Eastern Illinois football head coach Chris Wilkerson has announced the addition of Mike McClanathan as the Panthers new offensive line coach.
 
McClanathan worked the last two seasons as the offensive line coach and co-offensive coordinator at Saginaw Valley State helping lead the team to winning seasons in both years.
 
During his time at Saginaw Valley, he coached the program's first All-American offensive lineman since 2004 with a total of five offensive linemen earning All-Conference honors over those two seasons.
 
Prior to his time at Saginaw Valley, McClanathan worked for three seasons at Eastern Michigan as a graduate assistant and offensive analyst helping with the offensive line all three seasons.  EMU made three straight bowl games including a win in the 2022 Idaho Potato Bowl, the first bowl win for the Eagles since 1987.   He helped coach a pair of players that attracted NFL attention with Sidy Sow drafted by the New England Patriots and Brian Dooley as an undrafted free agent with the Tennessee Titans.
 
McClanathan played football at Drake University and was a part of two Pioneer Football League championship teams.  He earned his degree from Drake in 2015 and began his coaching career with the Bulldogs as an offensive assistant line coach.  He worked at Drake from 2015-2021 ending his final two years as the offensive line coach and run-game coordinator.  During his time at Drake, he coached 15 All-Conference selections including Eric Saubert who was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in 2017.