Head Coach Beau Baldwin (Fourth Season at EWU • 27-11)

• After guiding Eastern to the 2010 NCAA Division I Championship, Baldwin was honored nationally as the College Sporting News Coach of the Year and the American Football Monthly Coach of the Year. He was also honored regionally by the Inland Northwest Sportswriters and Broadcasters (SWABS) as Coach of the Year. In addition, Baldwin was a Liberty Mutual FCS Coach of the Year finalist, as well as for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award presented by The Sports Network.

• Now in his 18th season as a coach, his previous 17 seasons included 10 at Central Washington University and seven at Eastern Washington University. He also played quarterback for four seasons at CWU.

• Has coached on teams that have won two national titles (NCAA Division I in 2010; NAIA in 1995) and six conference championships (Big Sky Conference in 2004, 2005 and 2010; Great Northwest Athletic Conference in 2002; Columbia Football Association in 2000 and 1998).

• Has coached in 18 post-season playoff games (record of 11-6-1), including four appearances in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs (record of 5-3), two appearances in the NCAA Division II Playoffs (record of 2-2) and two appearances in the NAIA Playoffs (record of 4-1-1).

• Received bachelor’s degree from Central Washington University in 1996.

• He is formerly from Tacoma, Wash., and graduated from Curtis High School in 1990. His wife Nicole is from Spokane, Wash., and is a 2001 graduate of Eastern.  They have two daughters ­– Mia Janae (6) and Macie Patricia (4).

Football playoffs have become second nature for Beau Baldwin. And championships have become commonplace as well after he directed the Eastern Washington University football program to the 2010 NCAA Division I title.

Ever since his high school days when his Curtis High School team in Tacoma, Wash., won the State AAA title, Baldwin has been a part of playoff runs at three collegiate levels – NCAA Football Championship Subdivision, NCAA Division II and NAIA. His 17-season collegiate coaching résumé – all at Eastern Washington or Central Washington – includes two national championships, six conference championships and an 11-6-1 record in eight post-season playoff appearances.

Baldwin enters his fourth season as head coach at Eastern with a 27-11 (.711) win-loss record, going 13-2 in 2010 and 8-4 in 2009 after a 6-5 debut season in 2008. In 2007, as head coach at Central Washington, Baldwin was 10-3, giving him a 37-14 (.725) head coaching record. He is 24-8 (.750) in league games as a head coach, including an 18-6 (.750) mark in three seasons as head coach in the Big Sky Conference.

Three of his four seasons as head coach – and two more at Eastern as an assistant – ended with playoff berths. He had four more berths as a young assistant at Central Washington, including the 1995 NAIA title.

In a short amount of time, Baldwin has taken a perennial playoff participant and honed it into a national champion. Ironically, many observers didn’t even have EWU ranked as a top 25 team before the 2010 season began, but the Eagles finished both the regular season and playoffs ranked No. 1.

 The 2010 season had a storybook ending for Baldwin after the Eagles finished 13-2 and won the NCAA Division I Championship with a 20-19 come-from-behind victory over Delaware in the title game on Jan. 7 in Frisco, Texas.

“I’m so happy for all the players in our program, and especially happy for the seniors, because you knew no matter what, it was going to be their last college football game,” Baldwin said of the fantastic finish. “And with the hard work they’ve put in, they deserve to go out as champions, because they work like that. That’s the character they have. And it was fun to watch those guys.”

The Eagles won their final 11 games of the 2010 season, and finished with a 7-1 Big Sky Conference record to win their fifth Big Sky title all-time and third in the last seven seasons. Eastern made its fifth appearance in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Playoffs since 2004.

“In that type of ballgame against an incredibly talented and great Delaware team, it came down to those guys on the field,” said Baldwin of his squad, which included just two senior starters on offense and four more on defense. “Those guys just never quit fighting.”

Thousands of Eastern fans were on hand for the title game in Frisco, Texas, and thousands more watched via a national broadcast on ESPN2.

“Winning the championship means a ton for Eastern Washington University as a whole, and it means a lot for the community of Cheney, the City of Spokane, and so many supporters,” Baldwin explained. “And it means a lot to a lot of people that were in Frisco supporting us. It was so electrifying to drive into the parking lot at the stadium and see all our fans all in red tailgating and having fun. That gave us energy and gave us a spark, and it was exciting to see. I just want to thank everyone for that support, because like I said, it’s huge, and there are so many people that have allowed us to be in this position.”

As a result, Baldwin was honored nationally as the College Sporting News Coach of the Year and the American Football Monthly Coach of the Year. He was also a Liberty Mutual FCS Coach of the Year finalist, as well as for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award presented by The Sports Network.

He was also honored regionally by the Inland Northwest Sportswriters and Broadcasters (SWABS) as Coach of the Year. Baldwin is only the fifth Eastern coach to be recognized in the more than 60-year history of the awards, which were first presented in 1948. Previous Eastern coaches honored were football coaches Dave Holmes (1967) and Dick Zornes (1992), as well as wrestling coach Curt Byrnes (1977) and basketball coach Ray Giacoletti (2004).

The team was also honored by SWABS as Team of the Year, marking only the second time an Eastern team has been honored since the awards were first presented in 1948. The 1967 football team, which was the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) runner-up that season, was the only other team to be honored.

And besides the awards and many speaking engagements that came as a result of the title, he was given the opportunity on April 9, 2011, to throw out the ceremonial first pitch for his favorite boyhood baseball team, the Seattle Mariners. A three-year letter winner as a baseball player and a quarterback in high school, Baldwin threw a perfect strike at Safeco Field in Seattle, Wash.

In 2010, Baldwin and the Eagles finished a perfect 8-0 on the new red Sprinturf surface at Roos Field (formerly Woodward Field) in Cheney, Wash. The red surface – the first of its kind – was funded by private donations, including a $500,000 gift by former Eagle offensive lineman and current Tennessee Titan Michael Roos. Three of the victories at the “Inferno” were in the FCS Playoffs as EWU defeated Southeast Missouri State 37-17, edged North Dakota State 38-31 in overtime and advanced to the title tilt with a 41-31 win over defending champion Villanova in the semifinals.

