Nine Eastern Washington University football players and head coach Beau Baldwin were named to the College Sports Madness 2016 Big Sky Preseason All-Conference Team announced on Aug. 2. Baldwin was named Coach of the Year by the sports website and wide receiver Cooper Kupp was named Offensive Player of the Year.
The Eagles had three players named to the first team, including Kupp, fellow senior wide receiver Kendrick Bourne and senior defensive lineman Samson Ebukam. Senior quarterback Jordan West, senior defensive lineman Matthew Sommer and sophomore offensive lineman Nick Ellison made the second team. Senior linebacker Miquiyah Zamora, sophomore Alek Kacmarcik and sophomore defensive back Nzuzi Webster were honored on the third team.
A year ago, Ebukam and Bourne were second team All-Big Sky selections as picked by the league’s head coaches, with Sommer earning third team accolades. Kupp was the league’s Offensive MVP, a unanimous All-America selection for the third-straight season and won three awards as the top offensive player in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision.
Baldwin enters his ninth season at the helm of the Eagles with a 73-30 overall record for a winning percentage of .709 to rank as the ninth-best in Big Sky history. His .781 winning percentage in Big Sky games (50-14) is a school record and sixth-best all-time in the league.
In his eight years as Eastern’s head coach, the Eagles have ranked in the top 10 in FCS in passing offense seven times and total offense five seasons. Eastern led the FCS in passing offense in 2015 (353.3 yards per game).
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