CWU head coach Ian Shoemaker will be parting ways with the Wildcat football program after accepting a coaching position as the offensive coordinator for the Eastern Washington University Eagles. After five seasons with the Wildcats, Shoemaker has compiled an overall record of 38-13, playing a pivotal role in the growth of the program during his Wildcat tenure.

In 2017, Shoemaker led the Wildcats to the NCAA DII Super Region 4 playoffs after being named GNAC champions with an overall record of 11-1 and a GNAC record of 8-0. Shoemaker’s 2017 performance earned himself both the 2017 Don Hansen Super Region 3 Coach of the Year Award and the 2017 GNAC Coach of the Year Award.

Last season, in 2018, Shoemaker and the Wildcats capped off their season with an overall record of 8-3 and a GNAC record of 7-1. Despite missing the NCAA DII playoffs, the Wildcats still earned themselves the title of back-to-back GNAC champions.

“I don’t get this opportunity if our kids don’t play well,” Shoemaker said. “We’ve been very fortunate to have guys that play at a high level and that makes my job a lot easier as a head coach and an offensive play caller.”

In the wake of Shoemaker’s departure, Wildcat offensive coordinator Chris Fisk will resume the head coach coaching duties for the Wildcat football program. Fisk initially joined the Wildcats as an offensive-line coach and a co-offensive coordinator back in the spring of 2016 and has since been able to build a strong bond with Wildcat football and CWU’s athletic program as a whole.

Fisk said that his new head coaching role is permanent, but that at the moment he will still maintain his responsibilities as the offensive coordinator until the athletic program is able to go through the process of hiring a new candidate for the position. Fisk emphasized his gratitude towards Shoemaker and his new position as the head coach of Wildcat football.

“I really appreciate that he brought me up here. You come across people in your career and you meet people in your career that help you along the way and coach Shoe helped me get to Central Washington and we had an amazing three years together,” Fisk said. “Coach Shoe will always be one of my close friends, dear friends, and I’m excited to see what he can do with our style of offense up at Eastern Washington.”

Shoemaker had high praise for Fisk and expressed that he hopes that he just continues to be himself on the football field.

“This is Central Washington football, he’s gotta be the leader and take this thing over and I think he’ll do a great job,” Shoemaker said. “I’m excited to see where the program goes and how he continues to develop as a coach around the pretty good housing of the program. I think he’s gonna do awesome, I’m so glad that that was the decision of the administration to hand the job to [Fisk].”