Central Michigan is ranked 9th in the MAC preseason poll but expect to make Mt. Pleasant a tough place to play.
DETROIT (WJRT) – Central Michigan’s football team is ranked ninth in the MAC preseason coaches poll. Under first-year head coach Matt Drinkall, player optimism is as high as it’s been in several years.
“He’s brought a lot of change into our program already, and bringing the guys together, bringing the camaraderie together in the locker room, he’s been great,” senior quarterback Joe Labas said.
Labas is one of more than two dozen seniors to return to the program after Drinkall was hired from Army’s coaching staff.
“[There] was definitely some uncertainty after Coach Mac [Jim McElwain] leaving and all that, but once Coach Drinkall came in and we knew who the guy was going to be, we felt really comfortable with him,” Labas said.
Central Michigan last made it to the MAC championship game in 2019. It was a promising start to the McElwain era, one that had stalled in recent years. Over the past three seasons, the Chips are 8-16 in conference play.
Drinkall is not someone to make bold proclamations about what his team will accomplish in 2025. He says he will measure success in qualitative ways in his first season at the helm.
Central Michigan’s first-year head football coach laid out his vision for the Chippewas in 2025.
“Be really good at all of the things you control by yourself, showing up to things on time and just doing everything with a sense of purpose,” Drinkall said. “We have 25 seniors that have been great leaders that are starved for success and have done everything that we’ve asked and then some.”
Athletic director Amy Folan says Drinkall’s genuine enthusiasm about the sport of football and his concern for the wellbeing of CMU’s student-athletes made him the right man for the job.
“I think we both know the expectation at CMU is you win championships, so that’s what we want to see,” Folan said. “We know sometimes that takes time when you’re building, but we don’t have a lot of time, so we both know what we’re here to do.”
Senior linebacker Jordan Kwiatkowski, a Sterling Heights native, says the team is as fired up as he can remember during his time with the Chippewas.
“When it’s those dark, cold nights, we just want Central Michigan to be as physical as we can, no matter how cold it is, no matter if it’s a blizzard out, raining out, we just want to be physical,” Kwiatkowski said.
The Chippewas open their season with three straight road games against San Jose State, Pitt and Michigan before their home opener on September 20 against Wagner.
“It’s the best energy we’ve felt in a while, so it’s exciting to play football again.”
