Eastern Illinois head coach Bob Spoo lost a staff assistant and a neighbor on the same day.

Panthers assistant head coach and offensive coordinator Roy Wittke was named Monday as the new quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator at the University of Arkansas after spending the past 13 seasons at Eastern under Spoo.

“The most difficult part of the decision is that he’s been more than a boss,” Wittke said. “He’s been my best friend for 13 years.”

“Our coaching relationship went beyond losing an assistant,” Spoo said. “Toda, I lost a really good friend.”

Wittke will be joining Razorbacks head coach Houston Nutt ,who is a former head coach of Ohio Valley Conference member Murray State. Nutt currently holds a 39-23 record in a 5-year period in Fayetteville. Last season, the Razorbacks finished with a (9-5) record, qualified for the SEC Championship game and earned a berth in the 2003 Motor City Bowl.

“To be able to able to put yourself in a traditionally rich program that is nationally recognized and ranked every year is a dream come true,” Wittke said. “There’s not a lot of programs like that out there.”

However, Nutt has said that he wants to open up the offense after Arkansas finished last in the Southeastern conference in passing.

“We’ve touched on that before but when coach Nutt was at Murray State, he was known for throwing the ball,” Wittke said. “That’s part of the challenge in the opportunity at Arkansas.”

The bizarre component of this hiring was that Wittke didn’t personally interview for the position with Nutt until Sunday because their schedules never could come together. Wittke beat out Louisiana Tech offensive coordinator Conroy Hines and an Arkansas area high school head coach.

“We have gotten to know him through our camps and his track record speaks for itself,” Nutt said. “He is an outstanding coach and a great recruiter.”

In his 13 seasons at Eastern, Wittke coached six quarterbacks that received all-conference honors including 2002 Walter Payton Award winner and first-team All-American signal caller Tony Romo. More importantly, he also served as the Panthers recruiting coordinator and academic liaison.

“He wore many hats while he was here and that’s what made him a deeply loyal coach that I could trust,” Spoo said. “I can’t tell you how much he’s meant to me.”

In his tenure with coach Spoo, the Panthers compiled a record of 82-65-1 including a 25-10 mark in the last three campaigns.

“I just hope young coaches in our profession get a chance to work for coach Spoo becuase I wouldn’t trade my years at Eastern for anything,” Wittke said.

Last season, Wittke became nationally recognized after receiving the 2002 American Football Coaches Association Division I-AA Assistant Coach of the Year award. Wittke earned the award after leading an Eastern offense that ranked fourth in the nation in scoring offense and fifth in total offense.

“He is absoultely deserving of this opportunity,” Spoo said. “He’s the best coach I’ve ever worked with.”

Wittke hinted that it would be hard to not work with Spoo anymore.

“I can’t imagine not going into the office and not seeing coach Spoo,” he said.

Wittke felt terrible about not being about to speak to the team as a group for one final time.

“That’s the biggest regret I have and I truely apologize for that,” Wittke said, “but with recruiting, I simply wasn’t able to talk about it.”

Spoo now must turn his attention to quickly finding a replacement for Wittke, and seems fairly confident that a decision will be made soon.

“There’s a lot of good coaches out there,” Spoo said. “Somebody else will be able to come in and do a fine job.”