Ball State University has announced today the naming of Mike Uremovich as its head football coach.

Uremovich's naming as the program's 19th head football coach comes two weeks after the nine-year tenure of coach Mike Neu was terminated after the first 10 games of the 2024 season. Offensive line coach Colin Johnson led the Cardinals through two remaining games following the leadership change on Nov. 16.

Ball State's search produced a skilled candidate with wide-ranging experience and a variety of successes as head coach and coordinator at multiple levels. Most recently, Uremovich (pronounced you-REM-uh-vitch) was the head coach at Butler University, guiding the Bulldogs to three straight winning seasons, the first national ranking in program history and a list of successes on both sides of the ball.

"Mike Uremovich brings a significant breadth of coaching experience from high school, small college, FCS and FBS levels," said Director of Athletics Jeff Mitchell. "He has spent 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 connections are deep. What is readily apparent and what will excite 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 extremely excited to be a part of the Ball State family," said Uremovich. "I am thankful for the trust that President [Geoffrey] Mearns and Jeff Mitchell have placed in me to direct this proud football program. We are elated about the opportunity to help shape this organization and engage with the Muncie community. I look forward to meeting with the team, and I can't wait to get to work."

Named the head coach at Butler three years ago, Uremovich guided 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 in the FCS Coaches Poll at No. 25 and rising as high as No. 23. His three winning seasons at Butler were the program's first string of three consecutive winning seasons since 1987 to 1989.

Uremovich, 48, arrives in Muncie with six bowl appearances under his belt and prior coaching experience in the Mid-American Conference, spending six seasons over three separate stints at Northern Illinois. In four years in a full-time capacity at NIU, the Huskies were 33-20 overall with a 25-7 ledger in the MAC.

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

At Butler, Uremovich guided the Bulldogs to a 7-4 season in 2022 and again in 2023, recording five PFL victories each year. Over three years at the helm of the program, the Bulldogs were 15-9 against league opponents and 15-4 overall when playing inside the Sellick Bowl.

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

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

While the Bulldogs' offense averaged 35.6 points and 407.8 yards per game in 2024, the defense was equally as 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 by allowing an average of only 17.5.

Butler boasted a top 10 FCS ranking last year in points allowed (4th) as well as points scored (9th).

Uremovich arrived in Indianapolis after serving as the offensive coordinator at Temple for three seasons (2019-21). The Owls reached the Military Bowl in 2019 which was the most recent of six bowl appearances between stints at Temple, NIU and North Carolina State.

Prior to Temple, Uremovich coached at Northern Illinois during three separate stints, including his post as assistant head coach and offensive coordinator from 2016-18. NIU won the 2018 MAC championship and earned bowl appearances in both 2017 and 2018. The 2016 edition of the Huskies was 16th nationally in rushing yards, while future NFL Pro Bowl selection Kenny Golladay had 87 catches for 1,156 yards and eight TDs.

He previously served as the Huskies' running backs coach and special teams coordinator in 2012, and as a graduate assistant from 2001-02. In 2012, NIU won the MAC championship and became the only MAC team to play in a Bowl Championship Series game when the Huskies earned a berth in the 2013 Orange Bowl. The Huskies finished ninth in the nation in both rushing and scoring offense that season and were ranked 15th nationally in total offense, while NIU special teams units ranked fifth in the country in kickoff coverage and fourth in punt coverage. Both the 2001 and 2002 teams won MAC West Division titles.

Uremovich coached the offensive line at North Carolina State from 2013-15, where he helped the Wolfpack to a pair of bowl appearances. Behind his offensive line, the 2014 Wolfpack posted the fourth-best rushing total in school history and the 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 as they won a school-record 10 games. The team was ranked as high as 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 over his final two seasons. Overall, he posted a 33-45 record, rebuilding a program that had won a total of four games over three seasons prior to his arrival.

In addition to serving as a graduate assistant at Northern Illinois, Uremovich's early coaching career also included 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. 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).