1981 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team

The 1981 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team represented Eastern Illinois University as a member of the Association of Mid-Continent Universities during the 1981 NCAA Division I-AA football season, and completed the 80th season of Panther football. The Panthers were led by fourth-year head coach Darrell Mudra and played their home games at O'Brien Stadium in Charleston, Illinois. Eastern Illinois finished the season with an overall record of 7–4 and shared the conference title with Northern Iowa and Western Illinois.