Eastern Illinois Panthers Football - by Dan Verdun (Hardcover)

About the Book

Eastern Illinois Panthers Football chronicles the legend and lore of this storied program, from the early days under coach and university-auditor-of-accounting Otis Caldwell, to today's perennial Ohio Valley Conference powerhouse. Sports historian Dan Verdun sets down amazing details about EIU's 15 FCS playoff appearances, 7 OVC championships...

Book Synopsis

Eastern Illinois Panthers Football chronicles the legend and lore of this storied program, from the early days under coach and university-auditor-of-accounting Otis Caldwell, to today's perennial Ohio Valley Conference powerhouse. Sports historian Dan Verdun sets down amazing details about EIU's 15 FCS playoff appearances, 7 OVC championships, 3 NFL head coaches, 2 Walter Payton Award winners, and the 1978 NCAA Division II national championship.

Panther fans will recognize the names of Mike Shanahan, Darrell Mudra, Jeff Gossett, Sean Payton, Bob Spoo and Tony Romo, and many others. Dan Verdun tells these men's stories from extensive research and personal interviews. Find out fascinating details about key players and coaches - how they arrived at EIU, what they accomplished in their time wearing the blue and gray, as well as the paths their lives took once they played their last game and graduation day arrived.

The greatest moments in EIU Panther football glory are recounted with fresh new insight. Read about the legendary days of quarterback Bill Glenn, who found success in the NFL of the 1940s. Relive the dominance and get the inside stories of the greatest teams in EIU football history. They're all here: the 1978 NCAA Division-II national champions, the 1980 runner-ups, the quarterfinalist 1982, 1986, 1989, and 2013 teams along with the 1995 and 2001 conference champions and playoff qualifiers.

With far-ranging appeal, Eastern Illinois Panthers Football will interest those who identify as Panthers as well as sports fans who want to discover the merits of this fine football program. Focused on team members and their coaches over the entire history of EIU football, this book will inform and entertain all age groups.

Review Quotes

Dan Verdun has written a remarkable book in bringing to life the unbelievable rise of EIU football to the national stage.

-Jim Edgar, former Illinois governor and EIU Class of 1968

The history of Eastern Illinois football is well captured by Dan Verdun's book. I have many great memories and have developed numerous relationships that I still maintain today from my time at Eastern Illinois. This book brings that history and those memories back to life for me.

-Sean Payton, Head Coach Super Bowl XLIV Champion New Orleans Saints

Eastern Illinois football has risen from near extinction to national prominence and Dan Verdun captures that rise.

-Mike Bradd, Eastern play-by-play announcer

EIU has become a top notch college program while doing things the right way and this book does an unbelievable job of capturing that journey.--Jimmy Garoppolo, 2013 Walter Payton Award Winner

Winning my first Super Bowl was incredibly exciting. Believe me when I say I was just as excited when the 1978 Panther team won the National Championship!--Ted Petersen, former Eastern and Pittsburgh Steelers lineman.--My job is to know about Eastern Illinois football, but I learned plenty I didn't know from Dan Verdun's book. Plus, the stories I already knew were fun to relive and will be for EIU fans as well.--Brian Nielsen, Mattoon Journal Gazette/Charleston Times-Courier sports editor

Winning my first Super Bowl was incredibly exciting. Believe me when I say I was just as excited when the 1978 Panther team won the National Championship! -Ted Petersen, former EIU and Pittsburgh Steelers lineman What Eastern has done is amazing. They are the lost cousin out there. What they've produced over the years down there in Charleston is really incredible. -Len Ziehm, longtime Chicago Sun-Times college football writer Eastern Illinois football has produced some of the most compelling figures in sports, with very little fanfare nationally. This book can help correct that. It's a better story than people realize. Also: Like everyone, I can't stop saying 'Bob Spoo.' -Will Leitch, Founder of Deadspin & Mattoon native

About the Author

Dan Verdun is a sports journalist/historian and a middle school teacher in Naperville, IL. He earned his bachelor's degrees in journalism and history at Eastern Illinois University and his master's degree in curriculum and instruction at Northern Illinois University. He is author of Northern Illinois Huskies Football.