Matt Drinkall, in his first-ever season as a Football Bowls Subdivision head coach, quickly turned around Central Michigan with a seven-win effort that included a postseason game opposite Big Ten Conference program Northwestern and a near-spot in the Mid-American Conference Championship.
Moving into Year 2, Drinkall -- the former FootballScoop award-winning assistant. coach for Jeff Monken at Army -- is making a strong addition to his Chippewas staff.
Sources tell FootballScoop that Drinkall is adding Charles Walker as the new Central Michigan running backs coach, bringing him into the Chips program after Walker spent the previous four years on staff under James Franklin at Penn State.
Walker served multiple seasons as Penn State's assistant running backs coach, and he previously worked with Franklin at Vanderbilt as far back as 2012.
A UMass alum, Walker also has NFL experience from a multi-year stint in the Atlanta Falcons organization.
He's also showed coaching versatility in a career that has included work on the defensive side of the ball as well as in player personnel and evaluation.
Drinkall in Year 1 led Central Michigan to the 7 wins that included a 5-3 mark in MAC play; the turnaround came a year after the program's disastrous 4-8 season that also featured the Chips being in the spotlight as collateral damage in the University of Michigan's spying/sign-stealing scandal that involved Connor Stalions.
But Drinkall immediately changed the culture and had Central Michigan tied atop the MAC standings until two tough losses in November denied the program a chance to appear in the MAC title bout.
Year 2 will start off incredibly tough for Drinkall's Chips, who will open the 2026 season on Sept. 5 against Jason Eck's resurgent New Mexico program. Eck also was a first-year FBS head coach in 2025 who guided his Lobos program to a nine-win campaign that included a bowl game opposite Big Ten foe Minnesota and also a tie atop the Mountain West Conference regular-season standings.
Central Michigan also has non-conference games in 2026 scheduled against Wyoming and Mario Cristobal's Miami Hurricanes, currently in the semifinals of the College Football Playoffs.