrine Game) - Michael Roos, T2003 (2003 Blue-Gray Classic) - Kurt Sigler, Tackle2003 (2003 The Villages Classic) - Kurt Sigler, Tackle2001 (2002 Paradise Bowl) - Chris Polinder, Center2001 (2002 Paradise Bowl) - David Sherrod, Tackle

ALL-AMERICA FIRST TEAM2015 - Clay DeBord, Tackle2014 - Jake Rodgers, OffensiveTackle2013 - Ashton Miller, Center2012 - Will Post, Tackle2011 - Chris Powers, Center2010 - Chris Powers, Center2005 - Matt Alfred, Guard2004 - Michael Roos, Tackle2001 - Chris Polinder, Center1999 - Lance Knaevelsrud, Tackle1997 - Jim Buzzard, Tackle1997 - Kevin Peterson, Center

ALL-AMERICA SECOND TEAM2018 - Spencer Blackburn, Center2015 - Clay DeBord, Tackle2015 - Aaron Neary, Guard2014 - Aaron Neary, Guard2014 - Jake Rodgers, Tackle2013 - Ashton Miller, Center2012 - Will Post, Tackle2011 - Chris Powers, Center2005 - Matt Alfred, Guard2004 - Michael Roos, Tackle1999 - Lance Knaevelsrud, Tackle1997 - Kevin Peterson, Center

ALL-AMERICA THIRD TEAM2018 - Spencer Blackburn, Center2011 - Chris Powers, Center 2010 - Chris Powers, Center2004 - Rocky Hanni, Guard1996 - Jim Buzzard, Guard

ALL-AMERICA HON. MENTION2015 - Aaron Neary, Guard2012 - Steven Forgette, Guard2011 - Chris Powers, Center2001 - Chris Polinder, Center2001 - Asim Poston, Guard2001 - David Sherrod, Tackle2000 - Luke Fritz, Lineman1999 - Aaron Best, Center1998 - T.J. Ackerman, Tackle1996 - Jim Buzzard, Guard

FIRST TEAM All-BIG SKY2015 - Aaron Neary, Guard; Clay DeBord, Tackle2014 - Aaron Neary, Guard; Jake Rodgers, Tackle2013 - Ashton Miller, Center2012 - Will Post, Tackle2011 - Chris Powers, Center2010 - Chris Powers, Center2005 - Matt Alfred, Guard2004 - Rocky Hanni, Guard; Michael Roos, Tackle2001 - Chris Polinder, Center; Asim Poston, Guard;

David Sherrod, Tackle2000 - Luke Fritz, Tackle1999 - Aaron Best, Center; Lance Knaevelsrud, Tackle1998 - T.J. Ackerman, Tackle1997 - Jim Buzzard, Tackle; Kevin Peterson, Center1996 - Jim Buzzard, Guard

SECOND TEAM ALL-BIG SKY2018 - Spencer Blackburn, Center2018 - Kaleb Levao, Guard2018 - Chris Schlichting, Tackle2017 - Spencer Blackburn, Center2016 - Spencer Blackburn, Center

2013 - Steven Forgette, Guard; Clay DeBord, Tackle2012 - Steven Forgette, Guard2010 - Gabriel Jackson, Tackle2006 - Matt Alfred, Guard; Rocky Hanni, Tackle.2005 - Kraig Sigler, Center2004 - Matt Alfred, Guard; Kraig Sigler, Center2003 - Kurt Sigler, Tackle; Jeff Christiansen, Guard2002 - Kurt Sigler, Tackle2000 - Chris Polinder, Center.1999 - Luke Fritz, Guard1997 - John Kane, Guard; Lance Knaevelsrud, Tackle.1996 - Aaron Barfield, Tackle

THIRD TEAM ALL-BIG SKY2018 - Jack Hunter, Guard2018 - Beau Byus, Tackle

HONORABLE MENTION ALL-BIG SKY2017 - Tristen Taylor, Tackle2016 - Tristen Taylor, Tackle; Nick Ellison, Tackle2015 - Thomas Gomez, Guard.2014 - Clay DeBord, Tackle; Jase Butorac - Center2013 - Cassidy Curtis, Tackle; Brandon Murphy, Guard2012 - Ashton Miller, Center2011 - Gabriel Jackson, Tackle; Will Post, Tackle2010 - Steven Forgette, Guard; Nikolai Myers, Guard2009 - Chris Powers, Center; Ryan Forney, Guard;

Chris Thomas, Tackle2008 - Charlie Wulff, Center; Brice Leahy, Tackle; Chris

Thomas, Tackle2006 - Zach Wasielewski, Tackle2005 - Rocky Hanni, Guard2004 - Paul Terrell, Tackle2003 - Michael Roos, Tackle2002 - Michael Roos, Tackle; Brandon Bouge, Center2001 - Robert Horal, Guard1999 - Scott Johnson, Tackle1998 - Aaron Best, Center; Luke Fritz, Guard; Aaron

White, Guard.1997 - T.J. Ackerman, Guard1996 - Kevin Peterson, Center

AARON BEST with former Eastern offensive linemen JEFF CHRISTIANSEN (far left), MICHAEL ROOS (second from right) and PAUL TERRELL (far right).

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Eti EnaAssociate Head Coach/Defensive Front Coordinator/Defensive Ends4th SeasonEastern Washington ‘05

Eti Ena, a 2005 graduate of EWU, enters his first season as defensive coordinator for

the Eagles in the 2019 season. He returned to his alma mater in the 2016 season to become Eastern’s new defensive front coordinator and to join with Brian Strandley in coaching the defensive line.

Ena also became associate head coach in 2017 when Aaron Best took over as head coach. Ena came to Eastern from Cal Poly where he coached the defensive line from 2013-15, and prior to that spent four seasons (2009-12) as defensive line coach at the University of Idaho.

Four of the players he and Strandley coached on the defensive line earned All-Big Sky Conference honors for the Eagles in 2018, including All-American and Big Sky Conference Defensive MVP Jay-Tee Tiuli. Also honored were first team defensive end Keenan Williams, second team defensive end Mitchell Johnson and honorable mention defensive tackle Dylan Ledbetter. Johnson, who earned first team Freshman All-America honors, will join Ledbetter among the 24 players expected to play in 2019 as returning letterwinners on defense.

A year after allowing 33.4 points per game, the Eagles allowed just 22.7 in 2018 for the team’s best performance since 1997. That season, on their way to a semifinal appearance in the FCS Playoffs (then I-AA), Eastern allowed just 17.4 points per game. Eastern’s nine games of allowing 20 points for fewer in 2018 equals the school record also set in 1997, 1981, 1964 and 1949.

Eastern led FCS with six defensive touchdowns, was second in turnovers gained with 34 and third with 22 interceptions. The Eagles ranked 16th overall in turnover margin (34 takeaways, 24 giveaways, +0.67 per game). Eastern set a school record with 70 passes broken up, breaking the previous record of 67 set in the 2010 season.

Eastern’s defense was particularly impressive during league play, with EWU allowing only 135 points for a league-leading 16.9 average per game – with seven of those points coming on a punt return touchdown. Included was an 89:52 stretch of not allowing a point, spanning two games. The school record for fewest average points in a Big Sky season came in 1992 when the Eagles surrendered just 16.4 per game (115 total) in seven league games (6-1

record). In eight league games, Eastern allowed the fewest points per game (16.9) while ranking second in total defense (346.6), second in passing defense (185.4) and second in rushing defense (161.2).

Eastern’s defensive highlights in 2017 came in road victories over Fordham (56-21) and North Dakota (21-14). Eastern›s defense held Fordham to just 217 yards total and 1-of-17 on third down, and EWU recorded 11 three-and-outs. Ten Eagles combined for a school-record 10 sacks as the Rams finished with just 26 net yards rushing. Versus the Fighting Hawks, the Eagles held UND to a net 103 yards rushing and an average of 3.3 per rush. The Eagles had a 191-29 advantage in total offense in the second quarter when EWU out-scored UND 14-0.

Among the defensive linemen Ena and Strandley coached in 2017 was second team All-Big Sky Conference selection Albert Havili. He finished his career with 199 total tackles and 12 sacks in 53 games played, then signed with the Los Angeles Chargers in the NFL.

In Ena’s first season as Eastern, they helped coach first team All-Big Sky Conference selection and All-American defensive end Samson Ebukam, as well as first team defensive tackle Jay-Tee Tiuli. Ebukam went on to play significantly for the Los Angeles Rams as a rookie in 201 and was a starter in 2018 in helping the Rams to the Super Bowl..

Eastern’s defense in 2016 allowed only 24.4 points per game (second-best in the league) during its 8-0 Big Sky Conference season

after allowing 40.7 against three challenging non-conference opponents. A year after allowing 57 points in a 41-point setback to Montana, the Eagle defense allowed just 16 in the rematch on Oct. 29 at Roos Field in EWU’s 35-16 victory. The 16 points for the Griz was their lowest total in the last 33 games in the series dating back 32 years to a 14-14 tie in 1984.

In their last seven victories of the season, the defense allowed just 113 points (16.1 per game). That seven-game stretch was Eastern’s best since the 1997 team allowed only 105 in its first seven games of the season. In a 38-0 victory over Richmond in the quarterfinals of the FCS Playoffs, Eastern’s defense recorded its first shutout in 102 games (since 2009), and the 205 yards Richmond had were the fewest EWU had surrendered in its last 28 outings.

Ena graduated from EWU in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in physical education after serving as a student assistant for three seasons from 2003-05 under then-head coach Paul Wulff. Former Eagle head coach Beau Baldwin was offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Eastern during Ena’s three seasons at EWU.

In his first year at Eastern in 2003, Ena helped coach linebackers. In the last two – both resulting in Big Sky Conference titles for the Eagles -- he assisted along the


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defensive line.In his first season at Cal Poly, Ena coached defensive tackle

Sullivan Grosz, who earned eight All-America honors and was named co-Defensive Player of the Year in the Big Sky Conference, and later signed with the Houston Texans.

At Idaho, Ena coached three defensive linemen who signed with National Football League teams -- Aaron Lavarias (New England Patriots), Michael Cosgrove (Detroit Lions) and Benson Mayowa (Seattle Seahawks, now with the Arizona Cardinals).

Ena’s coaching career began at Shelton (Wash.) High School, where he was an assistant coach in 1997 and 1998, serving as the varsity linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator.

Ena then served three seasons (2006-08) at Eastern Oregon, where he was the Mountaineers’ defensive coordinator, linebackers coach and strength and conditioning coordinator in 2006 and 2007. He served as assistant head coach, defensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator in 2008.

Ena played linebacker at Utah’s Snow College and Walla Walla (Wash.) Community College before transferring to Eastern Washington. A shoulder injury prior to his junior year ended his playing career. He is a 1992 graduate of Inchelium (Wash.) High School and helped lead his team to the State 1B football title as a senior.

Ena and his wife, Latona, have three daughters, Corey (26), Moia (22) and Fuamai (19), and one son, Eti Jr. (16). His cousin, Paul Ena, was a two-time All-Big Sky defensive end for EWU from 2009-12. Eti’s uncle and Paul’s father, Tali Ena, was a standout running back at WSU (1976-79) and went on to play for the Seattle Seahawks.

His younger brother, Justin, played at BYU and played four years in the NFL after signing a free agent contract with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2002. Justin is now defensive coordinator at Utah State after spending four previous seasons at Utah. Another brother, Packy, is a high school coach at Kapolei High School in Hawaii and formerly played at Oregon State.

His name is pronounced “eh-tee” “en-nuh.”

Ian ShoemakerOffensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks1st SeasonGrinnell College, Iowa, ‘96

Former Central Washington University head coach Ian Shoemaker was announced as EWU’s new offensive coordinator and quarter-backs coach by Eagle head coach Aaron Best

on Feb. 25, 2019.Shoemaker was CWU’s head coach for the past five seasons,

compiling a 38-16 record and winning Great Northwest Athletic Con-ference championships in 2017 and 2018. In those 54 games, Central averaged 37.3 points per game and 447.3 yards of total offense.

“We are very fortunate and excited to bring a coach of Ian’s caliber into our program,” said Best. “He has a proven track record at multiple levels of football and we are privileged to get him on board.

His Washington roots, head coaching experience, and entire knowl-edge of the game are all great additions to our program, and allows us to continue to Advance The Standard.”

“I am very excited to be coming to EWU as offensive coordinator,” Shoemaker said. “From growing up in the state of Washington to hav-ing a younger brother play for the Eagles (Javid Shoemaker), I have always considered EWU as an elite university and football program. I am so proud that Coach Best trusts me to do this job and look forward to working with the great coaching staff and players already in Cheney.”

In the 2018 season, the Wildcats opened the year by falling to Eastern 58-13, but won eight of their next nine. The Wildcats finished as the co-champions in the GNAC with Azusa Pacific, which beat the Wildcats 42-35 to end the regular season. Azusa Pacific was selected for the NCAA Division II Playoffs, as CWU finished 8-3 overall and 7-1 in the GNAC.

Shoemaker’s quarterback the past two seasons was former Eagle Reilly Hennessey. He earned unanimous first team All-GNAC honors in 2018 and was the GNAC Offensive Player of the Year. Hennessey threw for 2,705 yards and 21 touchdowns. The senior signal caller added another 477 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground. Hen-nessey was named the GNAC Newcomer of the Year in 2017, as well as being a first team All-GNAC selection.

Central’s offense finished fourth in Division II in scoring (47.7 points per game) and was second in total offense (540.9). The Wild-cats ranked 10th in rushing at 272.64 yards per game, and had two 1,000-yard rushers. A total of 11 players earned first team All-GNAC accolades for the Wildcats in 2018.

In 2017, the Wildcats were 11-1 on the season and 8-0 in GNAC play, and advanced to the NCAA Division II Playoffs. Shoemaker was selected as the 2017 Don Hansen Super Region 3 Coach of the Year, GNAC Coach of the year, and placed seven players on all-region squads.

“I have loved my time at CWU and have made great friendships and memories,” Shoemaker added when he was hired. “I look forward to making that same type of personal investment in EWU and the community of Cheney.”

