Central Michigan Chippewas football is one of the defining programs in the Mid-American Conference: not a national blue blood, not a one-off upset story, and not a generic regional team, but a program with a deep record of consistency, development, and meaningful football history in Mount Pleasant. The Chippewas compete at the NCAA FBS level in the MAC and play home games at Kramer/Deromedi Field at Kelly/Shorts Stadium, one of the league’s major on-campus venues.
The story of Central Michigan football works best as a developmental-program story. CMU has produced championship teams, memorable bowl seasons, NFL players, major coaches, and rivalry games that matter deeply inside Michigan and the MAC. Its identity is built less around national glamour than around building teams, finding players, creating coaching momentum, and giving Mid-Michigan a football program with real FBS weight.
The History of Central Michigan Football
Central Michigan football dates back to 1896, giving the program one of the longer histories among current FBS schools. The early decades were shaped by the changing structure of college football itself: independent seasons, regional competition, and eventually conference affiliations that helped turn the program into a recognizable force in Michigan college sports. CMU spent time outside major conference structures before joining the Mid-American Conference in 1975, a move that gave the program the league identity it still carries today.
The program’s pre-FBS story is especially important because Central Michigan was not simply a small team that later moved into the MAC. It had already built a winning tradition. The Chippewas won multiple Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles in the 1950s and 1960s, then captured the 1974 NCAA Division II national championship under Roy Kramer. That 1974 team remains one of the foundational markers in CMU football history, not just because it won, but because it showed that Central Michigan could build a nationally successful football operation before becoming a full MAC fixture.
Once in the MAC, Central Michigan became one of the league’s serious football programs. The Chippewas won MAC championships in 1979, 1980, 1990, 1994, 2006, 2007, and 2009, creating several distinct eras of success rather than one brief peak. That pattern matters. CMU’s football identity is not tied to one famous team or one famous coach. It is tied to the repeated ability to rise, reset, and compete again inside a league where roster turnover, coaching changes, and uneven resources can quickly reshape a program.
Mount Pleasant and the Central Michigan Football Setting
Central Michigan football is inseparable from Mount Pleasant. Unlike urban programs that compete with professional sports, commuter rhythms, and large entertainment markets, CMU has a more traditional campus-football identity. The football program serves as a gathering point for students, alumni, and Mid-Michigan fans, especially because the school sits in a part of the state where college football loyalties are intense but not always centered on the same few national names.
That geography gives Central Michigan a specific place in Michigan football culture. The state has two Big Ten powers in Michigan and Michigan State, but it also has a layered MAC ecosystem built around Central Michigan, Western Michigan, and Eastern Michigan. CMU lives in that middle space: big enough to compete at the FBS level, established enough to have real tradition, but local enough that the program’s meaning is rooted in campus identity and regional pride.
The Chippewas name also gives Central Michigan a distinctive institutional context. CMU says it has a long-standing relationship with the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, and the university’s Office of Indigenous Affairs frames the name through that relationship and through expectations of respect and education. For a football page, that matters because the name is not merely a mascot label. It is part of the school’s public identity, campus culture, and relationship with the surrounding community.
Kelly/Shorts Stadium and the Chippewas’ Home-Field Identity
Central Michigan plays at Kramer/Deromedi Field at Kelly/Shorts Stadium, which opened on November 4, 1972, and has served as the home of Chippewas football ever since. CMU’s official facility page lists the venue’s seating capacity at 30,255 and describes it as the largest on-campus stadium in the Mid-American Conference. The stadium is not just a field with seats around it; it is one of the clearest physical statements that Central Michigan treats football as a major part of the university’s athletic identity.
The stadium name carries the program’s history inside it. Kelly/Shorts honors R. Perry Shorts and Kenneth “Bill” Kelly, while the playing surface was named Kramer/Deromedi Field in 2022 for Roy Kramer and Herb Deromedi, two of the most important figures in CMU football history. That is exactly the kind of detail that makes Central Michigan different from a generic MAC page. Its stadium is a memory device: the names attached to the venue connect the modern program to the coaches and builders who helped define earlier eras.
