Journey started in Tippecanoe County for Ball State head coach Mike Uremovich
The 2000 Purdue graduate began his coaching career as a student at McCutcheon under Don Coller nearly 30 years ago
MUNCIE – The 1996 season-opening victory over Indianapolis Scecina was in the review mirror, and Mike Uremovich had set his sights on returning to Purdue’s campus and jumpstarting his weekend.
The then-sophomore and first-year assistant coach for Don Coller and McCutcheon’s football program thought his work was complete for the night.
He was mistaken.
“The game’s over and I’m in the locker room,” Uremovich remembered. “I know there’s something going on at my fraternity and coach Coller walks in and says, ‘We’ll watch the film in 15 minutes.’
His postgame plans were quickly altered.
While his buddies were enjoying their Friday night, Uremovich – who coached receivers and defensive backs for Coller – watched the VHS tape of the 33-6 win over the Crusaders in preparation for the next morning’s practice.
That was lesson No. 1 for Uremovich, who embarked on his coaching journey, a lifelong dream since playing youth and high school football at Providence Catholic in Illinois for Matt Seffner, who retired in 2005 as the state’s all-time winningest coach with 300 victories.
Nearly 30 years later, Uremovich begins his first season as the head coach at Ball State, which travels to Ross-Ade Stadium to face Purdue in the 2025 opener on Saturday. He returns to his alma mater and Tippecanoe County, where his coaching odyssey began.
And the lessons kept coming for Uremovich, whose career has included stops at Benedictine University, Northern Illinois, Waynesburg (Pa.) College, North Carolina State, and Temple. He’s also served as the head coach at the University of St. Francis in Illinois and spent the last three seasons leading Butler’s program before moving to Muncie.
However, Uremovich continues to build on the foundation from his two years with Coller.
“I was extremely lucky that my first job in coaching was for coach Coller,” Uremovich said. “He had been at Purdue, so he knew what it's supposed to look like and how you're supposed to run a program, and not all high school programs are run like that. He taught me - this is how you have to do it.”
The two remain in close contact after three decades of friendship. In fact, Coller sent a text on Aug. 11 at 6:24 a.m., as Uremovich and the Cardinals began another week of training camp.
How’s the first two weeks been? Hope they're going well.
“He's been a great mentor for me,” Uremovich said.
“IT GAVE HIM CREDIBILITY”
To make the move into coaching, Uremovich asked Seffner about the first step.
“He gave me terrible advice,” Uremovich said with a smile. “I said, ‘I want to coach - what should I do?’ He said, ‘Well, you’ve got to play Division I football.’ ”
That wasn't easy since Uremovich wasn’t considered a Division I talent in high school.
Coller had similar advice, telling Uremovich that starting as a graduate assistant at a Division I program provided the best path to reach his goals. But Coller added another piece of knowledge.
“By the way, you’ve got to be able to coach the offensive line and you’ve got to be able to coach quarterbacks because that's what controls the game,” Coller said.
Uremovich had an interest in attending Purdue, but the only way to join the team was as a walk-on. In the spring of 1996, the program staged walk-on tryouts, and Uremovich signed up.
Meanwhile, Coller was asked by then Purdue assistant Chester Caddas to teach a football class for two days. Coller had ties to the program after serving four years as a graduate assistant under Jim Young and Leon Burtnett before moving to the high school ranks.
Uremovich was wearing a Providence Catholic shirt and quickly caught Coller’s attention since he attended Chicago’s Morgan Park Academy.
Through the initial conversation, Uremovich expressed an interest in coaching. Knowing the program and the coach Uremovich played for at Providence Catholic, Coller was intrigued but wasn’t convinced Uremovich was serious.
He told him to bring his résumé two days later when Coller returned to Purdue.
“I thought to myself … this guy's a sophomore in college. Will he have his résumé for me on Thursday? What do you think my impression was for a sophomore in college, having a résumé for Thursday? This is Tuesday at four o’clock,” Coller said. “Do I think this kid's going to have a résumé? No, I don't.”
On Thursday, Uremovich hands his résumé to Coller. It was organized, put together professionally, and on “real stationery,” Coller said. At this point, Coller knew Uremovich was serious.
“The fact that he had real stationery that also caught my eye, because the résumé was in a real stationery envelope,” Coller said. “It gave him credibility in my mind, and it proves he’s sincere.”
Coller brought Uremovich to McCutcheon, located in southern Tippecanoe County, for an interview and to meet the rest of the coaching staff.
When Coller hired Purdue students, they usually started coaching the freshman team. Uremovich bypassed that level and began working with the varsity due to his enthusiasm, energy, knowledge, willingness, and ability to handle responsibility, which impressed Coller.
“I went to some of the meetings, and believe me, I didn't know anything, but I wasn't an idiot either,” said Uremovich, who graduated from Purdue in 2000.