Shoemaker and his coaching staff produced eight all-Americans in defensive back Isaiah Davis (2014), defensive lineman Tovar Sanchez (2014), wide out and returner Jesse Zalk (2015), linebacker Kevin Haynes (2016, 2017), tight end Kyle Self (2017), defensive back Tyler Hasty (2017), defensive lineman Bo Banner (2017) and offensive lineman James Moore (2017, 2018). In addition, both Sanchez and Haynes were named GNAC Defensive Lineman and Defensive Player of the Year, respectively.

A native of Graham, Wash., Shoemaker graduated from Ort-ing High School. The 1996 Grinnell College (Iowa) graduate was a four-year starter in both football and baseball, and earned a degree in psychology. He was the school’s most valuable player and offensive back of the year in football, and set school records for home runs in a season and career in baseball.

From Grinnell, Shoemaker continued his studies in sport psy-chology at Western Washington University. Shoemaker began his coaching career as a graduate assistant for the Vikings from 1997-99, coaching the tight ends and running backs. Shoemaker then went

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to University of Saint Mary in Leavenworth, Kan., as the offensive coordinator. From 2000-2003, he was the passing game coordinator at Minot State University in North Dakota.

Shoemaker’s first NCAA coaching job was as assistant head coach and offensive coordinator at Kenyon College in Gambier (OH) for three seasons, followed by a two-year stint as offensive coordina-tor at Baldwin Wallace College (OH) from 2006-08.

Shoemaker’s brother, Javid, played safety for Eastern Washington from 2001-04 after graduating from Bethel High School in Graham, Wash., in 2000.

Josh FetterLinebackers/High School Relations9th SeasonIdaho ‘96

With lots of ties regionally, Josh Fetter enters his ninth season as coach of Eastern’s linebackers. He also serves as director of high school relations (since 2017) after previously

serving as the team’s liaison with professional teams.In 2018, the Eagles finished 12-3 overall and 7-1 in the Big Sky

Conference to share the league title with Weber State and UC Davis. The Eagles won their last four games of the regular season, then hosted three fellow conference champions in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs – knocking off Nicholls, UC Davis and Maine to advance to the NCAA Division I Championship Game versus North Dakota State.

The Eagle defense allowed just 22.7 points per game in 2018 for the team’s best performance since 1997 and a mark which ranked 27th nationally. Eastern’s nine games of allowing 20 points for fewer in 2018 equals the school record also set in 1997, 1981, 1964 and 1949. Eastern led FCS with six defensive touchdowns and was second in turnovers gained with 34. Eastern also was third with 22 in-terceptions and ranked 16th overall in turnover margin (34 takeaways, 24 giveaways, +0.67 per game). Eastern set a school record with 70 passes broken up, breaking the previous record of 67 set in the 2010 season. Eastern’s defense was particularly impressive during league play, with EWU allowing only 135 points for a league-leading

16.9 average per game – with seven of those points coming on a punt return touchdown.

Senior linebacker Ketner Kupp and sophomore linebacker Chris Ojoh each had 11 tackles in the NCAA Division I Championship Game. Kupp earned second team All-Big Sky honors and finished his career with 10 career games in double figures in tackles and a total of 267 to rank 14th in school history. His team-leading 115 tackles in 2018 ranks as the 13th-most in school history.

Ojoh had a sack versus North Dakota State and finished the sea-son with 105 tackles to rank 27th all-time at EWU. Another linebacker in 2018, Kurt Calhoun, finished with 173 career tackles and five sacks, but his season and career were cut short because of an injury that forced him to miss the final seven games.

Eastern’s defensive highlights in 2017 came in road victories over Fordham (56-21) and North Dakota (21-14). Eastern’s defense held Fordham to just 217 yards total and 1-of-17 on third down, and EWU recorded 11 three-and-outs. Ten Eagles combined for a school-record 10 sacks as the Rams finished with just 26 net yards rushing. Versus the Fighting Hawks, the Eagles held UND to a net 103 yards rushing and an average of 3.3 per rush. The Eagles had a 191-29 advantage in total offense in the second quarter when EWU out-scored UND 14-0.

Fetter coached Miquiyah Zamora to first team All-Big Sky Confer-ence honors in 2016 during a breakthrough season for Eastern’s defense. After becoming just the second player in school history to have at least 100 tackles in three separate seasons, Zamora finished his career with 366 tackles to rank fourth all-time at EWU. He played in 52 games as an Eagle, including 45 as a starter.

Eastern’s defense in 2016 allowed only 24.4 points per game (second-best in the league) during its 8-0 Big Sky Conference season after allowing 40.7 against three challenging non-conference opponents. A year after allowing 57 points in a 41-point setback to Montana, the Eagle defense allowed just 16 in the rematch on Oct. 29 at Roos Field in EWU’s 35-16 victory. The 16 points for the Griz was their lowest total in the last 33 games in the series dating back 32 years to a 14-14 tie in 1984.

In their last seven victories of the season, the defense allowed just 113 points (16.1 per game). That seven-game stretch was Eastern’s best since the 1997 team allowed only 105 in its first seven games of the season. In a 38-0 victory over Richmond in the


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quarterfinals of the FCS Playoffs, Eastern’s defense recorded its first shutout in 102 games (since 2009), and the 205 yards Richmond had were the fewest EWU had surrendered in its last 28 outings.

In 2015, linebacker Jake Gall earned honorable mention All-Big Sky honors. Previously, Fetter coached three-time NCAA Football Championship Subdivision All-America linebacker Ronnie Hamlin, who played in what was then a school-record 53 games (50 as a starter) and had 473 career tackles to break the Big Sky Conference record and rank seventh all-time in FCS. Hamlin earned first team All-Big Sky honors in as a sixth-year senior in 2014, with Cody McCarthy and Miquiyah Zamora each earning honorable mention.

That trio combined for 295 tackles, a year after they combined for 309 in 2013. Hamlin earned All-America and second team All-Big Sky honors that season, and McCarthy received honorable mention. Ham-lin was an All-American and earned first team All-Big Sky honors as a sophomore in 2012. Also on the unit was second team All-Big Sky selection Zach Johnson, who finished with 324 tackles in his career to rank fifth all-time at Eastern.

Fetter also coached Johnson in 2011 when he missed most of the season with a chronic knee injury, but Johnson was granted a sixth year by the NCAA and returned in 2012. Tyler Washburn and Grant Williams also received honorable mention All-Big Sky honors, giving EWU a league-leading four on the squad in 2012.

Previous coaching stops for Fetter, a former University of Idaho team captain and 1996 graduate, have included Central Washington, Idaho State and Portland State. While at Central, he coached along-side several current Eagle coaches, including former Eastern head coach Beau Baldwin. At ISU, he coached with fellow Eastern assistant Brian Strandley and former Eagle assistant and Idaho State head coach John Zamberlin.

Besides Baldwin, former EWU defensive coordinator/associate head coach John Graham also coached with Fetter at Central from 1996-2000, as well as Strandley from 1997-2000. Former Eagle coaches Ryan Sawyer and Zak Hill were players at the time.

Fetter spent the 2010 season at Idaho State under Zamberlin, a former Eastern assistant coach and head coach at Central Washing-ton. He and Strandley, who was Fetter’s teammate at Idaho, were defensive line coaches for the Bengals.

Before getting the job at ISU, Fetter was going to be defensive coordinator in the 2010 season at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Ore. Prior to that, he spent four seasons as defensive line coach at PSU.

In the 2009 season, two of his Viking linemen earned honorable mention All-Big Sky honors, and in 2007, all three of his regular start-ers were all-league. In 2006, PSU led the Big Sky in turnover margin, passing efficiency defense, sacks per game, tackles for loss, third-down defense, fourth-down defense and red-zone defense.

Fetter also coached five seasons at Western State in Gunnison, Colo., where he was defensive coordinator, strength and conditioning coach and held the title of assistant head coach.

From 1996-2000 he was at Central, including the final four seasons under Zamberlin as defensive ends coach. He coached defensive tackles in 1996, his first season coaching after graduating from the University of Idaho with a degree in general studies.

While at Idaho, Fetter was a two-year starter and lettered four

seasons for the Vandals. As a senior he was voted as a team captain and won Idaho’s most inspirational player award.

Fetter was born Dec. 6, 1972, in Tacoma, Wash. He and his wife, Jahnna, have a son, Michael (13), a daughter, Delani (11) and a second daughter, Laci (7), who was born on the first day of preseason practices on Aug. 10, 2011.

Brian StrandleyDefensive Front Coordinator/Defensive Line/Pro Liaison9th SeasonIdaho ‘95

Former Idaho defensive lineman Brian Strandley returned to the Eastern football coaching staff in 2012 and enters his eighth

season overall at EWU. He also serves as the school’s liaison with professional teams, and in 2019 takes on the role as defensive front coordinator.

After serving three seasons as EWU’s tight ends coach, in 2015 he returned to the defensive line where he coached one season in 2006 in his first stint with the Eagles.

In 2018, the Eagles finished 12-3 overall and 7-1 in the Big Sky Conference to share the league title with Weber State and UC Davis. The Eagles won their last four games of the regular season, then hosted three fellow conference champions in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs – knocking off Nicholls, UC Davis and Maine to advance to the NCAA Division I Championship Game versus North Dakota State.

The Eagle defense allowed just 22.7 points per game in 2018 for the team’s best performance since 1997 and a mark which ranked 27th nationally. Eastern’s nine games of allowing 20 points for fewer in 2018 equals the school record also set in 1997, 1981, 1964 and 1949. Eastern led FCS with six defensive touchdowns and was second in turnovers gained with 34. Eastern also was third with 22 interceptions and ranked 16th overall in turnover margin (34 takeaways, 24 give-aways, +0.67 per game). Eastern set a school record with 70 passes broken up, breaking the previous record of 67 set in the 2010 season. Eastern’s defense was particularly impressive during league play, with EWU allowing only 135 points for a league-leading 16.9 average per game – with seven of those points coming on a punt return touchdown.

All four starting defensive linemen were

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honored on All-Big Sky Conference teams, including MVP and first team selection Jay-Tee Tiuli. Senior end Keenan Williams was a first team selection and junior tackle Dylan Ledbet-ter earned honorable mention. In addition, end Mitchell Johnson was a second team choice and earned first team Freshman All-America honors.

In 2016, Strandley helped coach first team All-Big Sky Conference selection and All-American defensive end Samson Ebukam, as well as first team defensive tackle Jay-Tee Tiuli. Eastern’s defense in 2016 allowed only 24.4 points per game (second-best in the league) during its 8-0 Big Sky Conference season after allowing 40.7 against three challenging non-conference opponents.

A year after allowing 57 points in a 41-point setback to Montana, the Eagle defense allowed just 16 in the rematch on Oct. 29 at Roos Field in EWU’s 35-16 victory. The 16 points for the Griz was their lowest total in the last 33 games in the series dating back 32 years to a 14-14 tie in 1984.

In their last seven victories of the season, the defense allowed just 113 points (16.1 per game). That seven-game stretch was Eastern’s best since the 1997 team allowed only 105 in its first seven games of the season. In a 38-0 victory over Richmond in the quarterfinals of the FCS Playoffs, Eastern’s defense recorded its first shutout in 102 games (since 2009), and the 205 yards Richmond had were the few-est EWU had surrendered in its last 28 outings.

The Eagles in 2015 featured a pair of All-Big Sky Conference performers as juniors. Ebukam earned second team honors for the second-straight season, and tackle Matthew Sommer was on the third team after receiving honorable mention as a sophomore.

The tight ends he coached in 2014 included honorable men-tion All-Big Sky Conference selection Zach Wimberly. In 2013, Zack Gehring earned third team honors from the league. Gehring finished his 50-game EWU career with 34 starts, 44 receptions, 511 yards and five touchdowns.

Before returning to Eastern, Strandley coached at Idaho State under former EWU assistant and Central Washington University head coach John Zamberlin. Strandley spent four seasons there as the school’s defensive coordinator. After the ISU coaching staff was let go following the 2010 season, Strandley coached defensive linemen in 2011 at Eastern Illinois.

Prior to his single year at EWU in 2006, Strandley spent nine sea-sons as a defensive coach under Zamberlin at CWU. Eastern head coach Beau Baldwin was a fellow assistant at CWU with Strandley from 1997-2002, as well as at EWU in 2006. One of Strandley’s Idaho teammates was Josh Fetter, who is now linebackers coach at Eastern and was previously on the staff at ISU in 2010. Strandley was also on the CWU staff with current Eagle coach John Graham.

Strandley coached the leading tackler in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision in 2010 when Idaho State’s A.J. Storms had 146 (13.27 per game). As a team, ISU ranked 40th in the FCS in takeaways with 23.

In 2009 at ISU, despite a second-straight year of massive injuries, ISU’s defense was impressive. The Bengals allowed just 12 points against national runner-up Montana, and had 26 takeaways for the season – the most since the 2004 season when ISU had 30.

In 2008, ISU’s pass defense allowed 112 yards or less in three of the final four games of the season. In his first year with the school, the Bengal defense scored five touchdowns on the year, including game-changing fumble returns on back-to-back drives in a win over Portland State. In all, ISU nearly doubled their takeaways (23, up from 12 in 2006), and they increased their totals in sacks, tackles for loss, passes defended, and forced fumbles. Seven players earned honorable mention All-Big Sky Conference honors, including three defensive linemen coached by Strandley.

In his lone season at EWU in 2006, the youthful Eagles finished 3-8 overall and 3-5 in the Big Sky Conference. He coached All-Big

Sky honorable mention selection Greg Peach, who went on to win the 2008 Buck Buchanan Award as the top defensive player in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision.

Strandley was hired at CWU when John Zamberlin - a former EWU assistant coach from 1992-94 - took over as head coach in 1997. He helped the Wildcats compile a 57-36 record in nine seasons, including an 8-2 record in the 2005 season. Central won its last seven games and was undefeated in the Great Northwest Athletic Confer-ence. The 2002 Central team, which finished 11-1 after an unbeaten regular season, was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in 2013.

