Freeman graduate chose different path from parents - both EWU alumn - in walking on with Broncos
As Boen Phelps closed in on a decision about where he wanted to play college football, the choice to stay close to home and attend Eastern Washington was always an option.
His parents, Tobin and Tracy Phelps, had both gone to Eastern. Tobin played football; Tracy averaged 10.8 points across 104 career games for the Eagles' women's basketball team.
But Phelps wanted to do something different, which is why he ended up at Boise State, Eastern Washington's opponent on Friday night at Albertsons Field in Boise.
"Honestly, I wanted to switch it up," Phelps said by phone Wednesday. "I wanted to go as big as possible and go somewhere I could be for four or five years."
After graduating from Freeman High School in Rockford in June 2023, Phelps joined Boise State's football team as a walk-on. He could have done the same at Eastern or at Washington State, according to 247sports.com, which rated him as a two-star athlete.
Two years later as a redshirt sophomore, Phelps is listed as the backup middle linebacker for the Broncos and is now a scholarship player.
"It was everything to me honestly, especially just as much as my parents and everybody supporting me poured into it," Phelps said. "Being a walk-on, that's a big investment. Earning (a scholarship) meant a lot to me and a lot to my family."
Phelps was a star player for Freeman, which was then a 1A school (its enrollment has since dropped it to 2B). He played quarterback on offense and began as a safety on defense. But Ben Cochran, then Freeman's head coach, decided Phelps was better suited to play closer to the line of scrimmage.
"We tried to play him at safety, but he was pretty aggressive," Cochran said. "He would come up and he would get beat over the top, so we put him in the box (as a linebacker) because he's a good tackler and he's got a good instinct for the ball. He's a tough kid."
Eventually, coaches at Boise State came to the same conclusion: After playing him at dime and strong safety his redshirt and freshman seasons, they came to Phelps in the offseason and suggested a change.
"They just talked to me about my strengths and weaknesses, and they thought it would be best for the team and for me personally," Phelps said. "It was really positive and is going really well right now."
Phelps is still playing on special teams, which is where he played most of his snaps last season. But in last week's 34-7 loss at South Florida, Phelps played snaps at linebacker, and he finished the game with three tackles, including one for a loss.
There's been a learning curve for sure, he said, as he picks up keys and reads that one expects in a college system.
"At Freeman, I was just running around, see ball, get ball," he said.
There have been some memorable moments for him, too, like playing against Penn State last season in the College Football Playoff, and he anticipates another one later this season when the Broncos play at Notre Dame.
But his focus now is on Eastern Washington, which is also coming off a Week 1 loss, 31-21 at Incarnate Word.
"The biggest thing we've talked about is having that edge no matter who we play," he said. "Now that we have that first loss, we've got that chip back on our shoulder."
As a kid, Phelps attended plenty of Eagles' tailgates and games. Friday, much of that family will be at the game in Boise, cheering for a player in blue.
"It'll be super fun," he said. "I'm excited to play the Eagles."