Media Guide: 1981 Football Season

1981 Football Media Guide

     As of now, this is the only media guide I have for CMU athletics. I bought this online recently for $15.
     Heading into the 1981 season, the Chippewas were coming off a dominating run in the Mid-American Conference. From 1978-80, Central went 28-4-1 in regular season play (23-3-1 MAC), winning the conference championship in 1979 and 1980, while just missing the crown in 1978.
     Herb Deromedi was entering his fourth season as head coach of the Chippewas. In his first season at the helm, the Chips were expected to finish in ninth place. Instead, he built a powerful program that, in today's college football world, would have easily qualified for bowl games. Instead, the MAC would not be tied to a postseason game until 1981, with the creation of the California Raisin Bowl.

1981 CMU Football Roster

     The 1981 installment of Chippewas football finished in third place in the MAC, with a 7-4 record (7-2 MAC), just one game back of league champ Toledo. On offense, the team was about the same as the previous year, scoring 20.3 points per game, 73rd overall in the nation. Quarterback Bob DeMarco, a 6' sophomore from Monroe, was the starting quarterback, throwing for 1,159 yards, 5 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Reggie Mitchell was the leading rusher, as the 5'8" senior out of Flint ran for 1,068 yards and 9 touchdowns, while also leading the team with 23 receptions for 234 yards and a TD.
     Deromedi's teams were known for being strong on defense, and 1981 was no exception. The Chippewas allowed an average of 11.3 points per game, 8th in the nation. That season featured future Michigan Panther and Buffalo Bill Ray Bentley. The 6'2" junior from Hudsonville had 146 tackles in 1981 and was named First Team All-MAC, along with Kurt Dobronski and Bruce Brownie. Linebacker Bret Hyble was named Second Team All-MAC.

      This is a 52-page media guide, all in black and white. It includes bios of returning players, Coach Deromedi, and player profiles. CMU's assistant coaches are featured on pages 6-7. Each MAC team is found on pages 8-13, while the conference map is located on the last page.
     I included a couple pictures, along with the 1981 team roster. The pictures on the right are on the inside cover. Reggie Mitchell is pictured on the left, while Jon Kitts is seen talking with defensive coordinator Dick Flynn. Flynn, btw, would take over for Deromedi in 1994.
     Page 35 featured a full-page picture of Perry Shorts Stadium (it wouldn't become "Kelly/Shorts Stadium" until 1984). This picture is from 1979, and is pretty much what the stadium would look like until it was expanded in the mid 1990s. Shorts Stadium had a capacity of 20,000 in 1981 and currently seats 30,255. Look beyond the stadium at the farm fields, there are several apartment complexes and a Bennigan's restaurant in that area today. In fact, the south endzone has a huge LED scoreboard, while the locker room facility in the north endzone has been replaced by the new Chippewa Champions Center, which should be completed by the end of 2020.

References:

"Central Michigan University Football Facts '81" CMU Athletics

"The Official 2018 Chippewa Football Media Guide", CMU Athletics