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

Long-time Eastern assistant hired at Fresno

Baldwin doesn’t expect to replace Wade

Joe Wade, a long-time assistant on Eastern Washington University’s football staff, has accepted a position as running backs coach at Fresno State University, where he will work under head coach Pat Hill.

Wade served in various capacities during his nine-year stay at Eastern and was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach under first-year head coach Beau Baldwin last fall when the Eagles finished 6-5 overall and 5-3 in the Big Sky Conference while averaging 29.4 points and 398.5 total yards per game.

Baldwin said he doesn’t expect to hire anyone to replace Wade, opting instead to promote offensive line coach Aaron Best to offensive coordinator and shuffle the responsibilities of several other coaches on his staff.

Former wide receivers and co-special teams coach Chris Peterson will take over the duties of coaching quarterbacks, Baldwin said.

“And I may end up being more directly involved with coaching a position, as well,” he said.

Baldwin said his team is continuing its winter conditioning program, and he likes what he has seen from his players so far.

“I’ve been extremely impressed with their attitude, approach, work ethic and accountability, especially considering all the stuff they’ve had to deal with that is different than most winters – like the NCAA sanctions,” Baldwin said.

The NCAA recently placed the Eagles on probation for three years and banned them from postseason play in 2009 after a two-year investigation uncovered a series of secondary rules violations that occurred from 2003-07 and were considered a major infraction when taken in total.

Eastern has since announced its intentions to appeal the postseason ban, while leaving all other penalties uncontested.

The Eagles are scheduled to begin spring practice on April 7, with the annual Red-White Game that traditionally caps spring workouts scheduled for April 25.