Thanks to the tutelage of Baldwin, Bo Levi Mitchell passed for 302 yards and three touchdowns to earn Most Outstanding Player accolades in the championship game as EWU rallied from a 19-0 deficit. Mitchell is from Katy, Texas, and transferred to EWU from Southern Methodist University following the 2009 season.

Mitchell completed 29-of-43 passes and directed EWU on scoring drives of 80 (5 plays), 89 (14 plays) and 63 yards (8 plays) – all in the final 16:48 of the game. Eastern won six games in the 2010 season when it trailed or was tied in the fourth quarter. But the magical championship game victory was by far the largest deficit the Eagles faced in those six games, and the most gratifying.

“It’s not so much magical as it’s just a lot of guys believing in each other even in the toughest of situations,” said Baldwin of the comebacks. “That’s the key. You can’t stop believing no matter how grim it feels, otherwise you’ll never have a chance to operate in those situations.”

For the season, Mitchell completed 59.4 percent of his passes for 3,496 yards (fifth in school history), a school-record 37 touchdowns, 15 interceptions and a passing efficiency rating of 135.8. In NCAA Football Championship Subdivision statistics, he finished ranked 20th in passing offense (233.1 yards per game), 26th in total offense (236.2) and 26th in efficiency (135.8). Mitchell also broke school records for attempts (505) and completions (300).

As a team, Eastern finished the year ranked 22nd in the FCS in total offense (397.1 yards per game), as well as rankings of 26th in passing (241.0), 49th in rushing (156.1) and 18th in scoring (31.5).

Showing its consistency, in 2010 Eastern had its 13th winning season in the last 15 years (1996-2010). Eastern is one of only six schools (of 117 playing FCS football) to have made the playoffs at least five times in the past seven years (2004-10).

Baldwin has coached three national players of the year at the FCS level – all since 2005 – as presented by The Sports Network. In 2005, quarterback Erik Meyer won the Walter Payton Award, which is presented to the top offensive player. Defensive end Greg Peach (2008) and J.C. Sherritt (2010) won the Buck Buchanan Award given to the top defensive player.

Baldwin graduated in 1990 from Curtis High School in Tacoma, Wash. He earned three letters in football and three in baseball and helped lead Curtis to the 1989 State AAA title in football along with his fellow EWU coach Torey Hunter and former fellow EWU coach Brian Strandley. Eastern offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Aaron Best is a 1996 graduate of Curtis.

Baldwin was born May 21, 1972, in Santa Barbara, Calif. His father, Ken, introduced Beau and his younger brother, Joe, to the sports of baseball, basketball and football. When Beau was in the sixth grade, Ken died of a heart attack at the age of 37, leaving their mother, Pat, to raise the two young boys.

Baldwin and his wife, Nicole, have a girl named, Mia Jenae, who was born Dec. 29, 2004. Their second daughter, Macie Patricia, was born Nov. 22, 2006. Although spelled differently, Macie received her name because she was born the day before Thanksgiving Day and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade gave her parents the idea.

Nicole (formerly Nicole Monforton) is a graduate of Eastern (bachelor’s degree in journalism in 2001) and Spokane’s Valley Christian High School (1997). She met Beau while working as a graduate student in EWU’s sports information office.

Recruiting State of Washington a Priority – and a Strength . . .

Having spent his entire coaching and playing career in the state of Washington, Baldwin has great knowledge of recruitment within the region and the type of player his program seeks.

“First off, we want to find those student-athletes who fit the right mold from an academic standpoint, a social standpoint and on the field,” he explained. “A lot of times, the on the field part comes easy. There are things you can do when they are between the ages of 18 and 23 to help mold and develop their character. We are going to work hard.

“We’re fortunate to be a great state when it comes to recruiting,” he added. “Some colleges aren’t as fortunate to have that corp of high school players available. I believe that we are going to keep making strides and get better and better. It’s going to be hard work, but I think everybody in our department is willing to work hard to keep us improving.”

There is no better example than Sherritt. Despite standing just 5-foot-10, the 2006 graduate of Pullman (Wash.) High School ended his career as the most honored player in school history. Besides winning the Buchanan Award as a senior, he was also selected to six different All-America teams as a first-team selection, and was the College Sporting News Defensive Player of the Year and the Big Sky Defensive MVP. He broke his own league and school records by finishing his senior season with 176 tackles, which ranks sixth in FCS history. He finished the year ranked eighth in the FCS with an average of 11.7 tackles per game.

He closed his career with a school-record 432 tackles in his 47-game career (35 as a starter) to rank second in Big Sky history and 10th all-time in the FCS. As a junior, he finished second in the voting for the 2009 Buchanan Award. On his way to earning first-team All-America honors on five different teams, he had a school and Big Sky Conference record 170 tackles, and led the FCS with an average of 14.2 tackles per game.

Entire Coaching Career Spent at Eastern or Central . . .

A 1996 graduate of Central Washington, Baldwin’s entire 21-year career as a player and coach has been spent at either CWU or EWU. His record in 17 seasons as a collegiate coach is 118-74-1 (.614) with a 66-34 league mark (.660).

Baldwin first came to Eastern in 2003 and spent four seasons in EWU’s program as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. After helping lead the Eagles to FCS Playoff appearances in 2004 and 2005, Baldwin led Central to the 2007 NCAA Division II Playoffs. Baldwin then returned to become EWU’s 20th head football coach and lead the school in its 100th football campaign in his debut season in 2008. He followed that 6-5 season with an 8-4 record and a FCS playoff berth in 2009.

In his debut season, Eastern ranked seventh nationally in passing (299.9 per game) and 24th in total offense (398.5). Individually, national awards candidates Greg Peach and Matt Nichols led the way. Peach, who would go on to win the Buchanan Award given to the top defensive player in the FCS, led the nation in sacks (1.64 per game) and tackles for loss (2.1). Nichols, a candidate for the Payton Award given to the top offensive player, ranked fifth in total offense (306.9) and sixth in passing offense (299.4).

That team finished 6-5 overall and 5-3 in the Big Sky Conference, and set the tone for what the Eagles would accomplish in 2009.

Eastern finished the 2009 season 8-4 and advanced to the playoffs for the fourth time in the last six seasons. The Eagles finished as the runner-up in the Big Sky Conference with a 6-2 mark, winning their last four regular season games by a combined 172-107 margin. Fighting injuries and fatigue from the long season, Eastern’s run came to an end with a 44-33 playoff loss at Stephen F. Austin.

