Eti Ena, a 2005 graduate of EWU, enters his third season as defensive coordinator for the Eagles in the 2021-22 school year. He returned to his alma mater in the 2016 season to become Eastern’s new defensive front coordinator and to help coaching the defensive line.
Defensively, Eastern held three of its seven opponents to 22 points or less, including 13 versus Northern Arizona and 10 against Cal Poly. In a 32-22 victory over 11th-ranked UC Davis, Eastern allowed just 115 total yards and registered its first shutout in a half in the last 18 games. Ena even served as acting head coach in EWU's opener versus Idaho when head coach Aaron Best had to miss the game after testing positive for Covid-19.
Ena coached two Eagle defensive linemen in the 2020-21 season who earned All-Big Sky honors. End Mitchell Johnson earned first team honors and freshman tackle Joshua Jerome earned honorable mention. A highlight of the season was also having his brother, Justin Ena, join the Eagle coaching staff as interim linebackers coach for the 2020-21 campaign.
Eastern had two defensive linemen earn All-Big Sky honors in 2019, including third team selection Jim Townsend. He led the Eagles with 3 1/2 sacks, and was fourth on the team and tops among defensive linemen with 61 tackles. He closed his 51-game career (21 starts) with 143 tackles, including 8 1/2 sacks, five forced fumbles to rank eighth in school history, two fumble recoveries (one returned for a touchdown) and two passes broken up. He also helped coach senior tackle Dylan Ledbetter, who earned honorable mention All-Big Sky honors in 2019.
Eastern finished the 2019 season 7-5 overall and 6-2 in the Big Sky to finish with at least five league wins for the 13th-straight season. Eastern's defensive highlights included a 48-5 victory at Idaho State in which EWU held the Bengal offense to just a field goal and out-gained ISU in total offense 689-416. Eastern allowed a season-low 352 yards in a 54-21 home victory over Northern Colorado.
Ena also became associate head coach in 2017 when Aaron Best took over as head coach. Ena came to Eastern from Cal Poly where he coached the defensive line from 2013-15, and prior to that spent four seasons (2009-12) as defensive line coach at the University of Idaho.
Four of the players he helped coach on the defensive line earned All-Big Sky Conference honors for the Eagles in 2018, including All-American and Big Sky Conference Defensive MVP Jay-Tee Tiuli. Also honored were first team defensive end Keenan Williams and second team defensive end Mitchell Johnson, and Ledbetter earned honorable mention. Johnson also earned first team Freshman All-America honors.
A year after allowing 33.4 points per game, the Eagles allowed just 22.7 in 2018 for the team’s best performance since 1997. That season, on their way to a semifinal appearance in the FCS Playoffs (then I-AA), Eastern allowed just 17.4 points per game. Eastern’s nine games of allowing 20 points for fewer in 2018 equals the school record also set in 1997, 1981, 1964 and 1949.
Eastern led FCS with six defensive touchdowns, was second in turnovers gained with 34 and third with 22 interceptions. The Eagles ranked 16th overall in turnover margin (34 takeaways, 24 giveaways, +0.67 per game). Eastern set a school record with 70 passes broken up, breaking the previous record of 67 set in the 2010 season.
Eastern’s defense was particularly impressive during league play, with EWU allowing only 135 points for a league-leading 16.9 average per game – with seven of those points coming on a punt return touchdown. Included was an 89:52 stretch of not allowing a point, spanning two games. The school record for fewest average points in a Big Sky season came in 1992 when the Eagles surrendered just 16.4 per game (115 total) in seven league games (6-1 record). In eight league games, Eastern allowed the fewest points per game (16.9) while ranking second in total defense (346.6), second in passing defense (185.4) and second in rushing defense (161.2).
Eastern’s defensive highlights in 2017 came in road victories over Fordham (56-21) and North Dakota (21-14). Eastern›s defense held Fordham to just 217 yards total and 1-of-17 on third down, and EWU recorded 11 three-and-outs. Ten Eagles combined for a school-record 10 sacks as the Rams finished with just 26 net yards rushing. Versus the Fighting Hawks, the Eagles held UND to a net 103 yards rushing and an average of 3.3 per rush. The Eagles had a 191-29 advantage in total offense in the second quarter when EWU out-scored UND 14-0.
