In mid-October 2024, the Eastern Michigan University football team found themselves riding high with an 18-point comeback win in front of a homecoming crowd against in-state rival Central Michigan University. This win propelled the green and white to a 5-2 record, just one win shy of bowl eligibility for what would have been the fourth straight year.
Unfortunately, the Eagles proceeded to not win another game for the remainder of the campaign, losing five straight to end 2024 with a disappointing 5-7 record.
However, a new year brings about a fresh start and fresh expectations for a program that’s been busy making pivotal moves throughout the winter and spring.
“We’re excited for a new clean slate here in 2025,” said the Eagles' Head Coach Chris Creighton.
Creighton returns for his 12th season at the helm, having completely changed the culture and fortunes of the program since his arrival in Ypsilanti.
The 56-year-old delivered the Eagles their first winning record in over two decades during his third season at the helm and is one of only seven coaches currently active in the Football Bowl Subdivision with 180 or more wins to his name.
With nearly three decades of coaching experience under his belt, the former college quarterback had no issues refocusing his team following a rough finish the year prior and getting them ready for the spring, a season that brought about a bevy of changes.
“There’s a hunger – the [new] guys that have come, there’s a reason why they came; and the guys that have stayed, there’s a reason why they stayed. They believe in who we are and how we do it, and we’ve got what it takes, we just need to bring it all together,” Creighton said.
One of those major changes in the offseason was the groundbreaking announcement that NFL superstar Maxx Crosby had been named the assistant general manager of Eastern Michigan’s football team – the first active professional football player to join a college team’s administrative staff.
Crosby’s landmark hire marks the pinnacle of the numerous ways that the Las Vegas Raider has given back to his alma mater.
Between donating $1 million to the program in 2024 and seeing the playing surface at Rynearson Stadium renamed “Crosby Field,” establishing the “Maxx Match” initiative, and inspiring the coaching staff to award the team’s top edge rusher his iconic No. 92, the former fourth-round NFL draft pick now turned one of the best players in the league has left his imprint on his old squad, and then some.
“This is [Crosby’s] team, and that’s always going to be true. The number of people he continues to positively inspire and impact is hard to count,” said Creighton on Crosby’s vast impact.
Another major change to the squad in 2025 will be under center.
Last year, former Rutgers University and University of Buffalo starting quarterback Cole Snyder started all 12 games for the Eagles, throwing for 2,684 yards, 15 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
Now that the 25-year-old has been signed to the Canadian Football League’s Edmonton Elks, there is an open starting quarterback spot that Michigan State University transfer Noah Kim, University of Maryland transfer Cameron Edge, and EMU students Jeremiah Salem and Jace Stuckey have all been vying to fill.
While Ourlads has the graduate transfer Kim as the leader in the clubhouse for QB1, Creighton remained diplomatic during the Mid-American Conference media day towards the end of last month about who will open the action against Texas State University in the season opener.
“We’ve got a good group of quarterbacks, they work really well together, and we’re certain that we’ll have, whoever ends up [starting], a great leader for us,” he said.
Despite uncertainty at the sport’s most important position, Creighton has kept his expectations high for the 2025 iteration of the Eastern Michigan football team with one goal in mind: a MAC championship appearance.
“My expectations are for us to be playing our best football at the end of the season, and if I’m being completely honest – I believe that we can be here [Ford Field],” he said.
