MUNCIE, Ind. – Ball State University today announced the appointment of Mike Uremovich as head football coach.

Uremovich’s appointment as the program’s 19th head coach comes two weeks after coach Mike Neu’s nine-year tenure ended after the first 10 games of the 2024 season. Offensive coach Colin Johnson led the Cardinals through two remaining games after the lead change on November 16th.

Ball State’s search produced a qualified candidate with extensive experience and a variety of successes as a head coach and coordinator at multiple levels. Last Uremovich (pronounced you-REM-uh-vitch) was the head coach at Butler University and led the Bulldogs to three straight winning seasons, the first national ranking in program history and a record of success on both sides of the ball.

“Mike Uremovich brings extensive coaching experience from high school, small college, FCS and FBS,” said Athletics Director Jeff Mitchell. “He has spent a lot of time in Group of 5 and Power 4 conference environments. He has an extensive background in both coordinator and head coaching roles and his recruiting relationships run deep. What is immediately apparent and will delight our fans and players is the level of urgency and detail in his plan to lead our football program and return the Cardinals to the top of the Mid-American Conference.”

Uremovich’s tenure at Ball State begins with National Signing Day on Wednesday.

“My family and I are very excited to be part of the Ball State family,” Uremovich said. “I am grateful for the trust President (Geoffrey) Mearns and Jeff Mitchell have placed in me to lead this proud football program. We welcome the opportunity to help shape this organization and work with the Muncie community. I’m looking forward to meeting with the team and I can’t wait to get to work.”

Uremovich was named Butler’s head coach three years ago and led the Bulldogs to three straight winning seasons and a 23-11 record. A 9-3 mark in 2024 led to the first national ranking in Butler’s football history, debuting at No. 25 in the FCS Coaches’ Poll and rising as high as No. 23. His three winning seasons at Butler marked the program’s first three-game winning streak since 1987-89.

Uremovich, 48, comes to Muncie with six bowl appearances and previous coaching experience in the Mid-American Conference, spending six seasons in three different stints at Northern Illinois. In four full-time seasons at NIU, the Huskies were 33-20 overall, with a 25-7 record in the MAC.

He is the second football coach appointed to Ball State directly by Butler, and he is the second coach to emerge from the Pioneer Football League (PFL) in recent weeks to take the FBS head coaching job. Scott Abell resigned from Davidson on November 26 to take over at Rice.

At Butler, Uremovich led the Bulldogs to 7-4 seasons in 2022 and 2023, recording five PFL wins each year. Over three years at the helm of the program, the Bulldogs went 15-9 against league opponents and 15-4 overall when playing in the Sellick Bowl.

The PFL Offensive Player of the Year was tutored by Uremovich in each of his first two years on the BU campus. Running back Jyran Mitchell received the honor in 2023, while quarterback Bret Bushka was the pick in 2022, along with punter and placekicker Luka Zurak, who was named the PFL’s Special Teams Player of the Year that same year.

Butler’s offenses had great success moving the ball during the three-year Uremovich era. The Bulldogs led all FCS teams nationally in red zone offense and sacks allowed in 2022 and ranked first or second in the PFL in scoring offense, total offense and rushing in 2023 and 2024 -Offensive. BU’s 214.4 rush yards per game last season ranked seventh. FCS teams ranked 28th with 407.8 yards of total offense.

While the Bulldogs’ offense averaged 35.6 points and 407.8 yards per game in 2024, the defense was equally impressive as BU led the PFL and ranked fourth in the FCS with just 16.3 points allowed per game . In 2023, the Bulldogs led the league and ranked seventh nationally in allowing an average of just 17.5.

Butler boasted a top-10 FCS finish last year in both points allowed (4th) and points scored (9th).

Uremovich came to Indianapolis after serving as Temple’s offensive coordinator for three seasons (2019-21). The Owls reached the Military Bowl in 2019, the last of six bowl appearances between stops at Temple, NIU and North Carolina State.

Prior to Temple, Uremovich coached at Northern Illinois three times, including as associate head coach and offensive coordinator from 2016-18. NIU won the 2018 MAC Championship and achieved bowl appearances in both 2017 and 2018. The 2016 edition of the Huskies ranked 16th nationally in rushing yards, while future NFL Pro Bowl player Kenny Golladay had 87 catches for 1,156 yards and eight touchdowns.

He previously served as the Huskies’ running backs coach and special teams coordinator in 2012 and as a graduate assistant from 2001 to 2002. In 2012, NIU won the MAC Championship and was the only MAC team to play in a Bowl Championship Series game when the Huskies secured a berth in the 2013 Orange Bowl. The Huskies ranked ninth nationally in rushing and scoring offense this season and were 15th nationally in total offense, while NIU’s special teams ranked fifth nationally in kickoff coverage and fourth in punts -Reporting evidenced. Both the 2001 and 2002 teams won MAC West Division titles.

Uremovich coached the offensive line at North Carolina State from 2013 to 2015, where he helped the Wolfpack to two bowl appearances. Behind its offensive line, the Wolfpack posted the fourth-best rushing total in school history in 2014 and its best per-game average since 1992.

He had a successful seven-year tenure (2005–11) as head coach at the University of St. Francis, an NAIA program based in Joliet, Illinois. In 2011, he led the Fighting Saints to their most successful season in school history when they won a school-record 10 games. The team was ranked No. 8 in the NAIA National Coaches Poll and also earned the first national playoff victory in program history. Uremovich led the Saints to a 17-7 record in his final two seasons. Overall, he compiled a 33-45 record, building a program that had won a total of four games in three seasons before his arrival.

Uremovich’s early coaching career included not only his stint as a graduate assistant at Northern Illinois, but also stints at Waynesburg College (Pa.), Benedictine University (Ill.), Providence Catholic (Ill.) High School and McCutcheon (Ind.) High School . Uremovich is a 2000 graduate of Purdue University. He received his master’s degree from Northern Illinois in 2002. He and his wife Katie have a daughter, Ella (19), and two sons, Michael (17) and Drew (13).

Uremovich’s coaching career

December 4, 2024 – Ball State; Head coach
2022-24 – Butler; Head coach
2019-21 – Temple; Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator/TEs
2016-18 – Northern Illinois; Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator/TEs
2013-15 – North Carolina State; Offensive line coach
2012 – Northern Illinois; Special Teams Coordinator/Running Backs Coach
2005-11 – University of St. Francis (Illinois); Head coach
2003-04 – Waynesburg College (Pa.); Offensive Coordinator
2001-02 – Northern Illinois; Graduate assistant
2000 – Benedictine University (Illinois); Special Teams Coordinator/Wide Receivers Coach
1998-99 – Providence Catholic High School (Illinois); Wide receivers coach
1996-97 – McCutcheon High School (Ind.); Special Teams Coordinator/Defensive Coach

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