By Dan Thompson The Spokesman-Review
About 11 months ago, when Eastern Washington’s football team hosted its final game of the season, Trevor Thurman stood along the sidelines as some of his best friends posed for photos with family before what was about to be their last game at Roos Field in Cheney.
“That was tough on me, because both of my roommates ended up leaving, and I spent five years with them,” Thurman said of linebackers and former teammates Conner O’Farrell and Ahmani Williams.
“It was a little bit weird not seeing myself leave with them,” he said.
But Thurman still had a year of eligibility left, and he was intent on using it.
This year, the Eagles are happy he stuck around.
“He’s a guy I’ve believed in from Day 1,” EWU head coach Aaron Best said Tuesday during media availability. “I’ve had a big, big crush on Trevor Thurman from the start of his journey to where he is now, because he’s a battler, he’s battle tested and he’s going to be a better dad and spouse because of it.”
As a 2020 high school graduate, Thurman is one of the oldest players on this year’s Eagles. Just two players from his original recruiting class remain: captains DaJean Wells, a cornerback; and wide receiver Nolan Ulm.
Thurman may not have prolific stats: His 22 tackles, seven of which came in last week’s 21-14 victory over Idaho, rank eighth on the team. In his 40 career games at Eastern, he has 65 tackles and two half-sacks, earned this year and last.
But Thurman has long been a staple on special teams, and if he starts for Eastern (3-4, 2-1 Big Sky) on Saturday at Weber State (3-4, 1-2), it would be his sixth at defensive end this season.
“He played his butt off on Saturday,” EWU defensive coordinator Eric Sanders said of Thurman, whose seven tackles tied a career high. “It was fun to watch him.”
Two and a half years ago, when Sanders arrived at Eastern to be its linebackers coach, Thurman was still playing linebacker, but he was fourth or fifth on the depth chart and wasn’t a starter.
At the time, the Eagles were low on bodies at defensive line, so Sanders suggested they give Thurman a try at a new position.
“He’d never done that, but he said he’d give it a shot,” Sanders said.
When Sanders was promoted to defensive coordinator before the 2024 season, he added a buck position to the defense, which Sanders describes as two-thirds defensive end and one-third linebacker. The hybrid role suited Thurman.
Thurman’s transition was a microcosm of the larger transition the entire defense was making during Sanders’ first season as coordinator. In 2024, the Eagles allowed 7.1 yards per play, second-most in the Big Sky, a contributing factor to the team’s 4-8 record.
“Minor details were causing us to not be on the same page and not always working together,” Thurman said. “We looked back at last year, and the main thing we did (this year) was take weight off the car: try to make it as easy as possible for us to understand and execute the defense.”
Even in fall camp, Thurman said, he and others could tell that everyone on the defense had a better understanding.
“We have certain calls that we know we will execute,” he said, “and that wasn’t the case last year.”
This year’s defense has allowed 6.2 yards per play, the fifth-most in the league but a significant improvement and slightly better than the 6.6 yards per play allowed by their opponent Saturday, Weber State.
Sanders said by his nature that in reviewing film of the victory over Idaho, he was still focused more on the unit’s miscues, spending about 3 minutes on how well we did and then 17 minutes on all the mistakes and how they need to get better. And the 57-3 loss at Montana State on Sept. 27 is still close enough to sting the Eagles.
But the progress was obvious to Best, who said Tuesday that the defense’s performance against Idaho was one of the most memorable he’s seen as head coach.
“Some are just sweeter than others, some wins,” he said.
During a team meeting the night before that victory, Sanders said Wells and Thurman were asked to address the team about the highlights of their time in Cheney and advice they might have for the younger players.
Given the chance to speak, Thurman said he highlighted Eastern’s 2021 home victory over Montana, a 34-28 game that came down to a final defensive stand for the Eagles. That year Eastern finished 10-3 and made their most recent playoff appearance.
“I was just playing special teams, but it’s bigger than that,” Thurman said he told the team. “It’s about the experience and that electric feeling after a crazy win.”
Then he went on.
“I wanted to talk about brotherhood, and buying into it,” Thurman said. “It really does go by fast. I am in my sixth year, and it does go by really quick. I told them we’re all chasing the same thing, a group of 100 people and we’re chasing greatness and a championship. When you create that culture of togetherness in the team, that’s what’s going to help you win games.
“What we are experiencing now, it’s something that hasn’t been experienced for a couple years. I wanted to make sure they knew that. What we are feeling as a group, we need to continue to grow from this and continue to be better.”
Thurman isn’t the loudest leader, but Sanders said those words – as well those from Wells – landed in the room that night. It was the latest example of what the sixth-year veterans have brought to the Eagles this year.
“Both those kids provide a great example to our other players and everyone,” Sanders said. “(They show) what they can do to help the team within their role.”