Eagles enter new era
Even the most casual Eastern Washington University football fan knows the Eagles have to find a new quarterback to start the post-Erik Meyer Era, but head coach Paul Wulff sees a more pressing need.
“I think the most important thing for us is finding the true leaders on this football team,” Wulff said. “We feel we have some guys that are definite leadership candidates, regardless of position, but we have to find those bona fide leaders. We lost some awfully good leaders.”
Still, a lot of attention will be focused on the battle to replace Meyer, the Payton Award winner, when spring drills kick off Monday afternoon.
Redshirt sophomore Chris Peerboom, who missed most of last season with a finger injury, is No. 1 at the moment, but redshirt freshmen Matt Nichols and Josh Powell will get a fair shot to replace Meyer, a three-year starter who is expected to be drafted later this month.
“It’s a very important time for us because the personality of our football team is going to be different,” Wulff said. “It will be exciting to see what emerges through the spring.”
The other major question marks are wide receiver, cornerback and middle linebacker.
Alex Smart, who was the backup for Meyer, a two-time Big Sky Offensive MVP, while Peerboom was sidelined, has moved to wide receiver, another position with big holes. The graduation of All-American Eric Kimble, Raul Vijil, Craig McIntyre and Richmond Sanders takes away 503 career receptions for 7,858 yards and 74 touchdowns.
“I think there is talent there, there’s some lack of maturity and lack of leadership right now,” Wulff said. “That’s what we’re hoping will sort itself out.”
Junior Tyler Coleman is the top returnee with 22 receptions. Among the untested but highly regarded candidates are Tony Davis, Aaron Boyce, Brynson Brown, Sam Togar, converted running back Reggie Ford and Charles Searcy, moving over from cornerback. Kyle Long (knee) and Brandon Nicholson (leg), who missed last season with injuries, probably won’t practice much this spring.
Senior DeNique Ford and junior Ira Jarmon are the lead candidates to replace Isaiah Trufant and Jesse Hendrix, who combined for 16 interceptions, 65 passes broken up and 287 tackles in their four years at cornerback.
The linebacker pool includes returning starter David Eneberg, lettermen Shae Emory and Marcus Walker, and redshirts Makai Borden and Derek Walker.
One has to step in for Big Sky Co-Defensive MVP Joey Cwik, who finished as EWU’s fourth all-time tackler.
Also out because of injuries are defensive lineman Harrison Nikolao, who is moving to the offensive line, tight end Tom McAndrew, who could move to fullback, safety Gregor Smith and punter Ryan Donckers.
Anther player changing positions is redshirt freshman tight end Shawn Powell, who is going to defensive end.
Because the Eagles have 75 players suiting up, Wulff expects plenty of repetitions and more scrimmage opportunities. That includes 43 lettermen, six offensive and defensive starters, and 23 redshirts.
“We’re going to tinker a little bit with what we do,” Wulff said. “We have ideas on what we’d like to do based on the talent we have coming back. To be honest, I don’t think we’ll know until we practice quite a bit to see what we have.”
The Eagles will practice at 3 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday for three weeks, with scrimmages on the first two Fridays and at 11 a.m. on April 29.
Practices the last week are Tuesday and Thursday with the Red-White Game on May 10. That is followed by the Orland Killin Dinner-Dance-Auction.