2025 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team

2025 Eastern Illinois Panthers football
2025 Eastern Illinois Panthers football
Conference	Big South–OVC
Record	0–0 (0–0 Big South–OVC)
Head coach	Chris Wilkerson (4rd season);
Offensive coordinator	Kyle Derickson (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Collin Geier (2nd season)
Home stadium	O'Brien Field
	Seasons ← 2024 2026 →

2025 Big South–OVC football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
Charleston Southern	0	–	0	0	–	0
Eastern Illinois	0	–	0	0	–	0
Gardner–Webb	0	–	0	0	–	0
Lindenwood*	0	–	0	0	–	0
Southeast Missouri State	0	–	0	0	–	0
Tennessee State	0	–	0	0	–	0
Tennessee Tech	0	–	0	0	–	0
UT Martin	0	–	0	0	–	0
Western Illinois	0	–	0	0	–	0

Note: Lindenwood ineligible for Big South–OVC title and FCS postseason play due to transition from NCAA Division II. Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2025 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team will represent Eastern Illinois University as a member of the Big South–OVC Football Association during the 2025 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Panthers were led by fourth-year head coach Chris Wilkerson and play their home games at O'Brien Field located in Charleston, Illinois.

Offseason

Transfers

Outgoing

Player	Position	Destination
Nijhay Burt	DB	Michigan State
MJ Flowers	RB	UConn
Kaelin Drakeford	DB	Unknown
Cody Silzer	DE	Unknown
Nick Coates	S	Unknown
Aaron Rice	WR	Unknown
Joshua Johnson	OL	Unknown
Malik Rainey	DB	Unknown

^[1]^[2]^[3]

Recruiting class

Name	Position	Height	Weight	Hometown	High School
Kennyan Chandler	LB	5-10	230	Kankakee, IL	Kankakee
Michael Curry	RB	5-10	180	Louisville, KY	Atherton
Brady Ford	QB	6-0	195	Toledo, OH	Whitmer
Tyler Fortis	DL	6-2	265	Park Ridge, IL	Maine South
Dejan Guzina	OL	6-8	345	Delta, B.C. (Canada)	Football North Canada
Davian Humphrey	LB	6-1	200	Chicago, IL	Phillips
Carlyun Neal	WR	5-11	180	Cincinnati, OH	Withrow
Le'Javier Payne	DB	5-8	170	Chicago, IL	Chicago Mt. Carmel
Jett Reese	LB	6-2	220	Chicago, IL	DePaul College Prep
Barron Sholl	DL	6-4	240	Rockford, IL	Boylan Central Catholic

^[4]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	TV
August 30	Dayton*	O'Brien Field Charleston, IL	TBA
September 6	at Indiana State*	Memorial Stadium Terre Haute, IN	TBA
September 13	Illinois State*	O'Brien Field Charleston, IL (Mid-America Classic)	TBA
November 22	at Alabama*	Bryant–Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, AL	TBA
*Non-conference game

^[5]

Game summaries

vs. Dayton

Game One – Dayton Flyers (0–0) at Eastern Illinois Panthers (0–0) – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Flyers	0	0	0	0	0
Panthers	0	0	0	0	0

at O'Brien Field • Charleston, IL

Date: Saturday August 30, 2025
Game time: TBA
TV announcers (TBA): TBA

Game information
First quarter Second quarter Third quarter Fourth quarter

Statistics	DAY	EIU
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Passing: Comp–Att–Int
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Dayton	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
Eastern Illinois	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

at Indiana State

Game Two – Eastern Illinois Panthers (0–0) at Indiana State Sycamores (0–0) – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	0	0	0	0	0
Sycamores	0	0	0	0	0

at Memorial Stadium • Terre Haute, IN

Date: Saturday September 6, 2025
Game time: TBA
TV announcers (TBA): TBA

Game information
First quarter Second quarter Third quarter Fourth quarter

Statistics	EIU	INST
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Passing: Comp–Att–Int
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Eastern Illinois	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
Indiana State	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

vs. Illinois State

Game Three – Illinois State Redbirds (0–0) at Eastern Illinois Panthers (0–0) – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Redbirds	0	0	0	0	0
Panthers	0	0	0	0	0

at Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL

Date: Saturday September 13, 2025
Game time: TBA
TV announcers (TBA): TBA

Game information
First quarter Second quarter Third quarter Fourth quarter

Statistics	ILST	EIU
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Passing: Comp–Att–Int
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Illinois State	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
Eastern Illinois	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

at (FBS) Alabama

Game Four – Eastern Illinois Panthers (0–0) at (FBS) Alabama Crimson Tide (0–0) – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	0	0	0	0	0
(FBS) Crimson Tide	0	0	0	0	0

at Bryant–Denny Stadium • Tuscaloosa, AL

Date: Saturday November 22, 2025
Game time: TBA
TV announcers (TBA): TBA

Game information
First quarter Second quarter Third quarter Fourth quarter

Statistics	EIU	ALA
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Passing: Comp–Att–Int
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Eastern Illinois	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
Alabama	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

References

^ "2025 FCS-to-FCS Transfers". herosports.
^ "2025 FBS-to-FCS Transfers". herosports.
^ "2025 FCS-to-FBS Transfers". herosports.
^ "Football Adds Ten On December Signing Day". eiupanthers. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
^ "2025 Eastern Illinois Football Schedule". FBSchedules. Retrieved December 24, 2024.

[1] "2025 FCS-to-FCS Transfers". herosports.

[2] "2025 FBS-to-FCS Transfers". herosports.

[3] "2025 FCS-to-FBS Transfers". herosports.

[4] "Football Adds Ten On December Signing Day". eiupanthers. Retrieved December 24, 2024.

[5] "2025 Eastern Illinois Football Schedule". FBSchedules. Retrieved December 24, 2024.

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v t e Eastern Illinois Panthers football
Venues	O'Brien Field (1970–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Illinois State: Mid-America Classic
Culture & lore	Billy the Panther
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
National championship seasons in bold