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New coaches
- Thread starter clawman1
- Start date
ewueagle2010
Active member
Yes, only one position that I know of and it was or will be filled by an internal applicant.
Seattle Eagle
Active member
ewueagle2010 said:
Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.
E-Wu Tang Clan
Active member
Looks like Wes Nurse the CB coach has DC experience at Carroll College in Montana (NAIA).
Matt Ulrich the DL coach has co-DC experience at a D2 school, Winona State.
Internal hires haven't been really working out though. I'm guessing Copp's appeal was he was co-DC at FBS school Florida Atlantic. And of course Eti Ena. Clearly those did not work out.
I don't think Best has connections to any good defensive people since he has spent most of his time at Eastern and we haven't produced any top defensive coaching talent besides Jimmy Lake.
Matt Ulrich the DL coach has co-DC experience at a D2 school, Winona State.
Internal hires haven't been really working out though. I'm guessing Copp's appeal was he was co-DC at FBS school Florida Atlantic. And of course Eti Ena. Clearly those did not work out.
I don't think Best has connections to any good defensive people since he has spent most of his time at Eastern and we haven't produced any top defensive coaching talent besides Jimmy Lake.
E-Wu Tang Clan said:
The new DC that they haven't announced publicly yet is Eric Sanders who was the LB coach last season. This is his bio listed on GoEags: Sanders joined the EWU staff in 2023 with an impressive resume including stops in both college and the NFL. Prior to EWU, he served as Inside Linebackers Coach at Stanford from 2020-22. During the 2019 NFL season, he worked as a Defensive Assistant for the New York Jets, focusing on defensive backs.
Before his time in New York, Sanders spent three seasons with the Cleveland Browns (2016-18) in a defensive quality control position for linebackers and nickel corners. He also spent four seasons (2010-14) with the Oakland Raiders as both defensive and offensive quality control. He focused on defensive lineman and outside linebackers, while working with tight ends on the offensive side.
Sanders' collegiate coaching career includes previous stops at UC Davis and Utah State. He earned a bachelor's degree in Psychology with a biological emphasis from UC Davis in 2005.
ewueagle2010
Active member
360Eag said:
Certainly going to give the guy a shot, as it can't be much worse. However, I've also been told two other outside applicants pulled their interest during the fall out of the most recent attack from faculty about stripping the program. Coaches don't like the uncertainty of the program.
E-Wu Tang Clan
Active member
Bl4ckH4wk said:
Yea I read his resume when I posted that, well way before that actually. All the LB transfers caught my attention I think. I didn't list him because he doesn't really have DC experience.
I actually kind of like this pick. I think the NFL and FBS experience could be good. Despite it being his first year, he came in and realized there needs to be way more depth in the LB core and when out and got some transfers and got some good transfers from what I can see. The LB transfers were all the top tacklers last season. Seems without him the run defense wouldn't even have been decent for the first half of the season.
He seems like a west coast and California guy which is good for recruiting. Hopefully he has high school coaching and recruiting connections still from his time at Stanford.
I would have loved to hear that interview and what he thought Copp did wrong and how he can improve on it.
Now I think we just need a defensive ends coach.
Color me unimpressed. Our LBs sure as hell weren't bangers last year. We got run over time and time again.
Maybe Sanders will be better as a leader. This sure felt like the time to go outside of the program for some experience. Everything about the defense- from the talent to the alignment to tackling to coverage, you name it- was wretched last year. I don't know how someone who participated in that mess is suddenly going to lead immediate and positive change.
That said, I'm more than happy to be proven wrong. I hope I'm eating these words in about 8 months.
Maybe Sanders will be better as a leader. This sure felt like the time to go outside of the program for some experience. Everything about the defense- from the talent to the alignment to tackling to coverage, you name it- was wretched last year. I don't know how someone who participated in that mess is suddenly going to lead immediate and positive change.
That said, I'm more than happy to be proven wrong. I hope I'm eating these words in about 8 months.
ewueagle2010
Active member
LDopaPDX said:
Don't disagree and I think the plan was to go outside. But, as mentioned, top 2 candidates supposedly withdrew their apps due to uncertainty around football with the most recent faculty attack.
eaglesfootball
Active member
Hmm. Time will tell.
Obzerver
Active member
I like the hire. Sanders has seen it all, been in many games. Can't get much worse and hoping we get players asap if possible to make a diff. Gotta have the players 1st of all so use of portal/transfers will be the difference. He knows how a cord works so no learning curve and hope Best stays outta his way. Don't know if he's a nice guy and gets players respect in the right way and have fun along the way. Good luck Eric you know how to.. so get to it!!
E-Wu Tang Clan
Active member
ewueagle2010 said:
Do you know that for sure? In just about every school faculty hates athletics. Potential coaches could just get assurances from the AD, President etc. And it's not like coaches stay around long anyway. If I were a coach I'd be way more scared of Best getting fired and them cleaning house for the next guy. That is way more likely to happen.
E-Wu Tang Clan
Active member
The news of the budget report came out Dec 6/7th on KREM 2 and KHQ and they announced DC Copp isn't coming back on Dec 8th. Unless potential coaches knew of the position opening earlier then the announcement of Copp leaving and the report or they applied after the report came out and didn't know about it till later. The administration showed zero interest in cutting anything athletics and said they were still sticking with the plan the last time this came up. Sounds like a bullshit rumor to me.
Atomic Eagle
Active member
Yeah, I won't say that the faculty attack had nothing to do with the decision. But I think it's far more likely that they were always going to hire internally because that's what we seem to do around here.
luckyintheorder
Active member
No surprise Best has no pull in the coaching marketplace. Was also not surprised to learn that players aren't feeling involved. Been bleeding athlete's and coaches since he took over. I'd call the schedule manageable this season which likely translates into Best keeping his job despite a myriad of shortcomings. Fudge.
