Eastern Michigan camp notes: Why practice No. 3 is also practice No. 41
Plus, a good first day in pads, plenty to clean up, and some early impressions of the new-look defense.
Ypsilanti — Chris Creighton might be in his 50s and well into his second decade coaching Eastern Michigan, but that doesn’t mean he’s outgrown time-honored traditions like a post-practice ice pop.
With the thermometer climbing through the 80s as the morning sun gave way to the midday blaze, Chris Creighton got just what he needed after breaking down Eastern Michigan’s third spring practice, with an assistant coach’s son delivering him an unidentified flavor — watermelon or pink lemonade, most likely — from the cooler sitting off in the corner at Rynearson Stadium.
“Whatever flavor he brings me is my favorite,” Creighton said after asking the youngster about a recent bass fishing trip and hyping up his prized catch.
Starting fall camp a week early with a Week 0 matchup against Sacramento State — the first ever Week 0 game for Eastern Michigan — the Eagles began padded practices on Friday, the third practice of fall camp. And despite fall camp itself opening just a few days ago, the Eagles are looking at this not as the start of a new season but the continuation of all the work that’s happened since the end of the 2025 season. That, plus some roster continuity have Creighton and Co. excited about being somewhat ahead of the curve, even if he could come up with plenty to fix after the first padded practice of fall.
“I thought there was some really good back and forth today, you know what I mean?” Creighton said. “It really is going to be great. It's gonna be great film. I'm excited.”
Here are some takeaways from Eastern Michigan’s first padded practice of fall camp
Opportunity No. 3 is also opportunity No. 41, thanks to no spring portal
While Friday is just the third time Eastern Michigan has practiced since starting fall camp, this isn’t the first week this team has worked out or practiced together in some capacity.
And so while Friday was practice No. 3 of fall camp, Creighton is getting the team to internalize it as the 41st time they’ve practiced together or worked in some capacity, thinking back to winter, spring and the summer.
“It's been the first time we've had helmets and shoulder pads on since April 17th,” Creighton said, “but we're not letting ourselves, like, just start over. Even though we are starting over. But — so it's opportunity 3, and it's opportunity 41. Does that make sense? And I think that the guys have received that well. We're not starting from square one because the vast majority of our team has been here since January, which hasn't been the case in about four years.”
The elimination of the spring transfer portal window, which disrupted rosters after spring practice and throughout the summer, has created a much more streamlined teambuilding timeline, Creighton said.
Additionally, and specifically to Eastern Michigan, Creighton lauded how the Eagles signed 31 freshmen and 19 enrolled early. They might be in their first camp but they’ve been part of this 2026 EMU team for more than half the year now. Coaches and players talked about how much more self-starting and internally accountable on a player to player level this team is.
Quarterback Noah Kim, a veteran of the college game going on Year 2 at EMU, has noticed the difference in continuity, too.
“I feel like the feeling in fall camp this year is a little bit different than last year because the opportunities we had throughout the summer just to be together and be out just playing football on the field,” Kim said. “So, like, it kind of feels like we've been practicing and just been together the whole time. The whole entire offseason. So like when we got out here, it's like we hit the ground running.”
So as much as Friday was practice No. 3 for Eastern Michigan, it’s really just another step in a far longer journey to open the 2026 season on a positive note against Sacramento State in Week 0.
Andrew Graham
Andrew Graham
