In his h season as the head coach
of the football team, Jonathan Drach has
acquired many accolades. However, it is
essential to look at how he got to this point.
Drach’s football career started long
before he could play. While he was still in
diapers, Drach was around the game of
football as his father was the head coach of
a high school football team.
“I have had a close relationship with
football my entire life,” said Drach. “I have
been going to games and riding the bus
since I could walk. I have always loved the
chess match of the game.”
When Drach began playing football in
third grade, his love for football grew even
more and he decided in middle school that
being a quarterback was what he fancied.
Drach continued playing into his high
school years as a quarterback, starting as

a junior and eventually earning several all-
state and all-league honors.

Drach graduated with a large class of
over 1000 students and student-athletes.
He was given the opportunity to receive
a full football scholarship to Western
Michigan University, which he accepted.
“I went on to start at quarterback for
three years in college after red-shirting
and backing up the current WMU head
football coach Tim Lester,” said Drach.
During his senior year as the starting
quarterback for the Western Michigan
Broncos, Drach completed a single-season
record of 67 percent of his passes for 1,499
yards and 13 touchdowns.
He also received the MAC All-Academic
Team selection twice as well as receiving

the Broncos’ 2003 John Gill Scholar-
Athlete Award.

Following the completion of his
collegiate career and graduating with a

double major in economics and nance,
Drach coached with his father at West
Aurora High School as the offensive
coordinator for two seasons.
During this time, he spent two years
trading European Equity Futures for a
company in Chicago called DE Trading,
which allowed Drach to be able to coach
alongside his father as well as support
himself.
After two years of experience, Drach
decided that it was time to further his
coaching career.
“I transitioned to college coaching at
Hobart College in upstate New York,” said
Drach. “I started as an intern and worked
my way up to a full-time position after my
second season with the program. I loved
every aspect of coaching college football
and I was passionate about making this my
career.”
After 11 years at Hobart and helping that
team collect many accolades, Drach came
to Wilkes to take over the head coaching
position in 2018.
“I have loved working at Wilkes,” said
Drach. “The people that I get to work with
every day are amazing and we have a great
family bond on our sta and team. It is fun
to come to work every day in a place that is
supportive and driven to improve. We have
a long way to go to accomplish some of our
goals but we have a blast working toward
that with all that we do.”
During his time at Wilkes thus far,
Drach has led the team to get better every
season. He turned the program around
from having a winless season the year
before he began coaching, to a 6-4 record,
one of the largest turnarounds in Division
III football, according to gowilkesu.com.
He has also supported his team in earning
multiple All-MAC awards.
However, Drach could not have
accomplished this without his coaching staff.
“It is everything (to have a good
coaching staff). I would not do what I do
without them,” said Drach. “One person
can only do so much and you have to lean
on one another to accomplish the greater
goal. My piece is equal to theirs, and we all
need each other to reach the top.”
Drach’s main goal is to help these young
men develop on and off of the field as well
as be their support system when needed.
He hopes that the players he has been
coaching can cling to the lessons that the
coaching sta has been teaching them, in
hopes that they will apply it o the eld
and in real life, post-graduation.

Drach’s experience with coaching has
shown us that his true passion lies on the
football eld and he leaves us with a piece
of advice for those who want to follow in
the footsteps of him and other coaches in
finding their true passion.
“Put your head down and keep working,”
said Drach. The most progress is made
when you do not worry about outside
factors that you cannot control.”
Catch Drach coaching the Colonels
every Saturday during the fall season.
e Colonels are currently sitting at 5-2
(as of Oct.28) and are looking to improve
throughout the season.