EWU athletics director has seen programs excel in his eight years
EWU athletics director Bill Chaves will soon see a second Big Sky Conference President's Cup banner hang from the wall at Reese Court. The honor, which acknowledges both academic and athletic excellence, is one of the accomplishments of which Chaves is most proud, but it is just one of a number of big things that have occurred under his eight-year watch.
Time has admittedly flown by for Eastern Washington University's athletic director Bill Chaves.
Chaves recently passed his eight-year mark on the job and it's been a most memorable run punctuated by some of the biggest successes in the athletic history of the school.
"We've had some really unique and tremendous things happen over the course of those eight years," Chaves said. "It's been rewarding; I'm excited to see what happens in the next eight years."
That second eight years unofficially kicked off with the start of the 2015-16 sports season and right off the bat, the news is good for Eastern. Out of the Big Sky Conference summer meetings in Park City, Utah came the news that the athletic program was being awarded its second Big Sky Conference President's Cup.c
To win this honor for the department takes the perfect set of ingredients, the 48-year-old Chaves said.
"We've got to win some championships, we have to have others (sports) be really right there, and then we have to get it done in the classroom," Chaves said. "To be able to win, you can't have a weak link."
Chaves contends this award trumps the other banners that hang in Reese Court.
"That means the most, and now we have a second one."
It's a true team effort he said.
"That's a testament to up and down the hallways, the 325 student athletes, and let's just say the 50-75 folks that support this program that are achieving excellence from A-Z," Chaves said.
Up until Chaves arrived in Cheney from his role as an assistant athletic director at Baylor University in Waco, Texas in 2007, leadership in Eastern's athletic program was a moving target.
"Between interim ADs and permanent ADs I was the fifth one in four years," Chaves said. "That's not good for anyone."
Just as the leadership has stabilized in recent years, so has the coaching landscape.
In both marquee head coaching positions - football with Beau Baldwin and Jim Hayford in basketball, both have inked deals that go a long way toward keeping them in Cheney, and Eastern in the yearly championship conversation.
After guiding Eastern to the 2010 Football Championship Subdivision national championship, Baldwin's name has surfaced for a variety of coaching openings, most recently in 2014 at Oregon State. But Baldwin signed a new deal this past January that runs through 2019 and appears to have the kind of financial security to keep him at Eastern for the immediate future.
Chaves said he didn't think Baldwin was interested in the lateral move to another FCS school, such as Montana who mentioned him as a candidate to fill the vacancy left by retiring Mick Delaney. But if the right opportunity arises, "It will be one of those opportunities that we will all be excited for him," Chaves said.
Hayford, who guided Eastern to only their second-ever NCAA tournament this past spring, also has received a contract extension as he enters his fifth season here.
Other coaches and sports at Eastern have enjoyed success, including Wendy Schuller and the women's basketball team, which earned a WNIT berth and scored a huge win at Florida this past season.
Chaves said Wade Benson in volleyball is poised to bring the program back to prominence now that a recent battle with cancer is behind him.
"And coach (Chad) Bodnar, in one year, did a tremendous job (with soccer)," Chaves said. "It should be exciting moving forward."
The sports success at Eastern in recent years has been unprecedented.
"We're the only FCS school in the country that has beaten a Power-5 Conference in the sports of men's and women's basketball, volleyball and football over the last two years," Chaves said. Two of those huge wins came in football at Oregon State in 2013 and men's basketball this past season at Indiana.
From the time Eastern entered the Big Sky Conference in 1987 they only won four football championships through 2005. "Now we have four in the last five years," Chaves said. "So that' s pretty special."
With teams appearing solid, what about facilities?
Eastern's two main athletic facilities, Roos - formerly Woodward Field - is nearing 50, and the Phase and Reese Court is 40-years-old. With some cosmetic surgery each is still looking pretty nice.
Renovating Roos has been a topic lately with the proposed Gateway Project.
"Here's what I will say, yes, it is on the forefront," Chaves said. "The president (Mary Cullinan), when she had her investiture, she alluded to the fact that's something we need to continue to run that ground ball out."
The Gateway Project has been estimated to cost $60-$70 million, would add permanent seating, donor suites, other athletic and student amenities, but would be funded privately.
"I think we're kind of there to be able to think through a couple different thoughts of how we could potentially move forward with that, so stay tuned," Chaves said.
Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected].
Reader Comments(0)