It was not an ordinary day at the office over at O’Brien Stadium.

“I walked into work today and except for maybe gamedays, I never felt the same buzz around the office,” defensive coordinator Roc Bellantoni said.

If the Indianapolis Colts were to set up shop in Charleston for their training camp, it would benefit Eastern’s football program in several ways, including learning directly from the professionals.

“Hopefully the college coaches can come in to our meetings and learn from us,” Indianapolis head coach Tony Dungy said.

The feeling is Dungy can teach the Panther coaching staff much about the specifics of the game, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

Eastern head football coach Bob Spoo ran across the former Tampa Bay coach when Dungy was quarterbacking the Minnesota Golden Gophers from 1973-76. At that time, Spoo was the University of Wisconsin’s quarterbacks coach.

“Coach Dungy and I go way back, when I was at Wisconsin and Purdue he was at Minnesota and we went up against each other at least once a year,” Spoo said. “He’s everything that they say he is. He’s a pleasant man and an all around great person.”

Dungy began his coaching career at his alma mater in 1980. The Spoo-Dungy relationship continued.

Dungy broke into the NFL with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the mid 1980s as a defensive coordinator. He then latched onto the Minnesota Vikings with the same position from 1992-95.

After his stint with the Vikings, Dungy landed the Tampa Bay head coaching job in 1996 and was let go in 2001 after four playoff appearances in his six years at the helm.

In 2002, Dungy went to the Colts and led them to the playoffs. Dungy followed his 2002 playoff appearance with a repeat trip to the postseason in 2003.

Since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger, only 10 teams have scored as many as seven defensive touchdowns in a season. Four of those have come under Dungy’s guidance.

Bellantoni said he has always admired Dungy’s defensive philosophy and the way he is able to scheme gameplans.

“I’m excited to have him here,” Bellantoni said. “I’d like to be able to have the chance to copy what he has done. I’m interested in figuring out why they do things and how they fix things when they have problems.”

According to the coaching staff, the perception NFL scouts have of Eastern is the program could change for the positive.

“I think the players would get something out of watching the pros perform,” Spoo said. “They already idolize them, but seeing them live is something different.”

Spoo said the presence of an NFL team on a college campus where a top high school recruit is thinking about attending can be a huge advantage when it comes time for that recruit to decide what college he will play for.

He said a few years back the St. Louis Rams were holding their training camp at Western Illinois University. There was an offensive lineman both Eastern and Western were recruiting. The lineman eventually chose the Leathernecks and cited the presence of an NFL team as one of the biggest reasons for heading to Macomb.

Spoo and the entire Eastern staff hope the Panthers can acquire that advantage.