Strandley lettered four years from 1991-94 at Idaho as a defensive lineman. He was Idaho’s 1993 defensive captain, and finished his career with 101 tackles. When he was a junior, the Vandals advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs (then known as I-AA), and in 1994, Idaho led FCS in rushing defense (65.3 yards per game). He helped Idaho to a 35-14 record, three playoff berths and one Big Sky Conference title in four seasons under head coach John L. Smith.

Included were three victories in four games versus Eastern. Idaho lost to the Eagles 34-31 in overtime his freshman season, but then won the next three meetings by a combined score of 127-46. He had seven tackles, a sack and a pass broken up in four career games versus EWU.

After he graduated from Idaho, Strandley coached at Potlatch (Idaho) High School where he served as defensive coordinator and head junior varsity coach.

He’s a 1990 graduate of Curtis High School in Tacoma, Wash. Strandley lettered in football and baseball, earning All-State honors as a defensive tackle when he and Baldwin led Curtis to the State AAA title in 1989. Eagle offensive line coach Aaron Best is also a Curtis grad (1996), and helped lead his school to a State title in 1995.

Strandley was born June 7, 1971, in Tacoma, Wash. He and his wife, Erika, have a daughter named Brianna (9) and a son named Owen (5, born Oct. 29, 2013).


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Jase ButoracOffensive Line/Community Service/Academic Coordinator3rd SeasonEastern Washington ‘15

With a background at Eastern that parallels that of head coach Aaron Best, Butorac enters his third season as EWU’s offensive line coach.

He also helps coordinate the football program’s many community ser-vice endeavors and has the role of the team’s academic coordinator.

In 2018, the Eagles finished 12-3 overall and 7-1 in the Big Sky Conference to share the league title with Weber State and UC Davis. The Eagles won their last four games of the regular season, then hosted three fellow conference champions in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs – knocking off Nicholls, UC Davis and Maine to advance to the NCAA Division I Championship Game versus North Dakota State.

The Eagles set school records in 2018 offensively for total points (647) and most games of 50 points or more (6, tied with the 2014 team), Eastern finished as the only school to rank in the top 20 in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision in total offense, rushing and passing. The Eagles averaged 528.2 yards on offense to rank third in FCS, averaging 255.9 rushing (10th), 272.3 passing (20th) and 43.1 points per game (fourth).

The offensive line helped Eastern finish with a school-record 6.62 average per rushing attempt and break the previous record of 6.41 set in 2001. The Eagles also added to previous team records they broke for rushing yards (3,839) and rushing touchdowns (41). Senior Sam McPherson finished with 1,510 yards on the season to rank fourth in single season school history.

All five starting linemen earned All-Big Sky Conference honors in 2018, even after two-time All-Big Sky performer Tristan Taylor was lost early in the season with a knee injury. Center Spencer Blackburn was a second team All-Big Sky selection for the third-straight season and went on to earn All-America accolades. Tackle Chris Schlichting and guard Caleb Levao also earned second team accolades in 2018, with tackle Beau Byus and guard Jack Hunter earning honorable mention. Taylor, Blackburn, Schlichting and Levao return for the 2019 season, including Blackburn and Levao as sixth-year seniors.

In 2017, Eastern was eighth in FCS in passing (320.5 per game) and fifth in total offense (476.7), and was also 14th in scoring (34.5) and 11th in third down conversions (46.1 percent). Eastern’s offensive line allowed only 22 sacks in 11 games in 2017, as EWU set a school record for passing yards with 545 in a 48-41 win at Montana. Quarter-back Gage Gubrud had individual records of 549 yards passing and 560 yards of total offense in that game.

Coached by current Eagle head coach Aaron Best, Butorac played center for EWU as a four-year letterwinner from 2011-14 on teams that won three Big Sky Conference titles and advanced to the playoffs all three seasons. He then served as a strength and conditioning intern for Eastern while he finished his degree in business (marketing) in 2015.

As a player, Butorac started 15 games as an Eagle, including 14

games as a senior team co-captain in 2014. Twice he earned Big Sky Conference All-Academic honors and had a 3.43 grade point average.

He helped the Eagles finish 11-3 and win the Big Sky Conference outright title for the second-straight season in 2014. The Eagles ad-vanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivi-sion Playoffs, and finished ranked fourth in the final FCS poll.

The 2014 Eagles broke school and Big Sky records for scoring, finishing the season with 618 points to break the previous record of 592 points scored set in 2013 in 15 games by the Eagles. Eastern scored 84 touchdowns to break school and Big Sky single season records of 83 set in 2013 by EWU. The Eagles established a school record for average points per game, with a mark of 44.1 (first in FCS) that broke the record of 41.9 set in 2001.

The offensive production by the Eagles in six of their games in 2014 ranked in the top 32 in school history at the time. Eastern had 624 yards against Sam Houston State (ninth), 617 versus Idaho State to (11th), 583 versus Montana Western (23rd), 582 versus Montana State (25th), 573 versus Washington (29th) and 568 against Southern Utah (32nd). The Eagle team with the next-most performances on the list was 2013 with five ranked in the top 32.

The Eagles finished the 2014 season ranked first in FCS in scor-ing offense (44.1 per game) and first downs (361 total), second in passing efficiency (162.52), third in total offense (513.4) and second in passing offense (328.2). Eastern converted 48.0 percent of the time on third down (97-of-202) to rank seventh, and Eastern’s red zone of-fense was second in FCS after scoring 94.9 percent of the time when inside the opponent 20-yard line.

In 2013, Butorac was named to the Big Sky Conference All-Aca-demic team in the first of two-straight seasons to be honored. He was a backup center behind All-American Ashton Miller. He helped Eastern set Big Sky and school records with 592 points, 83 touchdowns and 8,002 yards of offense in the 2013 season.

As a team, EWU led FCS in passing efficiency (school record 182.6), and fourth in total offense (533.5 per game), fourth in pass-ing (349.8), 41st in rushing (183.7) and seventh in scoring (39.5). Eastern’s offensive line was selected as the FCS Offensive Line of the Week by Beyond Sports Network twice during the season. The first time came when EWU had 625 yards of offense in a 49-46 upset of 25th-ranked Oregon State (8/31/13) to open the season. The second time came in a 55-34 win at Idaho State (11/2/13) when the Eagles finished with a school record 743 yards of offense.

As a sophomore in 2012, he helped EWU rank seventh in the FCS in passing yards per game (318.9), 14th overall in total offense (442.0) and 17th in scoring (33.7). As a redshirt freshman in 2011, he made the first start of his career against South Dakota (9/10/11) at right offensive guard, but was lost for the season with a knee injury suffered the following game against Montana (9/17/11). He was already replac-ing Ashton Miller, who was lost for the season with a ruptured Achilles tendon in EWU’s opener against Washington (9/3/11). Butorac made his collegiate debut versus the Huskies following the injury to Miller. Converted defensive lineman Brandon Murphy filled in at that position for the final eight games of the season.

He redshirted in 2010 and was selected as the team’s Offensive Scout Team Player of the Year. He was selected as the team’s offen-sive scout team player of the week once.

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Butorac graduated from Skyline HS in 2010. Named by the Seattle Times as a “White Chip” selection as one of the top 100 prospects in the state of Washington. Was selected to the Seattle Times “Star Times” All-Area team as an offensive lineman. He was a first team All-KingCo League Crest Division selection as an offensive tackle and a second team choice as a defensive lineman. Butorac helped Skyline to a 40-2 record as a three-year starter, including a trio of state titles. He protected the blind side of BYU-bound Skyline quarterback Jake Heaps, who passed for 3,936 yards and 41 touchdowns. Skyline won the State 4A title with a 45-21 romp past Ferris to finish the season 12-2. Before the 2009 season began, he was selected on Ron Siegel’s preseason All-State team. As a junior, he also earned first team All-KingCo League Crest Division honors as an offensive lineman.

Skyline also won the 2008 State 4A title with a perfect 14-0 record, defeating Issaquah 20-15 in the title game. Skyline was 14-0 and won the state title as a starter in his sophomore season as well. He was team captain as a senior and received the Coach Steve Gervais Award as the most complete player on the 2009 Skyline squad. He had a 3.8 grade point average and received a scholar-athlete award from the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame.

His Eagle teammates Evan Day (’10) and Nic Sblendorio (’13), as well as former Eagle Tyler Washburn (’08), also graduated from Skyline.

Butorac was born Aug. 12, 1992, in Tacoma, Wash., and his parents are Mark and Melanie Butorac. His last name is pronounced “boo-tur-ack.”

Kevin MauriceRunning Backs3rd SeasonSt. Joseph’s, Ind., College ‘06

Kevin Maurice enters his third season on the EWU coaching staff in 2019 after joining the Eagles as running backs coach in 2017.

In 2018, the Eagles finished 12-3 overall and 7-1 in the Big Sky Conference to share the

league title with Weber State and UC Davis. The Eagles won their last four games of the regular season, then hosted three fellow conference champions in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs – knocking off Nicholls, UC Davis and Maine to advance to the NCAA Division I Championship Game versus North Dakota State.


Led by a stable of talented running backs, Eastern had a school-record 6.62 average per rushing attempt to rank second in FCS and break the previous school record of 6.41 set in 2001. The Eagles also broke EWU records for rushing yards (3,839) and rushing touchdowns (41).

Becoming EWU’s first 1,000-yard rusher since 2013, senior Sam McPherson finished with 1,510 yards on the season to rank fourth in single season school history and his 2,159 career yards ranks 11th. He was fourth in FCS for average per carry (7.40), 20th with an aver-age of 100.7 yards per game, 10th with 13 rushing touchdowns and third with 1,510 total rushing yards.

Besides McPherson, EWU’s other four running backs averaged at least 6.4 per carry -- junior Antoine Custer Jr. averaged 6.4, junior Tamarick Pierce was at 7.86, junior Dennis Merritt had a 7.86 aver-age and true freshman Isaiah Lewis finished at 7.4 during a redshirt season that saw him play in three games. The school record is 7.88 set by Taiwan Jones in 2010, with the minimum number of carries to qualify being 45 (Pierce was at 70 and Merritt was at 43).

All but McPherson return for the 2019 season. Custer has 1,817 rushing yards (5.2 per carry) and 23 touchdowns in his 35-game ca-reer (21 as a starter), and also has 556 receiving yards on 64 catches and 499 on kickoff returns for a total of 2,872 all-purpose yards (82.1 per game). He’s scored a total of 27 touchdowns as an Eagle. Pierce has 837 career rushing yards (5.9 per carry) and 15 touchdowns, with Merritt adding 672 (7.9 per carry) and four TDs.

In 2017, Eastern was eighth in FCS in passing (320.5 per game) and fifth in total offense (476.7), and was also 14th in scoring (34.5) and 11th in third down conversions (46.1 percent). Eastern’s offensive line allowed only 22 sacks in 11 games in 2017, as EWU set a school record for passing yards with 545 in a 48-41 win at Montana. Quarter-back Gage Gubrud had individual records of 549 yards passing and 560 yards of total offense in that game.

Custer earned second team All-Big Sky Conference honors in


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2017 and received honorable mention honors on the sophomore All-America team as chosen by Hero Sports. He finished the 2017 season with 776 rushing yards and 10 touch-downs, to go along with 21 receptions for 276 yards and two more scores.

Maurice spent three previous seasons as running backs coach and recruiting coordi-nator at former Big Sky Conference North Dakota, and was victorious versus his former team on Nov. 11, 2017, when the Eagles triumphed 21-14 in his former home of Grand Forks, N.D.

His tenure with the Fighting Hawks includ-ed the 2016 season when both North Dakota and Eastern Washington shared the league title with identical 8-0 records to advance to the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs, and the Fighting Hawks featured pair of All-America running backs.

Maurice went against EWU just once in those three seasons he was on the staff of UND head coach Bubba Schweigert. That was a 54-3 Eagle victory in 2014 in which UND rushed for 131 yards and had only 37 passing. North Dakota was just 3-8 overall and 2-6 in the league prior to his arrival, but then went 5-7/3-5, 7-4/5-3 and 9-3/8-0 in the three years after that for a collective overall record of 21-14 and 16-8 league mark in his three seasons in Grand Forks.

While in Grand Forks, Maurice coached All-America running back John Santiago, who earned first team All-Big Conference honors in both 2015 and 2016, and was the league’s Freshman of the Year in 2015. Brady Oliveira earned third team All-Big Sky honors and also earned All-America accolades in 2016.

Santiago, who was injured part of the 2016 season, rushed for 983 yards and seven touchdowns, while Oliveira finished with 897 and 10 scores. North Dakota had a running back rush for at least 100 yards in eight of 12 games, after having a 100-yard rusher in nine of 11 games in 2015 for a total of 17 in 23 games in two seasons.

Santiago began fall camp in 2015 playing wide receiver, but by the end of the campaign was an All-America running back. He set UND Division I records for rushing yards (1,459) and rushing touchdowns (16), and broke a single-season program record for all-purpose yards, finishing with 2,159. He had 230 yards and three touchdowns against Montana State, and in the same game Oliveira had 167 and one score.

Santiago was the only running back in the FCS to rush for more than 100 yards in each of his conference games and finished fourth nationally, averaging 136.2 rushing yards per game. In fact, Santiago was one of three true freshmen running backs to each muster a 100-yard rushing game for Maurice in 2015. Oliveira and Iwarri Smith also cracked the century mark as UND’s stable of running backs finished with 2,213 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns.

In Maurice’s first season at UND in 2014, senior Jer Garman

emerged as an honorable mention All-Big Sky selection. After losing two key contributors in the back field to season-ending injuries during the campaign, Garman took control of the ground attack in the final five games, averaging 146.0 yards per game. That stretch included a 235-yard, two-touchdown effort in the upset of No. 22 Northern Arizona and helped him notch honorable mention All-Big Sky honors.

Besides being the program’s recruiting co-ordinator, he also helped coach special teams. Among the players he coached was 2014 first team All-Big Sky punt returner Alex Tillman.

Maurice spent the 2012 and 2013 sea-sons at Purdue where he began his tenure as a graduate assistant before being named director of player personnel. In February of 2013, he was elevated to assistant recruiting coordinator at the Big Ten school for head coach Danny Hope.

