Baldwin Agrees To 5 Year Extension With EWU
Cheney, Wash. — Eastern Washington University Director of Athletics, Bill Chaves, confirmed Friday (Dec. 9) that details are being finalized with EWU President Dr. Mary Cullinan for a new five-year agreement with Beau Baldwin, EWU’s football coach for the past nine seasons.
“There is no doubt that coach Baldwin is one of the very best coaches ever in the Big Sky Conference and we are excited to be working out details with him,” said Chaves of the head coach he hired nine seasons ago. “Dr. Cullinan’s support through this process has been tremendous and I cannot thank her enough for her leadership.”
Baldwin has a 58-14 Big Sky record for a winning percentage of .806 to rank as the fifth-best in league history. His .730 winning percentage overall (84-31) is seventh all-time in the 53-year history of the Big Sky. He is fast approaching the school record of 89 victories by Dick Zornes from 1979-93 during EWU’s transition from NAIA to NCAA Division I and the Big Sky.
“I appreciate the continuous support from Dr. Cullinan and our athletic administration towards the support of our program,” said Baldwin, whose team is preparing to play Richmond Saturday (Dec. 10) at Roos Field in Cheney, Wash., in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Payoffs. “We look forward to even greater things in the future.”
The Eagles have won 40 of their last 46 Big Sky games since a 0-2 start in 2011. Eastern has won 30 of its last 34 league games, with the lone losses coming against Montana and Portland State in 2015 and Northern Arizona in both 2015 and 2014. Including non-conference victories (two versus MSU and one against Cal Poly) and a playoff win (Montana), the Eagles have won 34 of their last 38 versus conference foes, and are 44-6 since the 0-2 start in 2011.
This is the sixth time Baldwin has taken the Eagles to the playoffs as head coach (2009-10-12-13-14-16), plus two more as offensive coordinator (2004-05). He has coached in a total of 27 postseason playoff games (12 appearances) with a record of 17-9-1, including eight appearances in the FCS Playoffs and two at both the NCAA Division II and NAIA levels when he was at Central Washington.
In his nine years as Eastern’s head coach, the Eagles have ranked in the top 10 in FCS in passing offense eight times and total offense six seasons (including 2016). Eastern led the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision in passing offense in 2015 (353.3 yards per game) and 2011 (368.5), and scoring in 2014 (44.1 points per game). In EWU’s last 13 seasons (2004-2016), including 12 with Baldwin on the coaching staff, EWU has ranked in the top 10 in passing 11 times, total offense on nine occasions and scoring five times.
