Army West Point Athletics
Football
- Title:
- Offensive Quality Control
Matt Drinkall is in his sixth season on the Army West Point coaching staff, serving as the offensive line coach in 2024.
In 2023, he worked as the Co-Offensive Coordinator/offensive line coach working closely with offensive coordinator Drew Thatcher to implement a gun-based offense. Drinkall played a role in the development and success of freshman center Brady Small. Small started all 12 games becoming the first freshman to start in the season opener in their first-ever game for Army since 2017 since WR Kevin Waites started in the season opener vs. Fordham in 2017. Team captain OL Connor Finucane and OL Jackson Filipowicz garnered First Team Phil Steele All-Independent selections as anchors on the offensive line. As a team, Army averaged 208.0 rushing yards per game, ranking seventh best in the country. Drinkall also aided the offense to success to through the air as QB Bryson Daily threw for 913 yards and seven touchdowns.
For three seasons from 2020-22, he coached the tight ends.
In 2022, Drinkall’s tight ends helped an offense that was terrific on the ground once again. Army finished second nationally with 38 rushing touchdowns and totaled four games of over 450+ rushing yards, Army’s most since 2019.
In 2021, Drinkall’s group played a key role in the run game helping the offense rank in the top five in several major rushing categories, including leading the nation in rushing TDs with 46.
In 2020, Drinkall’s position group helped anchor an offensive effort to lead Army to a 9-3 record and capture the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy for the third time in four seasons. In 2019, Drinkall joined the Black Knight coaching staff as Offensive Quality Control, working with the quarterbacks.
Drinkall came to the Banks of the Hudson after a very successful five-year stint as the Head Coach at Kansas Wesleyan University, while also serving as the team’s Offensive Coordinator.
Over the last four seasons of his tenure, Kansas Wesleyan won 40 games and marked the best four-year run in school history. Drinkall departed the program as the 2018 Coach of The Year while holding the fourth-highest win total for the University. In that same four-season span, his team produced two Conference MVPs, two Offensive Players of The Year, and a Defensive Player of the Year. That four-season stretch produced 11 All-Americans and 64 All-conference selections.
In his final season as Head Coach, the 2018 Coyotes posted the best season in school and conference history. Kansas Wesleyan won its first Conference Championship since 2002, after posting a 10-0 overall record to advance to the semifinals of the national playoffs. The Coyotes posted a program-best 13-1 record, shattering school, KCAC, and NAIA records in the process during their historic season.
Running a no-huddle, Power-Spread system, Drinkall’s offense set conference and school records for points per game (54.3) and yards per game (530.8) during the regular season. The 2018 offense produced a quarterback accounting for 3,739 yards and 47 touchdowns, while simultaneously producing a running back that accounted for 2,788 yards and 41 total touchdowns. Averaging over seven yards per play, the 2018 offense additionally set conference and school records for total points, total yards, points in a game (83), points in a half (69), and points in a quarter (49). All three records were set in separate games.
In 2018, the Coyotes swept the major conference awards, with RB Demarco Prewitt selected as the Conference MVP, QB Johnny Feauto was selected as the Offensive Player of the Year, and DL Shaq Bradford selected as the Defensive Player of the Year. The team finished with the highest ranking in school history, coming in at No. 4 in the final polls.
In the previous three seasons (2015-17), the Coyotes continued their renewed success under Drinkall recording 27 total wins and a 23-5 record in conference play. During that stretch, KWU reached the No. 10 spot in the Top 25 Poll, matching the highest-ever ranking for the Coyotes. The Coyotes enjoyed their best season in school history at that time in 2015 after tallying a program record 10 wins and earning a berth in the NAIA Football Championship Series for the first time since 2002. During the 2015 campaign, Kansas Wesleyan ranked fifth nationally in total offense and pass offense-per-game and was seventh in the country in total scoring. QB Jake Curran, the KCAC Player of the Year, ranked third in the NAIA in total offense and fourth in the country in total offense.
Drinkall was hired as the Head Coach at Kansas Wesleyan in 2014 and tasked to rebuild all aspects of the program, including roster, facilities, and branding. Drinkall, who was the second-youngest head coach in college football at the time of his hiring, posted a 2-9 regular season record in his first season in 2014. However, the Coyote quickly rebounded to go 10-1 in just his second season leading the team.
Prior to joining Kansas Wesleyan, Drinkall served as Offensive Coordinator at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa for five seasons. While at St. Ambrose, Drinkall directed the Fighting Bees’ offense that ranked No. 4 in the nation in scoring offense (44.2 points per game), total offense (505.9 yards per game), passing offense (326.3 yards per game) in 2013. Under his leadership, QB Eric Williamson was named the two-time Conference Player of the Year and set several school records in the process. Drinkall was named the Conference Assistant Coach of the Year in 2012 in a conference that had produced National Champions in the three seasons prior. Before St. Ambrose, Drinkall spent two seasons at Western Illinois as the Tight Ends Coach, under Don Patterson. In his time with the Leathernecks, Drinkall developed the program into one of the top rushing offenses in the country.
Drinkall began his coaching career at Bettendorf (Iowa) High School. He coached defensive backs and wide receivers at his alma mater, including former Indianapolis Colts Linebacker Pat Angerer. The 2004 Bettendorf Bulldogs went undefeated (13-0) winning the State Championship.
Drinkall also served as a student coach at the University of Iowa following a career-ending injury as a WR for the Hawkeyes. The 2002 Iowa Hawkeyes went undefeated in Big Ten play and finished the season with an 11-2 record. The Hawkeyes played USC in the Orange Bowl and finished the season ranked #8 in the final polls.
He and his wife Kim currently reside in West Point, N.Y.
