CHENEY, Wash. — With spring practice beginning next month, Eastern Washington football has finalized its coaching staff for the 2025 season. Head coach
Aaron Best announced today (Feb. 21) the hiring of Casey Brink as the Eagles new wide receiver coach and Coach Padilla as the new linebacker coach.
Casey Brink joins the EWU staff after coaching at Augustana University in Sioux Falls, S.D. the past five seasons. At Augustana, Casey served as the wide receiver coach and pass game coordinator, along with working as the program's recruiting coordinator. He also helped with the kickoff return unit on special teams. Casey spent time coaching the wide receiver group, organizing meetings and film review, along with creating their practice plan. Casey's responsibilities also included overseeing the wide receivers academic status.
With Casey on staff, Augustana won three NSIC conference championships (2021, 2023-24) and made the Division II NCAA playoffs each season. Augustana set a record for the most wins in program history in the 2023 season, going 11-2. The team also had the No. 1 ranked offense for the 2021 season in the NSIC. Casey coached seven All-Conference receivers during his tenure, adding 20 for the Academic All-Conference team.
Before his time at Augustana, Casey worked as the running backs coach at Carleton College in Northfield, Minn for the 2019 season. Casey handled all practice and game plan responsibilities for the running backs, along with recruiting of the position. With Casey's guidance, Carleton's running backs had the most touchdowns in four seasons and the team had the most wins in six seasons.
Casey played quarterback at Washington State from 2016 to 2019. He earned WSU All-Academic Team in three seasons and was a member of the Cougars SAAC from 2018 to '19. Casey earned his bachelor's of arts in sports management from Washington St. Casey transferred into WSU from Los Angeles Pierce College after playing one season.
Casey inherits a wide receiver room with nine returners and two transfers, including returning team captain Nolan Ulm, carrying 1102 career receiving yards and 10 touchdowns.
Caleb Padilla will lead the linebacker group for the Eagles following a one-year stint at the University of Pittsburgh as a defensive assistant. At Pitt, Caleb helped scout opponents quarterbacks and wide receivers, along with assisting in organizing team practices. In the 2024 season, Pitt had its first 7-0 start since 1982 and ranked 13th in the nation in rush defense.
Prior to working at Pitt, Caleb spent two seasons (2022-23) at Lenoir-Rhyne University (DII) in Hickory, N.C. Caleb served as the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach, helping install a new tackle system. In the 2023 season, Leonir-Rhyne finished as the best scoring defense in program history since 1974. The Bears advanced to the DII National semi finals that season. With Caleb's guidance, Lenoir-Rhyne's rush defense improved from 3.5 yards per carry to 2.8 yards per carry between the '21 and '23 seasons. Caleb coached three All-Conference selections at linebacker, including Jon Ross Maye who was named first team All-Region and second team All-American.
Caleb jumped to the division II ranks after being the head coach at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa (2018-21). He started at Luther as the defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach in 2015, then promoted to head coach in the '18 season.
With an extensive career in college football, Caleb also had stops at Notre Dame College (2013-15), Albion College (2011-2013) and Colorado School of Mines (2008-10). In his three stops, Caleb worked as a linebacker ,defensive back and defensive end coach.
Caleb played at Winona State University (DII) in Winona, Minn. from 2001 to 2005. During Caleb's playing career, Winona State won four Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference titles and appeared in the division II playoffs in three seasons. He graduated from Winona State ub '05 with his bachelor's of arts degree in health and human performance.
Taking over the linebacker room at Eastern, Caleb has six returners and two transfers who he will look to develop. The returners include Myles Mayovsky, who was sixth on the team with 42.0 tackles last season.
Season ticket renewals for the 2025 football season will begin at the end of January. The deadline to renew season tickets and tailgate packages is February 28th. New package sales will start in March. For questions, contact the EWU Ticket Office at 509-359-6059 or tickets@ewu.edu.
Join the Eagle Athletic Fund for as low as $50 per year! Support Eagle student-athletes on and off the field while enjoying exclusive EAF perks such as season ticket and tailgating priority, invitations to special events, exclusive access, and more. Visit goeags.com/eaf for more information.
ABOUT EASTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS
Eastern Washington University Athletics sponsors 14 intercollegiate sports, six for men and eight for women, both as learning opportunities for its most athletically talented students and as an enhancement to student and community life. Eastern is affiliated with Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and is a member of the Big Sky Conference, an association of 10 regional schools with comparable enrollments and academic goals.
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