Game day in Mount Pleasant reflects the scale of Central Michigan’s football place. It is not the massive spectacle of a Big Ten Saturday in Ann Arbor or Columbus, but it is not small-school football either. It sits in the MAC’s sweet spot: accessible, campus-centered, regionally meaningful, and competitive. When CMU is good, Kelly/Shorts Stadium gives the program a venue that can feel like one of the league’s more serious home fields.
Western Michigan, Eastern Michigan, and the Michigan MAC Rivalry Map
Central Michigan’s rivalry identity begins with Western Michigan. The Central Michigan-Western Michigan rivalry is one of the defining annual matchups in MAC football because it blends proximity, conference stakes, state pride, and long-term familiarity. Western Michigan’s own athletic department described the rivalry as one of the best in the nation before the 89th meeting in 2018, which gives a sense of how long and embedded the matchup has become.
The game matters because CMU and WMU occupy similar competitive terrain. They recruit many of the same types of players, compete in the same state, play in the same conference, and often measure seasons against one another. For Central Michigan fans, beating Western Michigan can change the emotional texture of a season. Even when neither team is playing for a national ranking or a major bowl, the rivalry gives the schedule a fixed point.
Eastern Michigan is also part of the rivalry structure. Together, Central Michigan, Western Michigan, and Eastern Michigan form a compact in-state MAC triangle that gives Michigan college football more texture than the Big Ten headlines alone. The Chippewas’ rivalry map is not based on national television mythology. It is based on bus trips, recruiting overlaps, alumni proximity, and a long-running argument over which MAC program best represents the state below the Power Four level.
That rivalry structure gives CMU football a stable identity even in years when the standings are uneven. A Central Michigan season is not only about chasing the MAC title. It is also about where the Chippewas stand against the Broncos, Eagles, and the rest of the league.
Championships, Bowl Games, and Program High Points
Central Michigan’s achievement profile is stronger than casual fans may realize. The Chippewas have won 16 conference championships, including seven MAC championships, and also captured the 1974 NCAA Division II national championship. That combination gives CMU a layered history: lower-division national success, long regional strength, and repeated FBS conference relevance.
The late 1970s and early 1980s gave Central Michigan an early MAC identity, with championships in 1979 and 1980. The 1990 and 1994 MAC titles kept the program relevant across generations, while the 2006, 2007, and 2009 championships formed the modern golden stretch of Chippewas football. That 2000s run matters because it put CMU into a more visible national conversation during a period when the MAC was increasingly known for midweek games, quarterback development, and dangerous underdog programs.
Central Michigan’s bowl history adds another layer. The Chippewas have appeared in bowls including the Motor City Bowl, GMAC Bowl, Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, Bahamas Bowl, Quick Lane Bowl, New Mexico Bowl, Sun Bowl, and GameAbove Sports Bowl. Their bowl wins include the 2006 Motor City Bowl, the 2009 GMAC Bowl, the 2012 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, and the 2021 Sun Bowl against Washington State.
The 2021 Sun Bowl win is especially useful for understanding Central Michigan’s modern ceiling. It was not a College Football Playoff moment, but it was a win over a power-conference opponent in a historic bowl setting. For a MAC program, those moments matter. They become proof points that the program can travel outside the league and still look credible.
Coaches Who Turned Central Michigan Into a Development Program
Central Michigan’s coaching history is one of the strongest parts of the program’s identity. Bill Kelly, Roy Kramer, Herb Deromedi, Brian Kelly, Butch Jones, and Jim McElwain all occupy different places in the broader CMU story. Some are remembered for building the program’s foundation, some for championship seasons, and some for using Mount Pleasant as part of a larger coaching climb.
The field at Kelly/Shorts Stadium being named for Roy Kramer and Herb Deromedi is a direct signal of how central coaching legacy is to the program. Kramer led the 1974 Division II national championship team, while Deromedi became one of the most important figures in CMU and MAC football history. Those names help explain why Central Michigan has often felt like more than a routine mid-major stop. It has been a place where coaches can build serious football teams.
