Eastern Illinois head football coach
Kim Dameron has completed his coaching staff for the 2018 season with the addition of
Andrew Carter and Tony Turner. The Panthers will open spring practice on March 20 with the annual Blue-White Spring Game set for Saturday, April 21. The 2018 regular season will kick off on Sept. 1 at Arkansas.
Carter will serve as the Panthers defensive line coach while Turner will coach the outside wide receivers. Dameron also announced some shifts in coaching assignments for the upcoming season. With a new offensive coordinator in place, EIU will move
Micah Smith to coach inside receivers (coached all receiving group last year) and
Ethan Hutson will now coach running backs (coached tight ends last season). On the defensive side of the ball
Tyler Stevens will be a defensive assistant coach after coaching running backs for the Panthers last season.
Carter was elevated to a full time coach after working last year as a graduate assistant for the Panthers. Prior to joining the EIU staff Carter worked as an assistant high school football coach in the New Orleans area. He served as the offensive line coach at Riverdale HS in New Orleans, assistant head coach & co-defensive coordinator at Wright Charter HS in New Orleans and defensive line coach at Bourgeois HS in Houma. Carter is a 2015 graduate of Nicholls State.
Turner will be in his second stint as a coach at Eastern Illinois after working for the Panthers during the 2001 and 2002 seasons as EIU made back-to-back FCS Playoff appearances. Turner played at Murray State under current head coach
Kim Dameron earning his degree in 1998. He began his career as a graduate assistant at Fayetteville State in 2000. During his two seasons at EIU he coached two players that earned All-OVC honors. Turner would then go on coach for two seasons at fellow OVC member Tennessee State helping the Tigers defense improve from last in the OVC to becoming one of the top units in the league. After some time in the private sector Turner returned to the coaching ranks in 2014 as the linebackers coach at Arkansas Pine Bluff. He most recently worked as the secondary coach and special teams coach at Tarleton State working for current EIU defensive coordinator
Cary Fowler.
