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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Eagles plot to change tune after disappointing 2006

Eastern Washington lost that winning feeling on the football field last fall.

To make sure that feeling isn’t gone, gone, gone, the Eagles have quite a laundry list of to-do things that needs to be covered in the four weeks of spring football practice that begins Monday afternoon.

“Nobody has played good enough, they all need to get better,” head coach Paul Wulff said on the eve of his eighth season. “We’re practicing to find out who’s developing, a process of finding our strengths and weaknesses, improving on weaknesses and find out what kids have moved past other kids. We have to come up with ideas to put kids who are playing well in positions to help the team the most.”

Changes are expected after a 3-8 season ended the Eagles’ run of seven straight winning seasons, capped by back-to-back Big Sky titles and playoff appearances, even with 46 lettermen and 13 starters back.

Areas of concentration are getting players comfortable with a restructured coaching staff, line play and special teams. Specific position concerns are linebacker and cornerback, tight end, running back and, as always, quarterback and kickers.

Progress can be judged at the Red-White Game at 2 p.m. on May 5 at Woodward Field. There are also scrimmages at 4 p.m. Friday, at 3:30 p.m. on April 20 and at 11 a.m. on April 28.

Three starters – safety Gregor Smith (shoulder), running back Dale Morris (foot) and offensive lineman Julian Stewart (knee) – will be limited or held out because of injuries. Wulff said with spring quarter a week old, the coaches haven’t received all academic reports, but he doesn’t expect many issues to surface.

Three assistant coaches have left for better positions. The most high-profile newcomer is offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Todd Sturdy, who was head coach at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa.

“Whenever there is a change, it takes time,” Wulff said. “Our terminology is primarily going to stay the same. We are going to change some things. Coach Sturdy has some things he wants to do, some great ideas that will be good for us.”

It also throws open the competition at quarterback between returning starter Matt Nichols, who will be a sophomore, junior Alex Smart and redshirt freshman Jason Harris.

“They have to step up and learn some new wrinkles,” Wulff said. “Whoever plays the best to help this team will be the guy playing. It’s pretty simple.”

The offensive and defensive lines both return all but one starter and most backups, but significant improvement is expected.

“We are going to simplify the amount of responsibilities we’re asking them to do,” Wulff said. “We’re going to cut back their assignment responsibilities and spend more time on technique and being aggressive, not having them think on their feet constantly.”

Special teams are going to get special attention.

“All of our coaches are going to be involved in special teams. (Linebacker coach) Travis Niekamp is the coordinator,” Wulff said. “It’s been an area we struggled a little bit the last couple of years. … As coaches, we maybe let some things slide or we assumed certain roles were going to be replaced by other kids and they weren’t replaced as well.

“We just have to restructure some things and make sure we make sure this is a phase of our team that will truly help us win some games, not just an area we’ll break even at.”

Redshirt Matt Piece and wide receiver Shane Eller are the kickers, but Juan Bongarra, a native of Argentina, has been signed out of Scottsdale Community College to join the competition in the fall. Fritz Brayton, a Washington State transfer, is the leading candidate at punter.

The linebacker corps took a hit when sophomore starter Shea Emry decided to return to Canada after winter quarter.