Wulff focuses on EWU’s maturity level

Can reading a book to elementary children, pounding nails or picking up garbage help Eastern Washington football players hold their blocks longer or make surer tackles?

Eagles coach Paul Wulff vows to find out.

Wulff goes into the off-season with a losing record for the first time in his seven years as a head coach and he doesn’t like it. Nor does he expect his players to accept it.

“We have a lot of kids, at every position, back,” he said. “But they also haven’t played well enough to get above 3-8. There is a lot of improvement that has to be made between now and next August.”

A season-ending 40-6 pasting of Idaho State, an indication of the Eagles’ potential, doesn’t lessen the disappointment after back-to-back playoff appearances.

So in addition to lifting weights, conditioning and staying on track academically, Eastern is going to embark on a more aggressive off-season.

“We need to do a lot of things outside the scope of our athletic program,” Wulff said, suggesting things the players will be asked to do in the community.

“I think that’s part of college football,” he said. “When all is said and done, I would hate that the wins they had or didn’t have be all they have. We have a lot of kids on the football team that are by no means immature brats, but we have kids that are just not men yet. I believe there is a direct correlation to maturity, leaving our program a better person that has grown up to be an adult. If we accomplish that, the wins will come.”

The offense could return seven linemen, two tight ends, three running backs, six receivers and two quarterbacks who started at least once.

That includes quarterback Matt Nichols, who completed 55 percent of his 259 passes for 1,749 yards and eight touchdowns in 11 games as a redshirt freshman. He had an unsightly 17 interceptions, however, including at least one in every game. Senior-to-be Chris Peerboom, knocked out of the competition with an injury in the first game, had five TDs and two picks in seven games.

Tony Davis (48 receptions), Brynsen Brown (35) and Aaron Boyce (35) combined for 1,539 yards and eight touchdowns as redshirt freshmen. True freshman Jesse Hoffman (249 yards) was the only running back with a 100-yard game.

The defense should have 14 players with at least one start, returning eight of 14 interceptions and 11 1/2 of 18 sacks. Cornerback Ira Jarmon and safeties Gregor Smith and Anthony Dotson had two picks apiece. End Greg Peach had a team-high 5 1/2 sacks.

Despite that experience, Wulff said every position is up for grabs.

“I can probably say, on offense, there are probably only four bona fide starters returning and I’ll bet you can say the same thing on defense,” he said. “There are a lot of guys back who have started, but when I say bona fide, I mean someone you know you can win a championship with.”

The locked-in starters on offense are veteran linemen Rocky Hanni and Matt Alfred, and probably tackle Zach Wasielewski and center Chris Carlsen, although Charlie Wulff started after Carlsen was injured in the opener. On defense, Peach and Smith, along with safety Brandon Jarrett, are expected to be starters, as is tackle Lance Witherspoon