Football | 12/19/2016 12:00:00 PM
Get to Know Adam Dorrel I Welcome Video I Watch Replay of Press Conference
ABILENE, Texas – Adam Dorrel, the winningest active head coach in NCAA football, has signed a five-year contract to become the 20
th head coach in Abilene Christian University football history, ACU director of athletics Lee De León announced Monday.
Dorrel – who spent six seasons as the head coach at NCAA Division II power Northwest Missouri State University – was introduced to Abilene and ACU during a Monday morning press conference in the Hunter Welcome Center, two days after the Division II national championship game. Dorrel's team won its second straight national title and third under his leadership with a 29-3 win over North Alabama in Saturday's championship game in snowy and bitterly cold Kansas City, Mo.
Dorrel replaces Ken Collums, who was released from his contract after the Wildcats completed a 2-9 campaign in 2016. Dorrel is the first coach with previous collegiate head coaching experience ever hired by ACU to lead its football program, which dates back to 1919.
"The amount of interest in our opening was incredible," De León said. "After speaking with people I trust across the nation and conducting several interviews, it became obvious that Adam Dorrel is the perfect person to lead ACU football into an exciting new era. He is a man of God who has the passion, organization and leadership we need to take us to the next level.
"After interviewing him, I found him to be a man who is intentional about incorporating his faith into his program and is committed to our mission of honoring Christ through excellence in academics and athletics," De León said. "Adam was the unanimous selection of our search committee, and I'm thrilled he accepted our offer.
In six seasons as a head coach, Dorrel has compiled a 76-8 record (including Saturday's win), a 90.5 winning percentage that is the best active mark in college football, ahead of Ohio State University's Urban Meyer (second at 85.5 percent). Dorrel led the Bearcats to the NCAA Division II playoffs in all six of his seasons as the head coach and coached them to 30 straight victories to end his tenure at his alma mater. That 30-game streak is the longest in the nation at any level, besting Alabama's 25-game winning streak by five games.
He was also voted the American Football Coaches' Association (AFCA) Division II Coach of the Year in 2013 and 2015 when he led the Bearcats to national titles, and is favored to win the award again in 2016.
"I'm excited for this new challenge in my life and my professional career," Dorrel said. "I believe that with the commitment ACU is making to athletics in general and football in particular that this is a sleeping giant, and that makes it a very intriguing opportunity. I'm excited to move forward in my career and be able to do it at a place with great people who want to win.
"I'm also excited to be in Texas with the greatest high school football and greatest high school football coaches in the country," he said. "I'm looking forward to getting on the road and meeting those coaches and recruiting this great state. Another reason for this move is that I'm excited about the ability to be able to share my faith in this forum and be able to talk about it in an open and meaningful way on a daily basis."
Aside from their prowess on the field, the Bearcats have also been successful in the classroom. The student-athletes in the Northwest athletics program have had a higher cumulative GPA than the rest of the student body for more than 10 years. The football program is part of that as it carried a cumulative team GPA of 2.89 in fall 2015 with three student-athletes earning a 4.0 GPA and another 62 earning at least a 3.0 GPA. Northwest football players have earned more than 200 academic all-MIAA citations since 2011 and six have earned academic all-America honors.
"When we began this search, we were looking for – first and foremost – someone who would carry out the faith commitment of the program in a way that's consistent and in alignment with the faith values of ACU," ACU president Dr. Phil Schubert said. "That was one of the most significant things that stuck out about Adam because he's already doing that at Northwest Missouri State. He's incredibly intentional about incorporating his faith into his program.
"Adam is a proven champion who has grown up in and overseen one of the most respected and successful programs in college football," Schubert said. "He will build a strong staff that understands our unique mission and uses our growing reputation as a university to attract quality student-athletes who want to be part of something truly special as we enter a new era of Wildcat football.
Dorrel inherits an ACU program that just completed its transition period from Division II status to Division I (FCS) affiliation, and in 2017 will be eligible to win the conference title and reach the national playoffs. The Wildcats also will be moving into a new venue (Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium), the first time they will have an on-campus stadium to call home since 1946, the last full season they played at A.B. Morris Field.
ACU, however, is just 5-17 over the last two seasons and resides in the Southland Conference,one of the top FCS leagues in the country. The challenge for Dorrel will be to quickly build his staff, hit the recruiting trail in advance of the Wednesday, Feb. 1, national signing day for high school athletes, and get to know the players on his current roster.
"I want to take the formula we've used at Northwest Missouri and put it in place here and see if we can do the same things at a place that hasn't the success it wants over the last couple of seasons," Dorrel said. "We're going to be better academically. We're going to be more organized and focused in our recruiting efforts. We're going to be more involved in the community and get people excited about following the Wildcats and coming to Wildcat Stadium. And we're going to be better workers. That starts in the weight room, and that's where we're going to build our team, both mentally and physically.
"If we can do those four things on a consistent basis and we keep re-visiting them over the next 6-9 months, then I believe we'll see results," he said. "I want our guys to feel like we've already won before we even play a game."
Prior to being named head coach at Northwest Missouri State, Dorrel was the offensive coordinator for the Bearcats from 2007-10, four times facing ACU when the Wildcats were members of the Lone Star Conference. The teams split four games with the Wildcats winning the two regular season contests and the Bearcats winning the two playoff games (2008 in Abilene and 2009 in Maryville, Mo.).
During that stretch, Dorrel helped the Bearcats to an unprecedented five consecutive Division II championship appearances and their third national title in 2009.
Dorrel became the 19th head coach in Northwest history in 2011, succeeding Mel Tjeerdsma who retired after 17 seasons in 2010. Longtime assistant Scott Bostwick was named Tjeerdsma's successor but never had the chance to lead the Bearcats on the field after passing away June 5, 2011.
In Dorrel's 13 seasons with the Bearcats since joining their coaching staff in 2004, they recorded a 163-22 record and seven MIAA championships.
After earning his bachelor's degree from Northwest in 1998, Dorrel spent a year as a graduate assistant at Northeastern State University (Okla.). He returned to the Bearcats as a graduate assistant in 1999 when the team won the second of its back-to-back national titles. He completed his master's degree at Northwest in 2000.
Dorrel was an assistant coach at Dakota State University in South Dakota and William Jewell College in Missouri before being appointed offensive line coach at Northwest in 2004. He became offensive coordinator in 2007 and then assistant head coach to Bostwick in December 2010.
He is a former all-America offensive lineman and three-year captain at Northwest. He graduated in 1997 with a bachelor of science in physical education, and earned his masters of science (health and physical education) in 2000. A Maryville, Mo., native, Dorrel also was a two-time all-district and all-conference lineman at Maryville High School. Dorrel and his wife, Erin, have twin six-year-old daughters, Allie and Sam.
