Analysis: Eastern Washington takes unfamiliar feeling into offseason with questions to answer after down year

Losing seasons are uncommon around the Eastern Washington football program.

Its last one, before this season’s 3-8 overall record and 2-6 mark in the Big Sky, came in 2006 when the Eagles had the same overall mark. Their most recent losing year before that was in 1998, a 5-6 under Mike Kramer.

So when the Eagles players and coaches talk about a rebound next year, history at least is on their side.

But to do so, the returners – and there will probably be many – will be relied on to build from the experience they gained this season to get the Eagles back to the top echelon of the Big Sky, a place they have so often been the past two decades.

“I think reps are the biggest thing for anybody,” EWU coach Aaron Best said after the Eagles’ 45-21 victory over Northern Colorado on Nov. 19. “The more reps you get, the more turns you get, the better you should get.”

Still, the Eagles do need players to step in for the departing seniors, an annual question for any program. Here are four questions specific to this offseason for Eastern Washington.

Who else joins Kekoa Visperas in the quarterback room? After the Nov. 19 game, redshirt freshman Visperas talked about “all” the other quarterbacks leaving. The departure of senior Gunner Talkington – who started every game except the final one this year – and senior Ryan Kelley – who never played a down with the Eagles after transferring from Arizona State – were expected. Junior Simon Burkett, who academically is a senior, was also announced pregame. That would leave Visperas and redshirt sophomore Trey Turner as the team’s quarterbacks. The Eagles will likely be looking for at least three quarterbacks in this recruiting class as freshmen or transfers. But Visperas’ play in the season finale and in the second half against Montana gives him a leg up on anyone else who would join the group, and at this point he will enter spring practices as the apparent heir in a long line of great quarterbacks at Eastern.

How many FBS transfers are part of the recruiting class? Under Best, the Eagles haven’t relied on the transfer portal the way other Big Sky programs have. Ely Doyle, a two-year starter for the Eagles, is an example of one who has worked out well (coming from Arizona State). Linebacker Jaren Banks, who could come back for another season and was not among the seniors announced Nov. 19, transferred from Rice before this season and played more than any other linebacker. But others, like linebacker Sherwin King Jr. (Fresno State), Alphonse Oywak (Washington State) and Robert Cooper (Boise State) haven’t seen significant playing time. But it seems likely that this offseason it would make sense to bring in a transfer quarterback to challenge Visperas for the starting job. A team that was young across the board might benefit from the addition of more experienced players. The counterargument could be made as well: If the team just gave so much playing time to its underclassmen, why undercut that by bringing in veterans who could replace them or sit behind them on the depth chart?

Which defender wears No. 4 next year? Emblematic of the team’s defensive struggles this year was that safety Anthany Smith, a captain and the player who wore the No. 4 as the team’s emblematic defender, was only able to play in five games. The most obvious candidates to wear No. 4 next year seem to be the safety Doyle, who played – and played well – most of the season with one hand heavily wrapped, and defensive tackle Joshua Jerome, who has played in 44 games since he arrived at Eastern in the fall of 2018. Regardless, though, the defense must play better next season for this team to be more competitive. Some of that may come with just getting healthier, as players like Ahmani Williams (at linebacker) and Darrien Sampson (cornerback) missed more games than they played. But they will need others, like sophomore cornerback Marlon Jones Jr. and sophomore tackle Matthew Brown, to become higher-impact players as well.

Will there be any coaching changes? The most obvious questions around the staff surround the defense, which gave up 6.92 yards per play – second most in the FCS behind fellow Big Sky member Cal Poly – and 63 touchdowns, more than any FCS team aside from Presbyterian (1-10 overall). At the least, they will need to figure out how to better slow running quarterbacks, which were particularly effective against the Eagles this year. Some of the statistics can be misleading, and with unbalanced schedules – and with Eastern playing one of the most difficult schedules in the Big Sky this year – the Eagles could have fared better this year with a different schedule.

Regardless, though, those numbers are awfully high for a program that expects to reach the playoffs each year. Best, however, may opt for continuity and stability on a staff that so often turns over when coaches accept jobs at FBS programs (as happened to both coordinators from last year’s team). All season, Best was quick to take the blame for the team’s struggles, and regardless of who is coaching the team’s units next year, the Eagles will look to be better.