Central Michigan University Athletics
Athletic Director Amy Folan welcomes Matt Drinkall to Central Michigan.
Photo by: Jasper Warner '25 - @jasperwarnermedia
New Chippewa Leader Took an Unconventional Road to Mount Pleasant
12/12/2024 9:00:00 AM | Football, Our Stories
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Central Michigan Athletic Director Amy Folan got a name, dug deeper, did her due diligence, and found what she believes -- and Central Michigan football fans hope -- is a hidden gem.
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Certainly, there were higher-profile candidates, household names with shining resumés featuring some of college football's top programs from the likes of the Big Ten, the SEC, the ACC.
But there's more to buying the car than what the customer sees in the showroom or a slick 30-second television ad.
Look under the hood, check the record, ask around, take it for a test drive.
Amy Folan got a name and looked under the hood, dug deeper, did her due diligence, and found what she believes -- and Central Michigan football fans hope -- is a hidden gem.
Folan, Central Michigan University's Zyzlewski Family Vice President/Director of Athletics, introduced Matt Drinkall as the Chippewas' new football coach on Tuesday during an hour-long ceremony in the atrium of the Kulhavi Events Center on the CMU campus.
Those in attendance – fans, boosters, CMU administrators, coaches, former players and staff – got a glimpse of what Folan readily saw in Drinkall and ultimately led her to offer the 42-year-old Iowa native the coveted position: Sincerity, authenticity, humility.
All that, and a drive, a plan, a presence.
"He checked all the boxes," Folan said in an interview after Tuesday's ceremony. "A lot of people in this business talk about culture and we all strive for culture. He is coming from the preeminent place of culture and leadership. We are so fortunate because I think he'll bring things about leadership and culture that we'll all benefit from and I'm really excited about that."
Drinkall spent the last six years as an assistant at Army West Point, helping head coach Jeff Monken build the Black Knights into a power that went from five wins in 2019, Drinkall's first year on staff, to 11-1 and the American Athletic Conference Championship this season.
Drinkall cut his coaching teeth at his alma mater, Bettendorf (Iowa) High School, beginning in 2003. From there it was on to Western Illinois and then to St. Ambrose, an NAIA school in Iowa, and to Kansas Wesleyan, another NAIA school, before joining Monken's staff at West Point.
Drinkall spent two years at Western Illinois, six at St. Ambrose, five at Kansas Wesleyan, and then six at Army. Those stints rate as relative lifetimes in a business where coaches change schools as often as some people change their socks.
The story goes that Monken offered Drinkall a job on his staff after hearing Drinkall speak at a coaches convention, snapping him up before somebody else did.
Folan, perhaps adopting the same line of thinking, did the same thing.
One of the myriad sources upon which she relied was Cam Cameron, whose coaching resumé includes stops at Michigan, Indiana, LSU and several NFL teams. Cameron's son, Chris, was coached by Drinkall at Army.
"You get the stamp of approval, to Matt that's quite a testament," Folan said. "To be revered (at Army) after six years, I don't think anybody can have a better case made for them than that."
Folan said she then sat down with Drinkall and his wife, Kim, last week for an interview in West Point.
"We ended up talking for about five hours," she said. "He just kind of had the fit and I lost track of time. They had questions and I had questions, and it was an interview and it was professional, but at some point, it just really worked well.
"With all his football prowess and all the experience he has, he's really a down-to-earth guy who genuinely cares and is a Midwest, Iowa guy and that fits right in to what we are here at CMU. I think what he brings is a genuine connection and a genuine love for the university and I think that will bring us a lot of success."
Drinkall obviously didn't take the typical route one might expect, perhaps going from Western Illinois to a MAC school and then changing addresses every few years while climbing the ladder.
"I'm very, very picky professionally," he said. "I've only had three jobs in the last 16 years. Almost everything about my coaching year is … I don't know about the opposite of how everybody else has done it, but not the same at all.
"We want to go to places where we really think they can be successful and there are some criteria we have and when we were going through Central Michigan, we were just like, 'This can't be right. And then we got here and it was like, This has got to be too good to be true.' It's unbelievable."
As one might expect when a head coaching job opens at a Football Bowl Subdivision school, there was plenty of interest.
"It was competitive," Folan said. "There are a lot of people that probably would have been really great choices to come here and it was a hard" decision.
"I know that (Drinkall) actually had multiple other head coaching job offers and he didn't take them because it goes to where he knows what's a good fit and what will work and what won't," she said. "It's a testament to CMU and I'm just really excited to have us all work with him.
