Chicken before the Egg

[EWU98]

Saw last night that someone mentioned that EWU real momentum began in 2004.
Just curious when you all though it began. For me it was the 98 semi-final team's run, but I can understand 2004 as well.
Some other things to think about as possibilities:
Zornes resignation in 93 paving the way for Kramer?
The arrival of Dave Cook in the SID office
The intro of the Red Turf . . .

 

[Screamin_Eagle174]

Saw last night that someone mentioned that EWU real momentum began in 2004.
Just curious when you all though it began. For me it was the 98 semi-final team's run, but I can understand 2004 as well.
Some other things to think about as possibilities:
Zornes resignation in 93 paving the way for Kramer?
The arrival of Dave Cook in the SID office
The intro of the Red Turf . . .

I may be biased since I was a freshman in 2004, but that was the year the EWU locomotive started heading down hill and picking up steam.

 

[Rontheoldwiseeagle]

Saw last night that someone mentioned that EWU real momentum began in 2004.
Just curious when you all though it began. For me it was the 98 semi-final team's run, but I can understand 2004 as well.
Some other things to think about as possibilities:
Zornes resignation in 93 paving the way for Kramer?
The arrival of Dave Cook in the SID office
The intro of the Red Turf . . .

I may be biased since I was a freshman in 2004, but that was the year the EWU locomotive started heading down hill and picking up steam.

No wonder you are so full of piss and vinegar on the blogs, your a pup. I read you all the time on several of the other blogs like FCS. To much testosterone for an old man like me. I guess that make me a blog voyeur.
I would say the start was 1997/1998. I takes a while with fits and starts, and several coaches to claim a consistency for the program and not just a coaching change.

 

[98ewugrad]

Hate to be that guy, but it was 1997, and we played Youngstown State in the semis (your sig).

I think Zornes had a lot more involvement in the success of the ‘97 team than he’s sometimes given credit for. The guy had a team tie for the BSC title in 1992, and brought the seniors from the 1997 team to Eastern as either redshirts in ’92 or true freshmen in ’93.

To answer the question, I’ll give credit to two years:

’97 definitely got things started and showed us all what EWU football was capable of.

’04 got us back to the playoffs, with a home game in Cheney, and started the snowball rolling to where we are now.

 

[Rontheoldwiseeagle]

Hate to be that guy, but it was 1997, and we played Youngstown State in the semis (your sig).

I think Zornes had a lot more involvement in the success of the ‘97 team than he’s sometimes given credit for. The guy had a team tie for the BSC title in 1992, and brought the seniors from the 1997 team to Eastern as either redshirts in ’92 or true freshmen in ’93.

To answer the question, I’ll give credit to two years:

’97 definitely got things started and showed us all what EWU football was capable of.

’04 got us back to the playoffs, with a home game in Cheney, and started the snowball rolling to where we are now.

:thumb: :thumb: :thumb:

 

[Screamin_Eagle174]

Saw last night that someone mentioned that EWU real momentum began in 2004.
Just curious when you all though it began. For me it was the 98 semi-final team's run, but I can understand 2004 as well.
Some other things to think about as possibilities:
Zornes resignation in 93 paving the way for Kramer?
The arrival of Dave Cook in the SID office
The intro of the Red Turf . . .

I may be biased since I was a freshman in 2004, but that was the year the EWU locomotive started heading down hill and picking up steam.

No wonder you are so full of piss and vinegar on the blogs, your a pup. I read you all the time on several of the other blogs like FCS. To much testosterone for an old man like me. I guess that make me a blog voyeur.
I would say the start was 1997/1998. I takes a while with fits and starts, and several coaches to claim a consistency for the program and not just a coaching change.

 

[EWU98]

I think Zornes had a lot more involvement in the success of the ‘97 team than he’s sometimes given credit for. The guy had a team tie for the BSC title in 1992, and brought the seniors from the 1997 team to Eastern as either redshirts in ’92 or true freshmen in ’93.

I agree with you that he defiantly doesn't get enough credit for the success. I think he was a incredible coach and loved talking to him while I was working in the athletic department.
Reason why I reference that is that is about the time I showed up on campus so my reference point begins there.

