EMU AD Scott Wetherbee on hiring head coach Jesse Siordia, next steps for flag football
Wetherbee had an eye on his inaugural flag football coach for a while, and then the stars aligned for him to hire Siordia as EMU's first-ever women's flag head coach.
Ypsilanti — Less than two weeks before he was announced as Eastern Michigan’s first-ever women’s flag football coach, Jesse Siordia completed a national championship season at Siena Heights.
And he had a message for EMU athletic director Scott Wetherbee.
“He sent me a picture with the two trophies and he goes, 'Now this is what I want to do at Eastern,'” Wetherbee said, recalling the text.
Siordia had long been a focus of Wetherbee’s thoughts on who Eastern Michigan could hire as an inaugural women’s flag football coach. Having been involved in the sport heavily at the club level prior to his time at Siena Heights, Siordia had local connections, a college coaching track record and wasn’t all that far away. It was a natural fit and the stars aligned for Wetherbee and Siordia to start working together when Siena Heights announced it would shutter at the conclusion of the 2025-26 academic year.
And now that Siordia is on board at Eastern Michigan, it’s full steam ahead on building a roster and schedule for the 2027 season.
“A lot of it was, just didn't have the same experience that he did,” Wetherbee said of other candidates considered for the role. “I mean, he's got a background and then has done a lot of clubs and has a lot of connections. And then for him to go and win the national title.”
Wetherbee had been pondering adding flag football for the EMU athletic department for some time, and canvassed the MAC to gauge interest around the league. He’d been aware of Siordia, even speaking with him as an early feeler, but when Siena Heights announced on June 30, 2025, that it would permanently close the following summer, the opportunity to bring in Siordia really crystallized.
After Eastern Michigan made the announcement that it would add flag football, applications started to fill up Wetherbee’s inbox, but Siordia’s experience ended up separating him.
It also didn’t hurt that he had a ready-built roster at Siena Heights that could be largely translated over to Eastern Michigan. Wetherbee anticipates around eight to 11 players from that team will eventually make it on EMU’s roster for 2027, with a handful already announced.
“And they're just up the road and, you know, a lot of them had come from out of state and there's some in-state, but out of state that would fly into Detroit and drive right past us to get to get there and now they don't have to drive so far,” Wetherbee said. “And you're right. I think what I told him is you got to out recruit what you did, though.”
It’s a largely underclassman heavy group on the roster, so far. More players will keep being announced as the summer wears on and the semester gets close.
Eastern Michigan has forged an academic partnership with Siena Heights, Wetherbee said, that will help streamline those players enrolling at EMU and graduating with their intended degree.
“So kind of once that all happened and then once we announced, we actually had some of the young ladies come to some of our open houses, and I happened to be at those, and they would be like, 'Hey, we're interested in coming,’” Wetherbee recalled.
Jamborees will comprise much of the eventual schedule
Building out a roster for competitions in the spring of 2027 is the main task for Siordia at the moment, and compiling a schedule is already being worked on behind the scenes.
