It’s the middle of summer; people are enjoying themselves at the thought that there are still six weeks until the start of the fall semester. Even with this being the case, this is a college campus and most people around realize that along with the upcoming school year is football season.

Football is obviously a popular sport at Eastern as the Panther football team looks to win their third straight Ohio Valley Conference championship and make another playoff appearance under the guidance of head coach Bob Spoo.

The Panthers will have fifteen returning players from last season when the team went 8-4 in the regular season, winning their second straight OVC championship, but lost in the first round of the NCAA Division I Playoffs to Illinois State.

Returning players include Donald Thomas, senior linebacker and 2006 OVC Defensive Player of the Year. Also returning is senior wide receiver Micah Rucker who scored 13 touchdowns in the 2006 Panther campaign.

2007 will mark a return for head coach Bob Spoo, who was unable to coach in 2006 due to medical reasons.

Spoo will be completing his 20th year as Panther head football coach this season and has the most wins of any football coach in EIU history and currently has the most wins of any coach in the OVC.

“We’re very optimistic about this coming season.” Said Coach Spoo. “Although we had some players graduate this year, we have more players on campus this summer conditioning than we ever had anytime before.” He added.

The football players that are conditioning on campus are unable to interact with the football coaching staff as it’s against NCAA rules. Instead players train with strength and conditioning coach Mike Hall.

The Panther football team performed solidly in all aspects of the sport last season. When asked about a specific focus, coach Spoo stressed broad improvement of the team. “We focus on everything. Improvements can always be made anywhere whether we’re talking defense, offense, or special teams.” He said.

Spoo said he was most looking forward returning to coaching the Panthers after having to sit out 2006. “Obviously I’m looking forward to the fact that I’ll be back to coaching again.”

Eastern’s 2007 football season starts with a home game at 6 p.m. on August 30. The Panthers will be taking on Tennessee Tech. This will be the first time that EIU has hosted an OVC game to open a season.