Prior to his two years in West Lafayette, Ind., Maurice made stops at three other FBS programs, with the latest coming as an of-fensive graduate assistant at Nevada in 2011. He briefly served as a recruiting assistant at Miami (Fla.) before joining the Wolf Pack staff. Maurice spent the 2010 season as a recruit-ing assistant for head coach Butch Jones at Cincinnati.

Before making the move to the FBS level, Maurice spent a season as the running backs coach at Midwestern State (Texas) in 2009 and was an offensive coordinator at North Miami (Fla.) High School in 2008. The Miami native played collegiately at UTEP for two seasons in 2003 and 2004 and finished his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice at St. Joseph’s (Ind.) College in 2006, then received his master’s degree in sports management from Concordia University-Chicago in 2017.

He has a 13-year-old daughter named Amira Maurice.

Heath PulverTight Ends/Special Teams Coordinator3rd Season (previously at EWU)Eastern Washington ‘09

Having spent four previous seasons at Eastern Washington University and graduated from nearby University High School, Heath

Pulver returned in 2017 to serve as tight ends coach and special teams coordinator. He enters his third season in that role in 2019 after previous stints at Colorado State and Cal.

In 2018, the Eagles finished 12-3 overall and 7-1 in the Big Sky

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Conference to share the league title with Weber State and UC Davis. The Eagles won their last four games of the regular season, then hosted three fellow conference cham-pions in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs – knocking off Nicholls, UC Davis and Maine to advance to the NCAA Division I Championship Game versus North Dakota State.

He coached a trio of players who earned a total of four All-Big Sky Conference honors. Roldan Alcobendas earned first team honors as both a punter and kicker on his way to winning the Fred Mitchell Placekicker Award and earning consensus FCS All-America honors. Long snapper Curtis Billen and tight end Henderson Belk earned third team honors from the league after stellar senior seasons. Belk, junior Jayce Gilder and two others combined to catch 38 passes for 537 yards and 12 touchdowns from the tight end position in 2018.

Alcobendas set a FCS record with the best perfect season kicking field goals, finish-ing 16-of-16 to be the only FCS player to be perfect on the season. He finished with a school-record 119 kick scoring points to rank second in Big Sky history, and also had a school-record 320 career points (sixth in Big Sky history). His streak of 70-straight extra points broke his own single season record of 63 consecutive in 2016, and he also set the career record for extra points in a row with 85 from 2016-17. In addition, he established new EWU season and career records for punting average – both at 44.9 per kick.

Led by the offensive line and tight ends, Eastern finished with a school-record 6.62 average per rushing attempt to break the previous record of 6.41 set in 2001. The Eagles also added to previous team records they broke for rushing yards (3,839) and rushing touchdowns (41).


In 2017, Eastern was eighth in FCS in passing (320.5 per game) and fifth in total offense (476.7), and was also 14th in scoring (34.5) and 11th in third down conversions (46.1 percent). On special teams, Eastern was ninth in FCS at 24.3 per kickoff return in 2017 and ranked 16th in net punting (38.24). Eastern allowed just 3.50 yards by opponents on punt returns in 2017 to rank seventh nationally.

Punter Jordan Dascalo, on his way to becoming the lone Eagle to earn first team All-Big Sky honors in 2017, led the league and was 14th in FCS in average per punt (42.6). Thanks to a career-long

33-yard return in EWU’s final game of the season against Portland State, junior Zach Eagle ranked 31st in FCS with an average of 6.8 yards per punt return.

Third team All-Big Sky selection Anfernee Gurley, who a year prior was leading his high school team (Archbishop Murphy in Everett, Wash.) to the State 2A Championship, closed his true freshman season in 2017 with 37 tackles, three passes broken up and two forced fumbles. He went on to earn first team Freshman All-America honors from Hero Sports.

Before returning to EWU, Pulver had a short stint at Cal with former Eagle coaches Beau Baldwin and Nicholas Edwards. Previ-ously, he spent five seasons at Colorado State working with special teams, including the 2012-14 seasons under former Eagle assistant coach Jim McElwain.

Before that, Pulver was tight ends coach and special teams assistant for the Eagles in the 2010 and 2011 seasons, and two ad-ditional years as a student assistant working with the defense. He received his bachelor’s degree from EWU in interdisciplinary studies with a minor in art and history in 2009, and was part of EWU’s national championship team in 2010.

In the 2010 season, he coached honor-able mention All-Big Sky Conference tight end Matt Martin, as well as a pair of young freshmen – Zack Gehring and Ryan Seto. That trio combined for 30 catches for 349 yards and three touchdowns as Eastern went on to finish 13-2 and win the NCAA Division I title.

A 2000 graduate of University High School in Spokane, Wash., Pulver redshirted as a defensive tackle at Eastern Oregon University in fall 2000. He returned and coached running backs at University High School from 2001-2002, then spent five years at Montana. He was a student manager for the Grizzlies in 2003, and from 2004-2007 he was a student assistant coach for the offense and special teams. He returned to Spokane and transferred to EWU in 2008.

Pulver was born May 24, 1981. He married Brittany Koehler on July 7, 2017. She was previously an athletic trainer at Colorado State.

Allen BrownCornerbacks/Defensive Passing Game Coordinator1st SeasonEastern Washington ‘14

An Eagle for six seasons from 2009-14, Al-len Brown has returned to Eastern to become EWU’s new cornerbacks coach and defensive


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passing game coordinator.After concluding his playing career at EWU, Brown was a strength

and conditioning intern at EWU in 2014 and also assisted with the secondary. Brown then spent the past four seasons from 2015-18 at Cal Poly as coach of the team’s cornerbacks.

Brown helped the Mustangs to a berth in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs in 2016 as the team went 7-5 overall and 5-3 in Big Sky play. Among the players he coached at Cal Poly was Dominic Frasch who led FCS in passes defended with 19 (16 passes broken up and three interceptions) and earned third team All-America honors from Associated Press.

“We are so pumped and excited to get Allen coming full circle to wear the Eagle logo and a whistle,” said Eastern head coach Aaron Best. “It is with great pleasure and excitement to introduce Allen’s skill set and coaching ability to our staff as a whole and specifically on the defensive side of the ball. Allen is a motivated worker that certainly demonstrates what the standard is here and will continue to advance that standard as the cornerback & defensive passing game coordina-tor role.”

Brown redshirted in 2009, then was part of EWU’s national cham-pionship team in 2010 and NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoff semifinal appearances in 2012 and 2013. In his four years on the field as an Eagle, Brown helped EWU compile a 42-13 record overall and 27-5 mark in the Big Sky Conference.

The Eagles won three league titles and advanced to the FCS Playoffs in three of the four seasons he lettered at EWU from 2010-13. He then spent the 2014 season as a strength and conditioning intern at EWU, which advanced to the quarterfinals of the playoffs that year.

He earned second team All-Big Sky honors in 2012 and honorable mention in 2013. He was also team captain as a senior and recorded 237 total tackles to currently rank 21st in school history. He also intercepted four passes and broke up 15 passes during his 52-game career.

He finished with 56 tackles, two interceptions and three passes broken up in 12 games played as a senior in 2013 when EWU finished 12-3 and won the Big Sky title with a perfect 8-0 record. As a junior in 2012, Brown notched 91 tackles and broke up seven passes. Eastern was 11-3 overall, 7-1 in the Big Sky and made the first of two-straight appearances in the semifinals of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs.

He had 39 tackles and one interception as a freshman and 51

more tackles and another interception as a sopho-more. The 2010 Eagles captured the NCAA Divi-sion I title and finished 13-2 overall and 7-1 in the Big Sky, then was 6-5/5-3 in 2011. Brown recorded double-digit tackles in six games, in-cluding a career-high 11 against Montana in 2012 and 10 more against Cal Poly in 2011.

“Winning a national championship and don-ning the No. 4 jersey as a player are just two of the notable accomplishments Allen has earned over his time as an Eagle,” added Best. “He has a bright future as a coach, and anytime you can bring our own Eagles back to the nest that is a huge victory.”

A native of Anchorage, Alaska, Brown graduated from Eastern Washington in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in business administra-tion. He is a 2009 graduate of Foss High School in Tacoma, Wash., where he was a wide receiver and defensive back in football and also competed in basketball and track and field. His high school and EWU teammate Nicholas Edwards is currently wide receivers coach at Cal.

Pat McCannWide Receivers/Recruiting Coordinator1st SeasonWestern Washington ‘09

Pat McCann will return to his home state to coach wide receivers for Eastern in the 2019 season, and will also serve as EWU’s

new recruiting coordinator as well.Formerly from Olympia, Wash., McCann comes to EWU from

Northern Iowa where he was wide receivers coach in 2017 and 2018. McCann, a 2009 graduate of Western Washington University, spent four previous seasons at EWU’s fellow Big Sky Conference member UC Davis.

“My family and I could not be any more excited to be joining Coach Best and the Eastern Washington program,” said McCann. “This was the right move at the right time for us as a family, and I look forward to working to continuing to advance the standard of EWU Football. Eastern is the ‘Wide Receiver U’ of FCS Football, and I’m excited about the challenge of upholding that tradition.”

“Pat is someone I have watched from afar for some time now,” said Eastern head coach Aaron Best. “His work speaks for itself and we are fortunate to be able to bring Pat aboard. He has done a tremendous job coaching receivers, has coached on both coasts and

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has some play-calling experience as well. His experience in the Big Sky Conference will only enhance our ability to advance the stan-dard.”

Interestingly, McCann faced his former team (UCD) in 2018 while he was coaching UNI – with a twist. A family matter sidelined Panthers offensive coordinator John Bond at the end of the season, and Mc-Cann filled in. He debut calling plays came in a 37-0 win over Missouri State, then UNI edged Lamar 16-13 in the first round of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs.

However, the Panthers lost 23-16 to the UC Davis Aggies, who would go on to lose to Eastern 34-29 in the quarterfinals. Northern Iowa finished 7-6 in 2018 and were 8-5 in 2017.

Among the receivers he coached at UNI was first team All-Missouri Valley Football Conference selections Daurice Fountain, who was drafted in the fifth round in the 2018 NFL Draft by the Indianapolis Colts. Deion McShane in 2018 and Isaiah Weston in 2017 both were named to the MVFC All-Newcomer squad and earned freshman All-America honors.

While receivers coach at UC Davis, McCann was integral in help-ing All-Big Sky second team selection Keelan Doss receive sopho-more All-America honors from Hero Sports in 2016. McCann was also key in coaching Tom Hemmingsen, Ramon Vargas and Chris Martin to All-Big Sky honorable mention honors during his time with the Aggies.

Prior to his tenure at UC Davis, McCann served as the offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach at Stonehill College in Easton, Mass. He was also the special teams coordinator from 2011-12 and the wide receivers coach and video coordinator from 2009-2011. He developed all-conference wide receiver John Gomes in 2012 along with helping Gordon McLeod and Zaire Reiph earn all-rookie selec-tions in 2011 and 2012.

McCann played football at Western Washington from 2007-2008, earning first team All-Great Northwest Athletic Conference honors as a wide receiver in 2008. As a senior, he caught 58 passes for 1,057 yards and 11 touchdowns, then Western discontinued its football program following the season.

“Having many connections and being from Washington, we felt Pat is a great fit to excel in the recruiting coordinator role as well,” added Best. “We welcome Pat with open arms to the Eagle family.”

He graduated from Western Washington with a bachelor’s degree in exercise and sport science with a sport psychology emphasis in

2009 and went on to earn his master’s in leadership studies in 2011 from Grand Canyon University.

He also spent time playing at the College of the Canyons from 2003-05, leading his team to a Junior College National Championship in 2004. Prior to that, he graduated from Olympia (Wash.) High School where he earned first team All-Narrows League honors as a senior when he had 26 catches for 460 yards and nine touchdowns.

His wife, Andrea, is also from Olympia, and they have two sons, Damian and Paxton. Pat’s brother, Jeff McCann, played football (wide receiver) at Whitworth University.

Brian MillsSafeties1st SeasonPacific University, Ore., ‘14

Bryan Mills, a defensive analyst for East-ern the past two seasons, has been elevated into a position as safeties coach for the 2019 season.

“Over the past two years here as an analyst I’ve grown to love everything about this program, and what it means to be a true EKG (Eastern Kind of Guy),” said Mils. “It is an honor to coach the safeties and be a part of the Eagle family.”

“The addition of Bryan to our defensive staff as secondary coach is something he has worked for, and now he gets the opportunity to show his abilities,” said Eastern head coach Aaron Best. “Bryan is a hard working individual who gets his first shot at coaching Division I football here at Eastern. He will be surrounded by a ton of experience (coaches and players) so the transition will be smoother. Continuity is a key to long term success and filling the safeties position with an individual familiar with our defensive scheme was pivotal.”

Mills received his bachelor’s degree in education with a minor in sociology from Pacific University in Forest Grove, Ore., in 2014. He worked toward his master’s degree in business administration while serving as defensive backs coach at Eastern Oregon in the 2016 season.

The Mounties in 2016 earned their first berth in the NAIA Playoffs in school history and advanced to the semifinals. They beat defending national champion and top-ranked Marian 17-0 in the quarterfinals.

Prior to EOU, Mills coached for his alma mater at Pacific and served as the safeties coach for two seasons. Mills helped the Boxers share the 2014 Northwest Conference (NWC) regular season title.

On the gridiron, Mills was a standout safety for the Boxers and led the NWC in pass breakups during the 2012 season. He won honorable mention All-NWC honors twice before snagging second team all-conference accolades his senior year. In 2013, Mills finished second in the league in interceptions with four.

Mills was a four-year starter for the Boxers, beginning in 2010 when the school reinstated the football program. During his senior year in 2013, he had 60 tackles and four interceptions. Mills led Pa-cific in tackles each of his first two seasons, finishing with 62 tackles


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as a sophomore and 46 as a freshman.Mills scored on a 100-yard defensive two-point conversion against

Lewis & Clark on Oct. 1, 2011. The video of that play landed on ESPN’s SportsCenter as their “Top Play of the Day.”

