Better late than never
Shoulder surgery seemed to be the off-season pastime of choice for several of Eastern Washington University’s top football players, which means the Eagles will be a trifle shorthanded when they belatedly open spring practice Friday afternoon.
First-year head coach Beau Baldwin had originally hoped to start on Tuesday but was forced to delay drills because of snow on the practice fields. The first practice will start at approximately 3:20, and at least three starters off last year’s 9-4 team will be watching from the sidelines.
Baldwin said sophomore wide receiver Tony Davis, junior center Charlie Wulff and sophomore return specialist Nick Ramos will be held out of spring drills after undergoing shoulder surgery this winter.
“You never like to have a guy miss spring ball from an injury or surgery standpoint,” Baldwin said. “But if you do, it’s always a little easier to deal with if he’s already been through the fire, like those three guys have.
“We’re just going to be smart about how much we let them, and a few other guys, do this spring.”
Another starter who is likely to miss all of spring practice is junior cornerback Ryan Kelley, who had a bout with bacterial meningitis recently and spent about a week in the hospital in what Baldwin called a “scary” situation.
“The first couple of days were pretty bad,” he said of Kelley, who earned a starting spot in the secondary after transferring from College of San Mateo (Calif.) last fall. “Early on it was a scary deal, because you hear about all the tragic situations with (the disease). But the news kept getting better every day and he’s out the hospital now.
“Knowing Ryan, he’s going to want to jump right in there as soon as he possibly can, but we’re going listen carefully to what the doctors say.”
Baldwin, a former offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Eagles, is back as the head man after spending last season as the head coach at his alma mater, Central Washington. He said he expects his familiarity with the EWU program – and the fact that he has worked with nearly every member of his recently assembled coaching staff, either at Eastern or at Central – will make the transition much easier.
Even though he inherits a veteran team that made it to the second round of last year’s NCAA Football Championship Subdivision under his predecessor, Paul Wulff, Baldwin said the first order of business this spring will be getting back to, and learning, fundamentals.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re a young or a veteran team, I think you have to get back to hammering on fundamentals in the spring, so you can get more position specific in the fall,” Baldwin said. “My goal is simply to see a lot of improvement between the first and last parts of April.”
The Eagles return 30 players with at least some starting experience, including sophomore quarterback Matt Nichols, who was named the Big Sky Conference’s offensive player of the year last fall.
Still, Baldwin has some holes to fill, especially on the offensive line, where five starters will be lost to graduation.
“We probably lost more guys that were every-down players on offense,” Baldwin said. “But on both sides of the ball there are going to be chances for some younger guys who haven’t gotten as many snaps to step up. And with spring being the time to fight for positions, things should be pretty interesting.”
The first scrimmage of the spring was originally scheduled for Saturday, but it has been canceled because of the delayed start of practice.
Saturday scrimmages are tentatively set for April 12 and 19, with the annual Red-White Game that traditionally caps spring practice schedule to be played at 2 p.m. April 26 at Woodward Field.