Eastern Illinois Panthers football

Eastern Illinois Panthers football
Eastern Illinois Panthers football
	2024 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team
First season	1899; 125 years ago
Athletic director	Tom Michael
Head coach	Chris Wilkerson ; 3rd season, 13–21 (.382)
Stadium	O'Brien Field; (capacity: 10,000)
Year built	1970
Field surface	Artificial Turf
Location	Charleston, Illinois
NCAA division	Division I FCS
Conference	Big South–OVC
Past conferences	IIAC (1912–1969); AMCU (1978–1984); GCAC/GFC (1985–1995)
All-time record	559–552–42 (.503)
Bowl record	0–1 (.000)
Playoff appearances	2 (Div. II); 1978, 1980; 16 (Div. I FCS); 1982, 1983, 1986, 1989, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2015
Playoff record	5–1 (Div. II); 4–16 (Div. I FCS)
Claimed national titles	1 – (Div. II): 1978
Conference titles	19; 1912, 1913, 1914, 1928, 1948, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1995, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2012, 2013
Rivalries	Illinois State (rivalry)
Colors	Blue and gray;
Fight song	Eastern State March
Mascot	Billy the Panther
Marching band	Panther Marching Band
Outfitter	Adidas
Website	eiupanthers.com

The Eastern Illinois Panthers football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Eastern Illinois University located in the U.S. state of Illinois. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference. The school's first football team was fielded in 1899. The team plays its home games at the 10,000 seat O'Brien Field, which is named after former head coach Maynard O'Brien.

History

The inaugural football team took the field only three weeks after the first students arrived on campus in 1899.^[2]

Affiliations

Classifications

1960–1972: NCAA College Division (Small College)
1973–1980: NCAA Division II
1981–present: NCAA Division I FCS (Formerly Division I-AA)^[3]

Conference memberships

1899–1911: Independent
1912–1949: Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
1950–1969: Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
1970–1972: NCAA College Division Independent
1973–1977: NCAA Division II Independent
1978–1984: Association of Mid-Continent Universities
1985–1995: Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference/ Gateway Football Conference
1996–present: Ohio Valley Conference

Championships

National championships

Eastern Illinois has won one national championship, doing so in 1978. They also made an appearance in the Division II National Championship Game in 1980, losing 13–21 to Cal Poly.

Year	Selector	Coach	Record	Opponent	Score
1978	Division II	Darrell Mudra	12–2	Delaware	10–9

Conference championships

Season	Conference	Coach	Overall Record	Conference Record
1912	Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference	Charles Lantz	6–1	4–0
1913		Charles Lantz	6–2	5–1
1914		Charles Lantz	8–0–1	5–0–1
1928		Charles Lantz	7–1	5–1
1948		Maynard O'Brien	7–3	4–0
1980	Association of Mid-Continent Universities	Darrell Mudra	11–3	4–0
1981		Darrell Mudra	6–5	2–1
1982		Darrell Mudra	11–1–1	2–0–1
1983		Al Molde	9–3	3–0
1984		Al Molde	6–5	2–1
1986	Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference	Al Molde	11–2	5–1
1995†	Gateway Football Conference	Bob Spoo	10–2	5–1
2001	Ohio Valley Conference	Bob Spoo	9–2	6–0
2002†		Bob Spoo	8–4	5–1
2005		Bob Spoo	9–3	8–0
2006		Mark Hutson	8–5	7–1
2009		Bob Spoo	8–4	6–2
2012		Dino Babers	7–5	6–1
2013		Dino Babers	12–2	8–0

† Co-champion

Playoff appearances

NCAA Division I-AA/FCS playoffs

NCAA Division I Football Championship playoff appearances: 1982, 1983, 1986, 1989, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2015
All time playoff results [1]

Year	First Round Home Team		First Round Away Team		Second Round Home		Second Round Away		Quarterfinal Home		Quarterfinal Away
1982 ^OT	Eastern Illinois	16	Jackson State	13					Tennessee State	20	Eastern Illinois	19
1983 ^2OT	Indiana State	16	Eastern Illinois	13
1986	Eastern Illinois	28	Murray State	21					Eastern Illinois	22	Eastern Kentucky	24
1989	Idaho	21	Eastern Illinois	38					Montana	25	Eastern Illinois	19
1995	Stephen F. Austin	34	Eastern Illinois	29
1996	Northern Iowa	21	Eastern Illinois	14
2000	Montana	45	Eastern Illinois	13
2001	Eastern Illinois	43	Northern Iowa	49
2002	Western Illinois	48	Eastern Illinois	9
2005	Eastern Illinois	6	Southern Illinois	21
2006	Eastern Illinois	13	Illinois State	24
2007	Southern Illinois	30	Eastern Illinois	11
2009	Southern Illinois	48	Eastern Illinois	7
2012	South Dakota State	58	Eastern Illinois	10
2013	Bye		Bye		Eastern Illinois	51	Tennessee State	10	Eastern Illinois	39	Towson	49
2015	Northern Iowa	53	Eastern Illinois	17

