Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Insider Podcast - Season 8 - Episode 28
4/6/2026 6:44:00 PM | General
Battle of Washtenaw, Student-Athlete Day, and a Familiar Face Returns
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YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) — On a Monday packed with storylines, Eastern Michigan found itself at the center of more than one conversation. There was baseball under the lights against Michigan. There was a weekend ahead filled with home events. There was another strong showing from rowing and women's golf. And sitting over all of it was a day built to honor the people who make college athletics move, National Student-Athlete Day.
Greg Steiner and Elena Davis opened the Eastern Insider Podcast Powered by DTE with the kind of back-and-forth that matched the moment, fast, fun, and full of movement. The baseball series against Michigan had already been pushed back once by weather, and Eastern was looking for a reset after a tough weekend on the road at Toledo. Back home at Oestrike Stadium, the hope was simple. Find momentum again.
That theme carried beyond baseball. Rowing added a notable result over the weekend with the 3V boat becoming the first Eastern crew to defeat Michigan State since 2018. Women's golf kept climbing, moving into the national top 26 as the MAC Championship draws closer. Across spring sports, Eastern kept building examples of progress, resilience, and range.
Then the conversation shifted to the calendar itself.
National Student-Athlete Day offered a chance to stop and recognize the people at the center of it all. For Davis, the meaning was clear.
"What a great way, I mean, it's a day where you can celebrate them," she said. "Every day you celebrate them, but this day specifically, it just showcases how important they are for universities."
Steiner agreed, pointing to the simple truth behind the work done across athletics every day. Without student-athletes, there is no broadcast, no story, no event, no connection. The day may appear once on the calendar, but the appreciation behind it stretches far beyond April 6.
The episode also turned to the university's future, with new president Dr. Brendan Kelly entering the conversation as a familiar name rather than an unknown one. A two-time Eastern Michigan graduate, Kelly returns with firsthand knowledge of the institution and a perspective grounded in experience. For Davis, that background matters.
"You know what it's like here," she said. "You quite literally were a student here."
The result was an episode that moved the way spring in college athletics often does, quickly, across sports, and with little pause. A rivalry game. A day of recognition. A university welcoming back one of its own. At Eastern Michigan, the week was already moving before the next pitch was even thrown.
Segment 1 - President Dr. Brendan Kelly
When Dr. Brendan Kelly stepped back onto Eastern Michigan's campus on March 1, the move carried more weight than a standard presidential transition. It felt like a return with purpose, shaped by memory, urgency, and a clear belief in what the university can become.
"Since we arrived on March 1," Kelly said on the Eastern Insider Podcast Powered by DTE, "I've spent the last few weeks primarily talking to students, because that should be our entire focus. If we don't get that right, then we might as well throw our hands up and walk off the field."
That approach, direct and grounded, defines the early days of his presidency. Before strategy documents or long-term plans, Kelly has chosen to listen. The feedback he has gathered points to something deeper than surface-level concerns. Students want connection. They want energy. They want a campus that feels unified.
"They've given so much feedback about energy and connection and culture building and community," Kelly said. "They've also told me about the things that are dots that aren't being connected. And I go, that's the first focus. Let's go and connect all of those dots for every single student."
For Kelly, that work is personal. He is not learning Eastern Michigan from a distance. He lived it. Twice.
"When I look at the students of Eastern Michigan, it's kind of a, I see you because I am you," he said.
That perspective shapes how he views both the challenge and the opportunity. He believes Eastern holds a unique advantage, one rooted in its diversity, its accessibility, and its identity. But those strengths need alignment.
"Higher education has to be customized," Kelly said. "The one overarching variable that has to come along with that is both connection and energy. You have to feel a sense of unapologetic pride in what you're doing, because if you don't, nobody else will."
That phrase, unapologetic pride, lands as both a challenge and a standard. It also signals a shift. Kelly acknowledged the familiar refrain that echoes across many campuses.
"I've heard that a lot," he said of the phrase, "that's the way we've always done it." Then he added his own perspective. "Sometimes that's okay because it's tradition. But higher education has changed so much, that type of tradition isn't serving us well."
In its place, he calls for clarity and simplicity. "We have to find the best idea in the room and implement it. We have to have the simplest, most intuitive processes. We have to have policies that solve problems and not create them."
The conversation naturally turns to athletics, a visible extension of campus culture and energy. Kelly has watched from both inside and out, and he understands the current reality.
"Was I taken aback? I was thoughtful about it," he said of fan engagement. Then came a statement that felt less like observation and more like promise. "We've been involved in institutions where the energy level was low coming in, but I can guarantee you it wasn't coming out."
For Kelly, the solution is not immediate transformation but steady investment. "Sometimes you just need to plant the right seeds and everything takes care of itself from there," he said. "Right now, we're in the business of planting all of the right seeds every single day."
That mindset extends to leadership hires, including new men's basketball coach Billy Donlon. Kelly sees alignment in both philosophy and personality.
"He's representative of exactly who I believe needs to be working for this university," Kelly said. "People who set a standard of excellence and they do not move that standard just because it makes us uncomfortable."
There is also something more personal in that connection. Kelly, who is from Flint, recognizes a shared edge.
"I like people who have a little bit of their chip on their shoulder," he said. "I carry that sense of grit with me and I think all of us need to."
In his first weeks back, Kelly has not tried to redefine Eastern Michigan. Instead, he has worked to reconnect it to itself. Through students, through culture, and through a belief that pride, once restored, spreads quickly.