The 2000s reinforced that image. Brian Kelly led CMU to a MAC title in 2006 before moving to Cincinnati, Notre Dame, and LSU. Butch Jones followed with MAC championships in 2007 and 2009 before his own climb through the sport. Central Michigan became known not only for winning games, but for identifying coaches capable of moving upward.
The current era belongs to Matt Drinkall, who was named Central Michigan’s 30th head football coach in December 2024 after working at Army under Jeff Monken. That background fits CMU’s developmental identity. Drinkall arrived from a program known for structure, physicality, and a distinct football philosophy, which gives Central Michigan another chance to define itself through coaching direction rather than raw recruiting power alone.
Famous Central Michigan Football Players and NFL Alumni
Central Michigan has produced a player list that gives the program national recognition beyond MAC standings. Antonio Brown is the most famous modern example, a dynamic receiver and returner at CMU who became one of the NFL’s most productive wide receivers during his peak years. Eric Fisher gave the program another major national marker when he became the No. 1 overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft. Those two names alone show the range of CMU’s player-development profile: skill-position explosiveness on one side, offensive-line development on the other.
J.J. Watt is also part of Central Michigan’s football story, though in a more unusual way. Watt began his college career at CMU as a tight end before transferring to Wisconsin and becoming a defensive star. His connection to Central Michigan is not the same as a full CMU legend, but it remains part of the program’s wider football footprint and is frequently mentioned in relation to the CMU-WMU rivalry and MAC history.
The broader point is that Central Michigan has repeatedly found players who could become much larger than their recruiting profiles. That is one of the essential MAC football themes, and CMU is a strong example of it. Programs at this level rarely win by signing finished national stars. They win by evaluating correctly, developing players, fitting them into systems, and giving them enough opportunity to grow into professional prospects.
For recruits, that history matters. Central Michigan can point to real examples of players who used Mount Pleasant as a launch point. For fans, those players connect CMU to the larger football world. A Chippewa can become a national name.
Recruiting, Development, and the Modern MAC Challenge
Central Michigan’s recruiting reality is different from the recruiting reality at Michigan, Michigan State, or Notre Dame. CMU has to win through evaluation, development, fit, and continuity. The program recruits inside Michigan, across the Midwest, and beyond, but it is rarely going to outmuscle larger regional powers for the most obvious elite prospects. That makes the developmental model central to the program’s long-term identity.
The MAC is a league where margins are thin. A strong quarterback, a veteran offensive line, a few defensive playmakers, and good injury luck can push a team into championship contention. A few recruiting misses or transfer losses can pull the same program back toward the middle. Central Michigan’s best teams have usually had a clear identity: physical enough to survive the league schedule, skilled enough to create explosive plays, and organized enough to win close games.
Modern roster construction has made that job more complicated. The transfer portal gives Central Michigan new ways to add players, but it also gives larger programs more chances to pull proven talent upward. NIL has changed retention and recruiting across the sport. For a MAC program, success now depends on identifying high-school players, finding transfer fits, keeping enough veterans, and building a culture strong enough to withstand constant roster movement.
That is why the Matt Drinkall era is important. Central Michigan does not need to become something it is not. It needs to become a sharper version of what it has often been: a tough, well-developed MAC program capable of turning overlooked players and disciplined coaching into conference contention.
Why Central Michigan Football Matters
Central Michigan football matters because it represents one of the clearest versions of what a strong MAC program can be. The Chippewas have a long history, a national championship in their past, multiple MAC titles, a real home stadium, meaningful rivalries, recognizable NFL alumni, and a coaching tree that has reached well beyond Mount Pleasant.
The program’s identity is not built on pretending to be a national giant. It is built on persistence, development, and regional seriousness. Central Michigan has enough history to matter, enough success to be respected, and enough rivalry texture to feel alive even in ordinary seasons. In the larger map of college football, the Chippewas occupy an important space: the FBS program that proves national relevance can come from coaching, evaluation, campus pride, and the steady accumulation of football credibility.
Bubble Status
— View the latest rankings and where CMU falls on the bubble —
Team Links
Akron | Ball State | Bowling Green | Buffalo | Central Michigan | Eastern Michigan | Kent State | Miami (OH) | Northern Illinois | Ohio | Toledo | Western Michigan