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Photo by: Sydney Kline
Thirteen Football Players Earn Academic All-MAC Honors
1/7/2026 11:00:00 AM | Football
Dakota Cochran and Michael Heldman become the seventh and eighth players in school history to earn four Academic All-MAC honors in a career; Jordan Kwiatkowski and Ben Pratt earn the honor for the third straight season; Lawai’a Brown is a two-time honoree.
CLEVELAND, Ohio—Thirteen Central Michigan football players were named to the Academic-All-Mid-American Conference team for the 2025 season, the league announced today.
Senior linebacker Dakota Cochran and senior defensive lineman Michael Heldman become the seventh and eighth players in school history to earn Academic All-MAC honors in four straight seasons joining Bob Stebbins (1984-87), Jeff Bender (1988-91), Mark Chapman (2013-16), Jeff Perry (2014-17), Derek Smith (2017-20), and Robi Stuart (2018-23).
Two student-athletes including senior linebacker Jordan Kwiatkowski and senior long snapper Ben Pratt are three-time winners. Senior Lawai'a Brown earned the honor for the second straight season.
The Academic All-MAC honor is for a student-athlete who has excelled in athletics and academics. To qualify, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.20 cumulative GPA and have participated in at least 50 percent of the contests for that particular sport. First-year transfers are not eligible.
In each of the last two semesters, Central Michigan football set its own record for highest team cumulative grade point average. The Chippewas posted a program-best 3.23 grade point average during the spring 2025 semester and then topped it with a 3.33 grade point average during the recently completed fall 2025 semester.
The 13 Chippewas who earned Academic All-MAC honors are listed, along with their position, year, hometown, grade point average and major:
Senior linebacker Dakota Cochran and senior defensive lineman Michael Heldman become the seventh and eighth players in school history to earn Academic All-MAC honors in four straight seasons joining Bob Stebbins (1984-87), Jeff Bender (1988-91), Mark Chapman (2013-16), Jeff Perry (2014-17), Derek Smith (2017-20), and Robi Stuart (2018-23).
Two student-athletes including senior linebacker Jordan Kwiatkowski and senior long snapper Ben Pratt are three-time winners. Senior Lawai'a Brown earned the honor for the second straight season.
The Academic All-MAC honor is for a student-athlete who has excelled in athletics and academics. To qualify, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.20 cumulative GPA and have participated in at least 50 percent of the contests for that particular sport. First-year transfers are not eligible.
In each of the last two semesters, Central Michigan football set its own record for highest team cumulative grade point average. The Chippewas posted a program-best 3.23 grade point average during the spring 2025 semester and then topped it with a 3.33 grade point average during the recently completed fall 2025 semester.
The 13 Chippewas who earned Academic All-MAC honors are listed, along with their position, year, hometown, grade point average and major:
- Jamari Allen, R-So., 3.31, Undeclared
- Lawai'a Brown, Sr., 3.85, Entrepreneurship
- Dakota Cochran, Sr., 3.61, Sport Management
- Michael Heldman, Sr., 3.88, MBA
- Jacob Kaminski, Jr., 3.71, Finance
- Jordan Kwiatkowski, Sr., 3.49, Sport Management
- Luis Martinez, Sr., 3.28, Business Administration
- Tommy McIntosh, Jr., 3.51, Business Administration
- Ben Pratt, Sr., 3.85, MBA
- Aakeem Snell, Sr., 3.43, General Business Administration
- Landon Swanson, R-Fr., 3.7, Finance
- Brock Townsend, So., 3.20, Undeclared
- Tayte Vanderleest, R-So., 3.37, Undeclared
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