Central Michigan University Athletics
Quick Lane Bowl Welcomes Chippewas, Minnesota
12/9/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
DETROIT - There are an awful lot of similarities in the Central Michigan and Minnesota football programs.
And it goes much deeper than their shared school colors, maroon and gold.
"It's a little bit of a parallel in what we've gone through," first-year CMU coach John Bonamego said Wednesday during an introductory press conference for the Quick Lane Bowl at Ford Field. "Our team has gone through a tremendous amount of adversity this year as has Minnesota."
In June, the Chippewas dealt with the deaths of former player Derrick Nash and team physician Dr. Jason Davenport, and with Bonamego's cancer diagnosis and ensuing treatment.
Minnesota coach Jerry Kill retired on Oct. 28 because of health concerns. Tracey Claeys, Kill's longtime assistant, was named the Gophers' interim coach when Kill retired. He has since been named the permanent head coach.
The two teams will meet in the Quick Lane Bowl on Monday, Dec. 28 at 5 p.m. For Bonamego, returning to Ford Field, home of the Detroit Lions, is special. He was the Lions' special teams coach during the 2013 and '14 seasons.
A former Chippewa player, Bonamego was named CMU's head coach on Feb. 8, finally landing what he called his "dream job" after 16 years as an NFL assistant and 11 more as an aide on the college level.
"I'm as excited to be in this building today as I was on the day I got the job at Central," Bonaemgo said at the Ford Field interview room. "I'm looking forward to going down and seeing some of these (Lions) players and thanking them. I got an awful lot of text messages throughout the year and calls from a lot of those guys. It'll be special."
Bonamego worked under Caldwell with the Lions and his mentor was one of the first to learn of his cancer diagnosis last summer.
"Before the media knew, before the team knew, Jim Caldwell was one of the very small handful of people that I talked to," Bonamego said. "From a head-coaching perspective, from a team perspective, I just wanted his input on how to handle that situation.
"I care a tremendous amount about Jim Caldwell and I have a tremendous amount of respect for him. He's the type of head coach that, I'm sure a lot like coach Kill was, when you work under somebody like him, it makes it very difficult to work for somebody else.
"Just the way he treats people and how he carries himself day in and day out. It's about one word and that's integrity."
Bonamego reiterated the excitement and the anticipation that he and the Chippewas have for playing in Ford Field. With 75 percent of its players hailing from Michigan (and at least three dozen having prepped at high schools within a 45-minute drive of downtown Detroit), the game is a good draw for CMU. Ford Field is a mere 150 miles from Mount Pleasant.
"This past week we knew we were going bowling, but we didn't know where," Bonamego said. "There were about four different locations that were being tossed around where we could end up. I started to take some informal polls with some of our senior football players.
"I was pleasantly surprised at the number of players on our roster that Detroit was their first choice. It's important to be able to play in front of friends and family. That's one of the things that our program is built on, family."
The Chippewas are 7-5 and shared the Mid-American Conference West Division title, a surprise in a season in which CMU was picked to finish fifth in the MAC West.
Minnesota is 5-7 after starting 4-2. The Gophers' schedule was backloaded with difficult opponents, including Michigan, Ohio State, Iowa and Wisconsin, off which beat the Gophers - none by more than two touchdowns.
Minnesota will be CMU's fifth opponent from a Power Five conference this season. The Chippewas lost to Oklahoma State (Big 12), Syracuse (ACC) and Michigan State (Big Ten) earlier this season, but were very competitive with all three teams.
MSU (12-1) is in the four-team College Football Playoff, Oklahoma State (10-2) is headed to the Sugar Bowl, and Syracuse finished 4-8.
Six of the Chippewas' 12 regular-season opponents, including MAC foes Northern Illinois, Western Michigan, Toledo and Akron, are headed to bowl games.
