Last winter, Casey Brink started his new job as a wide receivers coach for the Eastern Washington football team.
It is, of course, a position with a rich history, one that currently includes two players currently on NFL rosters in Cooper Kupp (Seattle) and Efton Chism III (New England), who was with the Eagles just last season. (A third former EWU receiver, Kendrick Bourne, was this week released by New England.)
Right away, Brink was struck by the work ethic and knowledge of the current group.
“I was just instantly impressed with how these guys conduct themselves and how they approach the process,” Brink said this week. “There’s been a longstanding tradition of excellence in the receiving room, and a lot of those habits have been passed along to the guys. I was completely blown away.”
Then Brink noted the role of the corps’ most senior member, sixth-year player Nolan Ulm.
“Nolan,” Brink said, “is the shepherd of all that.”
From a football standpoint, the last year has been difficult for Ulm. He played in just four games last season and did so with a leg injury that was more serious than he thought it was at the time. He finished with just seven catches.
But heading into Eastern Washington’s season opener against No. 5 Incarnate Word (0-1) at 4 p.m. Saturday in San Antonio, the outspoken captain is set on making an impact in his final year with the Eagles.
“With Efton gone, stepping into that No. 1 role, and being the only returning captain, it was a good challenge I wanted to embark on,” Ulm said.
A healthy Ulm gives starting quarterback Jared Taylor a 6-foot-2, 203-pound experienced leader to throw passes to. He also lends a veteran voice to those conversations in the receiver room, which is full of players who are young and unproven at the college level.
Ulm is notoriously vocal and frequently intense, such is his passion and commitment to not just football but leadership and mentorship. Brink said Ulm is analytical and insightful in his film study and does a lot to teach younger players the position.
But his influence is wider than that.
“I think Nolan will be one of the most impactful players on our roster,” Brink said. “At times it will resemble Efton with the ball rolling through him. He is probably the highest-effort player I’ve ever coached, one of the best blockers I’ve ever coached, and a very established leader. That impact will be just as valuable.”
Ulm would like that impact to stretch over a full 12-game season. Over a five-year career that began with the COVID-shortened 2020-21 campaign, Ulm has played in 45 games and has 90 catches for 1,102 yards and 10 touchdowns.
This week, he is listed as a starting receiver alongside redshirt freshman Jaxon Branch and redshirt senior Noah Cronquist.
He was a starter last year, too, but his season turned sour quickly.
He first injured his left ankle in fall camp last year from what he called “overtraining.” He had been working out four times a day, training with NFL receivers Mohamed Sanu and Brandon Aiyuk as well as tight end Evan Engram.
“I had a really cool moment, working out with Evan Engram, and he said ‘man, you got it,’” Ulm said. “They planted some seeds in my head, and I just grinded way too hard.”
The other ankle got hurt at the end of the fourth quarter in the season opener against Monmouth, but Ulm said he didn’t understand the severity at the time. He said he fractured the ankle in pregame the following week against Drake but didn’t realize it, played on it and looked horrible. He failed to catch a pass for the first time since November 2022.
“The next few weeks it kept not getting better,” Ulm said. “I couldn’t feel pain, but I couldn’t move the way I normally do or get those 50-50 balls.”
After a one-catch performance against Sacramento State, the Eagles shut him down.
“It really hurt me, too, because I knew the role I had and they really needed me,” Ulm said. “We didn’t have a ton of depth last year. We have a lot more now. But it was a heartache. Efton did everything he could.”
It wasn’t until he went home to Kelowna, British Columbia, in November that Ulm realized he had an avulsion fracture in his ankle.
Still, he said he was fortunate.
“It wasn’t like an ACL (injury),” he said. “To this day it doesn’t hinder me at all. So, I learned the lesson to not overtrain and to do things the right way.”
Ulm has long embraced the role of a mentor, but as the oldest receiver on the team it’s a position that he comes to both naturally and by default.
“He’s a leader and a mentor to me,” redshirt freshman receiver Bode Gardner said. “If it’s questions on life or nutrition or his thoughts on this or that, he’s a level-headed guy, like a brother to me.”
“It’s a little selfish of me to say this, but I am kind of glad he got hurt because I got an extra year with him,” Gardner said with a laugh. “I know he’s really excited. He’s going to have a killer year. We’re glad to have him back.”