Let the competition begin.

The Eastern football team started spring practice Tuesday and the massive question mark overhanging the Panthers’ search for a three-peat as Ohio Valley Conference champions is who will be taking snaps under center on Aug. 28 at Minnesota?

A question Eastern has not had in four seasons.

Who dares replace Jimmy Garoppolo?

He was the 2013 Walter Payton Award winner, a possible first-round pick in this year’s NFL draft, the only constant this university has had aside from its declining enrollment (it’s a tossup which one is truly more detrimental).

And so begins the list.

For starters, Andrew Manley had the first crack at filling the void of No. 10, being the first to take the snaps Tuesday.

But first-year coach Kim Dameron assured it was simply because Manley is the lone senior at the position.

Not to diminish Manley’s case, however.

Manley came to Eastern as a red-shirt transfer from New Mexico State last season.

The Wahiawa, Hawaii, native started all 12 games for the Aggies in 2012 at the FBS level in the Western Athletic Conference, where he amassed 2,764 passing yards and 18 touchdowns, sixth and seventh on their single-season passing list, respectively.

Last season, though, he only made five appearances as the third-string quarterback.

Ben Krol took the job as backup quarterback in the Panthers’ 12-2 title-contending run.

He saw action in eight games, which he completed 16-of-27 passes for 140 yards, with neither a touchdown nor an interception.

Krol is a 6-foot-6 247-pound red-shirt junior out of Marian Central Catholic High School.

Chances are one of the two aforementioned upperclassmen will call the starting job theirs come August. But just for fun, let’s juggle the options, anyway.

A plethora of underclassmen follow with Rochester product Austin Green being the last of the returning quarterbacks from former coach Dino Babers’ squad, an offense which no longer applies.

Green led Rochester High School to its third out of four straight IHSA Class 4A State Championships in 2012, beating now teammate Sean Hussey in the process.

Hussey, Charleston High School’s record-holding passer, led the Trojans to two consecutive playoff appearances with a 20-4 record, also receiving All-State honors.

However, Hussey’s Trojans lost to Green’s Rockets, the eventual champion, in the second round of the 2012 playoffs.

Hussey transferred to Eastern after spending one season at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign working with the quarterbacks and also as a scout team receiver as a walk-on.

A decision on the starter will be reached in August, but that is also when two more incoming freshman will join the Panthers for their 2014 season.

Jeremy Joseph, a 6-foot-7, 225-pound quarterback/defensive end out of Lee Scott Academy in Auburn, Ala., signed with Eastern on Feb. 4, according to Yahoo! Sports.

Also, Jared Pilson, the record-setting passer from Mattoon High School, rounds out the bunch as announced he would join Eastern after being invited as a walk-on.

Headaches? Understandable. There are a lot of names to take in.

But be happy you’re not any of the six quarterbacks on Eastern’s roster. The only name their thinking of is one: Jimmy Garoppolo.

Now, trying to replace him — that’s a headache.

Anthony Catezone can be reached at 581-2812 or ajcatezone@eiu.edu.