 

[LDopaPDX]

1979... Eastern hires Dick Zornes as head coach. Along with George Frederickson, they get Eastern to believe in the concept of becoming a DI athletics institution. Frederickson leaving Eastern begat a massive storm of budget cuts and anti-athletics sentiment, but Zornes persisted and even with 12 less schollies than any other Big Sky program, won the conference in 1992. The fact that Zornes retired with over 60% wins while being a D-2 program beating D-Is for a large portion of the career and then taking a badly underfunded Big Sky program and generally winning all while taking the AD job and then finally getting funding to an appropriate level means the ONLY--- and I mean ONLY choice- for the most influential person in Eastern athletics will be his title for life. His re-introduction in 1979 was the Big Bang... the starting point for all things Eastern has acheived since.

There were a lot of people that not only wanted to leave D-I, but wanted to kill off the football program entirely in the late 80s. If not for Coach Zornes, Eastern would probably be more akin to Western Washington (another nobody on the landscape) than a successful D-I university. He didn't have the total of success like Coach Baldwin, but was FAR more instrumental in building and maintaining the program.

 

[LDopaPDX]

Saw last night that someone mentioned that EWU real momentum began in 2004.
Just curious when you all though it began. For me it was the 98 semi-final team's run, but I can understand 2004 as well.
Some other things to think about as possibilities:
Zornes resignation in 93 paving the way for Kramer?
The arrival of Dave Cook in the SID office
The intro of the Red Turf . . .

Eastern didn't make the playoffs in 98. They made the semi-finals in 97 and lost to Youngstown State.

 

[EWURanger]

I think in the context of the question, you realy have to go with 2004. The playoff run in '97 was great when I was a student, but we didn't become a regular playoff participant until the 2004 season.

 

[FrontFive4Life]

'04 was when we really started the culture of expecting to win and expecting championships. Our offense was legit that year! Yes, that loss at home in the Quarters against Sam Houston still hurts!

 

[Screamin_Eagle174]

'04 was when we really started the culture of expecting to win and expecting championships. Our offense was legit that year! Yes, that loss at home in the Quarters against Sam Houston still hurts!

Next year revenge shall be OURS. :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

 

[JoinTheEAA]

The day Dick Zornes stepped on campus. Or as previously posted when he was hired as head coach. EWU football is Coach Zornes, who played for Dave Holmes at Eastern Washington State College. Dave Holmes came to campus in the early 60's and quickly turned an awful program into a winner. The 1967 team played for the NAIA title, the year after Dick finished his playing career at Eastern. That was the first year of a long coaching career for Dick Zornes.

Coach Kramer, Coach Wulff and Coach Baldwin have all done well and deserve all the credit for the success and progress but EWU is just another Division 2 school without Coach Zornes and the other leaders mentioned. The support our athletic director and coaching staff gets from Coach Zornes is a factor in our recent success. I have never met a player from the Dick Zornes era who didn't respect Coach Zornes.

 

[SloStang]

The day Dick Zornes stepped on campus. Or as previously posted when he was hired as head coach. EWU football is Coach Zornes, who played for Dave Holmes at Eastern Washington State College. Dave Holmes came to campus in the early 60's and quickly turned an awful program into a winner. The 1967 team played for the NAIA title, the year after Dick finished his playing career at Eastern. That was the first year of a long coaching career for Dick Zornes.

Coach Kramer, Coach Wulff and Coach Baldwin have all done well and deserve all the credit for the success and progress but EWU is just another Division 2 school without Coach Zornes and the other leaders mentioned. The support our athletic director and coaching staff gets from Coach Zornes is a factor in our recent success. I have never met a player from the Dick Zornes era who didn't respect Coach Zornes.

I met coach Zornes at the game Saturday. Great guy. You could tell he will bleed red and black for life. He is excited for the stadium renovation.

 

[jtayewu]

I may be biased since I was a freshman in 2004,

My first freshman year was 2000/2001....Turned 21 in the middle of the year, spent too much time drinking.

2006 was the start of my 2nd freshman year after getting back from Iraq. The thing I do really remember about 2000 was playing the Griz at Albi stadium. That was a lot of fun there.

 

[Obzerver]

I was also at Albi for that win vs UM...that was a huge win breaking a Griz win streak and I believe started EWU on their upward movement. Let us not forget Ron Raver who beat a loud drum.