CHENEY, Wash. – Eastern Washington University Football Head Coach Aaron Best announced four new additions to his coaching staff on Friday, rounding out the Eagles' leadership ahead of the 2023 season.
EWU Football Coaching Staff Additions
Eric Sanders — Linebackers
Jeff McDaniels — Wide Receivers
Hayden Mace — Offensive Line
Brandon Johnson-Farrell — Running Backs
McDaniels and Sanders will officially start at Eastern on March 1. Mace and Johnson-Farrell are on campus already.
The Eagles begin their 2023 regular season against North Dakota State at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minn. on September 2. The team's 2023 spring schedule will begin April 7 and end April 28, with further details, including scrimmage times, to be announced.
Eric Sanders — Linebackers
Sanders joins the EWU staff with an impressive resume including stops in both college and the NFL. Most recently, he served as Inside Linebackers Coach at Stanford from 2020-22. During the 2019 NFL season, he worked as a Defensive Assistant for the New York Jets, focusing on defensive backs.
Before his time in New York, Sanders spent three seasons with the Cleveland Browns (2016-18) in a defensive quality control position for linebackers and nickel corners. He also spent four seasons (2010-14) with the Oakland Raiders as both defensive and offensive quality control. He focused on defensive lineman and outside linebackers, while working with tight ends on the offensive side.
Sanders' collegiate coaching career includes previous stops at UC Davis and Utah State. He earned a bachelor's degree in Psychology with a biological emphasis from UC Davis in 2005.
Jeff McDaniels — Wide Receivers
McDaniels arrives in Cheney after spending the last two seasons at Auburn University, where he was the Senior Offensive Analyst, helping wide receiver, tight end and running back coaches daily. His responsibilities included overseeing self-scout tendencies and offensive unit meeting preparation, along with overseeing playbook materials and scouting reports. McDaniels was elevated to Interim Running Backs Coach for the Tigers' final four games the 2022 season, assisting with play calling and game planning. In 2021, he was a graduate assistant for offensive skill positions.
Prior to his tenure at Auburn, McDaniels was a graduate assistant at Boise State University for the 2020 season, working primarily with the tight ends and offensive lineman. He spent three seasons at his alma mater, Davidson College, as the Cornerbacks Coach and Recruiting Coordinator. He also had stops at Texas State University and Old Dominion University (ODU) after a playing career as a wide receiver at Davidson from 2010-14, where he served as a team captain.
McDaniels graduated from Davidson in 2014 with a bachelor's degree in Psychology and a minor in Interpersonal and Mass Communication. He earned a master's in Sports Management and Education from ODU in 2016 and master's in Strategic Mass Communication from Texas State in 2016.
Hayden Mace — Offensive Line
Mace, the Eagles' new offensive line coach, comes from the University of Sioux Falls (S.D.), where he was the Offensive Line Coach from 2020-22 and promoted to add Offensive Coordinator responsibilities in 2022. USF, an NCAA Division II program and member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC), went 8-3 last season.
Under his guidance, the Cougars' offense improved in nine statistical categories in 2022, including points per game, yards per game, 3rd down conversions and red zone scoring. They ranked in the top three in the conference in PPG, YPG and yards per play, while leading the conference in rushing for the second-straight year (12th in all of D-II). Four USF players earned All-NSIC honors, including RB Thuro Reisdorfer who led the conference in rushing, was a Second Team All-American and Harlon Hill Award nominee for D-II National Player of the Year.
This will be Mace's second stint at Eastern, as he was with the program from 2017-19, working in quality control for OL, TE and QB position groups. He was a graduate assistant at Utah State from 2019-20.
As a student-athlete, he played center for D-III powerhouse Linfield College from 2008-11, where he was voted Team Captain and twice earned All-NWC honors. He earned a bachelor's degree in Finance with a minor in Communications from Linfield in 2012.
Brandon Johnson-Farrell — Running Backs
Johnson-Farell also arrives in Cheney after coaching at the University of Sioux Falls. He was the Special Teams Coordinator and Wide Receivers Coach from 2018-22, Running Backs Graduate Assistant and Assistant Special Teams Coordinator from 2017-18 and Wide Receivers Graduate Assistant and Special Teams Coordinator from 2015-16.
Under his guidance in 2021, Sioux Falls attained program bests in blocked punts (4), kickoff coverage average (15.8 yards) and net punting (38.8). Johnson-Farrell coached 10 players to all-conference recognition at USF, including a pair of running backs in 2017 after the team averaged 190 yards per game on the ground.
Originally from Maryland, Johnson-Farrell played collegiately at the University of Rhode Island (URI), where he was a four-year starter and two-time all-conference selection. He left URI third on the school's all-time receptions list and first in return yards. He advanced to play in the Indoor Football League, where he was selected as the 2015 United Bowl MVP with the champion Sioux Falls Storm.
Johnson-Farrell earned a bachelor's degree in Human Development from URI in 2015 and master's degree in Business Administration from USF in 2017.