The Eagles finished the season ranked 13th in the final NCAA FCS Sports Network Poll, and was also ranked 13th in the FCS Coaches poll and the AGS/anygivensaturday.com poll. Eastern battled injuries all season dating back to the previous spring, and also weathered a postseason ban by the NCAA in February that was overturned in late October.

“It became tough, but it was something we enjoyed the whole time – it never felt at all like a grind,” said Baldwin. “We enjoyed the challenge of battling through adversity, and our players took that, ran with it and really battled. Once we did find out the good news that our appeal went through, we enjoyed making that run at the end of the year.”

 “It was long and it was tough, but it was something we would do again in a heartbeat,” he added. “We had a blast. The athletes we had on this team and the senior leadership we had made the season very rewarding.”

Coaches Top Two Quarterbacks in School History . . .

While at Eastern, Baldwin has coached two of the greatest quarterbacks in NCAA FCS history – Erik Meyer (2002-2005) and Matt Nichols (2006-2009). At Central, he coached three of its all-time greats – NFL veteran Jon Kitna, current Eastern assistant coach Zak Hill and Mike Reilly.

In 2009, Nichols earned prestigious first-team NCAA Football Championship Subdivision All-America honors from the American Football Coaches Association, as well as three other All-America honors. He finished fourth in the voting for the Payton Award given to the top player in the FCS, and was also the Big Sky’s Offensive Player of the Year for the second time in his career.

He broke 14 school records and six Big Sky Conference marks in his 47-game career (45 as a starter) before playing in the East-West Shrine Game and signing a free agent contract with the Dallas Cowboys. He passed for 3,830 yards and 33 touchdowns as a senior, giving him a total of 12,616 yards and 96 touchdowns in his career. At the time, his career yardage total ranked sixth in FCS history and his touchdown total was 10th.

“It just shows his toughness and longevity,” said Baldwin. “A record like that shows a lot of things. A lot of players have talent but get hurt along the way, or this or that, but Matt was constant and was one of those guys week-in and week-out who just brought it. He deserved the records – he worked hard to get them and I am really proud of him.”

Nichols completed a career-best 65 percent of his passes in 2009 to give him a passing efficiency rating of 156.5 to rank eighth in the FCS. He was fifth in total offense (327.7 per game) and third in passing offense (319.2).  As a team, the Eagles finished the 2009 season ranked in the top 10 in four offensive categories in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision, including passing (3rd, 321.3), total offense (4th, 462.2), scoring (8th, 33.7) and passing efficiency (4th, 154.5).

As a junior in 2008 – Baldwin’s first season as EWU’s head coach – Nichols earned honorable mention All-BSC honors as he ranked sixth nationally in passing (299.4) and fifth in total offense (306.9). Eastern ranked seventh nationally in passing (299.9 per game) and 24th in total offense (398.5).

Nichols had a school-record 17 interceptions as a freshman when a youthful Eastern team finished just 3-8. In that learning season, Eastern was 77th in the FCS in total offense (310.3 yards per game), 34th in passing (201.90) and 77th in scoring (19.5). The following season, a more experienced EWU team advanced to the 2007 FCS Playoffs as Nichols won Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Year honors and threw a school-record 34 touchdown passes.

 “He helped improve my mechanics, my footwork and my accuracy,” Nichols said of Baldwin. “He took me from being a high school quarterback and helped me become a college quarterback. He’s a great coach.”

In 2004 and 2005 with Baldwin as coordinator, Eastern had one of the best offenses in the nation thanks to the arm and legs of Meyer. In 2005, the Eagles averaged 477.8 yards per game to rank fourth nationally, and were 14th in scoring (35.0). A year earlier, the Eagles averaged 475.5 yards and 37.5 points per game to rank sixth. Eastern also ranked in the top 10 nationally both years in passing offense and passing efficiency.

Meyer had 84 touchdown passes with just 17 interceptions in his career to set a FCS record for passing efficiency (166.47). The All-American broke 14 school records and two Big Sky marks as he was twice selected as the league’s Offensive Player of the Year before winning the Payton Award as the top player in the FCS.

In Baldwin’s first season at EWU in 2003, the Eagles ranked 29th in FCS in scoring (31.27) and were 47th in offense (380.0).

Baldwin Takes Over Highly-Successful Program From Paul Wulff . . .

Baldwin took over an Eastern football program that advanced to the FCS Playoffs three out of the previous four seasons under Paul Wulff, who left Eastern in December 2007 for the head coaching position at Washington State University. Eastern was 9-4 in 2007 and advanced to the quarterfinals of the playoffs behind an offense that included sophomore starter Matt Nichols at quarterback and three sophomore starters at wide receiver.

At the same time, Baldwin was guiding Central Washington to a nearly identical successful season.

In 2007, both the Eagles and Wildcats finished the season among the top eight teams in their respective classifications. On Nov. 24, 2007, the Wildcats scored two touchdowns in the final 2:49 to upset previously undefeated and top-seeded Nebraska-Omaha 20-17 in the second round. In the quarterfinals on Dec. 1, Central lost to No. 1 ranked and two-time defending champion Grand Valley State 41-21.

On those very same days in the FCS Playoffs, Eastern had a similar fate. The Eagles opened the playoffs on Nov. 24 by handing second-seeded and No. 3 ranked McNeese State its first loss of the season with an overwhelming 44-15 victory. Eastern was then edged 38-35 by two-time defending champion Appalachian State in the quarterfinals on Dec. 1.

The Wildcats averaged 398.5 yards of total offense per game in 2007, including an average of 263.5 passing. Central averaged 31.4 points per game, including five games with at least 40 points.

Baldwin’s quarterback was Mike Reilly, who was one of 24 national candidates for the Harlon Hill Trophy as the top player in Division II football. He earned All-Region honors after completing 62 percent of his passes for 3,386 yards, 30 touchdowns and just 10 interceptions for a passing efficiency rating of 145.8.

Baldwin, a quarterback himself at CWU and a former teammate of NFL starter Jon Kitna, watched from 2 1/2 hours away in Ellensburg, Wash., as Eastern and Nichols produced similar statistics in 2007. The Eagles finished the season with an average of 462.3 yards of offense per game (sixth in FCS), including 295.4 passing (eighth).

