Time to dance: EWU coach Aaron Best wants his young offensive linemen to make their presence felt
With a week’s worth of practices in the books this summer for the Eastern Washington football team, head coach Aaron Best has seen enough to declare that he wants to hear more out of one particular group: the offensive linemen.
It’s a group Best, a former player and position coach, knows and appreciates.
But so far, he’s not heard much out of a group with 10 new members since the end of the 2024 season.
“Some of these offensive linemen, we never hear them talk,” Best said after Tuesday’s practice in Cheney. “Some of the best guys exude confidence verbally. You like that stuff.”
Then Best shifted into a metaphor.
“They’re (like) the guys at school dances who are on the walls,” he said. “We’re trying to get them off the walls, into the dance party and actually taking part.”
Heading into this season, which for Eastern begins at No. 5 Incarnate Word on Aug. 30, the Eagles are looking to replace five starters along the offensive line.
It seems unlikely any of the six freshmen in camp will see significant snaps. But it is still going to be a couple of weeks before the Eagles determine with certainty which guys up front will play, Best said.
“It might be an eight- or nine-man rotation,” he said. “We’re jumbling a lot of guys together. Some of the nonverbals aren’t heard as much as they should, but we’ll get more reps and get better at it.”
Grad senior running back Malik Dotson has taken to giving the new players nicknames so he can distinguish them better.
Freshman Nick Savage, for example, got the moniker “21” from Dotson as an allusion to rap artist 21 Savage.
“I think with reps comes confidence,” Dotson said.
The Eagles’ 11 returners at the position include redshirt senior Aidan Corning and redshirt junior Dylan Conner, but after those two the game reps at Eastern are almost nil.
A couple transfers joined Eastern over the summer, and they do have game experience at other programs. Junior Cole Abarca played the last two seasons at Butte College in California, which has become something of a feeder program for Eastern: Corning and tight end Landon Cooper played there, as did tight ends coach (and former EWU player) Austin York.
Sophomore Kyle Stahlecker joined the Eagles offensive line after playing all 12 games as a defensive lineman for Sacramento State last season.
Considering all that turnover along the offensive line, and considering how the Eagles will have a different No. 1 quarterback in Jared Taylor, and considering that the wide receiving corps is looking to replace Efton Chism III’s production, Best said the team will rely even more on its defense, which by comparison is more experienced.
“All in all, we’re just trying to get to know these guys up front offensively and get a feel for what they can and can’t do, what they’re best at, and lean on those attributes,” Best said.
A new No. 7
Single-digit jersey numbers have come to indicate leadership at Eastern, and this year there are eight players wearing those digits for the first time.
Dotson, the running back, is one of them. He’s in No. 7, which was worn by Chism last year, with Chism’s permission. Dotson gained 658 yards from scrimmage and scored four touchdowns in nine games last season.
“No. 7 taught not just me but everybody on the team how to play football,” Dotson said of Chism, who has earned rave reports for his play for the New England Patriots. “He’s a great dude. One of the kindest dudes ever.”
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Nate Bell is again wearing No. 2, and senior cornerback DaJean Wells still has No. 3.
Otherwise, the rest are being worn by new players: grad senior safety McKel Broussard (0), redshirt sophomore defensive end Tylin Jackson (1), redshirt junior defensive tackle Isaiah Perez (4), redshirt sophomore linebacker Samarai Anderson (5), senior wide receiver Noah Cronquist (6), Dotson (7), redshirt junior receiver Miles Williams (8) and redshirt junior linebacker Myles Mayovsky (9).
Eagles to scrimmage at ONE Spokane Stadium
For the first time, Eastern will hold a preseason scrimmage at ONE Spokane Stadium, at 6 p.m. on Aug. 14.
The scrimmage is free and open to the public, and the first 509 people through the gate will receive a free hot dog. After the scrimmage, EWU players will sign autographs and pose for photos.
Eastern will play its second – and final – scrimmage at Roos Field in Cheney on Aug. 22.
The Eagles are on the road for their first three regular-season games before playing their first home game on Sept. 20 against Western Illinois.