CHARLESTON, Ill. – Twenty five years in one place is a long time. For Eastern Illinois head football coach Bob Spoo that will be the number of years he serves as the Panthers head coach as he announced his retirement effective at the end of the 2011 football season on Monday morning during a press conference at O'Brien Field.
Spoo was hired as the Panthers head coach in 1987 and has served in that position for the last 25 years compiling 142 wins and nine FCS playoff appearances. Spoo is currently ranked fourth among NCAA Division I head coaches in terms of longest tenure at the same school. His nine FCS playoff appearances rank fifth all-time and his 67 Ohio Valley Conference wins are fourth in the long history of the league.
Spoo read from a prepared statement that he “was honored to have been able to serve as the head coach at one school for such a long time”. He thanked the many players (current and former) who have played for him and the coaches who have worked alongside him for a very successful tenure at EIU. One former player in particular was in attendance as 1995 Gateway Defensive Player of the Year Tim Carver made the trip over from Iowa to attend the press conference.
Spoo considered Carver the type of young man who always portrayed the best in an Eastern Illinois football player – a fierce competitor on the field, a successful academic student and an upstanding member of the community. Carver was an All-American both on the field and in the class room earning second team All-America honors on the field and first team All-America honors in the class room in 1995.
Following Spoo's prepared statement Eastern Illinois athletic director Barbara Burke stated that the administration would begin working immediately on plans for the direction of the Panther football program following Spoo's retirement.
“We are honored that Coach Spoo has decided to return to coach at Eastern Illinois for one more season,” Burke stated. “He has been the face of this program for many years and we are thrilled to have one more season to celebrate his success as our football coach. We felt that we needed to make this announcement at this time to silence any rumors that may surface about the future direction of our program.”
EIU Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. Dan Nadler echoed that praise for Spoo saying “Coach Spoo has long been identified with Eastern Illinois football and the University Administration is pleased that a man of Coach Spoo's character has decided to return for a 25th season on the sidelines.”
The Panthers will open the 2011 season playing the 100th meeting of the Prairie State Rivalry Game with in-state rival Illinois State on Thursday, Sept. 1. The season will also include a trip to Northwestern on Sept. 10 ending with a regular-season contest at Southern Illinois on Nov. 12. The game against Northwestern should hold special meaning for Spoo as he is a Chicago native who coached for 12 years in Chicago at Loyola Academy and Fenwick High School. Spoo is a 1960 graduate of Purdue where he played three seasons for the Boilermakers. This will mark his 50th season as a coach at the high school and college level.
Eastern Illinois was 2-9 in 2010 which was a down season for a program that had been dominant for the past decade. During the previous 10 seasons EIU won five OVC Championships, made seven FCS playoff appearances and posted more wins than any other OVC program since 2000.
