Musical Chairs...

I enjoy hearing a good story about athletes; their backgrounds and how they got to the place they presently are playing. I’m talking about college athletes for the most part.

The Eastern Washington Eagles have several transfer students but none from the junior college ranks. The transfers they have originally signed and played at least a year at the following schools: Boise State, Kentucky, Southern Methodist, Washington State and the University of Washington.

The reasons why these players chose to transfer are varied. Some left their original choice due to lack of playing time, while others because of a coaching change. Some players leave because of academic reasons, whether they are struggling or they believe the new school offers a more favorable curriculum choice. Yes, some of these athletes do want to get their degree and enter the work force and utilizing their scholarship opportunities are a blessing for them.

Some people wonder why any athlete that is recruited and signs with a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) team (Pac 12 or SEC) would want to transfer to a smaller Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) school such as EWU.

The reasons may be more obvious than you might think. If a football player transfers from a FBS school to a FCS school the player is eligible to play the very next season. If the transfer is from FBS to FBS the athlete will have to sit out a year. They can practice with the team but no game time.

Most of the players that transfer to the smaller schools most likely aren’t looking to play in the NFL as much as getting field time. If they get on the field then a lot of good things can happen. Eastern has picked up some great players that have contributed to the team’s success in the last few years.

It’s difficult to say if these athletes would have had the same type of success if they’d remained at their original school and hoped their luck would change. Sometimes a change of scenery is the best thing to happen to the athletes.

At EWU these players have seemed to fit in. They like the coaches and they like the idea that they are put in a good position to win. After all, most of these players were the best athletes on their high school team. These athletes usually come from highly successful programs where winning games on Friday happened regularly.

It is nice to be recruited by a FCS school but if that team struggles to win it makes for a very long season. EWU has been very successful in the last 15 years by making the playoffs more often than not. They have been a final four team in 1997 and won the National Championship in 2012. That kind of record is attractive to recruits as well as young players who are looking at finding a new place where they can take their talents and put them to good use.

It seems like there are more players transferring now then they did 20-25 years ago. Maybe I’m wrong, but I would think that with social media and players communicating back and forth on Twitter or Facebook, that maybe they are doing the school’s recruiting for new talent.

It is great to see these transfers succeed at EWU especially in a very tough expanded Big Sky Conference. They seem to fit in very well and have enjoyed the kind of success that athletes and fans can brag about.

I’m sure it isn’t easy for players to fit in at large schools and trying to get noticed and competing against comparable athletes may take its toll. Sometimes their only alternative is to play musical chairs and find a spot at a new school.

Hopefully when the music stops they will find themselves at EWU where fitting in can lead to many victories.