A 2010 graduate of Imbler (Ore.) High School, Mills was a four-time All-Old Oregon League selection and was twice named first team All-State as both a quarterback and defensive back. As a senior, he was selected to play in both the State 1A All-Star Game and the East/West Shrine Game.

Born in Imbler, his parents are Mike and Sandy Mills, and he was one sister, Malia, who played for the EOU volleyball team. His hobbies include boating, fishing, and sports.

Nate BarryAsst. Ath. Dir. of Athletic Performance2nd SeasonIdaho ‘11

A veteran of 11 years in the NCAA Division I ranks, the 2019-20 school year will be Nate Barry’s second as Eastern’s assistant athletic director for athletic performance.

He works closely with football at EWU, and also oversees a staff of three other assistants/graduate assistants for all other sports. His position plans and implements all aspects of individual performance of EWU’s nearly 300 student-athletes, including strength, conditioning, flexibility and nutrition.

Most recently, Barry spent three years working as strength and conditioning coach at Michigan, and prior to that had stops at Oregon State and Idaho. He is a 2011 graduate of the UI where he received his bachelor’s degree in exercise science and health, with a minor in coaching.

In his 12 years of experience, all 12 have included working with football programs. He has been a part of teams with six bowl game appearances, as well as EWU’s runner-up finish in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision in 2018. He’s worked with a total of seven different sports, including women’s basketball programs which have

advanced to the NCAA Tournament twice with one Final Four appear-ance.

He is also a USA Weightlifting certified sport performance coach, and has also received his certification from the National Strength and Conditioning Association.

While at Michigan from January of 2015 to January of 2018, he worked as an assistant strength coach for the football team. Three times the Wolverines advanced to bowl games while he was there.

From January of 2012 to January of 2015 he was at Oregon State, serving as head strength and conditioning coach for women’s basketball for all three seasons. He also worked with men’s basket-ball, men’s soccer, baseball and men’s and women’s golf.

In addition, Barry served as the assistant strength and condition-ing coach for the Beaver football program, which advanced to a pair of bowl games. From May 2011 to January of 2012 he was a part-time assistant at OSU working with football, women’s basketball, men’s soccer and men’s golf.

He began his strength and conditioning career as an undergradu-ate at Idaho, working part-time and as an intern with the football program, which advanced to the 2008 Humanitarian Bowl. During his time assisting the Vandals from May of 2006 to May of 2011, he also oversaw strength and conditioning programs for men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s golf and the track and field team’s throwers.

He and his wife, Whitney (Power), were married in June of 2011.

Marc AndersonDirector of Football Operations4th SeasonEastern Washington ‘14

Marc Anderson, a graduate of Eastern Washington University, will enter his fourth year as director of football operations at East-ern in the 2019 season. He provides adminis-

trative support services for head coach Aaron Best and the program.Anderson worked as the graduate operations assistant for EWU

Football in the 2015 season, and continues to work with recruiting and camps. Anderson also assists with roster management, student-athlete grades and coordinating team meals and travel.

He worked as the student operations assistant and video coor-dinator for EWU Football from January 2014-December 2015 after interning with them for nearly three years. Anderson directed day-to-day video operations and assisted coaches with stats and scouting reports. He coordinated film for all practices and games, and assisted in the coordinating of team travel. He also hired, managed and trained student assistants.

The EWU alum earned a master of arts in English degree in June 2016 and a bachelor of arts and education in English in June 2014. He is engaged to be married to current EWU assistant athletic director of compliance Mikayla Brandhorst.

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Now co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach at the University of Washington, Jimmy Lake played for the Eagles in 1995-98, helping Eastern win the 1997 Big Sky Conference title and advance to the “Final Four” of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs (then I-AA). He was a 1995 graduate of Spokane’s North Central High School. Eastern plays at the UW on Aug. 31, 2019, and Lake will be joined on the Husky sideline by former EWU coaches Junior Adams and Pete Kwiatkowski.

Former Eagle Players & Coaches . . . Where are They Coaching Now?(Only those currently coaching and with NCAA and/or professional experience)Name Current Position Current School or Pro Team (Previous)Junior Adams Wide Receivers Washington (Western Kentucky/Boise State/Eastern Wash.)Steve Amrine Head Coach Kelso, Wash., HS (Centralia HS/Idaho State)Beau Baldwin Offensive Coordinator California (Eastern Washington/Central Washington) ►Bruce Barnum Head Coach Portland State (Cornell/Idaho State)Josh Blankenship Head Coach Adams State (Tulsa/Muskogee HS/Union HS)Allen Brown Cornerbacks Eastern Washington (Cal Poly)Luther Carr Assistant Coach Union HS in Tulsa, Okla. (Chief Sealth HS in Seattle/Idaho)Dave Christensen Offensive Line Arizona State (Texas A&M/Utah/Wyoming/Missouri)Nicholas Edwards Running Backs California (Eastern Washington)Greg Herd Offensive Coordinator Steilacoom HS in Wash.Zak Hill Off. Coord./Quarterbacks Boise State (Hawaii/Eastern Washington)Torey Hunter Scout B.C. Lions (Edmonton Eskimos/Idaho/Eastern Washington)Steve Kizer Head Coach Skyview High School in Wash. (Eastern Washington)Pete Kwiatkowski Co-Def, Coord./D-Line Washington (Boise State/Montana State)Jimmy Lake Co-Def, Coord./D-Backs Washington (Boise State/Tampa Bay Buccaneers)Kiel McDonald Running Backs Utah (Eastern Washington)Jim McElwain Head Coach Central Mich. (Michigan/Florida/Colorado State/Alabama) ► Brent Myers Assoc. HC/Offensive Line Weber State (UNLV/Louisville)Keith Murphy Spec. Teams Quality Control Florida (Southern Ill./New Mexico St./St. Louis Rams)Travis Niekamp Def. Coord./Linebackers Illinois State (Montana/Louisiana Monroe/Washington State)Mike Orthmann Offensive Coordinator Arizona Western JC (Eastern Washington)Timm Rosenbach Off. Coord./Quarterbacks Montana (Adams State/UNLV/Montana)J.C. Sherritt Linebackers Calgary Roughriders in CFLTodd Sturdy Head Coach MidAmerica Nazarene (No. Iowa/Iowa State/Wash. St./EWU)Troy Taylor Head Coach Sacramento State (Utah/Eastern Washington/Folsom HS)Jesse Williams Defensive Line Kansas (Ohio University/New Mexico State)John Zamberlin Head Coach Meridian, Idaho, HS/Hamilton Tiger-Cats (Weber St./ISU/CWU)Recent Former Coaches . . .Jason Belford Defensive Line Portland State (Weber State/Wash. State)David Delgado Tight Ends Baldwin Wallace UniversityBill Diedrick Jr. Scout/Off. Coord./QB B.C. Lions (Palomar C./Univ. HS/Notre Dame/UW/WSU/UI) ►Randy Hanson Assistant Secondary Cal Poly (Sacramento Mountain Lions)Mike Kramer Head Coach Idaho State (Washington State/MSU/EWU) ►Tom Mason Defensive Coordinator Texas-El Paso (Hawaii/SMU/Fresno State)Rich Rasmussen Chief Administrative Officer Washington (Boise State/Washington State)Eric Reid Offensive Line Northern Arizona (Portland State/Eastern Washington)Malik Roberson Defensive Coordinator/LB Portland State (Central Washington) ►Jody Sears Head Coach/Def. Coord. Sacramento State (Weber State/Washington State) ►J.D. Sollars Assistant Coach Glendale CC (Northern Arizona)Dave Telford Head Coach Stanwood, Wash., HS (Indiana State/Monroe HS HC)Rick Worman Tight Ends Dixie State (Wilmington/Montreal Alouettes/Miss. Valley St.)Paul Wulff Asst. HC/Run. Game C./OL Sacramento St. (South Florida/SF 49ers/Wash. State) ►


48

Opportunity breeds opportunity.The Eastern Washington University football

team has a tall task ahead of it to replicate the success the Eagles had in 2018, but the pieces are there. Just how well they fit depend on the factors of replacing 25 seniors, the continued development of young talent and incor-porating new coordinators and coaches into the equation.

“Every day is a new challenge and I look forward to chal-lenges to come,” said head coach Aaron Best, who led the Eagles to the NCAA Division I Championship Game in just his second season at the helm. “We will look back and revel in the 2018 campaign, because it was one of the most special years in Eastern Washington football history. But our returning players will be hungry to get back to that stage, and we’re going to get after it.”

The veteran-laden team in 2018 will see significant changes in 2019 – from both a player and coach standpoint. Besides 48 returning letterwinners, Eastern will also have a large group of as many as 20 redshirt freshmen competing for repetitions. Eight of those players saw action in 2018 as part of the new NCAA rule allowing freshman to play in as many as four games and still redshirt.

The Eagles will have back four full-time starters on defense (DT Dylan Ledbetter, DE Jim Townsend, LB Chris Ojoh, S Dehonta Hayes), plus three others who received starts and significant playing time (S Ty-sen Prunty, S Calin Criner, Rover Kedrick Johnson). Offensively, five starters re-turn (QB Eric Barriere, WR Andrew Boston, C Spencer

Blackburn, G Kaleb Levao, T Chris Schlichting).After having only 12 seniors in 2016 and 14 in 2017,

Eastern had 27 on its 2018 roster. However, two of those 27 -- All-Big Sky offensive linemen Blackburn and Levao -- were granted a sixth year by the NCAA to complete four years of eligibility because of seasons lost because of injuries. Both will enter the 2019 season with 39 games worth of experi-ence, and Blackburn has started 37-straight games and Levao has started 18.

Thus, Eastern’s 25 lost seniors included 18 four-year letterwinners and another five who earned three. Combined, those 25 players had a total of 1,006 games played and 441 starts. Injuries to numerous Eagles helped give so many play-ers opportunities to play and start.

A total of 23 All-Big Sky Conference honors were won by Eastern players in the 2018 season, including five

on the first team. Of those 23, seven return, plus three more honored in previous years.

Six Eagles went on to win FCS All-Amer-ica honors, with senior Roldan Alcobendas winning the Fred Mitchell Award as the top placekicker in the nation. Blackburn won second team All-America honors, while Bar-riere was honored as a sophomore All-Amer-ican and Boston and defensive end Mitchell

Johnson earned freshman All-America ac-

colades. De-

spite missing

nine players near

the end of the season who had begun the season as starters – six on defense and three on offense -- the Eagles finished 12-3 overall and 7-1 in the Big Sky Conference to share the league title with Weber State and UC Davis. The Eagles won

their last four games of the

SEASON OUTLOOK: Replicating 2018 Success is Goal for EWU

Eagles Have the Pieces to Repeat Big Sky Championship Season and FCS Playoff Run of 2018

All-America Senior Center andTwo-Time Team Co-CaptainSPENCER BLACKBURN

49



regular season, then won on three home

games in the NCAA Football Champi-

onship Playoffs before falling to North Da-kota State 38-24 in the title game in Frisco.

The silver lining

to the injuries was the experience other players received.

That extended over to spring practices when about 20 play-ers sat out to nurse injuries or because of post-surgery rehabilitation. Like he was in the 2018 season, Best was impressed by the resilience of his team, especially

in the Red-White game

where

there were only 14 substitutes to go along with the 44 starters on offense and defense.

“You go and play games with the players you have -- we just find a way,” said Best. “Closing the gap between starters and the next man up is our job as coaches to develop players and depth over time. This is selfless team which does selfless acts.”

“As long as we have players we have a chance,” he added. “It starts with coaching, and then it relies on the belief of the players. After the belief it’s the execution.”

“We can’t say enough about those guys -- we only have who we have, and can only play with who we have. They are Eastern kind of guys -- that is why we recruited them and our

DNA is going to stay that way for a long time.”One of last year’s emerging stars was Barriere, who took

the place of injured All-America senior Gage Gubrud and led the Eagles to the cusp of a national title with eight wins in his 10 starts at the helm. He would have become a starter this past spring anyway, but his timetable was moved up a bit and earned third team All-Big Sky honors in 2018 as a result.

“He has been the man for a while -- he just took the cape off,” said Best. “It was his first spring as the No. 1 quarter-back, but it would have been a different feel had he not had the opportunities he’s had. He has a ton of starts in pressure situations, while being highly successful in a lot of those situ-ations. That bodes well for us as we go forward. We can put a little bit more on his plate as we go on, and now it is coach (Ian) Shoemaker’s opportunity to build upon what was built in the 2018 season.”

The success of 2018 resulted in four coaches moving on, and four new coaches officially stepped foot on “The Inferno” in the spring. Replacements include new offensive coordina-tor/quarterbacks coach Ian Shoemaker, defensive passing game coordinator/cornerbacks coach Allen Brown, wide receivers coach/recruiting coordinator Pat McCann and safe-ties coach Bryan Mills. In addition, Eti Ena was promoted to defensive coordinator.

“Time will tell,” said Best of the results of the coaching changes. “I don’t like to use the word change, I like to use the word tweak. When it’s miniscule it’s a tweak, and when it is an overhaul that’s a change. We’re replacing four coaches -- three coming from outside of Cheney – so we’re talking three of ten guys. Only 30 percent, to me that’s not an overhaul.”

“It is a great opportunity for those four,” Best added. “Whenever you put a bunch of people in a room for an inordi-nate amount of hours you find out a lot about each other. We have done that, and we have spent more time than usual to get acquainted with not only each other, but the offense. This is new terminology for two of those guys on offense, and it is easier for them to change their verbiage to ours instead of ours to theirs. They have done a great job to this point.”

A 22-year veteran of the Eagle program, Best himself was FCS Coach of the Year in a fan vote conducted by Hero Sports, and was the Big Sky Conference co-Coach of the Year. In two years at the helm, he has compiled a 19-7 record overall (73.1 percent) and 13-3 mark in the league (81.3 per-cent). Both percentages currently rank as the best in school history, just ahead of Beau Baldwin with an 85-32 overall mark (72.6 percent) in nine seasons from 2008-16, and a 58-14 league record (80.6 percent).

