Adam Dorrel

Adam Dorrel (born December 2, 1974) is an American football coach and former player. He is the current head coach of the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats football team in Maryville, Missouri, a position he had held since 2011. Dorrel has led Northwest Missouri State to two undefeated seasons and the NCAA Division II Football Championship in 2013 and 2015.

Early life, family, and playing career

Dorrel is the only Maryville native to coach the team. He graduated from Maryville High School, where he was a two-time All-Midland Empire Conference and all-district lineman.^[1] Dorrel's great-grandfather was a fullback on the Northwest's first team in 1908, and his grandfather and two great-uncles played for team in the 1940s.^[2]

Dorrel played under Northwest's Mel Tjeerdsma during Tjeerdsma's first Northwest season in 1994 in which the Bearcats went 0–11 before Tjeerdsma began his run of seven NCAA Division II National Football Championship games. He was captain of the team under Tjeerdsma in 1995, 1996 and 1997. He was Daktronics Second-Team All-America offensive lineman as a senior in 1997 (with Bearcats reaching the quarterfinals in both 1996 and 1997).^[3]

Coaching career

After graduating from Northwest in 1998 he was a graduate assistant in 1998 at Northeastern State University in Oklahoma. He returned to Northwest as a graduate assistant in 1999 when Bearcats won their second national championship in 1999. He received his master's degree from Northwest in 2000.^[4] He held position as offensive line coach at Dakota State University in 2000 and offensive coach at William Jewell College from 2001 to 2003.

In 2004 he returned to Northwest and held offensive positions as the team made five consecutive national championship appearances in 2005-2009 including a national championship in 2009 (a year in which the Bearcats averaged 42 points and 474 yards per game).^[1]

In 2007 he was named offensive coach of the United States national American football team for the 2007 IFAF World Cup (which the United States won).

Prior to the 2011 season Tjeerdsma retired and Scott Bostwick who had been the defensive coach at Northwest was named to succeed Tjeerdsma. Dorrel was promoted to assistant coach and had planned to continue his offensive duties. Bostwick died of a heart attack on June 5, 2011. On June 23 Dorrel was named head coach. Both Bostwick and Dorrel had started affiliations with Northwest under Tjeerdsma in the first 0–11 1994 season and both coaches did not have prior head coaching positions before taking over the head coach position. The Maryville Daily Forum in applauding the appointment noted that Northwest had wanted to hire somebody who was familiar with the Tjeerdsma tradition rather than going outside.^[5]

Head coaching record

References

External links

• Northwest Missouri State profile
• Adam Dorrel at the College Football Data Warehouse