Eagles bringing experienced offense into 2024

SPOKANE — There was an excited energy regarding the Eastern Washington offense at Monday’s Big Sky Media Days, with the unit that finished third in both total yards and points scored bringing a veteran group to the field in 2024.

“I’m really excited,” Eastern receiver Nolan Ulm said. “Realy confident, believe a ton in what (offensive coordinator Jim Chapin) is doing and what we’ve built together in the past three years.”

Returning to Cheney this fall are nine of the 11 players who started the bulk of games in 2023, including quarterback Kekoa Visperas, a 2023 all-Big Sky honorable mention last fall. Visperas led the Big Sky in both passing yards (1,905) and touchdowns (14) last season over seven starts in conference games.

“I think there’s less pressure on him now (after) showing what he can do last year and taking over for Gunner (Talkington),” head coach Aaron Best said. “He had a hell of a season last year; he’s only going to get better and more experienced.”

Wide receiver Efton Chism III, a 2023 unanimous first-team all-Big Sky honoree who hauled in 84 catches for 932 yards and eight touchdowns, and running back Tuna Altahir, Eastern’s leading rusher who accumulated 717 yards of total offense and eight touchdowns, also return this fall.

“It’s really exciting to see the massive jump we made from 2022 to 2023, and the jump we’re looking to take from 2023 to 2024,” Ulm said. “The amount of guys that I’ve played with my whole career is very heavily represented in that offense. The bonds get deeper, the relationships get stronger and we’re excited to go show it on Saturdays this year.”

In the trenches, Eastern’s offensive line returns four starters all post plenty of starting experience. The position group has made great strides over the past two seasons, Best said.

“I don’t think we were up to the standard in 2022 up front,” he said. “... Last year, we started creeping back to that standard. Bringing four of those five guys back, we’re excited. Jack Seelye has done a great job at center in a one-year situation, a JUCO kid. Wyatt Hansen has started a ton of games, Luke Dahlgren has started a ton of games, Brenden Rivera has started a ton of games.”

Even with plenty of returning experience, the Eagles still need to prove they can be successful on the scoreboard, Best added.

“I think the natural tendency is, when you bring players back you’re going to be better — it just means you’re older and you’re more experienced, which gives you a better chance,” Best said. “How much those guys have pushed the envelope in the spring and summer has been evident for me, but it really doesn’t matter what the evidence is during the spring and summer — it matters that they put that together in the fall.”

Once the previous season comes to a close, football players don’t simply hang up their cleats until fall camp begins; Ulm said there have been a “ton” of off-season workouts, player-run practices and conversations with teammates and coaches in preparing for the 2024 season.

“We throw all the time with quarterbacks, that never stops,” he said. “A ton of routes on air, and watching film with quarterbacks. With Kekoa (Visperas), we go through the old stuff — our past seasons with him, and what we want to do differently.”

Those player-run practices aren’t watered-down either — players take them just as seriously as they would a typical in-season practice. Summer workouts also “consistently” had over 100 players in attendance.

“We’ve got scripts, we go up there and we’ve got the horn, we’ve got position leaders leading the (individual drills),” Ulm said. “It’s, really, just a practice led by players. It’s very scheduled, strict parameters that we have with it.”

Eastern is coming off of back-to-back seasons with sub-.500 records, going 4-7 in 2023 and 3-8 in 2022. The Eagles finished last season with six one-score games, posting a record of 2-4 in those games. To flip those results, Ulm said it comes down to taking it one play at a time.

“Having that standard of all 11 guys executing every single play, that’s what it’s going to take,” Ulm said. “It’s going to take a whole team being process-based and winning every play six seconds at a time.”

The Eagles open the 2024 season with a home game against Monmouth on Aug. 29. Kickoff time has yet to be announced.

“I’m so excited for people to see it,” Ulm said of the offense. “We deepened our strengths, and there’s some areas that we’ve really looked to improve on — especially in the passing game that were not there. Just looking to be explosive this year.”

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com. 

    Eastern Washington wide receiver Nolan Ulm is coming off a career-best year in terms of receptions (45), receiving yards (564) and touchdowns (four, tied with 2024). Ulm, a fifth-year senior, is one of the many veteran players returning to the Eastern on the offensive side of the ball.