Junior Preseason All-America Quarterback & Team Co-Captain

ERIC BARRIERE


50

Perhaps the best news of the offseason came when Eagle All-America center Spencer Blackburn and All-Big Sky offensive guard Kaleb Levao received approval from the Big Sky Conference and the NCAA for their hardship waiver requests to receive a sixth year to complete four years of eligibility.

That means EWU will have three returning starters along the offensive line (tackle Chris Schlichting is the other), while also having back tackle Tristen Taylor who played in just three games in 2018 before being lost with a season-ending knee injury. That leaves 2014 Spokane High School graduates Jack Hunter (Gonzaga Prep; 27 starts in 40 career games at guard) and Beau Byus (Central Valley; 11 starts in 37 career games as a tackle and tight end) as the lone seniors lost from the 2018 squad.

“Having the RG and C tandem intact for another run will be exciting as we watch them write more chapters to their already incredible stories,” said Best.

Honored the past three years as a second team All-Big Sky Conference selection, Black-burn is a 2014 graduate of Meridian High School in Bellingham, Wash. He redshirted in 2014, but couldn’t play in 2015 because of a thumb injury. In 2018 he earned NCAA Football Championship Subdivision All-America honors by Associated Press (second team) and STATS (third team). He was also a second team preseason All-America selection in 2019.

Blackburn has started 37 of the 39 games he has played as an Eagle, includ-ing the last 37. In addition, Blackburn was a team co-captain in 2018 – and again in 2019 -- and was to the 2018 Google Cloud Academic All-District 8 Football Team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). He has also earned three Big Sky All-Academic honors, and has a 3.70 GPA in professional accounting. He was the 2017 recipient of the Larry Hattemer Offensive Lineman Scholarship.

“We’re excited and eager for Spencer to be back with us again in 2019,” said Best. “We’re happy that he will continue to be a leader and example for his broth-ers on and off the field for

one more season.”Levao has started 18 of the 39 games he’s played as an Eagle,

including one as a defensive lineman. He had 14 tackles as a redshirt freshman in 2015 before moving over to the offensive line after that season. He started twice as a sophomore in 2016, both games in 2017 prior to his injury and 14 of 15 in 2018.

“It’s very good and fortunate news to hear of the NCAA granting Kaleb a sixth fall,” said Best. “He was one of our most consistent offensive linemen on our run to the national championship game.

Schlichting earned second team All-Big Sky honors as a junior in 2018, and has started all 40 games he has played as an Eagle thus far. Taylor was honorable mention in both 2016 and 2017 and is listed as a senior in 2019. Taylor had started 28-of-28 games as

an Eagle until his season-ending knee injury kept him out of the lineup on Sept. 22 versus Cal Poly, and he will

be a potential candidate for a sixth year as well in 2020.

“It’s awesome -- you never know until the NCAA comes back with granting them a sixth year, but it’s great,” said Best of returning four offensive linemen with between 18

and 40 starts and a total of 123 between them. “We’re talking about a starting right guard and an All-America center next to him. Experience does play, and Spencer Blackburn and Kaleb Levao are two wiley

veterans. Anytime you bring a starter back, an All-American back, and a captain back, it is very beneficial.”

Five other letterwinners return on the offensive line, including senior Will Gram, who is expected to be the fifth starting position at guard. Juniors Nicholas Blair and Conner Crist and sophomores Matt Shook and Wyatt Musser also return. Players who redshirted in 2018 include Charlie Baumann, Brad Godwin and Risone Ama.

Eastern finished as the only school to rank in the top 20 in the NCAA Football

Championship Subdivision in total offense, rushing and passing. The Eagles averaged

528.2 yards on offense to rank third in FCS, including 255.9 rushing (10th) and 272.3 passing (20th). Eastern was

also ranked fourth in scoring (43.1). The Eagles as a team fin-ished the 2018 season with a school-record 6.62 average per rush

on the season to break the previous record of 6.41 set in 2001. The Eagles set team records for rushing yards (3,839) and rushing touchdowns (41).

OFFENSE . . . Eagles Bolstered by Return of Four Starting Linemen, Including Two as Sixth-Year Players

Senior Nose Tackle and Team Co-Captain DYLAN LEDBETTER

51



Besides the offensive line, the tight end position contributed greatly toward the rushing records, and a trio return for the 2019 season. Senior Jayce Gilder is one of five players selected as co-captains in 2019, and he had six catches for 87 yards and three TDs in his last two games in 2018. He finished with 20 catches for 237 yards and seven scores on the season, and in his 40-game career (six as a starter), he has 29 grabs for 342 yards and 10 scores.

Also returning at tight end are junior Trenton Harris and sopho-more Dylan Ingram. Harris played in nine games and had a 7-yard TD catch, and Ingram played in all 15 as a redshirt freshman and had two catches for six yards and a score. Eastern’s other two tight ends are redshirt freshmen Aiden Nellor and Julian Houston.

Four of EWU’s top five running backs return, having combined for 1,573 yards and 15 touchdowns with an average per carry of 7.21. Junior Antoine Custer Jr. averaged 6.4, junior Tamarick Pierce was at 7.86, junior Dennis Merritt had a 7.86 average and true freshman Isaiah Lewis finished at 7.4 during a redshirt season that saw him play in three games. The school record is 7.88 set by Taiwan Jones in 2010. Redshirt freshman Micah Smith rounds out the running back corp.

Custer finished his junior season with 613 yards and eight scores in 11 games played; Pierce had 550 yards and seven TDs; Merritt had 345 with a trio of scores; and Lewis has 52. From his quarterback position, Barriere averaged 6.2 per carry and finished with 613 yards on the ground to break the school record of 606 set by Gage Gubrud in 2016.

Custer, an honorable mention All-Big Sky Conference selection in 2018, was a second team all-league pick in 2017 when he rushed for 776 yards and 10 touchdowns. He now has 1,817 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns in his 35-game career (21 as a starter). He also has 556 receiving yards on 64 catches and 499 on kickoff returns for a total of 2,872 all-purpose yards (82.1 per game). He’s scored a total of 27 touchdowns as an Eagle.

Barriere was extremely productive throwing the ball, finishing 13th in FCS in passing efficiency (146.9), 29th for passing yards overall (2,450) and 13th in touchdown passes with 24 after setting school and FCS Playoff records with seven versus Maine on Dec. 15. He was ninth with 198 total points responsible for and was 26th in average per game (14.14). He finished 45th in total offense per game (218.8).

Hero Sports was so impressed by the junior from Inglewood, Calif., that they picked Barriere as a first team selection on their preseason FCS All-America team.

“Eric is no different than where Gage Gubrud was going into 2017,” said Best, noting that Gubrud was a junior that year after having a record-breaking sophomore season as an All-American in 2016. “Physically Eric is going to be able to do all the things we ask him to do, and now we need him to mentally prepare himself to be the best he can be and then prepare his teammates along the way.”

In his 19-game career (11-2 as a starter), Barriere has com-pleted 60.8 percent of his passes (205-of-337) for 2,588 yards, 25

touchdowns and 10 interceptions, and has rushed 117 times for 661 yards and nine more TDs. He had a passing efficiency rating of 146.9 as a sophomore and a 143.9 mark in his career to rank fifth-best in school history.

“Player aside, Eric is a special person,” praised Best of Bar-riere, one of five players selected as team co-captain in 2019. “He smiles three times more than I do, so he sometimes makes my day brighter. We talk about non-football things because that’s where he’s progressed the most. I don’t know if he whispered two years ago and now he’s having conversations. It’s fun to watch his progres-sion – he’s a shy person by nature and he doesn’t want to be in the limelight.”

Barrrere had a productive spring – his first as the starter -- com-pleting 63.3 percent of his passes (31-of-49) for 451 yards and four touchdowns. He was the quarterback for five of the 11 touchdowns the offense scored.

Eastern’s two backups – sophomore Gunner Talkington and redshirt freshmen Simon Burkett are the backups behind Barriere. Talkington was 10-of-17 and had 155 yards and a touchdown in the Red team’s victory, giving him 327 yards and a pair of TDs in the spring. In 2018, Talkington saw action in six games as QB and finished 6-of-12 for 62 yards and a touchdown.

“There is a lot that goes into a quarterback’s day,” said Best. “Patterns run, protections and mechanics go into making connec-tions consistently. That backup quarterback position will be fun to watch and be a part of going into August.”

Barriere and the rest of the QBs will have some experienced re-ceivers to throw to as well, including seniors Jayson Williams and Dre’Sonte Dorton, and returning starter Andrew Boston. Williams had 25 catches for 317 yards as a junior in 2018, and has 45 career receptions for 569 yards and a touchdown in 36 career games. Dorton has 27 games worth of experience in his career, catching six passes for 50 yards and two touchdowns as a junior. He has 16 grabs for 214 yards and four scores in his career.

Boston finished his redshirt freshman season as an Freshman All-America selection with 43 receptions for 531 yards (12.3 per catch) and four touchdowns. He had a career-high nine catches ver-sus Idaho on Oct. 27, and had five grabs for a season-high 89 yards and a TD against Nicholls in the first round of the FCS Playoffs on Dec. 1. He is from Puyallup, Wash., and is a 2017 graduate of Emerald Ridge High School, and scored a touchdown versus Maine in the semifinals

Also back are junior Johnny Edwards IV, junior Talolo Limu-Jones and sophomore Marques Hampton Jr. Edwards had 14 catches in 2018 and has 20 for 270 yards and four touchdowns in his 24-game career. A converted tight end, Limu-Jones had seven catches as a sophomore and has 18 for 264 yards and four TDs in 23 games as an Eagle. Hampton played in five games in 2018 but didn’t have any catches or tackles on special teams.

Pushing the veterans for reps will be freshman redshirts Champ Grayson, Freddie Roberson and Anthony Stell Jr. Roberson


52

and Stell are part of the trio of “Beach Boys” who were classmates at Seattle’s Rainier Beach High School, and they combined for 10 catches for 213 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a trio of spring scrimmages.

Junior Xavier James, who has battled injuries since arriving on campus and has yet to see action in a game, will also be in the mix at receiver. The group is rounded out by freshman redshirt Michael Taras, who spent the spring of 2019 as a reserve quarterback.

Calling the shots as offensive coordinator and coaching quar-terbacks is former Central Washington University head coach Ian Shoemaker. He compiled a 38-16 record in five seasons at CWU and won Great Northwest Athletic Conference championships in 2017 and 2018. In those 54 games, Central averaged 37.3 points per game and 447.3 yards of total offense.

In the 2018 season, the Wildcats opened the year by falling to Eastern 58-13, but won eight of their next nine. The Wildcats finished as the co-champions in the GNAC with Azusa Pacific, which beat the Wildcats 42-35 to end the regular season. Azusa Pacific was selected for the NCAA Division II Playoffs, as CWU finished 8-3 overall and 7-1 in the GNAC.

Shoemaker’s quarterback the past two seasons was former Eagle Reilly Hennessey. He earned unanimous first team All-GNAC honors in 2018 and was the GNAC Offen-sive Player of the Year.

“I like the fact that he was a head coach,” said Best of Shoemaker, whose brother, Javid, was a safety at EWU from 2001-04. “He did a tremendous job at a tremendous place, and I like the fact that he has Washington roots. I’ve been here for two years and he has been a head coach for five years. I can ask him about some things that he may like or dislike, or for his opinion. Seeing it from a different perspective and a different side of things is good.”

The Eagles also have a new wide receiv-ers coach as well. Formerly from Olympia, Wash., Pat McCann comes to EWU from Northern Iowa where he was wide receivers coach in 2017 and 2018. McCann, a 2009 graduate of Western Washington University, spent four previous seasons at EWU’s fel-low Big Sky Conference member UC Davis.

With one small exception, the Eagle defense is ready to pick up where it left off last season.

A year after allowing 33.4 points per game, the Eagles allowed just 22.7 in 2018 for the team’s best performance since 1997. Eastern’s nine games of allowing 20 points for fewer in 2018 equals the school record also set in 1997, 1981, 1964 and 1949. In eight Big Sky Conference games, Eastern allowed the fewest points per game (16.9) while ranking second in total defense (346.6), second in passing defense (185.4) and second in rushing defense (161.2).

Eastern has veterans throughout the defensive depth chart, however, the cornerback position is de-

void of much game experience after four departed seniors carried the load in 2018.

In the spring, sophomore Ira Branch and redshirt freshman Darrien Sampson were

thrown to the fire, along with sophomore Kes-haun King and senior Bradley Alexander. Sophomore Darreon Moore did not play in the spring, but is slated to be a starter. Two other freshman cornerbacks are set to arrive in the fall, as well as 2018 high school graduate Demetrius Crosby Jr.

In EWU’s three scrimmages in the spring, including the Red-White Game,

Branch had four passes broken and five tackles. Sampson had six tackles and a

PBU, and King finished with nine tackles and an interception he returned for a touchdown.

In 2018, Moore had 11 tackles, Branch had three and King one. Most of that trio’s action

came on special teams, so the spring was their time to shine, followed by more experience in

August preseason practices.“The players at the cornerback position have grown

immensely,” said Best. “We have a ways to go, but they are stepping up. When you lose four cornerbacks in a

single class, that’s tough. Our corners haven’t played a ton of ball to this point, but they held their own.”

As a whole, Eastern’s defense was impressive all spring, which included 47 total possessions in a trio of scrimmages

(including the Red-White Game). It allowed 11 offensive touch-downs, but the defense forced six turnovers, stopped the offense on downs 23 times, had a safety and allowed the offensive units to make 3-of-6 field goal attempts.

Thus, the offense scored just 30 percent of the time (14 of 47 possessions) against an Eagle defense that led the Big Sky Confer-ence is scoring defense a year ago in league play at 16.9 points per Senior Defensive End JIM TOWNSEND

DEFENSE . . . Experience and Depth is Plentiful at Most Positions, But Cornerbacks Playing Catch-Up

53



game.Junior linebacker Chris Ojoh paced the defense in the three

scrimmages with 16 tackles, and also had a sack and fumble recovery. He is coming off a sophomore season that saw him finish with 105 tackles to rank 27th all-time at EWU. He started the last six games of EWU’s seven-game winning streak from Oct. 17 to Dec. 15 and led the way with 58 tackles, a touchdown-saving interception, six quarterback hurries, a sack, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and a pass broken up.