Two-Time Team Captain Was Backup Behind NFL Standout Jon Kitna . . .

Before coming to EWU, Baldwin spent seven seasons and nine overall at CWU with positions as quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator. A 1996 graduate of CWU, he served seven years under head coach John Zamberlin, a former EWU assistant coach who later became head coach at Idaho State.

A former Wildcat quarterback from 1990-93, Baldwin passed along his knowledge to two of the greatest quarterbacks in CWU history en route to two of the school’s best-ever seasons. He was quarterbacks coach in 1994-95 when All-American Jon Kitna was in Ellensburg, leading CWU to a 10-3-1 record and the NAIA Championship in 1995. The Wildcats also advanced to the NAIA Playoffs in 1998.

Baldwin also coached All-American Zak Hill – now an assistant coach at EWU – as the Wildcats finished the 2002 season 11-1. Central ranked fifth in NCAA Division II before losing in the first round of the playoffs.

In six of his nine seasons at CWU, the Wildcats led their conference in passing and were at least second in scoring and total offense. In 2002, Central ranked second in NCAA Division II in passing offense (315 yards per game) and was fourth in total offense (465) and 11th in scoring (36.8).

As a player, Baldwin was a two-time team captain and completed 121-of-197 passes for 1,655 yards and eight touchdowns. His career completion percentage of .614 is a school record. In a 38-35 win versus Simon Fraser in 1991, he set single-game school records for attempts (52), completions (32), yards (467), total plays (66) and total yards (550). He had a 6-yard touchdown pass with four seconds left to give the Wildcats the win.

A year later, Baldwin came off the bench to lead CWU to the greatest fourth-quarter comeback in Columbia Football Association history. He completed 21-of-33 passes for 222 yards as the Wildcats scored 26 points in the final quarter to overcome a 28-3 deficit and defeat Eastern Oregon 29-28.

Nearly 20 years later, Baldwin found himself with a headset on in similar situations in the FCS Playoffs. In a 38-31 overtime victory in the quarterfinals of the FCS Playoffs against North Dakota State on Dec. 11, 2010, the Eagles put together a 13-play, 90-yard drive to knot the score with 23 seconds to play. Eastern, which won six games during the 2010 season when it trailed or was tied in the fourth quarter, was in a 19-0 hole in the NCAA Division I Championship Game in Frisco, Texas, on Jan. 7, 2011. But Baldwin’s “calm intensity,” as his long-time assistant John Graham calls it, helped result in three EWU touchdowns in its final three possessions as the Eagles beat Delaware 20-19 for the national title.

Baldwin was a backup to Kitna in his final two seasons as a collegiate player, then spent a short time playing semi-pro football in Sweden. He played in a league that allowed only two American players each, and they were also required to serve as assistant coaches, thus giving Baldwin the new opportunity of creating plays and a game plan. Upon his return to the United States, Baldwin then coached Kitna for two more seasons, including the national title year in 1995. Kitna now plays for Dallas in the National Football League.

Beau Baldwin’s Coaching Career

^NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Champion (Defeated Southeast Missourl State 37-17, defeated North Dakota State 38-31 in overtime, defeated Villanova 41-31, defeated Delaware 20-19); Big Sky Conference Champions.

*NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs (Lost to Stephen F. Austin 44-33).

#NCAA Division II Playoffs (Defeated Ashland 40-24, Defeated Nebraska-Omaha 20-17 and lost to Grand Valley State 41-21).

&Big Sky Conference Champions; NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs (Lost to Northern Iowa 41-38).

~ Big Sky Conference Champions; NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs (Defeated Southern Illinois 35-31 and lost to Sam Houston State 35-34).

!Great Northwest Athletic Conference Champions; NCAA Division II Playoffs (Lost to UC Davis 24-6).

^Columbia Football Association Champions.

@ Columbia Football Association Champions; NAIA Playoffs (Defeated Rocky Mountain 41-38 and Lost to Azusa Pacific 35-28).

%NAIA National Champions (Defeated Western Washington 28-21, Defeated Hardin-Simmons 40-20, Defeated Mary, N.D. 48-7, Tied Findlay 21-21).

Playing Career at Central Washington

1990-93 - Quarterback - 121-of-197 passes for school-record .614 completion percentage, 1,655 yards and eight touchdowns.

Education

Bachelor’s degree in education, Central Washington University, 1996

Graduate of Curtis High School in Tacoma, Wash., 1990

After spending 13 seasons at Central Washington University, Graham enters his fourth season as EWU’s defensive coordinator, and his third as associate head coach. He also coached EWU’s linebackers in fall 2010 as EWU went on to win the NCAA Division I Championship.

Eastern’s defense in 2010 ranked first in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision in interceptions (total of 26) and turnovers gained (47), and finished 17th nationally in turnover margin (.80 less turnovers per game than its opponents) after ranking sixth in 2009 (1.25 less). The Eagles were also 26th in passing efficiency defense (134.8) and finished sixth nationally in red zone defense, as they allowed just 38 scores in 58 opponent trips inside the EWU 20-yard line. Eight of those scores were field goals, including two in the first half of the national championship game.

One of the linebackers Graham coached in 2010 was J.C. Sherritt, who won the Buck Buchanan Award presented by The Sports Network to the top defensive player in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision. Sherritt was also selected to six different All-America teams as a first-team selection, and was the College Sporting News Defensive Player of the Year and the Big Sky Defensive MVP. He broke his own league and school records by finishing his senior season with 176 tackles, which ranks sixth in FCS history. He closed his career with a school-record 432 tackles in his 47-game career (35 as a starter) to rank second in Big Sky history and 10th all-time in the FCS.

In 2009, Eastern’s defense helped the Eagles finish sixth in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision in turnover margin, averaging 1.25 less turnovers per game than its opponents. Along the way, Eastern had a 16-0 shutout against Northern Colorado, which was EWU’s first shutout at Roos Field since 1983. Individually, Sherritt was named to all six All-America teams and was second in the voting for the Buck Buchanan Award.

