The Eastern Illinois Panthers football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, 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. The school's most well-known player is former quarterback Tony Romo, who is the only Eastern Illinois player to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame (2021).

History

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

Affiliations Classifications 1960–1972: NCAA College Division (Small College) 1973–1980: NCAA Division II 1981–present: NCAA Division I FCS (Formerly Division I-AA)

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 1996–2022: Ohio Valley Conference 2023–2025: OVC–Big South Football Association 2026–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.

1978 Division II Darrell Mudra 12–2 Delaware 10–9

Conference championships

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

Year First Round Home team First Round Away teamSecond Round HomeSecond Round Away Quarterfinal Home Quarterfinal Away1982 OT Eastern Illinois 16 Jackson State 13 Tennessee State20Eastern Illinois 191983 2OT Indiana State 16 Eastern Illinois 13 1986 Eastern Illinois 28 Murray State 21 Eastern Illinois 22 Eastern Kentucky 241989 Idaho 21 Eastern Illinois 38 Montana 25Eastern Illinois 191995 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 Illinois51Tennessee State10 Eastern Illinois 39 Towson 492015 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. 1978 QuarterfinalsSemifinalsNational Championship UC DavisYoungstown StateDelaware W, 35–31W, 26–22W, 10–9 1980 QuarterfinalsSemifinalsNational Championship Northern ColoradoNorth AlabamaCal Poly W, 21–14W, 56–31L, 13–21

Bowl games Eastern Illinois has participated in one bowl game, going 0–1. 1948 Maynard O'Brien Corn Bowl Illinois Wesleyan L 0–6 Wins over FBS teams

1989 Akron 27–17 1996 Western Michigan 28–20 1998 Northern Illinois 24–10 2004 Eastern Michigan 31–28 2013 San Diego State 40–19 2016 Miami Ohio 21–17

All-time record vs. current OVC Official record (including any NCAA imposed vacates and forfeits) against all current OVC opponents as of the completion of the 2024 season.

Charleston Southern102023Gardner–Webb012023Lindenwood122022Southeast Missouri State18141956UT Martin15151995Tennessee State16121982 Western Illinois22421930Totals73867 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. The two teams have played 113 times in total, with Illinois State holding a 61–43–9 advantage in the all-time series as of the end of the 2025 game.

Head coaches 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

Nate Anderson1972AFCATed Petersen 1976APJames Warring 1978 AP, AFCAPete Catan 1979, 1980 AP, AFCAPoke Cobb 1979 AP, AFCAKevin Gray1981AFCARobert Williams 1982, 1983AP, AFCABob Norris 1982 APChris Nicholson 1983 APJerry Wright1984AFCARoy Banks 1986 AP, AFCAJohn Jurkovic 1988, 1989 AP, AFCA, SNTim Lance 1990 AP, SN, WCDan Dee1992WC, SNTim Carver1995FBGWillie High1995FBGJ.R. Taylor2002 AP, FBG, SN, WCNick Ricks 2002 AP, FBG, SNKevin Hill2002FBG, SN, WCTony Romo2002 AP, AFCA, SN, WCClint Sellers2005AFCA, FBGTristan Burge2006AFCAErik Lora2012, 2013 AP, AFCA, SN, WCJimmy Garoppolo2013 AP, AFCA, SN, WCCollin Seibert2013, 2014 AP, AFCA, SN, WCDino Fanti2015AFCA

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.

Darrell Mudra Coach 1978–1982 2000 Tony Romo QB 1999–2002 2021

Retired numbers

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

Future non-conference opponents Announced schedules as of September 17, 2026. at Murray State at Ole Miss at Illinois State at Indiana State at Minnesota Murray State Indiana State at Indiana Indiana State at Illinois at Kentucky at Illinois State at Tennessee Tech at South Dakota State Illinois State

Notable former players Notable alumni include the following.

Evan Arapostathis Greg Brown Anthony Buich Tristan Burge Pete Catan Brad Childress Jake Christensen Jeff Christensen Frank Cutolo Rob DeVita Ron Ellett Ray Fisher Jimmy Garoppolo Jeff Gossett Kamu Grugier-Hill Mike Heimerdinger Lenny High Alexander Hollins Otis Hudson Burl Ives John Jurkovic Tim Kelly Andrew Manley Pascal Matla Ray McElroy Greg McMahon Randy Melvin John Moyer Ryan Pace Steve Parker Sean Payton Ted Petersen Tony Romo Micah Rucker Terrance Sanders Mike Shanahan Chris Szarka Jeff Thorne Chevon Walker Pierre Walters Chris Watson Chris Wilkerson

References

External links