Also returning at linebacker are seniors Jack Sendelbach, Andrew Katzenberger and Trevor Davis Jr., as well as sophomore Cale Lindsay. In addition, freshman redshirts Justin Patterson and Emmanuel Osuoha are waiting in the wings.

Sendelbach sat out the 2018 season because of an injury, is a 2019 team co-captain and will be candidate for a sixth year in 2020. He has 24 games of experience (four as a starter) with 65 tackles, a pair of sacks, two forced fumbles and three recoveries. Katzenberger had 44 tackles a year ago and has 70 in his 33-game career, while Davis had eight in 2018 and has 21 in 18 career games. Lindsay chipped in eight tackles in seven games as a redshirt freshman.

The safety and rover positions also have a well-rounded group of experienced players. Seniors Dehonta Hayes and Tysen Prunty lead the way, with juniors including Calin Criner, Kedrick Johnson, Joe Lang and Tamir Hill. Sophomores Anfernee Gurley and Dean Sise are joined by redshirt freshman Tre Weed.

Hayes was EWU’s third-leading tackler a year ago with 87 tackles, an interception and four passes broken up. He has started 10 of the 26 games he’s played as an Eagle, with a total of 93 tackles. Prunty had 41 tackles in 10 games played last year, and in his 34-game career (10 as a starter) he has 109 tackles with a pair of passes broken up and two fumble recoveries.

Criner ended up starting four games in the FCS Playoffs, and finished his sophomore season fourth on the team with 76 tackles to go along with three interceptions and six passes broken up. He has 98 tackles in 26 career games. Johnson saw starting action in three playoff games at the rover position, and finished with 48 tackles and a pair of passes broken up. He returned a blocked field goal for a touchdown to start a run of 39 unanswered points in a 42-21 win over Nicholls to open the playoffs.

Lang (five tackles) and Hill (eight) played sparingly in 2018, but saw significant action in the spring. Hill broke-up three passes and had 14 total tackles in three spring scrimmages.

Gurley sat out the 2018 season after playing significantly as a true freshman in 2017. He had 37 tackles, three passes broken up and two forced fumbles to earn first team Freshman All-America hon-ors from Hero Sports and third team All-Big Sky honors as a special teams standout.

Sise is a transfer from Air Force where he had two tackles as a freshman before suffering a concussion and missing the rest of the season as a redshirt. He was eligible to play for the Eagles in the NCAA Division I Championship Game against North Dakota State on

Jan. 5, 2019, and had a tackle on the game’s opening kickoff.But defensive line has the most experience of all, which is always

necessary because EWU rotates 9-12 players per game. The unit feature senior starters Dylan Ledbetter and Jim Townsend, as well as freshman All-America selection Mitchell Johnson entering his sophomore campaign. Ledbetter is expected to start at nose tackle, Townsend at end and Johnson as the versatile “Buck” end.

A team co-captain in 2019, Ledbetter earned honorable mention All-Big Sky honors as a junior when he had 45 tackles, 1 1/2 sacks, broke-up three passes and blocked three kicks. Ledbetter has 8 1/2 sacks in his 40-game career (21 as a starter), with totals of 119 tackles, five passes broken up and four blocked kicks.

Townsend capitalized on a redshirt season in 2017 by having a stellar campaign in 2018 with 47 tackles, four sacks and a pair of forced fumbles. With 82 total tackles, five sacks and three forced fumbles in his career, Townsend was one of 18 finalists nationally for the Piesman Trophy (rhymes with Heisman). An annual award given by SB Nation to a “lineman who does something special with the ball in his hands,” Townsend had a key 62-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown in EWU’s 70-17 win over Cal Poly.

Mitchell burst onto the scene in 2018 and responded with 31 tackles, a team-leading 4 1/2 sacks, a pair of interceptions, two passes broken up, a pair of quarterback hurries, a fumble recovery and a forced fumble. Johnson earned second-team All-Big Sky honors while playing in all 15 games as a backup in his first season as an Eagle. Two of his sacks came against Washington State, and Mitchell also had interceptions against Southern Utah in the regular season and UC Davis in the playoffs.

Other returning letterwinners include senior Darnell Hogan, ju-niors Keith Moore and Rudolph Mataia Jr., and sophomores Caleb Davis and Deborah McClain. Redshirt freshmen include Joshua Jerome and Zion Fa’aopega. University of Washington transfer Jusstis Warren is a newcomer who has played linebacker in the past but is listed on the depth chart at the “Buck” end position.

Moore is expected to make his starting debut in 2019 as the team’s starting tackle, and had 15 stops and four sacks in 2018 to give him 22 tackles and four sacks in 21 career games. Hogan had 13 tackles as a junior, giving him 21 in 25 career games. Mataia missed EWU’s first 14 games in 2018, but saw action in the NCAA Division I Championship game against North Dakota State. He had 16 tackles in his Eagle debut season in 2017.

Davis played significantly as a freshman in 2018, and finished with 26 tackles. McClain chipped in 10.

In the spring, Mitchell Johnson had three quick-whistle sacks in the Red-White game, giving him a total of five in the spring with 14 total tackles. Jerome had 15 stops, with three sacks, a forced fumble and a recovery, while Townsend had a trio of sacks and a forced fumble. Mataia had nine tackles with three sacks.

“We rotate and have rotated for years with a lot of players seeing action in a game on the defensive front,” said Best. “If you earn time you’re going to get time. That is kind of our philosophy


54

on defense. It’s not as if we play 11 guys and if someone gets hurt then we play the 12th guy.”

In the offseason, Eastern and Inchelium (Wash.) High School graduate Eti Ena was elevated to defensive coordinator, taking the place of Jeff Schmedding. Ena will retain his associate head coach title and continue to coach defensive ends, while veteran coach Brian Strandley has been elevated to the role of defensive front coordinator.

“We’re excited and eager for Coach Ena,” Best added. “We made great strides on that side

of the football this past year and his fingerprints and

voice will only enhance the progress we have made.

Previously an Eagle for six seasons

from 2009-14, Allen Brown has returned to the Eastern football program to become EWU’s new cornerbacks coach and defen-sive passing game coordinator. After

concluding his playing career as an All-Big Sky safety at EWU, Brown

was a strength and conditioning

intern at EWU in 2014 and also assisted

with the secondary. Brown then spent the past four

seasons from 2015-18 at Cal Poly as coach of the

team’s cornerbacks.In addition, Bryan Mills,

a defensive analyst for the Eastern football team the past

two seasons, has been elevated into a position as safeties coach for

the Eagles. He worked with the EWU defense in 2017 and 2018.

Replacing both the kicking and punting talents of Roldan Alco-bendas is going to be a heavy lift.

A sixth-year senior kicker in 2018, he was honored on seven NCAA Football Championship Subdivision All-America teams as a first team selection. In being honored for his perfect season kicking field goals, he was one of just 11 players nationwide to be honored on the FCS ADA All-America squad. In addition, he was also named on Dec. 9 as the winner of the Fred Mitchell Award as the top placekicker among FCS, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, NAIA and NJCAA schools.

He finished the year as the only player in FCS to be perfect on the season, finishing 16-of-16 to break the previous FCS record of perfection of 15-of-15 set by Jon Scifres of Missouri State in 2004. He finished with a school-record 119 kick scoring points in 2018, ranking second in Big Sky history and just three from the league record of 122.

In addition, Alcobendas finished with a school-record 320 career points which is sixth in Big Sky history. His streak of 70-straight extra points broke his own single season record of 63 consecutive in 2016, and he set the career record for extra points in a row with 85 from 2016-17. He also established new EWU season and school records for punting average – both at 44.9 per kick.

So, replacing his kicking prowess falls on the strong leg of junior Andre Slyter, who is 4-of-7 on extra points in his career and has yet to attempt a field goal. But he handled kickoffs in 2018, averag-ing 58.3 yards per kick with 46 touchbacks in 112 total kickoffs (41 percent). His backup is redshirt freshman Seth Harrison.

Punting duties most likely will be handled by sophomore Trevor Bowens, but he has yet to see game action. Safety Anthany Smith punted twice for a 31.5 average in 2018 and is listed as the backup in 2019.

Eastern’s return game is solid with Dennis Merritt and Dre’ Sonte Dorton both returning after averaging 22.4 and 20.9 yards, respectively, on a combined 37 kickoff returns. Dorton has a 24.3 career average and a touchdown to rank ninth in school history, and in 2017 earned second team All-Big Sky honors as a return special-ist. Running back Antoine Custer Jr. ranks 11th at 23.8, but didn’t return a kickoff in 2018.

Calin Criner, Tre Weed and Johnny Edwards IV return after seeing action as punt returners in 2018. Criner averaged 6.4 yards with a long of 21, and Weed averaged 10.7 with a long of 22 before redshirting after playing in four games as a true freshman. Smith is also listed as one of the team’s punt returners on the preseason depth chart.

Senior Wide Receiver &Kickoff ReturnerDRE’ SONTE DORTON

SPECIAL TEAMS . . . There are Big Shoes to Fill With Departure of Record-Breaking Kicker/Punter

55



Eastern completed its 12-game football schedule in 2019 with the addition of a road game at Idaho on Sept. 21 and a non-confer-ence home game versus Lindenwood on Sept. 7.

With the return of Idaho to the Big Sky Conference in 2018 and the departure of North Dakota, Eastern will annually play the Vandals in a league game. However, 2019 was left out as a league game because of schedules already in place. It worked out that both the Eagles and Vandals had the same open date in their schedule.

“We are all glad we could fill a full 12-game schedule,” said Eastern head coach Aaron Best. “We have five home games, and some challenging non-league games will certainly prepare us for the 2019 Big Sky campaign. Having Idaho on our non-conference slate will allow us to continue our annual game and allow both fan bases to enjoy and take part in what should become one of the premier rivalries in the league again.”

The Eagles will open their five-game home schedule Linden-wood, a NCAA Division II school in St. Charles, Mo., in EWU’s home opener on Sept. 7. The Lions are a member of the Mid-Amer-ica Intercollegiate Athletics Association.

Eastern’s second home game will be Sept. 28 versus North Dakota, which will be the last game for EWU that counts in the league standings versus the Fighting Hawks. North Dakota is in transition after leaving the Big Sky for the Missouri Valley Conference, and will begin play in that league in 2020.

Other home games for the Eagles are Oct. 12 versus Northern Colorado, Nov. 2 against Northern Arizona and Nov. 23 versus Portland State on Senior Day at EWU. The game versus North Dakota is Hall of Fame Day at EWU, and Homecoming is scheduled for the UNC game.

Eastern opens the 2019 season at Washington of the Pac-12 Conference, and will also play a non-conference road game at Jacksonville State of the Ohio Valley Confer-ence on Sept. 14. That game is part of a home-and home series that will also include a home game for EWU at Roos Field on Sept. 11, 2021.

The Eagles and Idaho will play the final non-conference game against each other on Sept. 21 in Moscow. Starting in 2020, the two schools will be considered “rivals” by the league and will play each other every season. Portland State is EWU’s other “rival,” while

Idaho will face Montana every year starting in 2020.Eastern plays four league road games – Oct. 5 at Sacramento

State, Sept. 26 at Montana, Nov. 9 at Idaho State and Nov. 16 at Cal Poly. Because of the way the calendar falls in 2019, an additional game is allowed by the NCAA in lieu of the traditional 11-game schedule collegiate teams play. The FCS Playoffs will begin on Nov. 30.

Eastern’s 2020 schedule is also complete, and will include Big Sky home games against the top three favorites of Eagle fans – Montana (Oct. 3), Idaho (Oct. 17) and Montana State (Nov. 7). The Eagles will also host Weber State (Oct. 24) in a league counter, and host Western Illinois (Sept. 12) and Northern Arizona (Sept. 19) in non-conference games.

Complete schedules for 2019 and 2020 are available at http://goeags.com. Game times for the 2019 season will be announced this summer or ear-ly fall after television broadcasts are scheduled by EWU and the league.

Future Schedules

(subject to change and not for publication)

(Includes non-conference games previously announced;*Indicates Big Sky Conference

Game)

2020 SCHEDULE9/5/20 - at Florida9/12/20 - Western Illinois9/19/20 - Northern Arizona9/26/20 - at Southern Utah*10/3/20 Montana*10/10/20 - at Northern Colo.*10/17/20 - Idaho*10/24/20 - Weber State*10/31/20 - at UC Davis*11/7/20 - Montana State*11/14/20 - Bye11/21/20 - at Portland State*

2021 SCHEDULE9/4/21 - OPEN (FBS)9/11/21 - Jacksonville State9/18/21 - at Western Illinois9/25/21 - Portland State*10/2/21 - Bye10/9/21 - at Montana State*10/16/21 - Southern Utah*10/23/21 - at Cal Poly*10/30/21 - at Idaho*11/6/21 - Sacramento State*11/13/21 - at Northern Arizona*11/20/21 - Idaho State*

2022 SCHEDULE9/3/22 - at Oregon9/10/22 - Open9/17/22 - Open9/24/22 - Northern Colorado*10/1/22 - Bye/Open10/8/22 - at Montana*10/15/22 - UC Davis*10/22/22 - at Portland State*10/29/22 - Idaho*11/5/22 - at Idaho State*11/12/22 - at Weber State*11/19/22 - Cal Poly*

2023 SCHEDULE9/2/23 - Open9/9/23 - Open9/16/23 - Open9/23/23 - Bye/Open9/30/23 - at Northern Colorado*10/7/23 - Montana State*10/14/23 - at Idaho*10/21/23 - Portland State*10/28/23 - at Sacramento State*11/4/23 - at Southern Utah*11/11/23 - Northern Arizona*11/18/23 - Weber State*

Starts by EWU Quarterbacks Since 1998 . . . 2018 – Gage Gubrud 5 (4-1), Eric Barriere 10 (8-2) = 12-32017 – Gage Gubrud 10 (6-4), Eric Barriere 1 (1-0) = 7-42016 – Gage Gubrud 13 (11-2), Jordan West 1 (1-0) = 12-22015 – Jordan West 9 (6-3), Reilly Hennessey 2 (0-2) = 6-52014 – Vernon Adams Jr. 10 (8-2), Jordan West 4 (3-1) = 11-32013 – Vernon Adams Jr. 15 (12-3)2012 – Kyle Padron 5 (3-2) , Vernon Adams Jr. 9 (8-1) = 11-32011 – Bo Levi Mitchell 11 (6-5)2010 – Bo Levi Mitchell 14 (12-2), Nick Gauthier 1 (1-0) = 13-22009 – Matt Nichols 12 (8-4)2008 – Matt Nichols 10 (5-5), Alex Smart 1 (1-0) = 6-52007 – Matt Nichols 13 (9-4)2006 – Chris Peerboom 1 (0-1), Matt Nichols 10 (3-7) = 3-82005 – Erik Meyer 12 (7-5)2004 – Erik Meyer 13 (9-4)2003 – Erik Meyer 10 (5-5), Skyler Allen 1 (1-0) = 6-52002 – Josh Blankenship 11 (6-5)2001 – Fred Salanoa 11 (7-4)2000 – Fred Salanoa 9 (5-4), Chris Samms 2 (1-1) = 6-51999 – Fred Salanoa 3 (1-2), Chris Samms 8 (6-2) = 7-41998 – Griffin Garske 10 (4-6), Scott Mitchell 1 (1-0) = 5-6Leaders in StartsMatt Nichols – 45 (25-20 .556)Erik Meyer – 35 (21-14 .600)Vernon Adams Jr. – 34 (28-6 .823)Gage Gubrud – 28 (21-7 .750)Bo Levi Mitchell – 25 (18-7 .720)Fred Salanoa – 23 (13-10 .565) – Eric Barriere – 11 (9-2 .818) . . . percentage second only to Vernon Adams Jr.

