Follow this week (April 7-11) for Eastern Illinois Football Spring Position Previews with EIU Spring Game set for Saturday, April 26 at 11 a.m. at O'Brien Field.
 
April 7 – Quarterbacks (Click To Read)
April 7 – Safeties (Click To Read)
April 8 – Running Backs (Click To Read)
April 8 – Linebackers (Click To Read)
April 9 – Wide Receivers (Click To Read)
April 9 - Corner Backs (Click To Read)
April 10 - Tight Ends (Click To Read)
April 10 - Special Teams 
 
An area where Eastern Illinois will face some overhaul as the Panthers will feature several new faces in key special teams positions this spring and heading into the fall semester.
 
Gone from last year are EIU's starter punter, kicker and kickoff specialist with only long snapper Brett Galletti returning from last season.   Galletti snapped in 11 games last season serving as the primary long snapper for the punt unit early in the season before taking over long snapping duties for the entire special teams unit late in the year.   He will be joined at the position by Jefferson McKinnon, a mid-semester transfer from Marist College.
 
EIU's solution to replace an All-Conference punter was to bring in an All-America transfer.  Mason Miller was an NAIA All-American last season at Marian University and joined the Panthers at the semester break with just the 2025 fall season available for eligibility.
 
At the kicker position, EIU currently has three kickers on its roster with Drew Schiller having seen some time during the 2024 season.  Nico Carrier did not appear in any games taking a redshirt season while Ruben Popoca also did not appear in any games.
 
Schiller played in four games opening the year as the starting place kicker before suffering an injury and taking a redshirt year under the NCAA's participation rule.  In his four games Schiller was 3-of-7 on field goals and 7-of-7 on extra points winning OVC Freshman of the Week following his performance in the win over Indiana State.
 
On the return end of special teams, Cooper Willman was an All-OVC selection as a returner serving as EIU's primary punt returner.  Late last season he assisted with kickoff returns.   Redshirt freshman Jacarre Fleming had some solid returns in his limited opportunities during four games of action.
 
Position coach Andrew Brady has embraced the group of special teams players and knows the spring is a good time to make progress.
 
"This group of specialists loves their craft and pushes each other to be better every single day. I love getting to work with them and I'm excited to see how we grow over these 15 opportunities this spring," said Brady.