Ian Shoemaker Obituary, Death – Even though Ian Shoemaker was getting pelted with heavy rainfall when he was giving advice to a group of quarterbacks on Tuesday at Roos Field, his smile still shone brightly despite the gloomy spring football conditions. The new offensive coordinator at Eastern Washington has a lot of reasons to be happy about his job.
Shoemaker inherited one of the most dynamic quarterbacks in the FCS in Eric Barriere, a collection of established skill players, and four offensive linemen who were All-Big Sky Conference a year ago, which may have been the most important component in the team’s run to the FCS national title game. When he first stepped foot on the red turf seven months ago, he was in an entirely different frame of mind. Shoemaker, who was the head coach of the Central Washington football team at the time, was present for Eastern Washington University’s season-opening rout, which ended with a score of 58-13.
This was the most lopsided loss that occurred during Shoemaker’s successful five-year tenure with the Division II program. The Wildcats, who have just won back-to-back conference titles under the direction of Shoemaker, were a lot more formidable than their competition in their own weight class, averaging close to 450 yards per game with a balanced approach.
Shoemaker had his fair share of talent at the FCS level come through Ellensburg, including record-setting quarterback Reilly Hennessey, who was a previous part-time starter at Eastern Washington University. Shoemaker, who is taking over for Bodie Reeder after the latter accepted the same position at North Texas, has a bevy of high-caliber players at his disposal who are capable of producing spectacular plays.
Shoemaker stated that there is a significant gap between the number of scholarships offered at the Division II level (23 scholarships) and the number of scholarships offered at the FCS level (63 scholarships). “And it most certainly showed in that game the year before,” you said. Someone who makes shoes would know. During his five seasons, he was involved in the scheduling of games versus three Big Sky schools, including Montana, Portland State, and Eastern Washington. This fall, CWU will also compete against Idaho.
Shoemaker was hired by EWU head coach Aaron Best in February. Best is entering his third season as the program’s leader this autumn. Shoemaker was attractive to Best due to his established track record of creating good quarterbacks, as well as his extensive links to Washington and the state’s recruiting pipelines.