EWU camp storylines: Will Kekoa Visperas become the next great Eagles quarterback?

There’s no way around it: For Aaron Best, last year wasn’t a great season for Eastern Washington football.

“It was crappy,” the Eagles’ head coach said of the team’s 3-8 season, its first with a losing record since 2006. “It wasn’t to the expectations and standards we’re used to.”

The Eagles open spring camp Friday in Cheney with goals that have not changed, Best said. There’s no “winning” spring ball. Rather, spring ball is for getting better, he said.

But there are some areas in which the Eagles need to get “way better and be way more consistent,” Best said.

That’s exactly what the Eagles are looking for this spring as they prepare for a season that is scheduled to start in five months against the North Dakota State Bison.

“We got hit in the mouth last year,” Best said. “It’s our time to swing back.”

Here are three questions facing the Eagles this spring as they gear up for next season.

1. Is Kekoa Visperas the next great Eastern Washington quarterback?

The redshirt sophomore started and excelled in the season finale last season as a freshman, leading the Eagles to a 45-21 victory over Northern Colorado. Visperas completed 17 of 21 passes for two touchdowns and an interception; he also ran seven times for 33 yards and a score. He was not sacked.

With the team’s other four quarterbacks from 2022 gone, the room clearly belongs to Visperas.

“Going in, Kekoa’s the 1,” Best said. “It’s his job to maintain and his responsibility to stay ahead of the others.”

The others are junior college transfers Michael Wortham and Jared Taylor, both of whom are on campus for spring ball. Until freshmen arrive in August, they will be the only other two quarterbacks on the team.

“They want to compete,” Best said. “Knowing they are the same grade (juniors) only enhanced their competitive level.”

2. What strides can the team take under second-year coordinators?

Jim Chapin (offense) and Jeff Copp (defense) will coordinate their units for the second year in a row, continuity that Best expects will help the team make “major leaps” on both sides of the ball.

“I slept a little easier over winter knowing that both guys are coming back for Year 2 in that role,” Best said. “The continuity’s big. It doesn’t say everything, but it says something.”

The Eagles finished eighth in the 12-team Big Sky last season in total offense. On defense, they ranked 11th in the conference and among the worst in the Football Championship Subdivision.

But they were also young, and this spring they look to return seven starters on each side of the ball.

Injuries to key players like safety Anthany Smith – who is aiming to come back for a seventh season on campus – and linebacker Ahmani Williams most certainly hurt the defense, too.

The growth of Visperas under Chapin and the return of a stable of running backs led by sophomore Tuna Altahir and junior Justice Jackson give the Eagles a core to build around, not to mention all-conference receiver Efton Chism III, now a junior.

3. Who lines up along the defensive line?

A group that looked like it might be a position of strength lost a lot of players from last year’s team.

The graduation of seniors Mitchell Johnson, Debore’ae McClain and Caleb Davis were expected, but then came the transfer of starting tackle Joshua Jerome (to Hawaii), who dealt with injuries much of last season, and the departure of other depth players from last year’s squad in Sean Skladany, Chad Vidican, Soli Paleso’o and Colin Fujimoto-Young.

After all that, just eight defensive linemen are listed on the roster. They are led by returning starter Brock Harrison at end, and tackles Matthew Brown and Jacob Newsom, a trio that combined for five of the team’s 14 sacks a year ago – the other nine belonging to Johnson, Paleso’o and Davis.

That presumably leaves more opportunities for players like redshirt freshman Ben Voigtlaender – a Mead High graduate – as well as redshirt sophomore Gabriel Johnson and freshman transfer Mason Ahlemeyer, among others.

Best said he also wants to be careful about overworking players there, even as he tries to give good looks to the team’s 13 offensive linemen.

“You don’t want to overdo it,” he said. “You don’t want to overcook the steak.”