In Graham’s first season at the helm of the defense in 2008, Eastern overcame a rocky start to hold five-straight opponents from Oct. 11 to Nov. 15 to 19 points or fewer. That was something EWU has never done since becoming a member of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision in 1984. The Eagles closed the year by limiting Weber State’s high-powered offense to 26 points in a 33-26 Eagle victory over the league champions.

A graduate of nearby Reardan High School, Graham spent his final 12 seasons at Central as the defensive coordinator while coaching defensive backs and linebackers. He served as secondary coach in 1995, and in 1997 served as interim head coach for a three-month period. He also served as recruiting coordinator, travel coordinator and camp coordinator at different times during his tenure, as well as serving as an assistant to the athletic director in charge of fundraising and the department’s alumni golf tournament.

As a defensive coordinator, Graham helped coach Central to an 89-51 overall record with five conference championships and the NAIA title in 1995. As a defensive backs coach, two Wildcats earned All-America honors, three were conference defensive players of the year and 18 earned first-team all-conference accolades.

Graham spent two previous seasons (1993-94) as head coach at DeSales High School in Walla Walla, Wash., where his teams compiled a 13-6 record overall and 8-2 mark in league play. In 1993, his team was undefeated in the league and advanced to the semifinals of the State B Playoffs as he earned Southeast District 9 coach of the year honors. He also served as athletic director and as an assistant basketball and track and field coach at DeSales. In addition, he spent one year (1992) as an assistant coach at Kent-Meridian High School in Kent, Wash.

Graham is a 1992 graduate of CWU, earning a bachelor of science degree in business education. He played as defensive back for the Wildcats in 1990 and 1991, earning honorable mention all-conference honors as a senior. In 1991, Graham had 30 tackles and three interceptions. Prior to enrolling at CWU, he played two seasons at Walla Walla CC where he earned first-team all-conference honors as a defensive back and received his associate of arts degree in 1989.

Graham graduated from Reardan High School in 1987. He earned four letters each in football, basketball and track. He was a three-time all-league linebacker and two-time all-league quarterback, as well as serving as team captain and earning most inspirational honors. He was student body president at Reardan.

Graham was born on Feb. 7, 1969, in Ellensburg. His wife’s name is Becky and they have two sons, Andrew, 15, and Ty, 13, and a daughter named Sara.

His father, Dan Graham, was inducted into the Washington State Football Coaches Hall of Fame in January 2008. The long-time head coach at Reardan High School directed his team to State B-11 titles in 2002 and 2003.

Aaron Best enters his 15th year as an Eagle, including four years at Eastern (1996-99) as an All-America center and 10 previous seasons as an assistant coach (2000-2006, 2008-2010). An academic honor student as an undergraduate at Eastern, Best also handles the team’s academic coordinator duties.

As offensive coordinator for the 2010 NCAA Division I champions, he helped Eastern’s offense rank 22nd in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision in yards per game (397.1) and 18th in scoring (31.5). The Eagle offense featured a trio of All-Americans, including running back Taiwan Jones, wide receiver Brandon Kaufman and junior center Chris Powers.

Four of the offensive linemen he coached earned All-Big Sky honors – Powers (first team), junior tackle Gabriel Jackson (second team), senior guard Nikolai Myers (honorable mention) and freshman guard Steven Forgette (honorable mention). Eastern quarterbacks were sacked only 24 times, including just seven times in four playoff games.

In 2009, his first season as offensive coordinator, the Eagles finished ranked in the top 10 in four offensive categories in the FCS, including passing (3rd, 321.3), total offense (4th, 462.2), scoring (8th, 33.7) and passing efficiency (4th, 154.5). Senior quarterback Matt Nichols, senior tight end Nathan Overbay and Jones all won All-America honors and first-team All-Big Sky honors.

He coached a trio of All-Big Sky Conference offensive linemen in 2009 – senior tackle Chris Thomas, senior guard Ryan Forney and Powers – who all earned honorable-mention accolades. In 2008, three earned honorable mention as senior center Charlie Wullf was joined by Thomas and sophomore tackle Brice Leahy.

Best spent the 2007 season as an offensive line specialist for the Toronto Argonauts in the Canadian Football League. Best helped the Argonauts win the Eastern Division championship with an 11-7 record before losing in the first round of the playoffs. Although Toronto was last in the league in total offense, Best’s offensive line ranked third in fewest sacks allowed with 40. Eastern Hall of Fame member Bill Diedrick Jr., was also an offensive coach for the Argonauts.

Best was a guest coach at Toronto’s training camp in May 2007, and then was asked to return as a full-time coach in July. In 2006, he attended the Calgary Stampeders training camp as a guest coach to offensive coordinator Steve Buratto, who graduated from the University of Idaho and spent the 2007 season coaching in Toronto.

In his previous stint at Eastern, Best had the opportunity to coach two All-Americans in the 2004 season and another in 2005. He was the school’s primary offensive line coach from 2002-2006 after previously helping coach that unit as a graduate assistant in 2001 and as a student assistant in 2000.

Matt Alfred earned All-America honors in 2005, and he was recognized on the All-Big Sky squad along with Kraig Sigler and Rocky Hanni. All five of Eastern’s starting offensive linemen earned All-Big Sky Conference honors in 2004, including first-team selections Michael Roos and Rocky Hanni. Both players went on to earn All-America honors, with Roos also being selected as the Lineman of the Year by I-AA.Org.

Roos played in the Senior Bowl and the East-West Shrine Game, and was invited to the NFL Scouting Combine. He became the highest NFL draft choice in school history when he was chosen in the second round – 41st overall – by the Tennessee Titans in 2005. Including 35 starts to end his EWU career, Roos enters the 2011 season having made 159 consecutive starts as an offensive tackle. His last 124 starts have come as a Titan (two AFC playoff games, 96 regular season games, 25 pre-season contests and as a starter in his first-ever Pro Bowl on Feb. 8, 2009).

“I was very lucky to have the best offensive line coach possible in Aaron Best,” praised Roos in response to having his jersey retired at EWU on Oct. 24, 2009. “He taught all of us the meaning of hard work and perseverance.”

Eastern’s offensive lines helped the Eagles rank fourth in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision in total offense in both 2004 and 2005. In 2005, the Eagles averaged 477.8 yards per game, and were 14th in scoring (35.0). A year earlier, the Eagles averaged 475.5 yards and 37.5 points per game to rank sixth.