NCAA Division II playoffs

The Panthers made two appearances in the Division II playoffs, with a combined record of 5-1.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1978	Quarterfinals Semifinals National Championship	UC Davis Youngstown State Delaware	W, 35–31 W, 26–22 W, 10–9
1980	Quarterfinals Semifinals National Championship	Northern Colorado North Alabama Cal Poly	W, 21–14 W, 56–31 L, 13–21

Bowl games

Eastern Illinois has participated in one bowl game, going 0–1.

Season	Coach	Bowl	Opponent	Result
1948	Maynard O'Brien	Corn Bowl	Illinois Wesleyan	L 0–6

All-time record vs. current OVC teams

Official record (including any NCAA imposed vacates and forfeits) against all current OVC opponents as of the completion of the 2021 season.^[4]

Opponent	Won	Lost	Pct.	First meeting
Lindenwood	0	0	–	2022
Murray State	19	19	.500	1946
Southeast Missouri State	18	11	.621	1956
UT Martin	15	12	.556	1995
Tennessee State	15	10	.600	1982
Tennessee Tech	21	7	.750	1975
Totals	88	59	.599	5 opponents

Rivalries

Illinois State

The Mid-America Classic is the rivalry game between Illinois State and Eastern Illinois. The rivalry began in 1901 and is the second oldest in the state of Illinois. For the 100th game in the series, representatives from both schools met and developed the Mid-America Classic renaming for the rivalry. The two schools also collaborated on a traveling trophy, which holds plaques with the results of the previous 100 games in the series and has room for results of future games in the series.^[5] The two teams have played 110 times in total, with Illinois State holding a 59–42–9 advantage in the all-time series as of the end of the 2022 game.

Head coaches

No.	Years	Name
1	1899–1901	Otis Caldwell
2	1902	Thornton Smallwood
3	1903	Thomas Briggs
4	1904–1909	Joseph Brown
5	1910	Harold Railsback
6	1911–1934, 44	Charles Lantz
7	1935	Winfield Angus
8	1936–1937, 39–41	Gilbert Carson
9	1938	Harold Ave
10	1942	Clayton Miller
11	1945	James Goff
12	1946–1950, 52–55	Maynard O'Brien
13	1951	Rex Darling
14	1956	Keith Smith
15	1957–1964	Ralph Kohl
16	1965–1971	Clyde Biggers
17	1972–1974	Jack Dean
18	1975–1977	John Konstantinos
19	1978–1982	Darrell Mudra
20	1983–1986	Al Molde
21	1987–2005, 07–11	Bob Spoo
22	2006	Mark Hutson
23	2012–2013	Dino Babers
24	2014–2018	Kim Dameron
25	2019–2021	Adam Cushing
26	2022–present	Chris Wilkerson

# Interim head coach

Individual accomplishments

1st Team All Americans

Selectors: AP-Associated Press, AFCA-American Football Coaches Association, FBG-FB Gazette, SN-Sports Network, WC-Walter Camp Football Foundation^[6]

Player	Year	Organization
Nate Anderson	1972	AFCA
Ted Petersen	1976	AP
James Warring	1978	AP, AFCA
Pete Catan	1979, 1980	AP, AFCA
Poke Cobb	1979	AP, AFCA
Kevin Gray	1981	AFCA
Robert Williams	1982, 1983	AP, AFCA
Bob Norris	1982	AP
Chris Nicholson	1983	AP
Jerry Wright	1984	AFCA
Roy Banks	1986	AP, AFCA
John Jurkovic	1988, 1989	AP, AFCA, SN
Tim Lance	1990	AP, SN, WC
Dan Dee	1992	WC, SN
Tim Carver	1995	FBG
Willie High	1995	FBG
J.R. Taylor	2002	AP, FBG, SN, WC
Nick Ricks	2002	AP, FBG, SN
Kevin Hill	2002	FBG, SN, WC
Tony Romo	2002	AP, AFCA, SN, WC
Clint Sellers	2005	AFCA, FBG
Tristan Burge	2006	AFCA
Erik Lora^[7]	2012, 2013	AP, AFCA, SN, WC
Jimmy Garoppolo	2013	AP, AFCA, SN, WC
Collin Seibert^[8]	2013, 2014	AP, AFCA, SN, WC
Dino Fanti^[9]	2015	AFCA

Award winners

Walter Payton Award
Tony Romo - 2002

Jimmy Garoppolo - 2013
Walter Payton Award finalists
Tim Lance - 1990...3rd

Willie High - 1994...15th

Tony Romo - 2000...11th

Tony Romo - 2001...10th

Jimmy Garoppolo - 2012...10th

Erik Lora - 2012...4th

Erik Lora - 2013...7th

Alexander Hollins - 2018...21st

College Football Hall of Fame members

Eastern Illinois has two inductees in the College Football Hall of Fame as of 2021.

