Head Coach: Mike Uremovich is entering his first season as the head coach of the Cardinals. He comes over from Butler, a program from the non-scholarship offering Pioneer League where he compiled a 23-11 record in 3 years. This is despite taking over a program that had been struggling for nearly a decade, so he knows how to build a winning team even without the best recruits and his time as an assistant at NIU gives him experience in the MAC as well.
Program Outlook: Ball State is always going to be a program that’s shorter on resources compared to their FBS foes and even a lot of the MAC. Finding extra spending money during this NIL era will be a bigger challenge, while a majority of graduates from Ball State find jobs they are likely to be in roles that don’t leave them with a lot of spending money (teaching in particular is what they’re best known for). This is a program that will always need strong player development and even creative ways to find wins.
How does the 2025 Roster look?: Ball State ranks 121st in the country returning 35% of their production per Punt and Rally’s returning production rankings. This is to be expected with a new coach coming in. Key players for Ball State starts with QB Kiael Kelly who has been on a long strange trip with the program, he started at QB in 2023, he briefly hit the portal to end the season, came back but originally as a defensive back before ending up at receiver, he hit the portal again this offseason but the staff convinced him to come back as their QB. His good friend WR Qian Magwood also came back after briefly hitting the portal once he learned he had the opportunity to play with Kelly at QB. That duo will be a lot of fun but not alone, Bucknell transfer Eric Weatherly was a great pickup, he will be ready to fill another receiver slot. Ty Robinson could be a nice plus if he stays healthy. They’ll have some backs in the fold too, T.J. Horton was more involved late in the year and could take on a bigger role but Purdue transfer Elijah Jackson was the star of the position in the spring, just for good measure there’s also Qua Ashley from Kennesaw State who is a good pass catcher. You know what else makes this offense fun? They have a MASSIVE pair of tackles Chris Hood stands at a towering 6’10”!!! Adam Dolan followed over from Butler and he stands at 6’8″ both of them are over 300lbs, what an incredible duo. The defense will be led by LB Joey Stemler who does a great job in the middle, Alfred Chea and Ashton Whitner are fascinating parts they are both hybrid players. The defensive line brings back a 302lb man in DT Drew Hughes and they got a big transfer in Nathan Voohis (Bryant) who was a game wrecker at the FCS level last year. The secondary is a big question mark, it struggled as a unit last year. Part of the reason for the struggles was a freshman pair of corners Eric McClain and Willzhuan Yates both taking their lumps, they really had to learn on the fly. It doesn’t get any easier for them because Ball State had to hit the portal for safety help.
Screenshot from FBSchedules.com
2025 Schedule Thoughts: Ball State’s schedule is not favorable for them this year. The non-conference is tough with games against Auburn, UConn and an in-state battle with a Purdue team that will likely be better. Even New Hampshire their FCS foe isn’t a gimmie game, they could once again contend for a spot in the playoffs. The MAC schedule isn’t too helpful either, Ball State gets Kent State and Akron but everyone else on their schedule is at least contending for a bowl this year. There’s 4 other MAC programs with a 1st year head coach but Ball State only plays 1 of them. This schedule will make it difficult to find wins.
Final Thoughts: An exciting new era begins for Ball State. I really like that they went a creative route for a head coach and found someone who knows how to win in the state despite a lack of resources. The last Pioneer League coach to get hired in the MAC was Chris Creighton at Eastern Michigan, that’s a good path to follow. For this year it will be all about finding positives and notching a few wins.
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