Eastern Washington will begin two spring football practices this week, Monday and Wednesday, before ramping up for the annual Red-White game in late April.
“I’m ready to play ball,” EWU senior wide receiver Nolan Ulm said Thursday. “How many opportunities do you have to play organized college football?”
Eastern has back-to-back seasons in which the Eagles have gone a combined 7-15. But Ulm is optimistic the team will bounce back this year.
“I believe in Coach (Aaron) Best in this program,” Ulm said. “We know we can get back to where we need to be.”
In addition to Best, the Eagles return seven coaches, including third-year offensive coordinator Jim Chapin and first-year defensive coordinator Eric Sanders, who will continue to coach the linebackers as they did last year. It turns out. He replaced Jeff Kopp as coordinator.
But they also feature some new, albeit familiar, faces. Former EWU running back Tamarik Pierce will coach his old group, and Danny McDonald will return to the program as special teams coach.
It's a title the Eagles haven't held by a specific coach since 2019, when Heath Pulver coordinated the entire unit. Instead, the Eagles opted to have multiple coaches divide duties. McDonald served as the quality control coach at Eastern from 2018 to 2020 and was a defensive quality control assistant at Washington State last season.
“He has good energy and good vibes,” senior wide receiver Efton Chism III said of McDonald. “I'm looking forward to seeing how spring ball goes. I'm looking forward to finding ways to perform better on special teams. We have to win on special teams every game.”
The Eagles have not yet announced a new defensive line coach to replace Matt Ulrich, who has held the position the past two years. Ulrich is the special teams coordinator for Mercer, a team in the FCS Southern Conference.
Eastern expects to return nine starters on offense and seven on defense. The Eagles will replace All-Big Sky punter Nik Kokic with return kickers Soren McKee and Jackson Cleaver, and long snapper Tyson Jacobson.
The Red and White game is scheduled for April 26th at 6pm at Ruth Field. The Eagles open the regular season on Aug. 29 at home against Monmouth.
