Welcome back, Chippewas!

Welcome back, Chippewas!

We're beyond thrilled to have kicked off the 2025-26 season in Central Michigan Athletics this month. Our soccer team opened play last week at home at our beautiful on-campus CMU Soccer Complex. Those games began a busy fall as we begin new eras in our football, volleyball and, in November, men's basketball programs.

We welcome new football coach Matt Drinkall, new volleyball coach Arielle Wilson, and new men's basketball coach Andy Bronkema. All three come to us with sterling reputations and outstanding track records of success, and I have every confidence that each will produce competitive programs along with exemplary student-athletes who excel both in the athletic arena and in the classroom. I truly believe that all three fit our CMU and Mount Pleasant communities perfectly!

I trust that all Chippewa friends, family and supporters will find Matt, Arielle and Andy welcoming as each puts their stamp on their respective programs.

Our fall sports season begins in earnest on Labor Day Weekend as our football, volleyball, field hockey, women's golf and men's and women's cross country teams will all be in action across the country.

The Chippewa football team travels to San Jose State for a 10:30 p.m. ET kickoff with the Spartans in a game that will be televised on FS1. It's interesting to note the Army-Navy undertones between the two coaches as Matt Drinkall coached at Army and San Jose State Coach Ken Niumatalolo coached at Navy; our cross country program hosts its 40^th Annual Jeff Drenth Memorial at Shepherd High School; Arielle's volleyball squad goes to Provo, Utah, for the doTERRA Classic, hosted by Brigham Young; our field hockey team opens its season in Philadelphia against Drexel; and our women's golf team hosts the annual A-Ga-Ming Invitational in Kewadin, just north of Traverse City. Our men's golf team opens the season with a trip to the Joe Feaganes Invitational in Huntington, W. Va. On Sept. 8-9.

We also welcome a new marketing partner in Van Wagner and its general manager of corporate partnerships, Pete Maniez Jr., a Michigan native and a CMU graduate who worked in the athletic department while pursuing his degree. He returns home to us after stints at Penn State and Michigan State. Read more about the partnership at this link.

Because of our fans' amazing support, we enjoyed a record-breaking year of fundraising in CMU Athletics as we continue to strive to provide the very best experience for our 400-plus student-athletes, along with building MAC Championship-caliber sport programs. It is a tremendous testament to our incredible donors who are investing in our student-athletes, coaches and programs. We are grateful for the philanthropy of our CMU community!

The fundraising totaled an all-time high of $10.2 million in cash and commitments for fiscal year 2024-25, and we enjoyed tremendous growth in their other external areas including ticket sales, attendance figures, and social media following. Read more at this link.

We congratulate our Central Michigan University Marcy Weston Hall of Fame Class of 2025, which will be introduced during a ceremony at McGuirk Arena on Sept. 26 and introduced the following day at the CMU-Eastern Michigan football game on Kramer/Deromedi Field at Kelly/Shorts Stadium.

The inductees are the 1977 baseball team, track & field athlete Greg Pilling, soccer player Stephanie Martin, basketball player Crystal Bradford, wrestler Scotti Sentes and the late Titus Davis, a football standout.

I look forward to seeing you at one of our upcoming events! Thanks for all of your support!

Amy Folan

Related Videos