Adam Dorrel returns to MIAA and he’ll be coaching against a friend and former teammate

When Adam Dorrel accepted the football coaching job at Central Oklahoma, his past offensive coordinator, Josh Lamberson, followed him from Abilene Christian to the Division II school.

They became roommates in a small two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment.

But they would only share that bathroom for a few days. Just a month later, Lamberson accepted the head coaching job at Central Missouri, where he and Dorrel will play each other in a Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association game on Nov. 12.

“I consider (Dorrel) one of my best friends, one of the greatest competitors I’ve ever been around,” Lamberson said. “We know that on that last game of the season, we want to beat each other. But up until that point, I know I can call him and ask for advice, and he can do the same thing with me, because it’s a friendship that’s rooted out of love.”

At the MIAA’s Media Day at the Kansas City Convention Center on Tuesday, the two head coaches spoke about excitement and expectations and chatted over barbecue for their first go-around at the helm of Central Oklahoma and Central Missouri, both teams coming off four-win seasons in 2021.

Dorrel and Lamberson aren’t new to being head coaches. They certainly aren’t strangers to the MIAA.

Dorrel was the head coach at Northwest Missouri State from 2011-16, leading the Bearcats to a 76-8 record and three national titles. Lamberson was the head coach at Nebraska Kearney from 2015-17 before joining Dorrel in his leap to the Division I level to coach at Abilene Christian.

“I’d always say (to Lamberson), ‘Hey, if I ever get a job, I’d love to have the opportunity to hire you,’” Dorrel said.

After five seasons and a 19-32 record with the Wildcats, Dorrel, the head coach, and Lamberson, the offensive coordinator, were let go in November 2021. So when the two coaches returned to the MIAA, there was no shortage of familiar faces among the coaching ranks, including current Northwest Missouri State coach Rich Wright.

Both Dorrel and Lamberson got their starts in football as key players for the Bearcats under Mel Tjeerdsma. Dorrel helped rebuild the team from 0-11 his freshman year in 1994 to 11-2 his senior year in 1997.

Lamberson continued the winning ways for the Bearcats. While Dorrel became the offensive line coach, Lamberson took snaps as the All-American quarterback and led the team to a 25-6 record as a starter and a run to the NCAA Division II championship game.

The two quickly became close: in one game in Dorrel’s first year as an offensive line coach, he noticed Lamberson’s hand slightly shaking during a close game. The quarterback has always had a slight tremor in his hand — he said doctors haven’t been able to figure out why.

“I got mad at him about something,” Dorrel said. “And I made a comment, ‘Hey, look, you’re even shaking.’ I won’t tell you what he said back to me, but he said, ‘I always shake.’”

There were some expletives in that response, Lamberson said.

“But that’s the thing that I love about (Dorrel) is that he’s always been a guy that has challenged me to be better,” Lamberson said. “He always makes the room a little bit uncomfortable in a really good way.”

The bond between the two became even stronger when Lamberson joined the coaching staff at Northwest as a graduate assistant and quarterbacks coach. A few years later, he became the offensive coordinator at Central Missouri, often facing Dorrel and his Northwest Missouri squad.

“He always reminds me of this game,” Dorrel said. “We did a hook-and-ladder late to get down the field. Then, our field goal kicker went in with the time running out and kicked a field goal to beat them after we were literally losing the entire game.”

So when Lamberson went to Abilene Christian with Dorrel, he installed the same hook-and-ladder play as a trick play for the Wildcats. The two coaches will often pick each others’ brains — Lamberson knows more about quarterbacks while Dorrel is the offensive line guru.

Off the field, the two coaches’ families are extremely close: Dorrel’s wife helped convince Lamberson’s wife to move down to Texas, and the two families vacationed together last year.

So despite the fact that Dorrel and Lamberson will coach on opposite sidelines in what could be a crucial end-of-season conference matchup in November, the two both said they treasure their bond and will continue to pick each other’s brains during the season. Just not the week before Central Oklahoma and Central Missouri play.

“I think that’s one thing that maybe a fan wouldn’t realize, how much he and I talk,” Dorrel said. “Yeah, there’s that competitiveness there, but the love and the friendship will always come first.”

This story was originally published July 26, 2022 at 3:47 PM.