Former Eastern Illinois defensive lineman and graduate Chris Wilkerson enters his fourth season as Panthers’ head coach. (Photo by Barry Bottino, Prairie State Pigskin)
CHARLESTON – After two injury-depleted seasons, Eastern Illinois head coach Chris Wilkerson has altered his team’s approach to fall camp.
“We were a little banged up last season across the board. Our preseason camp has been very different in terms of its structure,” Wilkerson told Prairie State Pigskin.
As a result, the Panthers have practiced three straight days and then taken the fourth day to recover.
“The guys are used to training in three-day weeks during the season,” Wilkerson said, adding that EIU used that same format in spring practice.
The coaching staff’s decision is based on EIU’s worn-down roster during the stretch runs of the last two seasons, Wilkerson said.
“We’ve evolved,” he said. “We’ve got to stay healthier. Every time someone is banged up, it’s a wear and tear on the entire roster because even at the position group, he might not be the guy who is starting, (but) it means the next guy has to take more reps even in the individual drills. It trickles down and wears you down as a football team.”
EIU has taken other measures to address this issue. Wilkerson praised the work of strength and conditioning coach Andreas Missios as well as athletic trainer Alexis Fenrick.
“We’ve gotten faster and more flexible,” Wilkerson said. “We have avoided some of the soft-tissue, overuse injuries.”
Another key decision has the team practicing solely on the O’Brien Field turf rather than on the grass practice fields near the stadium.
“The grass fields are a little too beaten up, and I didn’t want to take the chance (of an injury happening out there),” Wilkerson said. “We’re going to play every game on turf, if I’m not mistaken.”
New faces and sped-up paces
Eastern’s roster features 56 players that were new to the program in the spring. The Panthers also have five new full-time coaches, including offensive line coach Mike McClanathan.
“Our blocking style has changed. We have new ways to block. We’re running off the ball,” center Rahfeeq Katumbusi said.
Offensive lineman Panayiotis Mihalopoulos added: “The progress we’ve made is tremendous. It’s a whole different philosophy. We’re running off the ball, playing aggressive and out to dominate the line.”
That emphasis plays into EIU’s depth at running back. The Panthers return redshirt senior Charles Kellom, last year’s top rusher, along with redshirt sophomore Jacarre Fleming-Page, who showed flashes of his potential before being slowed by injury a season ago.
Junior college transfer Tyren Buggs, a 6-foot-2, 210-pound sophomore, will also be in the mix.
“Me and Jacarre are back. It’s going to be a good 1-2, maybe three, punch with the guys we’ve brought in,” Kellom said.
Fleming-Page strives to return to the form that earned him Stats Perform National Freshman of the Week honors when he racked up 177 all-purpose yards in a road win against rival Western Illinois last season.
“You build on yourself in the weight room to be the back that you want to become,” Fleming-Page said. “I changed my eating habits, cutting out snacks and stuff.”
Quarterback competition
Though he would love to name a starting quarterback “today, so that guy could get the lion’s share of the reps as we get closer to competing,” Wilkerson said three of EIU’s five QBs “are very much in the battle.”
That trio includes redshirt junior Cole LaCrue, who made seven starts last fall and is the lone returnee in the QB room.
“As we get on the board and start talking, Cole is pointing out things. Maybe he can say it a little bit differently than I can that gets to the others in the room,” offensive coordinator Kyle Derickson said.
The other candidates are graduate transfer Jeremiah Salem, a four-year member of FBS Eastern Michigan’s program, and junior college transfer Payton Faker.
“Jeremiah has done a really good job competing and learning the offense,” Wilkerson said. “He’s getting more comfortable every single day. His timing is starting to come alive.”
Derickson said Faker “has got a cannon. He was the player of the year in northern California juco ball who can zip the ball.”
The road ahead
Eastern will play five of its first six games on the road, including the Oct. 10 Ohio Valley Conference opener at North Carolina-based Gardner-Webb.
The Panthers open their season Aug. 27 at Murray State, a former OVC foe now playing its fourth year in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.
EIU plays at FBS Minnesota Sept. 3 before hosting regional rival and MVFC member Indiana State Sept. 12 in the home opener.
The Panthers hit the road again in successive Saturdays against MVFC powers Illinois State (Sept. 19) and South Dakota State (Sept. 26). Both the Redbirds and Jackrabbits are ranked in the Top 5 in various preseason national polls.
Wilkerson faced a similar schedule during his years as an assistant coach at FBS San Jose State.
“My first year there (2002), we played nine games on the road and at that point it was a Division I record for miles traveled,” Wilkerson said, noting the Spartans traveled to the likes of Ohio State, Arkansas State, Illinois, SMU and Hawaii.
“We try to control what we can. That’s going to be our attitude, effort and approach,” he said.
Dan Verdun is a co-founder of Prairie State Pigskin. He has written four books: NIU Huskies Football, EIU Panthers Football, ISU Redbirds Football and SIU Salukis Football.
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