Weber's Sears takes his Wildcats 'home' to Eastern Washington

OGDEN — If there’s one thing Weber State football coach Jody Sears knows, it’s the eastern portion of the state of Washington.

Having played and coached at Washington State, and coaching at Eastern Washington, Sears developed a warm relationship with the region that fostered much of his professional career.

Now, it’s a chance to make a statement in a place he knows very well.

“It’s one of those deals where you’re always rooting for Eastern,” said Sears, whose two youngest children were born in Cheney, Wash. “I worked there for five years, and worked extremely closely with those guys. But, every week of the year you root for them except for one, and this is the one.

“I’m excited to go back and see the boys, but we’re going up there with a greater purpose, and that’s to play good football and be consistent on both sides of the ball.”

Consistency or a lack there of is an issue that has plagued the Wildcats throughout the early stretches of the season. One thing is guaranteed to be more consistent though, as the Wildcats will plan on playing only one quarterback, as Austin Chipoletti transitions to the starting role after Jordan Adamczyk announced he was leaving the program earlier this week.

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Sears noted Chipoletti and his younger teammates need to continue to mature.

“We don’t make excuses, and we’ve got three or four of them [freshmen] out there starting on offense,” he said. “That’s the bad news, but it’s also the good news too because they’re ultra-competitors and we absolutely love them. They’re doing a good job, and they’re getting better.”

Having spent most of his playing and coaching days on the defensive side of the football, Sears is well-known for his defensive ability and it is that aspect of the game he is most focused on against a diverse Eastern Washington offense.

“They’re extremely good, and the wide-outs are very well-coached,” Sears said during the weekly Big Sky Conference coaches' call. “Obviously, their numbers speak for themselves, and we’re going to definitely have our hands full.

“Again though, our focus has to remain on ourselves, for the most part, so we can execute and play good, sound, fundamental football.”

Even though the Eagles have lost the last two weeks, to Toledo and Sam Houston State, Sears didn’t expect Eastern Washington to deliver anything less than a fundamental performance.

“They’re extremely sound in what they do, and yeah, maybe they gave up some numbers the last two weeks, but that’s not indicative of who they are,” said Sears, who coached at Eastern Washington under former Washington State coach Paul Wulff.

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