Spring game preview: Eastern Michigan
The Eagles finish up spring practice on Friday night under the lights at The Factory, with some key position groups shaping up.
Eastern Michigan’s spring game — or whatever form of showcase at the end of spring — kicks off on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. at Rynearson Stadium.
Here are three things to be on the lookout for as the Eagles get out in front of fans for the first time in 2026.
Before digging in to that, here’s some reporting on the Eagles from spring so far.
Andrew Graham
Andrew Graham
Now, let’s dig in.
Offensive line combinations
The Eagles have an almost wholly remade offensive line room, and whoever ends up working with the 1s and 2s will be of note on Friday evening. It’s not setting anything in stone, but it’s a good measure of what the starting offensive line might look like, and who’s in contention to crack the lineup, some four months away from the season.
Eastern Michigan added five offensive line transfers during the winter portal: Tyler Brumfield, Tyler McMillan, Guzzy Kayed, Cole Dellinger and Elijha Payne. The Eagles also recently signed Wayne State transfer Richardo Wourman out of the portal.
At a practice in March, Payne, Brumfield, McMillan and Dellinger were all working with the top two offensive line groups, as were returners Nick Gallegos, Dennis Strey and Cole Powell, along with true freshman Carter Miculka.
Some guys have been dinged up, so the groupings aren’t entirely what they might be come fall. But rebuilding the offensive line in whatever form is a big task for the Eagles.
New look defense
The Eagles have a new duo running the defense, promoting Tate Omli and Kasey Teegardin to marshal the unit. And it’s going to look different from last season in some pronounced ways.
Saturday will be the first public glimpse of what the group looks like, and they’re prioritizing some basics across all 11 players via their T.T.E. abbreviation — tackling, takeaways, execution — to hone in what they really want to be focusing their efforts on. In general, this defense might be a little more upfield attacking at the line of scrimmage and attempt to be more opportunistic across the board.
The big position to look out for in spring is linebacker, and really the whole front seven. There’s a lot of question marks there, whereas the secondary returns a lot of experienced production.
(Not) running it back
While Eastern Michigan does return Noah Kim at quarterback, they’ll be doing it with a new cadre of running backs to spell the veteran signal caller.
The only running back returning for EMU who carried the ball in 2025 is Joey Mattord, and he should be a special teamer and rotational piece again at the minimum. It’s really the transfers where EMU will make hay at running back.
It’ll be Coastal Carolina transfer (and former teammate of Kim) Braydon Bennett and Syracuse transfer Malachi James that figure to shoulder a brunt of the rushing workload.
Eastern Michigan can also definitely keep the ball in the air plenty in 2026, with Kim returning along with tight end Josh Long and wideouts Nick Devereaux and Harold Mack, all productive players in 2025.
