Issue date: 3/31/09 Section: Sports

Red-shirt freshman offensive lineman Eric Rettke pushes a blocking sled during practice Monday afternoon at O'Brien Stadium. Monday was the team's first of 15 practices during spring. (Erin Matheny / The Daily Eastern News)

Monday was the first spring practice for the Eastern football team at O'Brien Stadium, and one coach was noticeably absent - Justin Lustig.

Lustig is headed to Louisiana-Lafayette.

The Eastern special teams and running backs coach is going to be the special teams coach for the Ragin' Cajuns, according to Rich Moser, Eastern's director of sports information.

Last year, former Eastern offensive coordinator Jorge Munoz left to be the quarterbacks coach and the passing game coordinator at ULL.

The Ragin' Cajuns finished 6-6 overall and 5-2 in the Sun Belt Conference.

The job for Eastern's special teams coordinator has been posted on the NCAA Web site.


Reeder works with new receivers

Eastern red-shirt junior quarterback Bodie Reeder will work with new receivers this season.

Reeder will now work with red-shirt sophomore wide receiver D.J. Brown and red-shirt freshman wide receiver Von Wise.

Reeder said it would be interesting to see the battle for every position.

The Panthers are coming off a 5-7 season after missing the playoffs for the first time in three seasons.

"We obviously have nothing to lose," Reeder said. "We can just play football. There's no monkey on our back this year."


Walters to visit with Chargers

Former Eastern defensive end Pierre Walters is headed to San Diego.

Walters is going to have an in-depth physical exam and then have a "meet-and-greet" with the Chargers on April 8.

He got a call from his agent on Wednesday and he will meet with the front-office personnel and will meet with a position coach.

"It's awesome," Walters said. "It's not going to hit me until I touch down in California. It makes me feel special that they're interested."

Walters pulled his hamstring on March 12 at Northwestern's Pro Day, but that injury has healed quickly.

"I was a little bit down about my hamstring," Walters said. "I've been running around doing some drills. It's not a huge concern. (The invite) tells me that there are a lot of scouts out there that are men of their words."


Kevin Murphy can be reached at 581-7944 or at kjmurphy@eiu.edu.

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