In 2003, Eastern averaged 380.0 yards per game and ranked 21st in the FCS in passing offense (247.3). In 2002, the Eagles finished third nationally in passing offense (317.6) and were sixth in total offense (447.6), a year after leading the FCS in total offense (514.5) and scoring (41.9) in 2001.

Best started 22-straight games at center for Eastern in 1998 and 1999, earning honorable-mention All-Big Sky honors as a junior and first-team honors as a senior. He also earned honorable-mention All-America honors his final season.

An outstanding student with a 3.3 grade point average, as a senior he was selected to the CoSIDA Academic All-District VIII team and was selected to the FCS Athletic Directors Academic All-Star Team. Twice he was selected to the Big Sky All-Academic team. He received his bachelor’s degree in social science from EWU in 2001 and is currently working toward his master’s degree in physical education.

He was Eastern’s long-snapper for four seasons and was a backup lineman in 1997 when Eastern led the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision in total offense (505.6 yards per game). That team finished 12-2 and advanced to the FCS “Final Four.” The Eagles were 31-16 in the four seasons Best played for the Eagles, and the Eagles had a 1,000-yard rusher each year. In all, Eastern has had a 1,000-yard rusher in 10 of the 14 seasons Best has been at EWU.

Best graduated in 1996 from Curtis High School in Tacoma, Wash., where he had a 3.75 grade point average. He was co-captain his senior season as Curtis won the State AAA championship. His brother Tyler Best was a starting catcher for the Lewis-Clark State baseball team, which won its second straight NAIA World Series title in 2003.

Best was born Jan. 27, 1978, in Tacoma, Wash. He and the former Kim Walker were married on July 15, 2007, in Everett, Wash. Their first child, Tank William Best, was born April 12, 2008. Tank weighed in at 10 pounds, seven ounces and was 20 1/2 inches long. They had their second child, Tenli Dakotah, in July 2010.

The 2011 season will be Jeff Schmedding’s seventh year on the Eastern Washington coaching staff. He will coach safeties for the second year after coaching linebackers the previous two seasons. He will also continue as coordinator of EWU special teams and as video coordinator.

In 2010, he coached All-America safety Matt Johnson, who earned first-team All-Big Sky Conference honors after finishing the season with 105 tackles, five interceptions and eight passes broken up. Schmedding also groomed a pair of inexperienced players for the other safety position – sophomore Jeff Minnerly (honorable mention All-Big Sky) and freshman Allen Brown – as EWU won the NCAA Division I title. Eastern led the NCAA Championship Subdivision in interceptions with 26.

On special teams, junior Darriell Beaumonte earned first-team All-Big Sky Conference honors, senior Jesse Hoffman returned three kickoffs for scores and ranked seventh in the FCS (28.5 per return), and punter Cameron Zuber earned honorable-mention all-league accolades after ranking 29th nationally (40.3 yards per punt).

The linebackers he coached in 2009 included junior J.C. Sherritt, who was named to all six FCS All-America teams and was second in the voting for the Buck Buchanan Award given to the top defensive player in the FCS. He set school and Big Sky records with 170 total tackles as he led the FCS with an average of more than 14 stops per game. Sherritt earned first-team All-Big Sky honors and senior Makai Borden earned honorable mention.

In 2008, a trio of Schmedding’s linebackers earned honorable-mention All-Big Sky Conference honors – Borden, Sherritt and Zach Johnson. In addition, return specialist Nicholas Ramos earned honorable mention for special teams play.

Schmedding coached safeties in 2007 – including two-time All-Big Sky performer Bryan Jarrett. He previously worked with linebackers (2005) and the secondary (2004) as a graduate assistant in his first two seasons at EWU.

He graduated in 2002 from Eastern with his bachelor’s degree in health education and a minor in physical education/coaching. He was a health and fitness teacher at University High School in Spokane Valley for two years, and coached football. He was defensive coordinator and coached linebackers for the Titans in 2002 and 2003.

While he was an EWU undergraduate, he also did his student teaching at U-Hi in 2001 and coached football. In 1999 and 2000 he coached the defensive line, and in 2001 he coached linebackers. The Titans were Greater Spokane League champions in 2000. He also helped coach track and field from 2002-2004.

Schmedding graduated in 1996 from University High School where he was a standout wrestler and football player. He was the runner-up at the State 3A Wrestling Championships in the 215-pound division.

He and his wife Kristine were married in July 2006. Their son, Jack Conrad Schmedding, was born on Oct. 27, 2009 – conveniently between EWU’s victories over Montana State on Oct. 24 and Portland State on Oct. 31.

Having seen both sides of the experience see-saw in his first three seasons as Eastern’s defensive line coach, Ryan Sawyer enters his fourth season as an assistant in Eastern Washington’s program. This is also his third season as recruiting coordinator for the 2010 NCAA Division I champions.

In 2010, an experienced defensive line helped Eastern lead the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision in turnovers gained (47) and finished with 33 sacks in 15 games. The Eagles were also sixth nationally in red zone defense, as they allowed just 38 scores in 58 opponent trips inside the EWU 20-yard line. Eight of those scores were field goals, including two in the first half of the national championship game. All-America junior tackle Renard Williams earned first-team All-Big Sky Conference honors, and senior tackle Tyler Jolley received honorable mention.

Sawyer’s defensive line had three new starters in the lineup in 2009, but Williams – the lone returning starter – earned first-team All-Big Sky Conference honors after finishing the season with 9 1/2 sacks. Senior Jacob Kragt earned honorable mention from the league as the Eagles finished with 29 total sacks and ranked sixth in the FCS in turnover margin (plus 1.25 per game). 

In Sawyer’s first season on the staff in 2008, senior Greg Peach won the Buck Buchanan Award, which is given to the top defensive player in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision. Peach was honored on five different All-America teams and was the Big Sky Conference Defensive MVP after finishing with a school-record 18 sacks as a senior. Sawyer also coached second-team All-Big Sky selections Lance Witherspoon and Jason Belford – also seniors. Eastern’s defense overcame a rocky start to hold five-straight opponents from Oct. 11 to Nov. 15 to 19 points or fewer.

