Hundreds, maybe thousands, of players have worn an Eastern jersey while Bob Spoo has been the head coach; however, players will have to adjust soon because next season will be Spoo’s last.

Spoo has coached the Panthers for 24 years and has cemented his place in Eastern coaching history.

He has compiled 142 wins in his time at Eastern to go along with nine Football Championship Subdivision playoff appearances, which ranks fifth all-time.

Spoo ranks fourth in Division I football by having one of the longest tenures at one school.

His reign as head coach will finally come to an end next season, and after a 2-9 season this year, the players and coaches want Spoo to go out on a high note with a 10th career playoff birth.

Sophomore wide receiver Erik Lora said Spoo is a great coach, and he learned a lot from him in the last two seasons.

“He’s been here for over 20 years for a reason. He is a great coach,” Lora said.

Spoo has won coach of the year seven times since he came to Eastern.

In the past 10 seasons, Spoo has entrenched Eastern as a tough team in the FCS. In that time frame, the Panthers have won five Ohio Valley Conference championships and have gone to the playoffs seven times.

Red-shirt senior cornerback Rashad Haynes said Spoo was one of the only college coaches that gave him a chance.

“He is great. He gave me a opportunity to play when other coaches did not,” Haynes said. “The main things I learned from him were hard work, determination and to strive to be the best player possible.”

Spoo has coached a few players who have made the NFL, such as Dallas Cowboy’s quarterback Tony Romo and former NFL defensive tackle John Jurkovic.

Spoo was an assistant coach at Purdue when New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton quarterbacked the Panthers.

The players said the team will be all right in two years without Spoo as the head coach.

“We will need to adapt without him, but I think that we will be fine,” Lora said.

Haynes said the Panthers will still be a good team because of what Spoo did.

“He laid down a solid foundation that the new players and coaches will build off,” Haynes said.

Rob Mortell can be reached at 581-7942 or [email protected].