Aug. 30 Southern Illinois 6:30 pm Sept. 8 at Western Michigan 6 pm Sept. 15 at Illinois State 1 pm Sept. 22 • Murray State 6:30 pm Sept. 29 • Austin Peay 1:30 pm Oct. 6 • at UT Martin 2 pm Oct. 13 • Jacksonville State 1:30 pm Oct. 20 Open Date Oct. 27 • at Eastern Kentucky 11 am Nov. 3 • at Tennessee Tech 1:30 pm Nov. 10 • Southeast Missouri 11 am Nov. 17 at Central Arkansas 3 pm • Ohio Valley Conference Games Home Games at O'Brien Field EASTERN ILLINOIS FOOTBALL... ...13-TIME NCAA FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYOFF PARTICIPANT THIS IS EIU FOOTBALL 13 FCS PLAYOFF APPEARANCES HEAD COACH DINO BABERS A new era of Eastern Illinois football begins as Dino Babers was hired as the 22nd head coach THE COACH BABERS FILE in Eastern Illinois University football history. He was announced as the new head coach by EIU EDUCATION University President Dr. William Perry and athletic director Barbara Burke before a large crowd in University of Hawai'i ....................Bachelor's, 1984 the EIU University Ball Room on Dec. 9, 2011. Arizona State University ................. Masters, 1988 Babers most recently served the special teams coordinator and wide receivers coach at Baylor University where the Bears featured one of the most explosive offenses in the nation. PLAYING CAREER With a smile on his face, Babers accepted the job by simply saying he was humbled to have Hawai'i • .............. 4-year starter (1979-80, 82-83) been considered and selected to be the head coach at Eastern Illinois following in the footsteps of Signed free agent contract with BC Lions (CFL) a man who first hired him on the EIU staff back in 1987, Bob Spoo. “I am humbled to be your new head football coach. I love where I am at and I can’t wait to get COACHING CAREER where we are going,” Babers said. “I can’t wait to see the smiles on the faces of the players, the Dec. 9, 2011-present . Eastern Illinois University community and this great academic institution on the things we are going to do on and off the field. Head Coach We are going to set this community on fire.” 2008-11 ........ Baylor (Receivers & Special Teams) One of the things that attracted Babers to the administration at Eastern Illinois was the type of 2004-07 ................ UCLA (Assistant Head Coach) man he is and the type of offense he planned on running. 2003 .................................. Pittsburgh (Assistant) “We are excited about a new era of Panther football,” Burke said. “We were fortunate to have 2001-02 ........ Texas A&M (Offensive Coordinator) a great pool of candidates to select from. It was not an easy decision. I am glad it wasn’t easy, it 1995-00 ...... Arizona (Off. Cord./Assistant Coach) shows that people care about this program and EIU. When I spoke to people around the nation, two 1994 ......................... San Diego State (Assistant) things kept coming up about Dino Babers. 1.) He is a man of outstanding character. 2.) He has a 1991-93 ................................... Purdue (Assistant) great offensive football mind. Lastly one person I respect called me and said I would be crazy not 1990 ....................... Northern Arizona (Assistant) to hire Dino.” 1988-89 ......................................UNLV (Assistant) With Babers on the staff Baylor’s explosive offense ranked second in the nation in 2011 in 1987 ...........................Eastern Illinois (Assistant) total offense as he helped coach 2011 Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III. In 2010, Baylor’s 1985-86 ............... Arizona State (Graduate Asst.) offensive unit ranked 12th in the nation in total offense. As the wide receivers coach, Babers 1984 ........................ (Graduate Assistant) Hawai'i coached All-Big 12 receiver David Gettis, a 2010 draft pick of the Carolina Panthers. Babers coached four seasons at Baylor helping head coach Art Briles rebuild the program. BOWL GAMES AS A COACH Baylor made its second straight bowl game appearance with a win over Washington in the Alamo 2011 - Alamo Bowl (Baylor) Bowl in 2011. In 2010 Baylor played Illinois in the Texas Bowl. 2010 - Texas Bowl (Baylor) “He will be a great leader of your football program,” Briles said. “He is an outstanding man, 2007 - Las Vegas Bowl (UCLA) a great father and husband.” 2006 - Emerald Bowl (UCLA) 2005 - Sun Bowl (UCLA) Babers joined the Baylor program after four seasons as the assistant head coach at UCLA 2004 - Las Vegas Bowl (UCLA) on the staff of Karl Dorrell. At UCLA Babers helped coach the Bruins to four straight bowl 2003 - Continental Tire Bowl (Pittsburgh) appearances. 2001 - Galleryfurniture.com Bowl (Texas A&M) “He is a tremendous coach that brings a wealth of experience,” said Dorrell. “He has coached 1998 - Holiday Bowl (Arizona) every position on offense. As a recruiter he is energetic and can make that connection to players.” 