Sawyer worked four previous seasons under defensive coordinator John Graham at Central Washington. A four-year starter at defensive end for the Wildcats from 1996-99, Sawyer spent the 2007 season as CWU’s defensive line coach under Graham and head coach Beau Baldwin. Sawyer also served as the team’s strength and conditioning coach.

Prior to spending 2003-07 as owner of a residential painting business in Kent, Wash., he spent three previous seasons at CWU as a student assistant wide receiver coach (2001-2002) and as a tight end/offensive line coach (2000). In 2002, he coached three wide receivers who earned all-conference honors, including All-American Brian Potucek, as Central finished the season 11-1.

Sawyer earned second-team all-conference honors in 1998 during a streak in which he made 36-straight starts for the Wildcats. He earned his bachelor of science degree in individual studies in spring 2003, with an emphasis on studies in health and coaching.

Sawyer was born Aug. 27, 1977. He was married on March 12, 2011, to the former Heidi Ramm.

Junior Adams, a former All-America wide receiver at Montana State, enters his third season as coach of Eastern’s young, but talented, wide receivers corp.

Eastern’s three starting receivers at the end of the 2010 season were sophomores, and they helped lead Eastern to the NCAA Division I title. Among them was All-American Brandon Kaufman, who caught 76 passes for 1,214 yards and 15 touchdowns to earn first-team All-Big Sky Conference honors. The other two – Nicholas Edwards and Greg Herd – combined for 89 more catches for 988 yards and 10 scores.

In summer 2010 and again in 2011, Adams participated in the Bill Walsh Minority Coaching Fellowship program with the Oakland Raiders (2010) and Indianapolis Colts (2011). He spent time with the teams during training camp, taking note of each coach’s methods in preparing the team for the upcoming season. Adams interacted with and learned from the coaching staffs to improve his skills.

In his first season at EWU in 2009, Adams coached a group of experienced receivers that featured senior All-American Aaron Boyce. Boyce was injured in the middle of the season, but eventually earned second-team All-Big Sky honors along with senior Tony Davis. Boyce finished second in school history in receptions (222), yards (3,330) and touchdown catches (29), and Davis finished his career third in catches (213) and fourth in yards (2,566). In part because of Boyce’s injury, three freshmen played significantly in 2009, and that paid dividends in 2010.

Adams originally attended and played at Oregon State, and then transferred to Montana State where he made an immediate impact for head coach Mike Kramer, who was head coach at Eastern from 1994-98. In 2001, Adams earned second-team All-Big Sky Conference honors as both a wide receiver and return specialist. He averaged 19.0 yards per punt return, with three touchdowns in a total of 20 returns. One of his touchdowns was an 84-yard return against Eastern in a 48-38 victory over the Eagles at Albi Stadium in Spokane on Oct. 6, 2001. He caught 40 passes for 652 yards and six touchdowns for the 5-6 Bobcats.

As a senior, he caught 66 passes for 983 yards and eight touchdowns to earn All-America honors. He broke a Big Sky Conference record when he averaged 60.5 yards per reception (two catches for 121 yards) against Weber State. He helped MSU to a 7-5 overall record as the Bobcats finished 5-2 in the Big Sky Conference to earn a piece of the league title. He scored the winning touchdown in a 10-7 victory over rival Montana at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in Missoula that ended MSU’s 16-game losing streak versus the Grizzlies. Earlier in the season, he caught 11 passes for 181 yards in a 45-28 loss at Washington State.

Adams remained at MSU to serve as a wide receivers and returns coach under Kramer, and then spent the 2007 season in the same capacity at Prosser (Wash.) High School. He helped head coach Tom Moore finish the season 14-0 and win the WIAA State 2A title. Adams coached the 2008 season at Tennessee-Chattanooga before joining EWU’s program.

A native of Fremont, Calif., he enjoyed an outstanding prep career at Amador Valley High School in Pleasanton, Calif., where he rushed for 3,385 yards and scored 53 touchdowns in three seasons. After he graduated in 1998, Adams redshirted at Oregon State in the fall. He played two seasons for head coach Dennis Erickson and was a member of the 2000 Pacific 10 Conference championship team and played in the 2001 Fiesta Bowl against Notre Dame.

A 1998 graduate of Amador Valley High School in California, his full name is Alton J. Adams Jr. He was born on Oct. 20, 1979, in Fremont, Calif., and will turn 32 two days before Eastern plays at Sacramento State on Oct. 22, 2011.

Zak Hill enters his third season as Eastern’s full-time quarterbacks coach after serving as a student assistant coach for the Eagles in 2004 and 2005.

He spent the 2010 season teaching Southern Methodist University transfer Bo Levi Mitchell how to play within EWU’s offense, and the results were sensational. Mitchell was selected as the Most Outstanding Player in the NCAA Division I Championship Game, as EWU won the national title with a come-from-behind 20-19 win over Delaware. Mitchell completed 59 percent of his passes to finish with 3,496 yards, a school-record 37 touchdown passes and 15 interceptions as a junior.

Most importantly, Mitchell was 13-2 as a starter at Eastern in 2010. Six times Eastern rallied for victories when trailing or tied in the fourth quarter, and most of the time, it was Mitchell who led the Eagles back from the depths of despair. In addition, Eastern was 3-0 in games when All-America running back Taiwan Jones did not play, and Mitchell had 11 touchdowns and 932 total passing yards in those games. He directed Eastern on 11 touchdown drives of at least 63 yards in those three games, including three in the national championship game.

In 2009, Hill coached record-breaking senior quarterback Matt Nichols, who finished fourth in the voting for the Payton Award given to the top player in the FCS, and was also the Big Sky’s Offensive Player of the Year for the second time in his career. Nichols earned prestigious first-team NCAA Football Championship Subdivision All-America honors from the American Football Coaches Association, as well as three other All-America honors.

Nichols broke 14 school records and six Big Sky Conference marks in his 47-game career (45 as a starter) before playing in the East-West Shrine Game and signing a free agent contract with the Dallas Cowboys. He passed for 3,830 yards and 33 touchdowns as a senior, giving him a total of 12,616 yards and 96 touchdowns in his career. His career yardage total ranks sixth in FCS history and his touchdown total is 10th.

A record-breaking quarterback himself from 1999-2003 at Central Washington, Hill spent the previous three seasons as a coach at Hillsboro High School in Oregon. After two seasons as offensive coordinator, Hill took over as head coach and led the Spartans to a 6-5 record in 2008 to advance to the first round of the Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA) Class 5A playoffs.

