Central Michigan

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Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan to play at Ford Field in 2026our readThe Eastern Michigan rivalry

Mid-American · Matt Drinkall, year 2 (8-7) · Kelly/Shorts Stadium · 30,255 · 19,005 avg in 2026

The nationunrankedAP / Coaches
The model#116 CFB ZeitgeistSP+ #126 (-20.0) · FPI #134
The marketCentral Michigan by 1.5vs Wyoming · our model 57% Central Michigan · a number, not a pick

LastW 13–10 vs Colgate · Sat Sep 12 · Mayson Hitchens 1 INT, 10 tackles

Nextvs Wyoming · Sat Sep 19 · 1 pm ET · Kelly/Shorts Stadium · Central Michigan by 1.5 · series 1-2, last win 2002 · Game preview

Updated Tue Sep 15 · through week 2

Zeitgeist statureRegional Program IV#130 all-time– holding
one line from Regional Program III
The era · 2014 through 2025

The CFP Era

12 seasons inside the CFP era, no bids yet — the era the program is still trying to break into.

Era record 68-77 12 seasons
Best season 8-4 2021
TRAJECTORY · quality-score line · AP rank dotted · CFP bids marked · coach regimes ribboned
Program Quality AP Rank (inverted) CFP Appearance
'14'16'18'20'22'24NOW
CHAPTERS · 12 seasons · tap to open the archive
'14 7-6 '15 7-6 '16 6-7 '17 8-5 '18 1-11 '19 8-6 '20 — '21 8-4 '22 4-8 '23 5-7 '24 4-8 '25 7-6

Central Michigan's 2014–2025 record is 68-77. The era is still being written; the CFP line is the one the program is arguing for.

Era win %
.468
Ranked seasons (AP)
0/12
Best AP finish
—

Program outlook

Central Michigan won three MAC titles in four years under two coaches who both left for bigger jobs — and produced an NFL star receiver along the way. The program built it. Other places got to keep it.

Read the full essay — 3 more paragraphs

Brian Kelly won a MAC title at Central Michigan. Then he left for Cincinnati, and eventually Notre Dame, and eventually LSU. Butch Jones took over, won two more MAC titles (2007 and 2009), and then he left too — for Cincinnati, and eventually Tennessee. Three championships in four years, and both architects moved on to Power-conference careers almost as soon as the ink dried.

The best of those teams was 2009: a 20-10 win over Ohio for the title, quarterback Dan LeFevour running the show (3,438 passing yards, 24 touchdowns, plus 713 rushing yards and 15 more scores on the ground that season alone), and receiver Antonio Brown extending a 40-game catch streak and crossing 1,000 receiving yards for the third season running — in the championship game itself. Brown went on to become one of the most productive wide receivers in the NFL for a stretch of years, which means the Chippewas can point to a real, honest-to-god NFL star who wore maroon and gold before anyone outside Mount Pleasant knew the name.

Matt Drinkall took over in December 2024 after six seasons at Army, where he'd helped build an 81-56 record and three bowl appearances, and his first Central Michigan team went 7-6 (5-3 MAC) in 2025 — a solid debut in a program that knows exactly what a real coaching era looks like, and knows exactly how fast a good one can leave.

On the field

The Kelly/Jones era set the template — up-tempo, quarterback-driven football built around a dual-threat centerpiece like LeFevour — and every era since has been measured against whether it can find that same identity again.

program outlook · as of 2026-07-03

All-time record · Central Michigan

Central Michigan has won 52% of its games since 1931 — 65% at home, 41% on the road.

320-286-11 all-time · 68 seasons · 1931–2026

Home 185-91-7
Away 130-183-4
Neutral 5-12
4 g 1930s
2 g 1940s
6 g 1960s
74% 1970s
62% 1980s
48% 1990s
49% 2000s
44% 2010s
47% 2020s

Coaching Era · Central Michigan

Matt Drinkall

Matt Drinkall in year 2 of the rebuild. The methodology is taking shape.

Era Matt Drinkall · 2025–presentPrev: Jim McElwain (2019–2024)OC: co-Jim Chapin / co-Derek FultonPrev OC: Jim Chapin (2024)DC: Sean CroninPrev DC: Robb Akey (2019–2024)
The full CFP-era story →The full coaching lineage →
2 years · era

Program memory

What this program never forgets

Most weeks vanish. These didn’t.

