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 (Click To Read)
April 11 - Offensive Line

 A mixture of experience and unknown talent may best describe the Eastern Illinois offensive line room as the Panthers work through spring practice.
 
Former EIU offensive lineman Cole Hoover continues on the Panthers coaching staff moving over from coaching tight ends to serving as the Panthers offensive line coach.  He will be assisted this year by another former EIU offensive lineman as Elkhanan Tanelus will be the Offensive Graduate Assistant for football.
 
"Excited to see the room compete. The room loves to be around each other, they love the game of football, and they love to work. They take pride in the little things, and it's good to see the daily improvements they are making. We have some very talented individuals who we believe can play at a very high level in this conference," said Hoover.  " I have very high expectations for what this room can be, now we get 15 opportunities to show what we are going to be. Very blessed to have Coach Elk on our staff helping this room and myself. He has been a great addition, and I know he will help us be the best group we can be."
 
The experience starts with tackle Nic DiSanto who has been a starter the last two seasons and earned Freshman All-American honors two seasons ago.
 
Joseph Solomon started the final ten games of the season last year spending most of his time at the tackle position opposite of DiSanto. 
 
Sandro Malicevic played in all 12 games making four starts for the year.  
 
Panayiotis Mihalopoulos saw time on the field at both guard and center during the season appearing in nine games as a redshirt freshman.
 
Johnathan Arellano made one start for the year after two starts during his first season with the Panthers in 2022.  Alejandro Arellano (no relation) played in 11 games seeing time primarily on the special teams units. 
 
Returning lineman Carson Fichtel appeared in one game last season while Matthew Allen did not play in any games.
 
Two true freshmen linemen, Rahfeeq Katumbusi and Kwan Johnson, took redshirt seasons in 2024, not appearing in any games.
 
At the semester break EIU added Dante Thompson, Jordan Yandila and Dejan Guzina to the roster.   Thompson was a multiple year starter at FCS member Robert Morris (Pa.) while Yandila transferred in from Adams State.   Guzina is an early entry high school product from Canada where he played for Football Canada North.