"I believe in him, I believe in his system and process and he'll work them and as we go we'll figure out what is a realistic process for how fast we get there."
But there's more to buying the car than what the customer sees in the showroom or a slick 30-second television ad.
Look under the hood, check the record, ask around, take it for a test drive.
Amy Folan got a name and looked under the hood, dug deeper, did her due diligence, and found what she believes -- and Central Michigan football fans hope -- is a hidden gem.
Folan, Central Michigan University's Zyzlewski Family Vice President/Director of Athletics, introduced Matt Drinkall as the Chippewas' new football coach on Tuesday during an hour-long ceremony in the atrium of the Kulhavi Events Center on the CMU campus.
Those in attendance – fans, boosters, CMU administrators, coaches, former players and staff – got a glimpse of what Folan readily saw in Drinkall and ultimately led her to offer the 42-year-old Iowa native the coveted position: Sincerity, authenticity, humility.
All that, and a drive, a plan, a presence.
"He checked all the boxes," Folan said in an interview after Tuesday's ceremony. "A lot of people in this business talk about culture and we all strive for culture. He is coming from the preeminent place of culture and leadership. We are so fortunate because I think he'll bring things about leadership and culture that we'll all benefit from and I'm really excited about that."
Drinkall spent the last six years as an assistant at Army West Point, helping head coach Jeff Monken build the Black Knights into a power that went from five wins in 2019, Drinkall's first year on staff, to 11-1 and the American Athletic Conference Championship this season.
Drinkall cut his coaching teeth at his alma mater, Bettendorf (Iowa) High School, beginning in 2003. From there it was on to Western Illinois and then to St. Ambrose, an NAIA school in Iowa, and to Kansas Wesleyan, another NAIA school, before joining Monken's staff at West Point.
Drinkall spent two years at Western Illinois, six at St. Ambrose, five at Kansas Wesleyan, and then six at Army. Those stints rate as relative lifetimes in a business where coaches change schools as often as some people change their socks.
The story goes that Monken offered Drinkall a job on his staff after hearing Drinkall speak at a coaches convention, snapping him up before somebody else did.
Folan, perhaps adopting the same line of thinking, did the same thing.
One of the myriad sources upon which she relied was Cam Cameron, whose coaching resumé includes stops at Michigan, Indiana, LSU and several NFL teams. Cameron's son, Chris, was coached by Drinkall at Army.
"You get the stamp of approval, to Matt that's quite a testament," Folan said. "To be revered (at Army) after six years, I don't think anybody can have a better case made for them than that."
Folan said she then sat down with Drinkall and his wife, Kim, last week for an interview in West Point.
"We ended up talking for about five hours," she said. "He just kind of had the fit and I lost track of time. They had questions and I had questions, and it was an interview and it was professional, but at some point, it just really worked well.
"With all his football prowess and all the experience he has, he's really a down-to-earth guy who genuinely cares and is a Midwest, Iowa guy and that fits right in to what we are here at CMU. I think what he brings is a genuine connection and a genuine love for the university and I think that will bring us a lot of success."
Drinkall obviously didn't take the typical route one might expect, perhaps going from Western Illinois to a MAC school and then changing addresses every few years while climbing the ladder.
"I'm very, very picky professionally," he said. "I've only had three jobs in the last 16 years. Almost everything about my coaching year is … I don't know about the opposite of how everybody else has done it, but not the same at all.
"We want to go to places where we really think they can be successful and there are some criteria we have and when we were going through Central Michigan, we were just like, 'This can't be right. And then we got here and it was like, This has got to be too good to be true.' It's unbelievable."
As one might expect when a head coaching job opens at a Football Bowl Subdivision school, there was plenty of interest.
"It was competitive," Folan said. "There are a lot of people that probably would have been really great choices to come here and it was a hard" decision.
"I know that (Drinkall) actually had multiple other head coaching job offers and he didn't take them because it goes to where he knows what's a good fit and what will work and what won't," she said. "It's a testament to CMU and I'm just really excited to have us all work with him.
"I believe in him, I believe in his system and process and he'll work them and as we go we'll figure out what is a realistic process for how fast we get there."
Michael Heldman Post-Game Press Conference- vs. UMass
Sunday, October 26
Joe Labas Post-Game Press Conference vs. UMass
Sunday, October 26
Matt Drinkall Post-Game Press Conference vs. UMass
Saturday, October 25
Brock Townsend Post-Game Press Conference vs. UMass
Saturday, October 25