2009 MAC Championship

Central Michigan beats Ohio 20-10 for the MAC title behind Dan LeFevour and Antonio Brown, capping a three-titles-in-four-years run

NFL Draft Pipeline

2022–2025

Central Michigan has sent 4 players to the NFL Draft since 2022 — none in the first round.

Developing. Pipeline emerging.

4 picks · 0 in round 1
#57 Luke Goedeke Offensive Tackle · 2022 · Tampa Bay
#77 Bernhard Raimann Offensive Tackle · 2022 · Indianapolis
#229 Donte Kent Cornerback · 2025 · Pittsburgh · #238/327 final season
#108 all-time · 2 first-round picksthe talent factory →

More in this tab

Ladder finishHow far up the ladder this season got.

Season standing · 2026 · 1-1

Central Michigan is 1-1 and unranked in the season's first weeks.

Even or better through the season's first weeks. The resume is still forming.

Sub-FBSBuildingBowlRankedContenderPlayoff
Coaching historyEvery hire and departure on record, not just the current era.

Coaching history

  • Hired Matt Drinkall2025
  • Jim McElwain departs33-36, 6 seasons
  • Hired Jim McElwain2019
  • John Bonamego departs22-29, 4 seasons
  • Hired John Bonamego2015
  • Dan Enos departs26-36, 5 seasons
  • Hired Dan Enos2010
  • Butch Jones departs27-13, 3 seasons
Coordinator lineageOffense and defense under each coordinator.

Unit lineage

Central Michigan’s offense and defense, by coordinator

FBS-relative efficiency percentile per season (2014–2026), same population as the Coordinator Mirror board. Dashed vertical lines mark a coordinator change.

Offense2014–2026
2014201620182020202220242026
2014–2016 · Morris Watts2017–2018 · Chris Ostrowsky2019–2020 · Charlie Frye2021 · Kevin Barbay2022–2023 · Paul Petrino2024 · Jim Chapin2025–2026 · Jim Chapin / co-Derek Fulton
Defense2014–2026
2014201620182020202220242026
2014 · Joe Tumpkin2015–2018 · Greg Colby2019–2024 · Robb Akey2025–2026 · Sean Cronin
Elite (≥70th pct)AveragePoor (≤30th pct)
Gameday customsThe gameday customs unique to this program.

Rituals

Three gameday rituals — the ones outsiders never quite catch.

The Brian Kelly / Butch Jones MAC Titles (2006-2009)

since 2006

more

Brian Kelly and Butch Jones combined for three MAC Championships in four years (2006, 2007, 2009) before both left for bigger jobs -- Kelly eventually to Notre Dame and LSU, Jones to Cincinnati and Tennessee. Central Michigan's modern coaching-pipeline reputation traces directly to this stretch.

The 2009 MAC Championship: LeFevour and Brown

since 2009

more

The 2009 team beat Ohio 20-10 for the MAC title behind quarterback Dan LeFevour (3,438 passing yards, 24 TD, plus 713 rushing yards and 15 rushing TD) and All-American receiver Antonio Brown, who extended a 40-game catch streak and posted his third straight 1,000-yard receiving season in the title game itself. Brown went on to become one of the most productive wide receivers of his NFL generation.

Kelly/Shorts Stadium in Maroon and Gold

since 1972

more

The Chippewas play in maroon and gold at Kelly/Shorts Stadium in Mount Pleasant, Michigan -- the program's identity colors since the school's founding-era athletics branding.

Cultural identityWhat college football loses if this program didn't exist.
BowlsEvery bowl this program's played, and how it did.

Bowl / Postseason Ledger

Recent postseason (2014-2025): 1-6

Most recent: 2025 — loss 34-7 (away). Last 5 postseason: 1-4.

20252021201920172016
Reddit blowupsThe plays that blew up on r/CFB.

r/cfb moments

149
[Postgame Thread] Central Michigan Defeats Buffalo 31-27
Nov 2022 · r/cfb
121
[Postgame Thread] LSU Defeats Central Michigan 49-21
Sep 2021 · r/cfb

All-time top community posts · ranked by upvotes

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