Aug. 5—When Ambrose Marsh first joined the Eastern Washington football team, he pretty well knew that he wasn't going to play much that first year.
He wasn't alone. Running back Kevin Allen III, quarterback Jake Schakel, wide receiver Bode Gardner, offensive lineman Gavin Allen, to name just a few Eagles players, found themselves all in the same position in the fall of 2024: redshirting and playing a lot on the scout team.
"The coaches would try to throw us in," Marsh, now a redshirt sophomore cornerback, said at EWU practice on Tuesday. "But they knew we weren't really playing and they were trying to develop us."
All of those aforementioned players filled key roles for the Eagles in 2025 and are being counted on to step up again this season.
But unlike that class, the current freshmen at Eastern Washington and elsewhere no longer need to redshirt; under a new NCAA Division I policy, they can play right away.
#eastern #first #play
He wasn't alone. Running back Kevin Allen III, quarterback Jake Schakel, wide receiver Bode Gardner, offensive lineman Gavin Allen, to name just a few Eagles players, found themselves all in the same position in the fall of 2024: redshirting and playing a lot on the scout team.
"The coaches would try to throw us in," Marsh, now a redshirt sophomore cornerback, said at EWU practice on Tuesday. "But they knew we weren't really playing and they were trying to develop us."
All of those aforementioned players filled key roles for the Eagles in 2025 and are being counted on to step up again this season.
But unlike that class, the current freshmen at Eastern Washington and elsewhere no longer need to redshirt; under a new NCAA Division I policy, they can play right away.
#eastern #first #play
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