MOUNT PLEASANT- Football is back in Mount Pleasant, it was the first day of the season for the Central Michigan Chippewas as they held their first practice of the new season.
CMU has not ended the year with a winning record since 2021, and new head coach Matt Drinkall is looking to turn things around. It’s his first year as a Division 1 head coach. He spent his previous six seasons as an assistant at Army, and talked about what the goals for camp will be.
“Really develop our identity, really, like, who are we and what are we about and what is this program going to be about? Really, all the stuff we can control being on time to everything. Attention to detail, stances, alignments, procedural things, all the stuff that we have control over, do it all the time. But day one went great. We had perfect weather. The kids are really excited. You can tell how big and strong we’ve gotten. Everything went about what you thought for day one” (Drinkall).
Northern Michigan’s sports leader also talked to a couple veteran leaders that stayed through the coaching change about how the first day under new leadership went.
“It’s like Christmas in July. You know, getting back on the field with your boys and your brothers and putting the helmet on, you know, wear some pads, it’s a great feeling, you know? So not not the best day. Not the best day we want, but that’s day one. So, yeah, we have more days ahead. So, you just got to kind of sharpen up and get going” (Justin Kwiatkowski, Senior linebacker).
“We look good, but we’re not where we want to be. It’s just a lot of building, and hard practices, and you know, getting on each other in a good way. You know, being a team, just being a team. And if we do that. The sky’s the limit for us” (Tyson Davis, Redshirt Junior wide receiver).
The Chippewas will play their first game on August 29th against San Jose State, followed by Pittsburgh, Michigan, and Wagner to round out the non-conference schedule. But the focus is on each day, and there isn’t just one game circled on the schedule.
“Yeah, we got Pitt, Michigan, Wagner and then all the Mac schedule. But I mean, it really starts with tomorrow, we already finished day one. How can I focus on getting better today so that when it comes to when we play our first game, we are ready to be successful, and we are ready to go 1-0. But tomorrow we have to go 1-0 again because we are already 0-0 after this practice” (Michael Heldman, Senior defensive tackle).
“The first one, I mean, they’re all cool. I mean, it’s a neat slate because you get premier opponents, you get to travel the whole country, you’re playing teams from major different conferences and then you get your whole MAC slate, you get some weekday games. It’s a fun, entertaining venue for college football, this is what it’s supposed to be about” (Drinkall).
The Chippewas will have 22 total practices before game week arrives.