Dumas joins Eastern staff

as wide receivers coach

With a long, vast association with football in the region, Jay Dumas has joined the Eastern Washington football program as wide receivers coach, new Eagle head coach Aaron Best announced. Dumas owns the distinction of being a high school coach for EWU’s record-breaking sensation Cooper Kupp and his younger brother Ketner Kupp.

A 1999 graduate of Washington State, Dumas most recently was a wide receivers coach at Central Washington from 2014-16 under head coach Ian Shoemaker. Among the players he coached there was NCAA Division II All-America Jesse Zalk, who played for the Wildcats from 2014-16. Dumas also coached returners and assisted with summer camps.

Sharing a common thread with several past and present Eagle coaches as a graduate of Curtis High School in Tacoma, Wash., his other collegiate coaching stops have included Montana State and Western Washington.

“I’m excited for Jay and the opportunity to come from Central Washington and show his mettle here at Eastern,” Best said. “He’s a Curtis grad and a former teammate of Coach Baldwin, so we’re very familiar with Jay. He was instrumental in the tutelage of Cooper Kupp and the process of making him the player he was out of high school. He’s coached in the Big Sky, at the NCAA Division II and NAIA levels, so he has a lot of college experience.”

“I’m really excited,” Dumas said. “I’ve been following Eastern football for many years now, and have a good connection with Beau Baldwin and now Coach Best. Everybody has been very welcoming and the players are excited, almost as excited as I am for being here. I’m happy to be a part of the tradition that has been built here, and I’m hoping to continue that tradition.”

From 2007-14, Dumas was the offensive coordinator at Davis High School in Yakima where he helped the offense for the Pirates set numerous school records. One of the All-State players he coached was Kupp, who as a senior in 2011 had 60 receptions for 1,059 yards (17.7 per catch) and 18 touchdowns, and scored 22 total touchdowns to set a school record. He also had 11 rushes for 122 yards and two touchdowns as Davis came one game away from a berth in the State 4A Playoffs. Davis finished 6-4 for the second straight year, giving the program back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 1968-69. Ketner graduated from Davis in 2015 and will be a junior linebacker for the Eagles in 2017.

Shadow women

set tryouts

The reigning Northwest Premier League champion Spokane Shadow Women’s first team tryout has been scheduled for Saturday, March 25 at the Dwight Merkel Complex in Spokane.

Players interested in playing for the defending league champions as they head into the second season in the league should register online. The tryouts will be held in the evening from 6:30 to 8:00 on Field 6. There is a $20 administrative fee.

Coach Kevin Moon returns to lead the women’s side in defense of the NWPL crown. Last year’s squad was a successful mix of current and former collegiate players from throughout the area with many of the club’s elite youth players that had regular opportunities to play.

Players can register online at SpokaneSC.org.