1997 - Insight.com Bowl (Arizona) Babers mentioned that he would have a national base for recruiting with the primary emphasis on 1987 - Rose Bowl (Arizona State) winning Illinois and the bordering states. He thanked the EIU administration for its support of that 1985 - Holiday Bowl (Arizona State) vision and the financial backing to have that national recruiting philosophy. “The formula for success is going to follow the game plan we started at Baylor. We have to start Coached 23 players who played in the NFL with the product, and the product is the players,” Babers added. “We want to attack them not only on the field from a strength and development standpoint, but also socially, morally and spiritually. All of those things are involved to making sure we get the best person we can on the football field.” Babers continued by saying “After that we are going to get into the community and get them behind us. We are going to play an exciting brand of football. It is something people are going to want to come out and see and it’s going to be the thing to do on Saturdays. If you’re not watching us, then you’re not in the place where all the action is.” Prior to his time at UCLA, Babers spent one season at Pittsburgh following offensive coordinator stints at Texas A&M and Arizona. In 1998 he helped Arizona post a 12-1 record with a number four national ranking. In 1999 his offensive unit ranked third in the nation in total offense at 471.9 yards per game. Babers entered the coaching profession as a graduate assistant at Hawai’i for one season and for two years as a graduate assistant at Arizona State. ASU earned a trip the Rose Bowl following the 1986 season. He was hired as a part of Bob Spoo’s first staff at Eastern Illinois in 1987. Babers mentioned that EIU was a place that he always thought might be a head coaching destination. “All during my career I have always circled Eastern Illinois on my resume and said to myself – If that job ever came open I would love to be considered to be the next head coach of that program.” Babers then joked by saying “it only took 25 years for Coach Spoo to retire for that opening to occur. That is a tribute to the type of program he has built here and the success they have been able to have.” Babers has had success at every stop of his coaching career. He has coached 23 former players who eventually played in the National Football League during his more than 25 years in the college coaching profession. A native of San Diego, Calif., Babers was a four-year starter at Hawai’i earned All-Western Athletic Conference Academic honors. He was a free agent signee with the British Columbia Lions of the Canadian Football League when an injury in camp ended his professional career. He earned his undergraduate degree from Hawai’i in 1984 and a masters degree from Arizona State in 1988. He and his wife Susan have four daughters – Breeahnah, Tasha, Jazzmin and Paris. WWW.EIUPANTHERS.COM EASTERN ILLINOIS FOOTBALL 1 ASSISTANT COACHES STERLIN GILBERT KIM McCLOUD Offensive Coordinator & Quarterbacks Defensive Coordinator Alma Mater: Angelo State, 2002 Alma Mater: Hawai'i, 1991 Years at EIU: 1st year Years at EIU: 1st year Sterlin Gilbert begins his first season as an Kim McCloud enters his first season as the assistant coach on head coach Dino Baber’s defensive coordinator on head coach Dino Eastern Illinois staff. Gilbert will serve as the Babers Eastern Illinois staff. McCloud and Panthers quarterback coach and offensive Babers previously worked together on the coordinator. staff at Baylor University where McCloud Gilbert comes to EIU following a coached the secondary from 2008-2010. successful career as a prep coach in Texas. McCloud comes to EIU following one season Most recently he served as the offensive as the defensive backs coach at Akron. coordinator & quarterback coach at Temple High School where the McCloud has been in the collegiate coaching profession for more team advanced to the Texas Class 5-AAAAA playoffs. than a decade with post-season appearances at Baylor, Idaho, Missouri Prior to joining the staff at Temple HS, Gilbert served as the and Nevada. head coach at San Angelo Lake View High School for three seasons At Baylor he helped coach an All-Big 12 safety in 2009 and 2010 (2008-10). Gilbert rebuilt a program that had won only three games in while helping the Bears make an appearance in the Texas Bowl in 2010. three years prior to his arrival to a team that won the 2008 Bi-District Byron Lander was All-Big 12 in 2010 while Jordan Lake was All-Big 12 Championship and the school’s first playoff win in 12 years.