Prior to that, he served as an offensive assistant under EWU offensive coordinator Beau Baldwin in the 2004 and 2005 seasons when the Eagles had a collective 16-9 record, won a pair of Big Sky Conference titles and advanced to the NCAA Championship Subdivision Playoffs both years. Among the quarterbacks he helped coach was Erik Meyer, who won the Payton Award in 2005.

Eastern head coach Beau Baldwin was quarterbacks coach at Central during Hill’s freshman, sophomore and junior seasons. In 38 career games at Central, Hill re-wrote the Great Northwest Athletic Conference record books. En route to breaking more than 20 league records, he passed for 8,882 career yards (233.7 average per game) while completing 60.2 percent of his passes with 76 touchdown passes. He had 11 total games with more than 300 yards passing and 24 with at least 200.

After redshirting in 1998, he played seven games as a freshman in 1999 as Central finished 4-5. He earned All-Columbia Football Association honors in 2000 as Central was 5-5, but a knee injury limited him to two games in the 2001 season.

In 2002, Hill led Central to an 11-1 record as the Wildcats ranked fifth in NCAA Division II before losing in the first round of the playoffs. He passed for 2,694 yards in nine games, completing 209-of-308 passes for a school and league-record .679 completion percentage. He had 22 touchdowns, was intercepted only seven times and had a passing efficiency rating of 160.4. He was a third team All-America selection (Football Gazette) and earned a trio of All-Region awards.

As a sixth-year senior in 2003, Central was the preseason No. 1 team in NCAA Division II as selected by Sports Illustrated, but the Wildcats finished just 6-4. He passed for 2,325 yards and 24 touchdowns, completing 187-of-320 passes with nine interceptions. For the second-straight year, he earned first-team All-Great Northwest Athletic Conference honors.

Hill was a 1998 graduate of Prairie High School in Battle Ground, Wash., where he lettered twice in football and three times in baseball while accumulating a 3.73 grade point average. He was team captain as a junior and senior, and twice earned all-league honors. He played football for his father, Butch Hill, who is a member of the Hall of Fame at Central Washington. His father was a two-time All-America pitcher at Central with 17 career victories (1967-68), and also played quarterback for four seasons. He passed for 2,210 yards and accounted for 24 touchdowns (13 passing and 11 rushing).

Zak Hill was born Sept. 14, 1979, in Portland, Ore., and will turn 32 one day after Eastern plays at South Dakota on Sept. 10, 2011. He and his wife Hollie were married on July 14, 2007.

With lots of ties regionally, Josh Fetter enters his first season as coach of Eastern’s linebackers. He takes over a position that loses Buck Buchanan Award winner J.C. Sherritt, but returns second-team All-Big Sky Conference selection Zach Johnson.

Previous coaching stops for Fetter, a former University of Idaho team captain and 1996 graduate, have included Central Washington, Idaho State and Portland State. While at Central, he coached alongside several current Eagle coaches, including Eastern head coach Beau Baldwin. At ISU, he coached with former Eastern assistants John Zamberlin and Brian Strandley.

“Josh brings us a wealth of experience at the collegiate level, with lots of experience recruiting in the Northwest,” said Baldwin. “I was fortunate enough to coach with Josh for five years at Central, and that’s where I got to know him and was able to see the incredible talent he has as a coach.”

Besides Baldwin, defensive coordinator/assistant head coach John Graham also coached with Fetter at Central from 1996-2000, as well as Strandley from 1997-2000. Current Eagle coaches Ryan Sawyer and Zak Hill were players at the time. Graham coached Eastern linebackers last season.

“He has familiarity with the Northwest, the Big Sky Conference and our staff, so there were so many things that made Josh an incredibly great fit,” Baldwin added. “We’re going to be better with him on our staff, there’s no question about it.”

Fetter spent the 2010 season at Idaho State under Zamberlin, a former Eastern assistant coach and head coach at Central Washington. He and Strandley, who was Fetter’s teammate at Idaho, were defensive line coaches for the Bengals.

Before getting the job at ISU, Fetter was going to be defensive coordinator in the 2010 season at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Ore. Prior to that, he spent four seasons as defensive line coach at PSU.

In the 2009 season, two of his Viking linemen earned honorable-mention All-Big Sky honors, and in 2007, all three of his regular starters were all-league. In 2006, PSU led the Big Sky in turnover margin, passing efficiency defense, sacks per game, tackles for loss, third-down defense, fourth-down defense and red-zone defense.

Fetter also coached five seasons at Western State in Gunnison, Colo., where he was defensive coordinator, strength and conditioning coach and held the title of assistant head coach.

From 1996-2000 he was at Central, including the final four seasons under Zamberlin as defensive ends coach. He coached defensive tackles in 1996, his first season coaching after graduating from the University of Idaho with a degree in general studies.

While at Idaho, Fetter was a two-year starter and lettered four seasons for the Vandals. As a senior he was voted as a team captain and won Idaho’s most inspirational player award.

Fetter was born Dec. 6, 1972, in Tacoma, Wash., he and his wife, Jahnna, have a son, Michael (5), and a daughter, Delani (3). They had a second daughter, Laci, born on the first day of preseason practices on Aug. 10, 2011.

Heath Pulver is in his fourth season at Eastern, coaching tight ends for the second-straight year after helping as a student assistant for the defense the previous two years. He received his bachelor’s degree from EWU in interdisciplinary studies with a minor in art and history in 2009.

In the 2010 season, he coached honorable mention All-Big Sky Conference tight end Matt Martin, as well as a pair of young freshmen – Zack Gehring and Ryan Seto. That trio combined for 30 catches for 349 yards and three touchdowns as Eastern went on to finish 13-2 and win the NCAA Division I title.

A 2000 graduate of University High School in Spokane, Wash., Pulver redshirted as a defensive tackle at Eastern Oregon University in fall 2000. He returned and coached running backs at University High School from 2001-2002, then spent five years at Montana. He was a student manager for the Grizzlies in 2003, and from 2004-2007 he was a student assistant coach for the offense. He returned to Spokane and transferred to EWU in 2008.

Pulver was born May 24, 1981.