With the sun rising, Eastern men’s soccer players prepare for practice.

As the players enter O’Brien Field, three members of the coaching staff are passing the ball between themselves. To the eight returning players, this year isn’t the first time they’ve seen these particular people kick a ball.

PJ Allen is receiving a pass from Lucas Santos, who is getting a driven pass from Sam Eccles that would trim the grass underneath it if it wasn’t skidding across artificial turf. Santos isn’t making it east on Eccles, who runs to retrieve the return pass with an ear-to-ear smile on his face.

All three are very familiar with the program, as all three were players for Eastern in the last two seasons.

Having former players on the coaching staff is crucial for first-year head coach Ruy Vaz, because he says those three know what it takes to be an Eastern soccer player more than anyone else on the staff.

“I think having three guys that were already part of the program, and the culture is very important, so that the players are receiving information from people who actually know and feel what it is to be a part of EIU,” Vaz said.

Allen is the most experienced of the three. He was retained as the only other coach from Josh Oakley’s staff after last season. The other two played for Eastern last season.

All three of them, along with four others, are volunteer coaches on Vaz’s nine-person coaching staff.

“We have a big roster, and I don’t want any player to be left out,” Vaz said. “I want every single player to have as many touches as possible of the ball, because with a big roster, if you just have one or two coaches, it’s difficult.”

Santos was a defender on the team last season and also played for Vaz during his time as a junior college player.

Eccles, who was the starting striker and a team captain last season, feels that his leadership and communication skills translate the best from his playing career to coaching. Vaz says Eccles helps coach the team on their finishing ability as well as better understanding the movement associated with being a forward.

Moving into a coaching role has been an up and down experience for Eccles, who at the moment isn’t planning to pursue a career in coaching but said it’s a possible option down the road.

“It’s hard to handle sometimes as I still miss playing,” Eccles said. “But still being involved with the team and being able to plan and run some aspects of practice has been very helpful for the transition.”

As the only assistant on the staff last season, Allen says there’s a difference in the organization from last year to this year, and while he acknowledged that being the only assistant coach last season gave him valuable hands-on experience, he said that it’s nice to have the assistant coach duties a little more spread out.

“I think it just makes practice more proficient and it’s more professional,” Allen said.

Allen was a player in 2023, and said it took him a year to make the adjustment from thinking like a player to thinking like a coach. He said Eccles and Santos may be experiencing that challenge as well, but said they’re both adding great insight and garnering the respect from this year’s players, some of whom they shared a shirt with last season.

Vaz’s staff is complete with goalkeepers coach Rafeal Furlani, performance coach Valentine Iheanyiogu, and student assistant Andres Villamontes.

Vaz said a full-time assistant coach is in the works, and added that Eastern has been very supportive of the men’s soccer program.

Eastern plays its final non-conference game of the regular season Sunday at Central Arkansas.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

Gabe Newman can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected].