Feb. 5—After its December class tipped toward high school athletes and offensive players, Eastern Washington’s February football signing class tilted the opposite direction.
Of the 16 more signees the Eagles announced Wednesday — the official National Signing Day for college football players — 11 are transfers and 11 have been brought in to play defense.
The signing class brings Eastern’s total this offseason to 36, not including two offensive linemen who decommitted after offensive coordinator Jim Chapin and offensive line coach Hayden Mace left for Central Michigan University.
Among the most experienced signees this week is linebacker Read Sunn, who played 42 games and made 14 total tackles at Wyoming over the past four seasons. Eastern also signed linebackers Tyler Lepolo, a transfer from Temple (and prior to that City College of San Francisco), and Tyras Blake, a senior at Post Falls High School.
The Eagles added a pair of transfers to their wide receiver corps, including former Washington State player Kyson Thomas and Fresno State transfer Drew Carlson. Both redshirted last season and retain full eligibility.
Three players are headed to Cheney directly from California junior colleges: cornerback Drew Greeley (De Anza College), safety Gavin O’Leary (Laney Junior College) and tight end Will Roberts (Santa Barbara). Another, offensive lineman Jaxsen Tuia, comes from Snow College in Utah.
Cornerback Bryce Lucas (Western Colorado) and offensive lineman Fletcher Gibson (Carson Newman in Tennessee) are transferring from Division II programs.
It is a wide-ranging class geographically, with a player each from Alaska, Arizona, Louisiana, South Carolina and Tennessee, as well as five from California, four from Washington and two from Idaho.
Puyallup High senior Kaden Rolfsness joined early commit Anthony Quinones to give the Eagles two freshman quarterbacks in this class and five on their roster heading into next season. They will join senior Jared Taylor, redshirt sophomore Nate Bell and redshirt freshman Jake Schakel, who graduated from Emerald Ridge High in Puyallup, Washington.
Eastern will conduct its spring practices starting on March 10, culminating in the Red-White scrimmage on April 18 at Roos Field.
The Eagles’ first game of the regular season is Aug. 30 at Incarnate Word in San Antonio.
