• 2013 & 2015 American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and MIAA Coach of the Year
• Grew up in Maryville, Mo., and earned All-America accolades on the offensive line for Northwest
• Career record of 61-8 and 46-5 in MIAA play entering the 2015 season
• Averaged 12.2 wins per season in first five seasons as head coach
• Offense has averaged 42.7 points per contest while the defense has allowed just 16.3 points in games coached by Dorrel
• Coached 2014 NFL sixth round draft pick (NY Jets) Brandon Dixon
Since 2011 ...
• Northwest has gone 61-8 overall and 46-5 in MIAA play
• The Bearcats have won three MIAA Championships (2013, 14 & 15)
• 35 student-athletes named first team All-MIAA
• All-America honors: 18 (Don Hansen), 15 (D2Football.com), 13 (Daktronics/CoSIDA), 10 (AP Little All-America) and 3 (AFCA All-America).
• Scored 50 or more points 11 times
• Been ranked No. 1 by the AFCA nine times and in the top-5 35 weeks
• Six Academic All-America honors
• Set NCAA Division II Championship attendance record (16,181 - 2015)
Adam Dorrel enters his sixth season as head coach at Northwest Missouri State University in 2016. As head coach, Dorrel has led Northwest to a pair of NCAA National Championships, three MIAA titles and has appeared in the NCAA playoffs all five seasons. In all, 35 Bearcats have earned first team All-MIAA honors under Dorrel.
HEAD COACH
2015 National Championship
The 2015 Bearcats posted one of the greatest statistical seasons in NCAA history, en route to the program's fifth NCAA title. The Bearcats finished the season ranked first nationally in scoring defense (12.3 ppg), total defense (224.0 ypg), rushing defense (59.3 ypg), third down conversion percentage defense (24.3 percent), team sacks (4.00 spg) and team pass efficiency defense (87.81). The Northwest offense led the MIAA at 41.4 points per game, over five points per game clear of second place Central Oklahoma (36.0). The passing offense averaged 286.9 yards per game, the second highest total in the conference. On special teams, the Bearcats blocked nine kicks and junior Simon Mathiesen set an MIAA single-season record with 25 field goals. Eleven student-athletes were named First Team All-MIAA on the year with 32 earning MIAA Academic honors.
Dorrel was named the AFCA and MIAA Coach of the Year for the second time in his career.
2014 MIAA Championship
Dorrel’s 2014 squad advanced to the NCAA Playoffs for the 11th consecutive year which is the nation’s longest active streak. In addition, the Bearcats won the program’s 26th MIAA title, going 10-1 on the year. The Bearcats had eight first team All-MIAA honorees, including defensive end Matt Longacre who was named the MIAA Defensive Player of the Year for the second time. In all, 21 Northwest players garnered All-MIAA honors, the most among all schools. Dorrel was named Coach of the Year by the AFCA, MIAA and KC Sports Commission.
2013 National Championship
In just his third season as a head coach, Dorrel led his alma mater to the NCAA Division II national championship, going 15-0. It was just the second time in Northwest history that the Bearcats went undefeated, matching the 1998 championship team’s mark.
Quarterback Trevor Adams was an NFF Scholar-Athlete and the CoSida Academic All-America of the Year award winner. Adams and Longacre were named the MIAA Players of the Year. Longacre received AFCA All-America honors and was honored with teammates Cody Carlson and Brandon Dixon on the CoSida/Daktronics All-America team.
In the classroom, the Bearcats earned a 2.91 cumulative GPA with 11 players hitting a 4.0 and 78 with a 3.0 GPA. Adams and linebacker Eric Reimer were both named Academic All-America, an honor that Adams garnered three times in his career and Reimer received twice.
ASSISTANT COACH
Prior to being named head coach, Dorrel was no stranger to Bearcat football or its expectations. He was the offensive coordinator at Northwest from 2007 to 2010, helping the Bearcats to an unprecedented five consecutive NCAA 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 at the helm in 2010. Long-time assistant Scott Bostwick was named head coach but never had the chance to lead the Bearcats on the field after passing away on June 5, 2011.
In Dorrel’s 12 seasons with the Bearcats since returning in 2004, they have a 137-21 record and have added seven MIAA championships.
After earning his bachelor’s degree from Northwest in 1998, Dorrel spent a year as a graduate assistant at Northeastern State in Oklahoma. He returned to Northwest as a graduate assistant in 1999 when the team won the second of its back-to-back national titles and completed his master’s degree at Northwest in 2000.
Dorrel served coaching stints at Dakota State University in South Dakota and William Jewell College in Missouri before being appointed offensive line coach at Northwest in 2004. He was promoted to offensive coordinator prior to the 2007 season and then to assistant head coach after Scott Bostwick was named head coach in December 2010.
During the summer of 2008, Dorrel was one of six American football coaches to lead clinics overseas to further strengthen the sport beyond the United States. During the summer of 2007, he served as offensive line coach for Team USA as it competed and won the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) World Championships in Japan.
PERSONAL
Dorrel is a former Northwest All-American. He was a three-year captain for the Bearcats during his collegiate career as an offensive lineman from 1994 to 1997 and earned All-MIAA honors in 1995, 1996 and 1997. A Maryville native, he also was a two-time All-District and All-Conference lineman at Maryville High School.
Additionally, Dorrel’s family has long ties to Bearcat football, beginning with his great-grandfather, Ross Alexander Scott, who was a fullback on the first Bearcat football team in 1908. Dorrel’s grandfather and a great uncle also played in the program during the 1940s. Dorrel and his wife, Erin, live in Maryville with their twin daughters, Allie and Sam.
