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 In his new role, Brunner is responsible for the day-to-day
operations of the program, handling team logistics, team schedules,
team travel, practice preparation, overseeing the football budget as
well as supervising the Redbirds’ recruiting efforts and support
staff.
“Like a lot of former players, Eric missed the game and wanted to
get back involved on the coaching side,” Spack said. “He was excited
to get in on the ground level and learn the profession from the
administrative side first. He is very smart, understands the game of
football and is great with numbers, coming from his work in
accounting. As a player, Eric was a very detail-oriented guy, and
that will suit him well in this role. It’s a great fit for us, and
his pride and passion for Illinois State will show through in his
day-to-day duties.”
Brunner graduated from Illinois State with a bachelor’s degree in
accounting in December of 2011. He then went on to work for Deloitte
in Milwaukee for two years and later for KPMG in Chicago.
During his playing career, Brunner was a two-time All-Missouri
Valley Football Conference First-Team selection and MVFC
All-Academic First-Team Selection. The Greendale, Wis., native
started in the final 33-consecutive games of his career at defensive
tackle for the Redbirds and recorded 176 tackles, 12 sacks and 32.5
tackles-for-loss in his four-year career from 2008-11.
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As a senior in 2011, Brunner was the leader of the Redbird defense
which led the conference in total defense (294.8 ypg). One of four
team captains, he set career highs with 4.5 sacks and 13
tackles-for-loss, which tied for fifth in the conference and ranked
third on the team with 55 tackles. He also added a forced fumble,
blocked a kick, recovered three fumbles, broke up two passes and
tallied three quarterback hurries.
[Text received; MICHAEL WILLIAMS,
ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY]
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