Editor’s note: This is the second installment in a series about Eastern athletes in the offseason of their sport.

If Brian Jennings is on campus, he won’t be alone.

A football will be tucked away securely under Jennings’ arm, as he makes his daily trek from class-to-class.

“It’s to incorporate ball security — the most important thing for a running back,” Jennings said. “I use it as free practice.”

Jennings, a sophomore running back for the Eastern football team, saw teammate Shepard Little doing the same technique during pregame meetings inside the hotels for away games last season and decided to pick the idea up and run with it.

“I just chose to take it to another level and started carrying it to class,” Jennings said.

Just like in a game or practice, Jennings’ ball security is never easy.

If teammates walk past Jennings on campus, they will surely try to take the ball away.

“The thing is, if they get it, I owe them 10 pushups on the spot,” Jennings said.

But Jennings has only had to do 30 pushups this year, as only three Panthers have stripped the ball from him, to his recollection.

Just three were successful in taking the ball away from Jennings: red-shirt junior running back Reggie Box, sophomore safety Vince Speller and red-shirt offensive lineman Xzavier McAllister.

“Those are the three big guys,” Jennings said.

He mostly gets the ball stripped inside Douglas Hall, when Jennings is in a relaxed position.

The only time Jennings was stripped of the ball outside, though, the time he remembers the most, was at the hands of Box.

It came just outside of McAfee Gym at the east entrance.

“I wasn’t paying attention,” Jennings said. “He was talking to me and I walked off. The next thing I know, the ball just popped out. He went underneath the ball.”

Jennings did his 10 pushups there on the sidewalk, but since then, no one else has been able to take the ball away from him on campus.

Incorporating carrying a football into his daily routine is not the only thing Jennings had picked up on since coming to Eastern.

With its new coaching staff, Eastern has also seen a new offensive game plan implemented.

Former coach Dino Babers’ rapid play style left no need for a fullback, making the position obsolete to the Panthers the past two seasons.

This season, however, the Panthers are trying to blend up-tempo with the capability to slow the offense down on a dime.

That is where Jennings comes in.

“It’s more of an athletic position than what you would think of for a traditional fullback,” Jennings said.

The Decatur native said he has to learn the aspect of not only the running the ball, but also utilizing his role on option routes, whether it be blocking or catching out of the backfield

Jennings said the learning curve with a position change is not too steep for him, as he is already learning a new system.

“It’s new offense, so I’d be learning either way,” Jennings said.

So far, Eastern running back coach Danny Nutt said he likes what he has seen from the Decatur MacArthur High School product.

While at Arkansas under the same position, Nutt coached NFL running backs Darren McFadden, Felix Jones and Peyton Hillis.

“He’s not as shifty as Shepard (Little) and not as much of a bull as Peyton (Hillis), but he has a good mixture of both,” Nutt said.

He said Jennings had an impressive 20-yard run in the Panthers’ second spring practice, which proved the athleticism and physicality he had to become a fullback Eastern is in search for.

At 5-foot-10, 200 pounds, Jennings has come a long way, Nutt said, but still has room to improve.

“Put another 10 pounds on him and work on his blocking, and he’s there,” Nutt said.

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