The Eastern Washington University football program has filled two important roles with the official hirings of Ryan Groneman and Jake Rasmussen to fill two support positions for the Eagles.

 

Groneman takes over as director of athletic performance and will work with the football program. Coming to EWU from positions at a pair of schools in South Carolina, he will serve under assistant athletic director for athletic performance, T.J. Conley.

 

Also hired to fill the role of director of football operations is Rasmussen, who recently received his bachelor's degree from EWU and served as an operations assistant as a student. He is the son of former Eastern football coach, Rich Rasmussen.

 

Ryan Groneman / Director of Athletic Performance (Football) / First Season / Boise State '00

 

Boise State University graduate and strength training veteran Ryan Groneman has been hired by Eastern Washington University as director of athletic performance. He will work with the football program and serve under assistant athletic director for athletic performance, T.J. Conley. Groneman came to Limestone following 11 years of strength & conditioning experience, the previous eight at the NCAA Division I level. His official start date will be July 16.

 

Groneman is a 2000 graduate of Boise State where he played four seasons as an offensive lineman, and since then has been a strength and conditioning coach. Most recently, Groneman has spent a second tour of duty at NCAA Division I Presbyterian College in Clinton, S.C., where he was the head strength and conditioning coach since 2013. He oversaw all aspects of strength and conditioning for all sports, including football.

 

Prior to that, he had a short stint at Limestone College in Gaffney, S.C., where he served as an assistant. He was directly responsible for overseeing football, track & field and cross country strength and conditioning. 

 

He served as assistant strength & conditioning coach at Presbyterian College. While there he was responsible for implementing all aspects of strength & conditioning for football, baseball, tennis, cross country, golf, softball and women's lacrosse. He also assisted the head coaches for basketball, soccer and volleyball, while maintaining the strength facility and its equipment.

 

Groneman also spent four months as a consultant to the strength & conditioning staff at Division III Pacific University in Forest Grove, Ore., from January-May of 2011. While there he assisted the staff in organizing and implementing strength & conditioning programs for the entire athletics program and specifically consulted on the strength needs and systems of the football program.

 

Prior to that engagement, he spent six years in the University of Buffalo Sports Performance Office, serving as an intern from January-July of 2004 before being named the assistant sports performance coach that same year and the director of sports performance in 2007.

 

Serving in the latter role until December of 2009, Groneman oversaw all aspects of strength & conditioning for football, softball, tennis, women's crew, track & field, wrestling and soccer in addition to handling the day-to-day operations of the Morris Sports Performance Center and stadium weight room. He also managed and evaluated both the football strength & conditioning staff members as well as those overseeing other sports.

 

During his time there, the Bulls football program achieved goals they hadn't reached in the previous 50 years as they won both the Mid-American Conference East and Overall Championships while earning their first Bowl bid in that time during the 2008 season. Those accomplishments included the program's first FBS victory over a nationally ranked opponent, a 42-36 win over No. 12 Ball State to clinch the league title, and their first winning season at the FBS level.

 

He began his professional career on the sidelines for the Forest Grove (Ore.) High School football program from 2001-03 where he served as the offensive line coach. In his second year, that program qualified for the first round of the playoffs for the first time in 17 years.

 

Collegiately, Groneman was a four-year starter on Division I Boise State's football team from 1995-99, making 40 consecutive starts in that time. Individually, he earned All-Big West Conference honors in 1996 and 1997 and helped the Broncos to a 34-31 victory over Louisville in the 1999 Humanitarian Bowl. That same season Boise posted a 10-3 overall record, equaling the second most victories in program history to that point.

 

During his professional career, he has also worked with a total of eight players currently in the National Football League. Among those are James Starks of the Green Bay Packers, a three-year veteran, and five-year veteran Trevor Scott of the New England Patriots.

 

Groneman holds Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation/Automated External Defibrillator (CPR/AED) certification through the American Red Cross and is a member of the American Football Coaches Association.

 

A 2000 graduate of Boise State University, Groneman holds a bachelor of science in social science public affairs with an emphasis on sociology and psychology.

 

Jake Rasmussen / Director of Football Operations / First Season / Eastern Washington '21

 

A 2021 graduate of Eastern Washington University with a bachelor's degree in business marketing, Rasmussen begins his first year in 2021-22 as EWU's full-time director of football operations. In his role, he will handle coordination of team travel, camps, roster management, meals and other operations functions under the direction of head coach Aaron Best and former DFO Marc Anderson, who is now chief of staff and tight ends coach. 

 

The son of a former Eastern football coach, Rasmussen graduated Magna Cum Laude from EWU while helping the football team as an assistant operations director under Anderson from 2019-21. Rasmussen spent two previous years receiving his associate degree in business from Skagit Valley College. He was a 2017 graduate of Lake Stevens (Wash.) High School.

 

Born in Spokane, his parents are former Cheney residents Rich and Teri Rasmussen. Rich spent 12 seasons working for the football program at Eastern in various roles, including director of football operations, recruiting coordinator, team travel coordinator, summer camp coordinator and tight ends coach. He earned his bachelor's degree (physical education, 1998) and master's degree (athletic administration, 2000) from Eastern.

 

Rich left EWU to join former Eagle head coach Paul Wulff at Washington State University where he remained for four seasons. He then spent two seasons on Chris Petersen's staff at Boise State, then four more under Petersen at the University of Washington.