“THAT’S WHAT YOU’VE GOT TO DO”
Uremovich returned home for the summer and started preparing to work with Coller and the Mavericks. His first-year coaching stipend: $800.
He worked construction for his dad and returned to West Lafayette before the first official practice, with two-a-day sessions starting three days later. He lived in the fraternity house, but the bills weren’t paid in the summer.
“There was no electricity and there was no hot water and no cell phones,” Uremovich said. “I had a battery-powered alarm clock. I'd go home and take a cold shower in the dark with a flashlight and then sleep in my room.
“I didn’t have an iPad and couldn’t watch TV. I listened to the radio and had the alarm set. When the guys came back to the fraternity, they started paying the bills, and it was better.”
Coller stepped down as McCutcheon’s coach after the 1997 season but didn’t join Joe Tiller’s staff at Purdue until 2000, serving as the program’s director of operations.
Uremovich returned to Providence Catholic as an assistant but transferred to Purdue Calumet (now Purdue Northwest) to take classes. He returned to West Lafayette to complete his degree and conducted his student teaching at Tipton, which is approximately 70 minutes from campus.
He was paid $600 to help coach the track team.
“I knew nothing about throwing, but they needed a coach,” Uremovich said. “They gave me two videos, one on discus and one on shot put. I watched them, took notes, and I just said whatever was on that VHS. I just repeated those details over and over.”
Uremovich's life was also shaped by working in an oil refinery with his dad and brother during summers away from college.
“As soon as I got old enough, (my dad) put me in the refinery every summer in college,” Uremovich said. “He’d always find the foreman and told him to give this guy the worst job in the place to motivate me to go back to school and get good grades. And it worked.”
After two years at Providence Catholic, Uremovich landed at Benedictine University in Illinois and worked for head coach Jeff Hand. He coached receivers, and to help pay his rent, he worked security at the school’s fitness center.
“My family is really supportive,” Uremovich said. “I was the first Uremovich to graduate from college, and I remember my dad saying, ‘You just graduated from Purdue, and you're taking a job for $2,200 bucks?’ I said, ‘Yeah, that's what you’ve got to do.’ ”
The first of three head coaching jobs was at the University of Saint Francis in Illinois. The NAIA program had lost 90 of its last 117 games before Uremovich arrived prior to the 2005 season. Uremovich didn’t have a winning season until the fourth year and finished 10-3 in his final campaign in 2011.
“He told me he was going to take that job, and I was like, ‘Mike, are you sure?’ ” Coller said.
Two stops at Northern Illinois and one each at North Carolina State and Temple served as a launching pad to Butler, where Uremovich posted three straight winning seasons and a 23-11 record.
“IT’LL BE COOL”
Uremovich didn’t take any shortcuts during his career. He helped paint the lines and hash marks on the football field – a Thursday night tradition at McCutcheon under Coller - and did laundry and made sandwiches for the players at other stops.
Even at Ball State, his work ethic stands out with assistance from Pete Roley, the program’s Chief of Staff. Roley spent two years at Purdue as the director of football operations under Ryan Walters.
“Pete and I were doing laundry this summer for two weeks because our equipment manager left,” said Uremovich, who admitted he “occasionally” slept in his office during this year’s training camp at Ball State. “Somebody’s got to do it. I didn't want to ask our coaches to do it in the summer. They’ve got stuff going on.”
Uremovich will step into Ross-Ade Stadium on Saturday and pause to reflect on his journey. Purdue is a special place to him and his family. It’s where he met his wife, Katie, and his oldest son, Michael, who is a freshman majoring in engineering. The couple has two other children – Ella and Drew.
“This will be (Michael’s) first Purdue football game, and he'll be wearing a Ball State shirt, which is awesome, but I pay his tuition, so he better wear the shirt,” Uremovich said, laughing.
“But I’m not going to lie - it'll be cool. It's really cool for my wife and my family, and all my fraternity brothers, and her sorority sisters. I got a bunch of family in Indiana. I'm sure at some point during the warm-ups, I’ll look around and think this is pretty cool, but once you kick the ball off and the game starts, it changes.”
During his career, Uremovich has worked with Dave Doren, Rod Carey, Scott Schaefer, Pat Narduzzi, Matt Canada, Sam Pittman, George McDonald, and Eric Koehler, all notable names in college football circles.
However, his journey began under Coller, who helped Uremovich develop good habits for building and maintaining a program, regardless of the level. Coller will be sitting in the stands, close enough to keep an eye on Uremovich throughout the game and eagerly watching how Saturday unfolds in the next chapter in his career.
“I'm going to be really excited for him. I'll be anxious for him, too,” Coller said. “I'm excited that he's been doing what he wants to do. Not everybody has an opportunity to do the things you set out to do when you're a sophomore, junior in college.
“I'm anxious for this new part. He’s worked his ass off to get here. I'm really proud of what he's been able to do.”
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