Follow Coach Folmar on Twitter: @Coach_D_Folmar
Recruiting Areas:
- North Carolina (Union / Rockingham County)
- Northwest Atlanta
- Eastern Pennsylvania, excluding Philadelphia
Drew Folmar joined the Elon coaching staff in February 2017 following three seasons as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Lehigh University and begins his eighth season with the Phoenix in 2024. He is the program's associate head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
Under Folmar’s tutelage, Elon quarterbacks have had national success. Davis Cheek developed into one of the most dynamic players in FCS Football. He was named CAA Football Offensive Rookie of the Year and finished fifth in the balloting for the Jerry Rice Award as a freshman in 2017. Cheek was named CAA Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the spring 2020 season. By his senior year in the fall of 2021, Cheek was named CAA Football’s Chuck Boone Leadership and Excellence Award winner and was a finalist for the Walter Payton Award, given to the top offensive player in the country. Cheek ranked second in school history in most career passing stats.
During the 2022 season, Cheek was twice signed by the Carolina Panthers.
Following Cheek’s graduation, Matthew McKay transferred to Elon for the 2022 season and picked up where Cheek left off. McKay ranked 14
th nationally in yards per attempt, 15
th in yards per completion, 16
th in passing efficiency, 18
th in passing touchdowns, 19
th in total offense and 26
th in passing yards. McKay was recognized as one of top “Comeback of the Year” stories in FCS football.
In 2023, Matthew Downing stepped into the starting role as a transfer. He ranked fourth nationally in yards per completion and ninth in passing efficiency. He was also No. 8 in yards per pass attempt and No. 25 with 19 passing touchdowns (against just four interceptions).
From 2021-23, Elon’s quarterbacks have thrown 59 touchdowns against only 15 interceptions. The 15 interceptions thrown are the second-fewest in all of FCS Football over that span.
Wide receiver Kortez Weeks was named a Freshman All-American in 2017 and Jalen Hampton earned that honor from HERO Sports in 2022. Jaylan Thomas gave Elon consecutive CAA Offensive Rookies of the Year with his 2018 honor. Folmar’s offensive unit has also produced 15 All-CAA Football honorees over the course of the last six seasons.
In 2017, the Phoenix offense averaged 369.8 yards per game, an increase of more than 90 yards per outing over the 2016 campaign. The offensive attack was fairly balanced as Elon put up 164.3 yards on the ground and 205.5 through the air. In 2018, his unit continued its high production in averaging 373.5 yards per game with three different signal callers across the 11 games on the year. While Elon took advantage of Thomas's team-best 761 yards in just eight games on the ground, the duo of Thomas and Third Team All-CAA honoree Malcolm Summers carried a big load throughout the season in helping Elon rush for 199.5 yards per outing, the second-most in the league in 2018.
The 2019 campaign saw Folmar's offense put up big numbers on multiple occasions. During the season, Elon engineered the program's three largest CAA Football victories to date with a 42-7 (+35) victory over the Blue Hens, a 38-13 (+25) win on the road at Rhode Island and a 42-20 (+22) romp on the road against Richmond. Elon's three games with 38 or more points against conference opponents marked the first time Elon scored more than 38 points in three games against conference foes since the 2009 season when Elon made its first-ever FCS playoff appearance.
In 2020 (spring 2021), Folmar and the Elon offense used three different quarterbacks, due to injury, after starting quarterback Cheek went down with an injury in the preseason. While the offense struggled to find rhythm with the fluid personnel changes, his unit did take advantage of the opportunities they got, ranking in the top 10 nationally in red zone offense. The team was also fourth in the CAA in third down conversion percentage.
Folmar led the offense to a bounce-back campaign in the fall of 2021. The team averaged 356.2 yards of offense and ranked among the top 25 passing offenses in the country. Elon scored at least 30 points on four different occasions, closing the season with a 37-14 win at Towson and a 43-28 home victory over No. 25 Rhode Island.
The offense kept rolling in 2022, scoring 30+ points five more times, including a 31-point effort in the team’s game at SEC Vanderbilt. Elon averaged 30.7 points in its three victories over ranked FCS teams and the offense averaged 384.4 yards of offense during the season, the program’s highest average since 2010. On the season, Elon threw just four interceptions, second-fewest in the country and also ranked in the top 25 nationally in passing efficiency (No. 17) and yards per completion (No. 20). But the offense remained balanced as well as redshirt freshman running back Jalen Hampton became just the second player in Elon’s FCS history to run for 1,000 yards, finishing with 1,053 and 10 touchdowns. He was named a HERO Sports Freshman All-American.
