Just 3 coaches remain with Eastern football
Former Eastern head coach Kim Dameron looks on from the sideline during his teams’ 48-41 loss to Murray State on Oct. 6. Only three member from Dameron’s coaching staff remaing with the program after his non-renewal.
December 4, 2018
It appears that an entirely new era of football is being ushered in at Eastern, as just three coaches from last season’s staff remain after the non-renewal of head coach Kim Dameron’s contract on Nov. 18.
Linebackers coach Adam Gristick, cornerbacks and special teams coach Alvah Hansbro and inside receivers coach Micah Smith are the three coaches that remain with the program.
The three coaches will remain on staff to help the program transition into its era with a new head coach and staff. When a new head coach is hired, all three coaches will have an opportunity to interview with the new head coach and remain on staff according to an email from Associate Athletic Director/Media and PR Rich Moser.
It would appear with just the three coaches remaining on staff that both offensive coordinator Scott Parr and defensive coordinator Cary Fowler tenures at Eastern are presumably done.
Moser said in the same email that athletic director Tom Michael will not be doing interviews about the coaching situation until a new head coach new head coach is selected.
Parr was at Eastern for just one season, and his time was relatively successful. Parr instilled an air-raid offense at Eastern built around transfer quarterback Johnathan Brantley and Harry Woodbery. Eastern was third in the Ohio Valley Conference in scoring, averaging 32.5 points per game. That figure was up from 17.6 points per game the season before Parr took over.
Eastern’s passing offense ranked first in the conference, putting up 309.3 yards per game, up from 165.5 yards per game in 2017.
Fowler is gone after two years as Eastern’s defensive coordinator. His first season in 2017 Eastern gave up 354 yards per game 3902 total yards on the season; both figures were third-worst in the OVC.
Everything came crashing down for Fowler’s system in 2018. The yards per game figure ballooned to 492, and the total yards on the season went up to 5412.
The defense gave up 40.5 points per game in 2018 compared to just 26 in 2017.
Fowler could not be reached for comment.
A coaching search to find Dameron’s replacement began immediately for Eastern. All Michael would say about the search via Moser’s email was that there has been a great deal of interest in the position and the search is moving forward.
JJ Bullock can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].