Among the defensive linemen Ena and Strandley coached in 2017 was second team All-Big Sky Conference selection Albert Havili. He finished his career with 199 total tackles and 12 sacks in 53 games played, then signed with the Los Angeles Chargers in the NFL.
In Ena’s first season as Eastern, they helped coach first team All-Big Sky Conference selection and All-American defensive end Samson Ebukam, as well as first team defensive tackle Jay-Tee Tiuli. Ebukam went on to play significantly for the Los Angeles Rams as a rookie in 201 and was a starter in 2018 in helping the Rams to the Super Bowl..
Eastern’s defense in 2016 allowed only 24.4 points per game (second-best in the league) during its 8-0 Big Sky Conference season after allowing 40.7 against three challenging non-conference opponents. A year after allowing 57 points in a 41-point setback to Montana, the Eagle defense allowed just 16 in the rematch on Oct. 29 at Roos Field in EWU’s 35-16 victory. The 16 points for the Griz was their lowest total in the last 33 games in the series dating back 32 years to a 14-14 tie in 1984.
In their last seven victories of the season, the defense allowed just 113 points (16.1 per game). That seven-game stretch was Eastern’s best since the 1997 team allowed only 105 in its first seven games of the season. In a 38-0 victory over Richmond in the quarterfinals of the FCS Playoffs, Eastern’s defense recorded its first shutout in 102 games (since 2009), and the 205 yards Richmond had were the fewest EWU had surrendered in its last 28 outings.
Ena graduated from EWU in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in physical education after serving as a student assistant for three seasons from 2003-05 under then-head coach Paul Wulff. Former Eagle head coach Beau Baldwin was offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Eastern during Ena’s three seasons at EWU.
In his first year at Eastern in 2003, Ena helped coach linebackers. In the last two – both resulting in Big Sky Conference titles for the Eagles -- he assisted along the defensive line.
In his first season at Cal Poly, Ena coached defensive tackle Sullivan Grosz, who earned eight All-America honors and was named co-Defensive Player of the Year in the Big Sky Conference, and later signed with the Houston Texans.
At Idaho, Ena coached three defensive linemen who signed with National Football League teams -- Aaron Lavarias (New England Patriots), Michael Cosgrove (Detroit Lions) and Benson Mayowa (Seattle Seahawks, now with the Arizona Cardinals).
Ena’s coaching career began at Shelton (Wash.) High School, where he was an assistant coach in 1997 and 1998, serving as the varsity linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator.
Ena then served three seasons (2006-08) at Eastern Oregon, where he was the Mountaineers’ defensive coordinator, linebackers coach and strength and conditioning coordinator in 2006 and 2007. He served as assistant head coach, defensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator in 2008.
Ena played linebacker at Utah’s Snow College and Walla Walla (Wash.) Community College before transferring to Eastern Washington. A shoulder injury prior to his junior year ended his playing career. He is a 1992 graduate of Inchelium (Wash.) High School and helped lead his team to the State 1B football title as a senior.
Ena and his wife, Latona, have three daughters, Corey (27), Moia (23) and Fuamai (20), and one son, Eti Jr. (17). His cousin, Paul Ena, was a two-time All-Big Sky defensive end for EWU from 2009-12. Eti’s uncle and Paul’s father, Tali Ena, was a standout running back at WSU (1976-79) and went on to play for the Seattle Seahawks.
His younger brother, Justin, was announced on Feb. 8, 2021, as the new interim linebackers coach at EWU and spent the 2020-21 season with the Eagles. Coming to Eastern with 13 years of coaching experience, he also played football at BYU and played four years in the NFL with the Tennessee Titans and Philadelphia Eagles after signing a free agent contract with Philadelphia in 2002. Before joining EWU' program, Justin was inside linebackers coach at Utah State after coaching four previous seasons at Utah. Another brother, Packy, is a high school coach at Kapolei High School in Hawaii and formerly played at Oregon State.
His name is pronounced "eh-tee” “en-nuh.”
