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Eagles work hard to keep recruiting class intact

Eastern Washington’s interim co-head coaches Jeff Schmedding, left, and Aaron Best are working the phones to keep Eagles recruits in place. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
By Jim Allen jima@spokesman.com

Perhaps the best news for Eastern Washington football on Tuesday was delivered by a 17-year-old via social media.

“100 percent committed and have been since day one,” tweeted Darreon Moore, a wide receiver from Kennewick.

That was welcome news for the Eagles’ program, which is trying to hold together a strong recruiting class despite the departure of coach Beau Baldwin on Monday.

“We are working hard to assure them that they are wanted by the entire university and not just the football program,” said offensive line coach Aaron Best, who was named interim co-head coach along with defensive coordinator Jeff Schmedding after Baldwin was named offensive coordinator at California.

With national signing day two weeks away, the Eagles have at least nine oral commitments. Four of them are rated at three stars by Scout.com. Three of those are wide receivers, including Moore, Andrew Boston of Puyallup, Washington, and Johnny Edwards of Bishop Alemany in Mission Hills, California – the same school that produced EWU All-American quarterback Vernon Adams Jr.

The other three-star recruit is Boston’s Kamiakin High School teammate, offensive lineman Wyatt Musser.

As a group, the class is ranked 124th among all FBS and FCS schools and easily the best in the Big Sky Conference. By comparison, Montana ranks 135th, North Dakota 140th and Montana State 141st.

Eastern’s class ranks fourth among all FCS programs, behind Harvard, Yale and North Dakota State.

Even as Baldwin announced his resignation, the staff – led by cornerbacks coach and recruiting coordinator Cherokee Valeria – has worked the phones and hit the road for more visits.

“Heading out to visit some #FutureEags,” Valeria Tweeted on Tuesday.

National signing day is on Feb. 1. As of Tuesday, none of the current recruits had renounced his oral commitment.

“Right now we’re attacking it,” Schmedding said. “We’ve already had staff meetings, just trying to let everyone know about the continuity of this program.”

The Eagles entertained a large group of recruits over the weekend.

“A lot of them are already close to each other,” Schmedding said. “We’re going to be on the road, on the phones and in their homes to get the best recruiting class we can for 2017.”