EIU head coach Chris Wilkerson has welcomed 32 transfer into the Panthers’ program this offseason. Eastern opens the 2025 season at home Aug. 28 against Dayton. (Photo by Sandy King, EIUPanthers.com)
By Barry Bottino
Today’s college football landscape is dominated by change.
Teams changing conferences, athletes changing uniforms and each season looking vastly different than 12 months earlier.
“There’s such a high turnover on your roster. You lose 40 to 50 players a year. You lose a number of coaches and support personnel,” Eastern Illinois head coach Chris Wilkerson said Thursday during the Ohio Valley Conference-Big South Conference Football Association’s virtual media day. “There’s so much transition that every year, you’re assembling a brand-new group of people with a brand-new mission.”
Change has knocked on the Panthers’ door plenty this offseason. According to a Prairie State Pigskin analysis of Illinois FCS rosters, Eastern has added 32 transfers since last season, when the Panthers finished 3-9.
That equates to more efforts for Wilkerson’s staff to get the new faces up to speed.
“(We do) a ton of stuff,” EIU’s head coach said. “But it starts with the players, the guys that have been here. It starts with strong leadership.”
Wilkerson credited the successful transition process to players such as his four captains, junior offensive lineman Nic DiSanto, grad student safety Tienne Fridge, senior linebacker Jesse Garza and grad student wide receiver Cooper Willman.
“They have really done a good job trying to make sure the new guys understand what the standard is,” Wilkerson said.
That includes working out and lifting weights together, along with cookouts and community service projects around Charleston. Those efforts have led to a more connected group of Panthers, who open fall camp July 28 and kick off the season Aug. 28 at home against Dayton.
On Thursday, EIU was picked to finish in a sixth-place tie in the nine-team conference’s preseason poll.
“These guys have been awesome. I love this group,” Wilkerson said. “I’m really excited about this football staff. It certainly does take talent to compete at a championship level, but I will tell you that chemistry and culture matter.”
Willman, a native of Sterling, Ill., is back for his sixth college season. The former walk-on led EIU last season with 66 receptions, 955 yards and eight touchdowns. He was named the OVC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year by Lindy’s Sports 2025 football preview magazine.
“It’s impossible to put a value on what he’s meant to our program,” Wilkerson said. “He bleeds blue. To be quite frank, he could’ve left. He’s a guy that has done every single thing that we’ve asked him to do. He believes in this program. He believes in this institution. I look forward to watching him finish his career with us. It’s a great story.”
Married men
Willman has one big thing in common with his head coach – the two both met their wives in Charleston.
Sharna Wilkerson was an EIU softball player when she met her husband, a former EIU defensive lineman.
In late June, Willman married former EIU soccer player Ava Hensley with numerous friends in attendance at the ceremony.
“It was perfect, exactly how we wanted it,” Willman said. “To be able to get all the people that we care about and who we know care about us together to celebrate us, it was a tremendous time. We couldn’t have wished for a better day.”
Ramping up the offense
Eastern took a step back on offense last season, averaging 18.5 points a game while turning the ball over 20 times and allowing 43 sacks, the fourth-highest total in FCS.
“We’ve got to take care of the ball,” Willman said. “It’s sustaining drives, getting into the red zone. When we’re in the red zone, it’s finishing drives.”
Willman thrived with two-year starter Pierce Holley at quarterback in 2024.
Entering fall camp, the Panthers will be searching for a new starter among a group that includes sophomore Cole Lacrue, a transfer from FBS Wisconsin, and three returnees – redshirt sophomore Blainey Dowling, redshirt junior Kevin Conway and redshirt freshman Connor Wolf.
Working with four QBs during the competition requires plenty of communication, according to Willman.
“Things that I do that Pierce knew, I have to tell these new guys and constantly be in their ear, telling them what they can get better on and what I can get better on,” he said. “Just constant conversations to be able to build that chemistry so that whatever guy comes out of this competition in fall camp, I have that chemistry built, and we can continue to build on it into the season.”
Barry Bottino is a co-founder of Prairie State Pigskin and a 19-year veteran of three Illinois newspapers. He has covered college athletics since 1995.
Find us on social media!
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/PSPigskin
Facebook: Prairie State Pigskin
Instagram: Prairiestatepigskin
Blue Sky: PSPigskin
Prairie State Pigskin 
Leave a comment