In 2023, Elon’s offense got off to a slow start as the Phoenix transitioned to a new quarterback but even with that, the Phoenix scored 27+ in three straight games early. Over the final four games of the regular season, though, Elon exploded, averaging 34.0 points and 402.8 yards of offense. The Phoenix threw for at least 280 yards in each of those four games after doing so just once prior to the stretch. The Phoenix did not throw an interception in the final five games of 2023.
Before joining the Phoenix, Folmar's Lehigh offense put up 483.8 yards per game, ranking sixth nationally in total offense in 2016. Lehigh averaged 38.8 points per game to rate ninth nationally as the program finished the 2016 season ranked as high as 18th in the national polls. The Mountain Hawks also ranked in the top 10 in passing efficiency (fifth), passing offense (sixth) and third down conversion percentage (sixth). Lehigh posted a 9-3 overall record - including an undefeated mark in Patriot League action - in 2016 with the program earned an automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs. The 2016 Lehigh offense produced one All-American, the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year and seven all-conference honorees.
Folmar also directed the Patriot League's top-ranked offense in 2015 as the Mountain Hawks featured a balanced attack that averaged 462.5 yards per game. The team boasted the second-ranked rushing offense in the conference and freshman Dominick Bragalone became Lehigh's first freshman 1,000-yard rusher. The team rushed for more than 200 yards six times.
Prior to joining Lehigh, Folmar spent the 2013 season as the head football coach at Kutztown University and spent the previous five seasons molding the Golden Bears' offense into one of the top units in Division II. In those five seasons, Folmar directed Kutztown's offense and coached its quarterbacks. He mentored a total of 16 All-PSAC East performers and two PSAC East Offensive Players of the Year. His student-athletes also excelled in the classroom as he coached one Capital One CoSIDA Academic All-American, two Academic All-District selections and 15 PSAC Scholar-Athletes.
When he arrived at Kutztown following the 2008 season, Folmar took over a unit that ranked 96th in scoring and 86th in total offense and molded it into one of the top offensive attacks in Division II. In three seasons from 2009-2013, Folmar's offense never ranked lower than 12th in the nation in scoring offense. Folmar's offense helped Kutztown to a then-school record 10 wins and the school's first ever Division II playoff berth in 2010. The following year the Golden Bears captured their first PSAC championship and won a playoff game for the first time. Kutztown finished with 11 victories and earned its highest ranking in school history, peaking at No. 6 in the AFCA Poll. In 2012 Kutztown established a new school single-season scoring record for the third straight year, finishing with 490 points. The Golden Bear offense ranked fourth in scoring, sixth in passing offense and tenth in total offense.
Individually, Folmar played a major role in the development of quarterback Kevin Morton, who was twice named the PSAC East Offensive Player of the Year and was a two-time regional finalist for the Division II Player of the Year Award, the Harlon Hill Trophy.
Folmar has also made coaching stops at Millersville University (2001, 2003-07), the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (2002) and the University of New Haven (2008).
In his playing days, Folmar was a standout quarterback at Millersville University from 1997-2000. A four-time All-PSAC East selection, three-time team MVP and two-time team captain, Folmar set numerous single season and career records for the Marauders and was a regional finalist for the Harlon Hill Trophy in 2000. Millersville won 30 games during his career, including a 20-4 mark in PSAC East play, and reached the second round of the NCAA Playoffs in 1999. Folmar was inducted into the Millersville Athletics Hall of Fame in 2013. He graduated in 2001 with a degree in elementary education and a minor in athletic coaching.
A native of Chambersburg, Pa., Folmar is married to Heather and he has five children – daughters MacQuarrie and Tessa, and sons Gavin, Blake and Casen.
|
Coaching Experience
|
| 2001 |
Graduate Assistant, Millersville |
| 2002 |
Wide Receivers, Merchant Marine |
| 2003-07 |
Wide Receivers, Millersville |
| 2008 |
Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks, New Haven |
| 2009-12 |
Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks, Kutztown |
| 2013 |
Head Coach, Kutztown |
| 2014-16 |
Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks, Lehigh |
| 2017-18 |
Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks, Elon |
| 2019-present |
Associate Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks, Elon |
-- ELON --
