Interest aplenty in EWU football job
If Eastern Washington University athletic director Bill Chaves is looking for a new head football coach with first-hand knowledge of what it takes to be successful in Cheney, he won’t have to travel far to find them.
At least three potential candidates who meet that qualification, including one who served as the Eagles’ head coach for six seasons and led them to the semifinals of the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs, expressed an interest Wednesday in filling the EWU vacancy created earlier this week when Paul Wulff left to take over at Washington State.
Former Eagles coach Mike Kramer and two of Wulff’s past offensive coordinators at Eastern, Timm Rosenbach and Beau Baldwin, all said they would be willing to listen to Chaves, who is leading the search for Wulff’s successor.
Kramer, who coached the Eagles from 1994-1999 and led them to a 12-2 record and the semifinals of the I-AA playoffs in 1997, went so far as to say he plans to “pursue the head coaching job at Eastern as vigorously as I can.”
Kramer, who was 37-32 at Eastern before leaving to take the head coaching job at Montana State, was fired by the Bobcats following the 2006 season after several of his former MSU players ran into serious trouble with the law. He spent much of his time this fall visiting football practices at Division I schools across the country in hopes of getting back into college coaching.
Rosenbach, who has spent the past four seasons coaching quarterbacks at Washington State under Bill Doba, said he, too, is interested in the Eastern job after admitting his future at Washington State remains uncertain in the wake of the coaching change.
“Paul and I are friends before we’re anything,” he said of Wulff, who was a teammate of his at WSU in the late 1980s, “but that’s between me and him right now. That’s where it stands for both of us.”
Rosenbach was hired by Wulff as a restricted-duties coach at Eastern in 2000, but was promoted to offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach the following year. He also served in that position in 2002 before hiring on with Doba at WSU.
“Sure, I’d be interested in the (Eastern) job,” he said.
Baldwin, who replaced Rosenbach at EWU in 2003, spent four seasons as Wulff’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach before taking over the Central program.
“I’ll start out by saying I’m extremely happy here at Central,” Baldwin said. “It’s my alma mater, and the people here are great. But Eastern Washington is another great school with a great program, and they play in a great conference.
“The people in Cheney – the whole community – were good to me when I was there, so, sure, I’d be interested in coming back.”
Baldwin said he also gained some valuable experience in his first season as head coach, leading the Wildcats to a 10-3 overall record and third-place finish in the North Central Conference.
“There’s no question, I learned a lot this year as a head coach,” he explained. “For me, it was an extremely valuable year. And every year after it will be valuable, too – as far as coaching is concerned – no matter where that is.”
Idaho assistant and former Eagles player Luther Carr has also said he would be interested in taking over at his alma mater, but none of the four had yet been contacted by Chaves, who is being ultrasecretive about Eastern’s coaching search.
The Eagles’ first-year A.D. issued his only comments, thus far, through the school’s sport information department, saying he will have no more comments until he announces his new coach.
Among the other names being tossed around as potential candidates are former Eagles quarterback and current Fresno State offensive coordinator Jim McElwain and former Eagles defensive back Jimmy Lake, who is currently helping coach the secondary for the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers.