Former Eastern Washington center Jase Butorac to coach Eagles offensive line

Two years after ending his playing career at Eastern Washington, former center Jase Butorac has joined the Eagles’ coaching staff as offensive line coach.

Butorac will fill the shoes of his former position coach, Aaron Best, who was elevated to head coach in January. Before that, Butorac worked as a strength and conditioning coach for the Eagles after earning his degree in 2015.

“I’ve had the ability to be around Jase in strength and conditioning activities for two years, and I’ve really enjoyed that time with him,” Best said.

Butorac played center as a four-year letterwinner from 2011-14 on teams that won three Big Sky Conference titles and advanced to the playoffs all three seasons.

“It’s a great opportunity that Coach Best feels I’m ready for, and I do, too,” Butorac said. “We’re excited moving forward, especially with all the new staff members we have. We’re in a great position and I’m glad my experience will be helpful to the program.

“I’ll still need to lean on him at times, but he also wants to give me freedom to kind of run my own show and do my thing. Players sometimes need to hear a different voice at times, but we’ll certainly use his expertise.”

The hiring of Butorac comes on the heels of Best announcing former Eastern quarterback Fred Salanoa as the team’s new offensive coordinator and tight ends coach, as well as Jay Dumas as EWU’s new wide receivers coach.

Best has yet to hire a running backs coach. Spring practices are expected to start on April 4.

As a player, Butorac started 15 games as an Eagle, including 14 games as a senior team co-captain in 2014. Twice he earned Big Sky Conference All-Academic honors and had a 3.43 grade-point average.

Butorac helped the Eagles finish 11-3 and win the Big Sky Conference outright title for the second consecutive season in 2014. The Eagles advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs, and finished ranked fourth in the final FCS poll.