SCHEDULE . . . Eagles Play 12 Games in 2019, Including Non-Conference Game Versus Rival Idaho


56

Head Coach Aaron BestFCS Coach of the Year (Hero Sports Fan Vote)Co-Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year

#75 - Spencer Blackburn - OL - 6-2 - 290 - Sr. - 3L* - Bellingham, Wash. (Meridian HS ’14)Second Team All-America (Center - Associated Press)Third Team All-America (Center - STATS)Second Team All-Big Sky (Center - selected by league’s head coaches)CoSIDA Academic All-District 8 (3.67/Professional Accounting) Academic All-America Nominee (3.67/Professional Accounting)Big Sky All-Academic (3.67/Professional Accounting)2018 Team Co-Captain

#3 - Eric Barriere - QB - 6-0 - 200 - Jr. - 2L* - Inglewood, Calif. (La Habra HS ’16)Honorable Mention Sophomore All-America (Quarterback - Hero Sports)Third Team All-Big Sky (Quarterback - selected by league’s head coaches)FCS National Performer of the Week (Col. FB Performance Awards/vs. PSU 11/16 . . .315 tot.

off./6 TD)Big Sky Offensive Player of the Week (League Office/vs. PSU 11/16 . . . 315 tot. off./5 TD Pass,

66 TD Rush)

#5 - Mitchell Johnson - DL - 6-3 - 240 - So. - 1L* - West Linn, Ore. (West Linn HS ’17)First Team Freshman All-America (Defensive End - Hero Sports)First Team Freshman All-America (Defensive End - Phil Steel Publications)Second Team All-Big Sky (Defensive End - selected by league’s head coaches)EWU Freshman of the Year (defense)Big Sky All-Academic (3.59/Undeclared)

#9 - Andrew Boston - WR - 6-3 - 185 - So. - 1L* - Puyallup, Wa. (Emerald Ridge HS ’17)Third Team Freshman All-America (Defensive End - Phil Steel Publications)Honorable Mention Freshman All-America (Wide Receiver - Hero Sports)EWU Freshman of the Year (offense)Big Sky All-Academic (3.37/Undeclared)

#66 - Kaleb Levao - OL - 6-4 - 310 - Sr. - 3L* - Aberdeen, Wash. (Aberdeen HS ’14)Second Team All-Big Sky (Offensive Guard - selected by league’s head coaches)

#64 - Chris Schlichting - OL - 6-5 - 295 - Sr. - 3L* - North Bend, Wash. (Mount Si HS ’15)Second Team All-Big Sky (Offensive Tackle - selected by league’s head coaches)

#28 - Antoine Custer - RB - 5-9 - 190 - Sr. - 3L - Berkeley, Calif. (De La Salle ’16)Honorable Mention All-Big Sky (Running Back - selected by league’s head coaches)

#4 - Dylan Ledbetter - DL - 6-3 - 270 - Sr. - 3L* - West Seattle, Wash. (O’Dea HS ’15)Honorable Mention All-Big Sky (Defensive Tackle - selected by league’s head coaches)Academic All-Big Sky Conference (3.31/Exercise Science)

#49 - Jim Townsend - DL - 6-4 - 265 - Sr. - 3L* - Okanogan, Wash. (Okanogan HS ’15)Finalist for Piesman Award (given to a “lineman who who does something special with the ball in

his hands” 62-yard fumble return for a TD versus Cal Poly)Academic All-America Nominee (3.44/Biology)Academic All-Big Sky Conference (3.39/Biology)

#37 - Andre Slyter - K - 6-2 - 220 - Jr. - 1L* - Kent, Wash. (Kentwood HS ’16)Academic All-America Nominee (3.55/EntrepreneurshipAcademic All-Big Sky Conference (3.55/Entrepreneurship)

#39 - Justin Patterson - LB - 6-2 - 215 - Fr. - HS* - Los Angeles (Junipero Serra HS ‘18)

EWU Scout Team Player of the Year (defense)

#21 - Dean Sise - DB - 6-2 - 205 - So. - TR* - Kirkland, Wash. (Juanita HS ‘17 & Navy)EWU Scout Team Player of the Year (special teams)

Other All-Academic Honors Big Sky Conference All-Academic Honors:Brad Alexander (Management)Calin Criner (Leadership)Trent Harris (Computer Science)Dehonta Hayes (Communication Studies)Darnell Hogan (Communication Studies)Dylan Ingram (Undeclared)Andrew Katzenberger (Management)Cale Lindsay (Undeclared)Darreon Moore (Management)Tamarick Pierce (Sociology)Tysen Prunty (Communication Studies)Gunner Talkington (Undeclared)Jayson Williams (Marketing)

2018 HONORS (by returning players)

2019 Preseason Honors (as of July 15, 2019)Big Sky ConferenceChris Schlichting - Preseason All-Big Sky TeamAthlon All-AmericaSpencer Blackburn – 1st Team (24 players honored)Hero Sports All-AmericaEric Barriere – 1st TeamSpencer Blackburn – 2nd TeamFCS Fans NationEric Barriere – FCS Offensive Player of the Year

57



2018 WEEKLY STARTERSSTARTERS - OFF. L. Tackle L. Guard Center R. Guard R. Tackle Quarterback Tailback Tight End Wide Rec. Wide Rec. FB/TE/WRCentral Wash. Taylor Hunter Blackburn Levao Schlichting Gubrud McPherson Belk (te) Grady Ns. Webster Boston (wr)Northern Ariz. Taylor Hunter Blackburn Levao Schlichting Gubrud McPherson Eagle (wr) Grady Ns. Webster Boston (wr)Washington St. Taylor Hunter Blackburn Levao Schlichting Gubrud McPherson Eagle (wr) Grady Ns. Webster Boston (wr)Cal Poly Byus Hunter Blackburn Levao Schlichting Gubrud McPherson Belk (te) Grady Eagle Boston (wr)Montana St. Byus Hunter Blackburn Levao Schlichting Gubrud Custer Eagle (wr) Grady Ns. Webster Edwards (wr)Southern Utah Byus Hunter Blackburn Levao Schlichting Barriere Custer Belk (te) Grady Ns. Webster Boston (wr)Weber State Meyer Hunter Blackburn Levao Schlichting Barriere Custer Belk (te) Grady Ns. Webster Boston (wr)Idaho Byus Hunter Blackburn Levao Schlichting Barriere McPherson Belk (te) Grady Ns. Webster Boston (wr)Northern Colo. Byus Hunter Blackburn Levao Schlichting Barriere Custer Williams (wr) Grady Ns. Webster Boston (wr)UC Davis Byus Hunter Blackburn Meyer Schlichting Barriere McPherson Belk (te) Grady Ns. Webster Boston (wr)Portland St. Byus Hunter Blackburn Levao Schlichting Barriere McPherson Belk (te) Grady Ns. Webster Boston (wr)Nicholls Byus Hunter Blackburn Levao Schlichting Barriere McPherson Belk (te) Grady Ns. Webster Boston (wr)UC Davis Byus Hunter Blackburn Levao Schlichting Barriere McPherson Belk (te) Grady Ns. Webster Boston (wr)Maine Byus Hunter Blackburn Levao Schlichting Barriere McPherson Belk (te) Grady Ns. Webster Boston (wr)North Dakota St. Byus Hunter Blackburn Levao Schlichting Barriere McPherson Belk (te) Grady Ns. Webster Boston (wr)

STARTERS - DEF. Cornerback Cornerback Safety Safety Rover Middle LB Strong LB End Tackle Nose Tackle EndCentral Wash. Lewis Nzuzi Webster Fettig Prunty Karstetter Calhoun Kupp Townsend Ledbetter Tiuli WilliamsNorthern Ariz. Lewis Tucker Fettig Prunty Karstetter Calhoun Kupp Townsend Ledbetter Tiuli WilliamsWashington St. Lewis Tucker Fettig Prunty Karstetter Calhoun Kupp Townsend Ledbetter Tiuli FoerstelCal Poly Lewis Tucker Fettig Prunty Karstetter Katzenberger Ojoh Townsend Ledbetter Tiuli FoerstelMontana St. Lewis Tucker Fettig Prunty Karstetter Calhoun Kupp Townsend Ledbetter Tiuli FoerstelSouthern Utah Lewis Tucker Fettig Hayes Karstetter Calhoun Kupp Townsend Ledbetter Tiuli FoerstelWeber State Lewis Tucker Fettig Hayes Karstetter Calhoun Kupp Williams Ledbetter Tiuli FoerstelIdaho Lewis Tucker Fettig Hayes Karstetter Calhoun Kupp Williams Jordan Tiuli FoerstelNorthern Colo. Lewis Tucker Prunty Hayes Karstetter Kupp Ojoh Williams Jordan Tiuli FoerstelUC Davis Lewis Tucker Fettig Hayes Karstetter Kupp Ojoh Williams Jordan Tiuli FoerstelPortland St. Lewis Tucker Fettig Prunty Karstetter Kupp Ojoh Williams Ledbetter Tiuli FoerstelNicholls. Lewis Tucker Criner Hayes Johnson Kupp Ojoh Townsend Ledbetter Tiuli FoerstelUC Davis Lewis Tucker Criner Hayes Johnson Kupp Ojoh Townsend Ledbetter Tiuli FoerstelMaine Lewis Tucker Criner Hayes Johnson Kupp Ojoh Townsend Jordan Ledbetter FoerstelNorth Dakota St. Lewis Tucker Criner Hayes Karstetter Kupp Ojoh Townsend Jordan Ledbetter Foerstel

2019 CO-CAPTAINS

Quarterback Eric Barriere(Jr. - Inglewood, Calif.)

Center Spencer Blackburn(Sr. - Bellingham, Wash.)

Tight End Jayce Gilder(Sr. - Corvallis, Mont.)

Nose Tackle Dylan Ledbetter(Sr. - West Seattle, Wash.)

Linebacker Jack Sendelbach(Sr. - Seattle, Wash.)

2018 WEEKLY TEAM AWARDS - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Players of the Week - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Scout Team Players of the Week - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Offense Defense Special Teams Offense Defense Special Teams Central Wash. Gage Gubrud/Tristan Taylor Mitch Fettig Marques Hampton Jr. Marques Hampton Jr. Rudolph Mataia Jr. Dean Sise Northern Ariz. Ns. Webster/S. McPherson D’londo Tucker/D. Ledbetter Roldan Alcobendas Freddie Roberson Keshaun King Justin Patterson Washington St. Tamarick Pierce Josh Lewis Roldan Alcobendas Simon Burkett Dean Sise Isaiah Lewis Cal Poly Offensive Line D. Ledbetter/J. Townsend Chris Ojoh Risone Ama/Brad Godwin Emmanuel Osuoha Keshaun King Montana St. Gage Gubrud Jay-Tee Tiuli Kedrick Johnson Isaiah Lewis Justin Patterson Trevor Bowens Southern Utah Eric Barriere K. Calhoun/D. Hayes Dennis Merritt Kellen Gregory Rudolph Mataia Jr. Anthony Stell Weber State None Keenan Williams Andre Sylter Michael Taras Tamir Hill Justin Patterson Idaho Eric Barriere Jay-Tee Tiuli A. Katzenberger Risone Ama Cody Clements Dean Sise Northern Colo. Antoine Custer Jr. Josh Lewis/D’londo Tucker Calin Criner Michael Taras Justin Patterson Emmanuel Osuoha UC Davis Custer/McPherson/Pierce Nzuzi Webster Andrew Katzenberger Freddie Roberson Brad Alexander Micah Mason Portland St. Ns. Webster/S. McPherson Dylan Ledbetter Anthany Smith Kellen Gregory Zion Fa’aopega Keshaun King Nicholls Sam McPherson Jim Townsend/Calin Criner Kedrick Johnson Micah Smith Aiden Nellor Kellen Gregory UC Davis Henderson Belk Josh Lewis/Jim Townsend Darreon Moore Michael Taras Darrien Sampson Aiden Nellor Maine Eric Barriere Keith Moore/Josh Lewis Dennis Merritt Kellen Gregory Rudolph Mataia Jr. Julian Houston North Dakota St. Sam McPherson Ketner Kupp Dean Sise Risone Ama Joshua Jerome Emmanuel Osuoha

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