The 2008 season ended in a way not expected for Eastern’s football team. The Panthers didn’t make the playoffs for the first time in four years, and the team didn’t finish the season with a better than .500 record for the first time since the 2004 season. Picked to finish third in the Ohio Valley Conference in nearly a dead heat with Jacksonville State and Eastern Kentucky, the Panthers ended the 2008 season with a 5-7 record and a 2-5 mark in conference play.

Eastern head coach Bob Spoo said win or lose in the season finale game, the Panthers would need to retool for next year. Eastern beat Tennessee Tech 38-20 on Nov. 22 in Cookeville, Tenn., to end the season on a high note, but the retooling will still come this off-season.

“We can’t remain status quo, meaning every position has to be really thought out,” Spoo said. “Whether we need to have better players there, or the players we have there are good enough, we have to take a very close look at our team and make some hard decisions.”

Spoo said retooling means Eastern’s coaching staff has to take a hard look at each position and see if an upgrade is needed there or not. If the upgrade at that position is needed, that’s what the coaches have to do to make sure the team improves.

“We’ve got to get ourselves back to where we’re competitive week in and week out and have players that can make plays and win games for us,” Spoo said.

Spoo said he thinks the OVC has improved, and the teams the Panthers will play on a regular basis have those difference-making players. He said some of the difference makers Eastern’s opponents have are transfers down from the Football Bowl Subdivision, but others are younger players that have excelled early in their college careers. Spoo said the Panthers have to find those types of players.

“We’ve got good, solid players, don’t get me wrong, but are they solid enough to compete for a championship?” Spoo said. “That’s a question we have to ask and answer.”

Eastern has one of those difference-making younger players in freshman running back Desmin Ward. Ward had 11 rushing touchdowns this season primarily operating out of the Panthers’ short yardage formations. He had three touchdowns in one game three times this season.

Red-shirt junior quarterback Bodie Reeder said he is excited to see what Ward can do when given the opportunity to carry the ball more during the game.

“We haven’t really had an opportunity to see too much of him because he’s only been used in that short yardage package,” Reeder said. “It will be interesting to see what he can do on normal downs. He’s obviously a specimen. He can run (and) he can move a pile. It’ll be interesting to see what he can do when gets out in space.”

Ward said finishing the season with another three-touchdown performance against Tennessee Tech was important to him.

“It’s just motivation for me to start working hard in the off-season so I can continue to contribute and help out the team,” he said.

Eastern defensive coordinator Roc Bellantoni said some changes should also be expected for the Panthers’ defense. He said the primary need during the off-season and into spring practice would be finding replacements for the graduating seniors like defensive ends Pierre Walters and Donovan Johnson, defensive tackles Jeff Sobol and William Hodor and strong safety Ke’Andre Sams.

Bellantoni said red-shirt freshman defensive tackle D’Angelo McCray would be called on to play more next year. He also said while there are several options available to replace Sams, it would be tough to find one with the same knowledge of the Panthers’ system the Lakeland, Fla., native has.

“Ke’Andre can probably play any position on the field and know what to do,” Bellantoni said. “He’s a really smart football player.”

Bellantoni said the one position group that he would look the closest at would be the Panthers’ linebackers. He said the linebacker situation is up in the air, and the linebackers Eastern has simply have to play better.

“I think quite honestly that position group has been a big part of our problem,” Bellantoni said. “They know that, and they know they have to be better. It’s no secret, so I think the experience factor will help tremendously in that group next year.”

The Panthers consistently played two linebackers who were in their first year as starters. He said red-shirt freshman Cory Leman and sophomores Nick Nasti and Alain Marcelin would be much further along experience-wise next season.

Starting two young linebackers was also troublesome at times, Bellantoni said, because there wasn’t an experienced player to help cover up mistakes made.

“I can’t even begin to describe how bad Donald Thomas was his first year as a starter,” Bellantoni said about the Panthers’ former middle linebacker. “The thing was he had two all-conference guys on either side of him who covered up for a lot of his mistakes.”

Bellantoni said he didn’t think an overhaul to the Panthers’ defensive scheme or many personnel changes would be needed.

“We just need to continue to improve,” he said. “I know we’ll do that in the off-season and in spring practice.”

Scott Richey can be reached at 581-7944 or at srrichey@eiu,edu.