2006 MAC Championship team recognized during Homecoming game
As part of Homecoming weekend, Central Michigan football fans welcomed back the 2006 Mid-American Conference Championship team to Kelly/Shorts Stadium on Saturday to recognize the members' decade-old accomplishment.
Under head coach Brian Kelly, the 2006 Chippewas (10-4) earned the program’s first conference championship since 1994. CMU took home two more MAC titles in 2007 and again in 2009 under head coach Butch Jones.
A total of 16 former players were introduced in front of 20,044 fans at Kelly/Shorts Stadium before halftime of CMU's game against Ball State — a 24-21 Chippewa victory.
“It’s awesome being able to see all the fans and students,” said former cornerback Vince Agnew. “It’s nice enjoying the other side of the game we didn’t get to enjoy as players.”
Serving as the Chippewas' honorary captain during the coin flip, former CMU linebacker and Super Bowl champion Frank Zombo also returned to Mount Pleasant on Saturday. A freshman in 2006, Zombo said that season was the start of the program's return to prominence.
“There was a period where (Central Michigan) wasn’t doing so well and that was kind of the start of our comeback,” he said. “It was kind of a dynasty we had in that four-year period.”
Zombo won the Super Bowl with the Green Bay Packers in 2010. He has played for the Kansas City Chiefs since 2013. His 25.5 career sacks is the second most in CMU history. Zombo said head coach John Bonamego invited him to be CMU's honorary captain Saturday.
CMU began the 2006 season with a tough non-conference schedule. After losses to Boston College, Michigan and Kentucky, the Chippewas were just 1-3 after week four. The team responded by finishing conference play with a 7-1 record, including wins against Western Michigan and Toledo.
Agnew and former wide receiver Matt Torres said the game against rival Western Michigan, a 31-7 victory at Kelly/Shorts Stadium, was their most memorable.
“That’s one you always talk about six, seven, eight years later,” Torres said. “Just how cold it was and how much excitement there was that day. The student section and the atmosphere that day is one you’ll always remember.”
The Chippewas finished the season with a 31-10 thrashing of Ohio in the MAC Championship and went on to defeat Middle Tennessee State, 31-14, in the Motor City Bowl at Ford Field.
It was the first time in program history the team won the league title and a Division 1-A bowl game in the same season.
Eleven Chippewas earned All-MAC honors after the season, including quarterback Dan LeFevour, who won Freshman of the Year and went on to break several program records during his career. LeFevour was not at the game Saturday.
“No matter when you played here, you have a connection to every other guy who played here,” Bonamego said. “Our football alumni know they’re allowed here anytime. This is their building.”
The Chippewas (4-2, 1-1 MAC) continue their season Saturday against Northern Illinois in DeKalb, Illinois.