Name	Position	Years	Inducted	Ref.
Darrell Mudra	Coach	1978–1982	2000	^[10]
Tony Romo	QB	1999–2002	2021	^[11]

Retired numbers

No.	Player	Pos.	Tenure	Date retired	Ref.
Eastern Illinois Panthers retired numbers
17	Tony Romo	QB	1999–2002	October 17, 2009	^[12]
18	Sean Payton	QB	1983–1986	September 11, 2010	^[13]

Future non-conference opponents

Announced schedules as of November 23, 2023.^[14]

2024	2025	2026	2027	2028
vs Indiana State	vs Dayton	at Minnesota	at Illinois	at Kentucky
at Illinois State	at Indiana State	vs Indiana State
at Illinois	vs Illinois State
	at Alabama

Notable former players

Notable alumni include the following.

References

^ "EIU BRANDING, MARKETING & LOGOS". Retrieved January 1, 2024.
^ "History". Eastern Illinois University Athletics. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
^ "2017 NCAA FCS Records" (PDF).
^ "2021 EIU Record book page 44" (PDF).
^ "Illinois State, Eastern Illinois unveil Mid America Classic trophy - WJBC - the Voice of Central Illinois". Archived from the original on October 13, 2011. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
^ "Division I EIU All Anericans" (PDF). p. 71.
^ "Five OVC Players Named to College Sporting News FCS Fabulous Fifty All-American Team". ovcsports.com.
^ "Seibert, Drake named AP All-Americans | Eastern | jg-tc.com". jg-tc.com.
^ "JSU's Dunn, EIU's Fanti Named to AFCA FCS All-American Team". ovcsports.com.
^ "Darrell Mudra (2000) - Hall of Fame". National Football Foundation.
^ "Tony Romo Selected for College Football Hall of Fame's 2021 Class ✭". January 11, 2021.
^ "EIU Retired Numbers - Eastern Illinois University Athletics".
^ Kilhoffer, Kevin. "Sean Payton Jersey Retirement". JG-TC.com.
^ "Eastern Illinois Panthers Football Schedules and Future Schedules". Retrieved September 7, 2022.

External links

Official website

[1] "EIU BRANDING, MARKETING & LOGOS". Retrieved January 1, 2024.

[2] "History". Eastern Illinois University Athletics. Retrieved September 3, 2015.

[3] "2017 NCAA FCS Records" (PDF).

[4] "2021 EIU Record book page 44" (PDF).

[5] "Illinois State, Eastern Illinois unveil Mid America Classic trophy - WJBC - the Voice of Central Illinois". Archived from the original on October 13, 2011. Retrieved September 10, 2012.

[6] "Division I EIU All Anericans" (PDF). p. 71.

[7] "Five OVC Players Named to College Sporting News FCS Fabulous Fifty All-American Team". ovcsports.com.

[8] "Seibert, Drake named AP All-Americans | Eastern | jg-tc.com". jg-tc.com.

[9] "JSU's Dunn, EIU's Fanti Named to AFCA FCS All-American Team". ovcsports.com.

[10] "Darrell Mudra (2000) - Hall of Fame". National Football Foundation.

[11] "Tony Romo Selected for College Football Hall of Fame's 2021 Class ✭". January 11, 2021.

[12] "EIU Retired Numbers - Eastern Illinois University Athletics".

[13] Kilhoffer, Kevin. "Sean Payton Jersey Retirement". JG-TC.com.

[14] "Eastern Illinois Panthers Football Schedules and Future Schedules". Retrieved September 7, 2022.

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v t e Eastern Illinois Panthers football
Venues	O'Brien Field (1970–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Illinois State: Mid-America Classic
Culture & lore	Billy the Panther
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
National championship seasons in bold

v t e Eastern Illinois University
Athletics	Men's basketball Women's basketball Football Men's soccer
Buildings	Booth Library Carman Hall Coaches Stadium at Monier Field Lantz Arena McAfee Gym O'Brien Field Old Main Pemberton Hall
Media	The Daily Eastern News WEIU FM WEIU TV

v t e Ohio Valley Conference football
Teams	Eastern Illinois Panthers Lindenwood Lions Southeast Missouri State Redhawks Tennessee State Tigers Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles UT Martin Skyhawks Western Illinois Leathernecks
Championships & awards	Conference champions All-time standings
Related links	Big South–OVC Football Association