Central Oklahoma head coach Adam Dorrel has resigned, effective immediately, two days after a postgame confrontation with officials following a 33-31 loss at Central Missouri.
University Communications announced the move Monday. Vice President for Athletics Stan Wagnon tied the decision to Dorrel’s conduct after Saturday’s game in Warrensburg.
“On behalf of the Broncho community, I want to acknowledge Coach Dorrel for his efforts over the past five seasons to build UCO’s football program into one of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association’s premier teams,” Wagnon said. “This was a difficult decision, but we have a responsibility to the best interests of our student-athletes, the university and Coach Dorrel. His behavior Saturday night was inconsistent with the expectations we have of our leaders. We wish him the best.”
Defensive coordinator Cody Swanson will serve as interim head coach for the rest of the season. The school said a search for a permanent replacement will begin in the coming months. Swanson, an Emporia, Kan., native, joined the staff in 2024 after two seasons at Gannon, where he was co-defensive coordinator under Bryan Nardo. He called the defense on UCO’s 2024 MIAA championship team.
The Bronchos fell to No. 21 Central Missouri on a deflected 19-yard field goal with seven seconds left at Audrey J. Walton Stadium. UCO had taken a 31-30 lead with 3:25 remaining before the Mules drove 84 yards for the winner. Video circulated by Maryville Forum Sports, with MIAA Network pictures, showed Dorrel pursuing officials after the final whistle. Central Missouri head coach Josh Lamberson, Dorrel’s former offensive coordinator at Abilene Christian, helped calm the scene. BroBible, citing that video, reported that assistants and later police intervened before Dorrel reached head referee Craig Helser. The school’s release did not detail the incident beyond “conduct on the field.”
Dorrel leaves UCO 30-21. The school lists him 125-61 overall as a head coach. He was hired in December 2021, two weeks after Abilene Christian fired him following a 5-6 season and a 19-32 mark during the Wildcats’ FCS transition.
The peak in Edmond came in 2024, when he was named MIAA Coach of the Year and AFCA Region Coach of the Year. The Bronchos went 11-2, won the program’s first MIAA title, hosted a first-round NCAA Division II playoff game and beat Ouachita Baptist in overtime before falling to eventual national champion Ferris State in the Super Region III semifinals. UCO was 6-5 in 2025. It is 2-3 overall and 1-2 in the MIAA this fall, with a home game against Fort Hays State next.
Before ACU, Dorrel went 76-8 and won three Division II national titles at his alma mater, Northwest Missouri State, from 2011 to 2016.
UCO’s next coach inherits a program that, under Dorrel, returned to conference contention and the playoffs for the first time since the early 2000s, and a locker room that still has most of the season left under Swanson.