Chris Wilkerson

Eastern Illinois football is bringing one of its own back home as Panthers Athletic Director Tom Michael has announced the hiring of Chris Wilkerson as the 26h head coach in EIU football history. Wilkerson played for the Panthers from 1991-94 earning his degree from EIU in 1995. He began his coaching career on the staff of Bob Spoo working with the Panthers from 1995-2001. He led the special teams unit all seven years and also had stints as defensive coordinator, linebackers coach and defensive line coach. The Panthers reached the NCAA FCS playoffs four times and won a pair of conference championships during his tenure. Wilkerson's defenses and special teams were regularly ranked in the national top 20 in numerous categories.

Wilkerson came to EIU after a successful run as the head coach at the University of Chicago where he has posted winning seasons in seven of his eight seasons including an 8-2 record this past season with an offense that featured the leading rusher in Division III football. He has a 51-27 record in nine seasons as the UChicago head coach with the team not competing during the 2020 season due to COVID-19.

His teams have excelled on the field and in the class room at UChicago since Wilkerson took over the program in 2013. His first season the Maroons posted a 6-4 record including the second 4-0 start to a season in the program's modern era. He has guided the school through three different conference affiliations with a 39-15 record in conference play. In all Wilkerson has coached three Division III All-Americans, five Academic All-Americans, nine All-Region selections, four Conference Players of the Year and 94 All-Conference selections during his time at UChicago.

Prior to his arrival at UChicago, he previously served on Dartmouth College's coaching staff from 2005-13 and was named Associate Head Coach in 2007. During his tenure at Dartmouth, Wilkerson's broad range of responsibilities included defensive coordinator, special teams coordinator, running backs coach, linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator. The team was ranked in the top 10 nationally in a number of categories, including punt return average, blocked kicks, individual rushing average and fewest fumbles lost. His pass defense ranked 14th in the country in his debut season. Wilkerson coached the defense and special teams at San Jose State University from 2002-04. In 2003, he was a nominee for the Broyles Award, given annually to the nation's top assistant coach.

Wilkerson and his wife, Sharna (a former EIU softball player), have three children – Isabella, Peyton and Charlotte.