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Central Washington head coach named OC, QB coach at EWU

CHENEY — Central Washington football coach Ian Shoemaker has accepted a position at Eastern Washington University as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, Eagle head coach Aaron Best announced Monday.

Shoemaker has been CWU’s head coach for the past five seasons, compiling a 38-16 record and winning Great Northwest Athletic Conference championships in 2017 and 2018. In those 54 games, Central has averaged 37.3 points per game and 447.3 yards of total offense.

He replaces Bodie Reeder, who left after two seasons to become offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of North Texas.

In the 2018 season, the Wildcats opened the year by falling to Eastern 58-13, but won eight of their next nine. The Wildcats finished as the co-champions in the GNAC with Azusa Pacific, which beat the Wildcats 42-35 to end the regular season. Azusa Pacific was selected for the NCAA Division II Playoffs, as CWU finished 8-3 overall and 7-1 in the GNAC.

Shoemaker’s quarterback the past two seasons was former Eagle Reilly Hennessey. He earned unanimous first team All-GNAC honors in 2018 and was the GNAC Offensive Player of the Year. Hennessey threw for 2,705 yards and 21 touchdowns. The senior signal caller added another 477 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground. Hennessey was named the GNAC Newcomer of the Year in 2017, as well as being a first team All-GNAC selection.

A native of Graham, Wash., Shoemaker graduated from Orting High. The Grinnell College (Iowa) graduate was a four-year starter in both football and baseball, and earned a degree in psychology. He was the school’s most valuable player and offensive back of the year in football, and set school records for home runs in a season and career in baseball.