THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: The goings continue on the Palouse

A new coach comes in and generates a little excitement in a program which had actually been one of the school’s better ones, until a couple recent down years.

She brings in several transfers, including one with North Idaho ties, which only increases the excitement.

But she’s gone, after only one year.

Now, you can’t blame someone for wanting to be closer to “home”, as is the case with Carrie Eighmey, who is returning to the midwest as head coach at the University of South Dakota. But you hope it wouldn’t be after just one season.

Eighmey came to Idaho after eight seasons as head coach at Nebraska-Kearney. She was 15-16 in her lone season in Moscow.

(Kinda wild to read she never signed her contract with Idaho, saving her from a possible $500,000 buyout).

What will happen to all those transfers?

A few have Tweeted out “Still A Vandal,” with pictures of them in an Idaho uniform.

In any event, the Vandals certainly don't need any more head-scratching news, on top of the fiasco surrounding the volleyball coach (we're still waiting for the results of the investigation into that one) and the brawl that allegedly involved Vandal football players.

The Vandals do have some good things going on in Moscow.

Idaho's football team is coming off back-to-back FCS playoff appearances, crowds are getting bigger, and the buzz is increased with North Idaho athletes playing bigger roles.

Meanwhile, new Idaho men’s basketball coach Alex Pribble came in and, despite a finish of 11-21, has also generated a bit of a buzz — a buzz that has gotten louder in the offseason with the addition of a pair of transfers with North Idaho and Spokane ties.

But that stuff tends to get overshadowed by the other stuff.

OF COURSE, the exodus is much worse just nine miles away, at Washington State.

Not only did the men’s basketball coach leave (as well as most of his players), so did the athletic director — he to hated rival U-Dub, of all places.

The president is on his way out in a year. And the football coach, at least from the outside, was rumored to be a prime candidate to head somewhere else after his team got off to a 4-0 start last fall. Funny, six straight losses ended those rumors — which is good for WSU, since Jake Dickert appears exactly what they need at this time, keeping it enthusiastic and positive as the Cougs navigate the Pac-2 waters for the next two years until they can figure out something better.

Of course WSU, like Idaho, has always been a bit of a stepping-stone job.

When Idaho was rolling in football and men’s basketball in the 1980s, their coaches (Dennis Erickson, Don Monson) moved on. And in football, their replacements eventually moved on.

At WSU, same thing with George Raveling and, more recently, Tony Bennett in men’s basketball.

In football, it was Jim Sweeney, Jackie Sherill, that Erickson fellow, and more recently, Mike Leach, after his work was done here, improving the Cougar program.

Even Jim Walden, one of the most entertaining of Cougar coaches, left for Iowa State. Walden, of course, has long since returned to our area, and regained his status as a regional treasure.

EASTERN WASHINGTON knows all about being a stepping-stone job.

The last three men’s basketball coaches parlayed their success in Cheney into “bigger” gigs — Jim Hayford (Seattle U), Shantay Legans (Portland) and, just recently, David Riley (WSU).

Just like several EWU players followed Legans to Portland, a few Eags — so far — are headed to Pullman with Riley.

That’s gotten Coug fans happy, figuring if those guys shined at Eastern, they’ll continue to do great things at Wazzu.

We’ll see how that plays out. You would think the level of play in the West Coast Conference, going up against Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s and the rest, would be a little higher than it is in the Big Sky Conference, going up against Montana, Weber State, Northern Colorado, etc.

Then again, EWU beat WSU twice in recent years, both in Pullman.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @CdAPressSports.