After splitting their allotment of 15 offseason practices around the university\u2019s spring break the last few seasons, the Eastern Washington football team will eschew that interruption this year, when on Tuesday the Eagles will begin a consolidated set of spring sessions.<\/p>\n
The practices will conclude with the Red-White Game at 5 p.m. on May 1 at Roos Field in Cheney.<\/p>\n
To Aaron Best, who is entering his 10th season as EWU\u2019s head coach, this arrangement better reflects the university\u2019s calendar and that of Division I college football more generally.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe decided this would be the way to go, seeing that there is (just) one (transfer) portal window,\u201d Best said Thursday. \u201cIt gives us a chance to get all the guys who are going to be new (here) for all 15 (practices).\u201d<\/p>\n
That list of new names is a considerable one \u2013 there are 10 new players on the current spring roster \u2013 given how Eastern has embraced what the portal can offer: namely, a fresh start.<\/p>\n
Best said he\u2019s excited not just about the new faces on the team but also about who the Eagles are bringing back on offense, defense and special teams.<\/p>\n
On offense, the Eagles retained quarterbacks Nate Bell, Jake Schakel and Kaden Rolfsness, each of whom started at least one game last season. Best suggested he would like to settle on a starter by the end of spring camp.<\/p>\n
The Eagles also have a full stable of running backs and a handful of offensive linemen who played significant snaps \u2013 many of them as starters \u2013 in 2025. What Best said he wants to see from the offense is more consistency.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe found it a little bit later in the year, but we were so inconsistent early on, guys were pressing,\u201d Best said. \u201cContinuity is going to help us. A lot of experience will help us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Defensively, All-Big Sky safety Jaylon Jenkins returns, along with a bevy of experienced players in the secondary and along the defensive line.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am excited about the defense as a whole,\u201d Best said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got a big stride to gain in front of us \u2026 they are hungry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perhaps the most question marks are on special teams, where the Eagles will return starting kicker Soren McKee but will be seeking new starters at punter, snapper and kickoff specialist. Best said he expects the Eagles will bring in another punter to compete with sophomore Luke Faccone, currently the only one on the roster (though McKee, Best said, can punt if needed).<\/p>\n
The Eagles have also announced two new coaches on their defensive staff: Torey Hunter (secondary\/nickels) and Ryan Lewis (cornerbacks). Hunter, a Washington State graduate, has 11 years of college coaching experience, including three years at Eastern from 2011 to 2013.<\/p>\n
Lewis has just two \u2013 at the Colorado School of Mines \u2013 but he played three years in the NFL and four years at the University of Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n
\u201cTorey is high-energy and has great connections on the West side from a recruiting standpoint,\u201d Best said. \u201c\u2026 He brings synergy. He brings everybody together (and) he\u2019s got a huge personality.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lewis, Best said, brings some balance to Hunter.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s just a different blend of a young, personal, energetic guy,\u201d Best said.<\/p>\n
The Eagles will conduct their practices on Roos Field, but soon after work will begin on resurfacing the track that surrounds it. That work is expected to be done around the time Eastern\u2019s football team begins preseason practices in August.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After splitting their allotment of 15 offseason practices around the university\u2019s spring break the last few seasons, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":575299,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":["post-575298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-football","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=575298"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575298\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/575299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=575298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=575298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=575298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}