After two Division I-A transfers, a couple walk-ons and another open competition, the Panthers story under center refuses to change.

Last season’s starter Mike Donato is listed as the No. 1 quarterback on the Panthers spring depth chart and the coaching staff is confident he will lead the Eastern offense onto the field for the season opener at Illinois on Sept. 2.

“Mike is a take charge and the offensive line is in a comfort zone with him as the leader of the offense,” said Eastern offensive coordinator Mark Hutson. “He’s been the most consistent guy in the position which we expected and he’s improved on certain skills.”

The junior from Broadview has refused to give up his spot as leader of the offense that has contributed to Eastern going into the 2006 campaign as the defending Ohio Valley Conference champions.

“His completions are at a similar percentage compared to last year. The other four are still challenging for the No. 1 spot coming out of spring but they all have a ways to go to over take Mike,” Eastern head coach Bob Spoo said.

Spoo has made it public that the quarterback battle is “not where we want it to be,” going into the fall, but a host of contenders will jockey for depth chart positioning.

Donato’s backup last year, Kyle Kniss, continues to take snaps with the first team and his familiarity with the offense is a big key for the 2006 backup battle.

“He doesn’t have to relearn anything in regards to terminology so he’ll get more comfortable with time,” Hutson said.

The competition started on Feb. 1 (National Signing Day) when the Panthers brought in a pair of signal callers transferring from Division I-A to compete for the starting job that was publicly stated as open by the Eastern coaching staff this spring.

“Our feeling is that every job should be competed for but some obviously have a head start on our system,” Hutson said.

Ball State transfer Cole Stinson has taken snaps with the first team offense in practice and the pair of scrimmages already conducted this April. Stinson came to Eastern after being highly recruited to the Cardinal program and had two games over 250 yards passing (294 vs. Western Michigan and 267 vs. Eastern Michigan) in his freshman season.

“He’s an excellent athlete and we are hoping he starts to feel comfortable learning the system,” Hutson said.

The 6-foot-5, 240-pound junior got off to a bad start in his Panther debut throwing three interceptions in the first organized scrimmage April 9.

“Cole has such a strong arm that he presses bad throwing angles into turnovers but he’s got the ability to be a solid player in our system,” Hutson said.

Hutson suggested Stinson has fallen into the trap of almost trying to make an immediate impression too early.

“It’s almost as if he’s trying too hard to impress us coaches and needs to just relax while he’s out there,” Hutson said.

The other Division I transfer happens to be a local product. Wyoming transfer Bodie Reeder will get an opportunity to make the three-deep roster. Reeder is remembered in the East Central Illinois area after being a four-year starter at Mahomet Seymour High School and leading them to an 11-1 record in his senior year.

“He was able to get solid coaching from his father (offensive coordinator) at Mahomet Seymour and so he’s excellent at reading defenses and coverages,” Hutson said.

Reeder’s 65 percent completions and 6,582 yards passing both rank fifth on the Illinois High School Athletic Association all-time career list. The 6-foot-2 quarterback also is seventh in career touchdowns (67) and ninth in completions (393).

The 2004 Bloomington Pantagraph Area Athlete of the Year and 4.75 GPA (5.0 scale) student turned down a baseball scholarship to Stanford in order to continue his goal of playing college football.

“The key with Cole and Bodie is for them and everybody else to realize that it’s not going to happen overnight,” Hutson said. “They’re going to need time to develop.”

The new wrinkle being thrown at all four quarterbacks vying for playing time is a no huddle system that Hutson and quarterbacks coach Jorge Munoz have slowly implemented for the 2006 season.

“It’s a way for our offense to get more up-tempo but for Mike (Donato), it’s the same language so it’s not problem adjusting at all,” Hutson said. “It’s just something new that they need to get used to.”