WMU hires Louisville OC Lance Taylor
Western Michigan hires Louisville OC Lance Taylor as coach. Western Michigan has a history of hiring younger coaches with some success. Fleck proved you can win in Kalamazoo. I don’t know enough about Lance Taylor to have an opinion, but I always root for Michigan MAC schools.
https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/35206278/western-michigan-targeting-lance-taylor-next-head-coach
December 9th, 2022 at 8:52 AM ^
I am just hopeful that we can keep the core staff together for one more run next year! It feels so good to have a cohesive and steady coaching staff, FINALLY! Please let us enjoy it for one more season!
December 9th, 2022 at 9:27 AM ^
I am with you!! Also hope somebody on the defensive side is spending a LOT of time soaking up the Raven's D concepts from Minter -- somebody like Clinkscale or Helow that is likely to have a bit more longevity on the staff. I would hate to see the team have to start again with a new defensive concept when Minter inevitably leaves. (Personal preference would be Clink - or Jaybaugh? - because don't get the feel that Helow is an ace recruiter.)
PS - Does anyone else remember the laughs from Buckeye fans after M brought on Minter compared to their "Top Tier" DC hire?
December 9th, 2022 at 11:17 AM ^
Knowles benefited from how bad Okie St's D was for years and years. Making it respectable made him look like Bill McCartney 1980. That was NOT a great defense at Okie St. Just good enough to win games 34-27.
My best laugh was the sequence where Ohio closed the gap to 31-23 and we had a 1st down at the 25. They show Knowles in the booth saying this is why this guy was brought to Ohio. Then The Don goes practically untouched 75 yards. Meanwhile, our D make Ohio earn every yard and then Upshaw gets the pick using a Ravens zone coverage with pressure. Next up, 85 yard TD run and ADVANTAGE MINTER!
December 9th, 2022 at 9:28 AM ^
I would think the staff would mostly stay in place now, unless a position coach goes on to be a coordinator.
Stanford, Purdue and Kent State are still open I believe.
December 9th, 2022 at 9:03 AM ^
I was going to say "recruit Rueben Owen's posts incoming" but he committed to A & M...will they never learn?
December 9th, 2022 at 9:04 AM ^
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December 9th, 2022 at 9:08 AM ^
Thanks. This may be my first post ever. I figured I would mess something up.
December 9th, 2022 at 9:28 AM ^
So that's what the Honey Badger would do. I often ask myself that when I'm in an uncomfortable situation, and now I have my answer, lol.
December 9th, 2022 at 9:37 AM ^
Honey Badger don’t care.
December 9th, 2022 at 9:09 AM ^
You mean like this?
December 9th, 2022 at 9:21 AM ^
I live in Kalamazoo and am fairly close to the old WMU coaching staff...feels like they got done a bit dirty by the new AD. I'll root for WMU, but the whole situation is pretty shitty.
December 9th, 2022 at 9:24 AM ^
What is the back storey to this? What did the new AD do that was shifty?
December 9th, 2022 at 10:18 AM ^
I'm not trying to imply anything was done below the board or anything. Just in general, you have a guy (Lester) who played QB for WMU and was committed to the university. He runs a clean program and is good/active in the community. Until this season, he's never had a losing record. Not saying he's been lights out or anything, but he's been pretty successful/consistent. Particularly when you look at the history of WMU football, excluding the lightning-in-a-bottle Fleck year. To get rid of him after 1 bad season just hits me the wrong way. Especially since it wasn't that bad...5-7 with a win over CMU.
December 9th, 2022 at 10:30 AM ^
Tim Lester was one of Western’s best quarterbacks, if I’m not mistaken. He got a division title and was one play away from a MAC championship. (This was in the days where Marshall volunteered their home stadium to host the conference title game and they won on the final play.)
December 9th, 2022 at 10:53 AM ^
He never won a division title.
December 9th, 2022 at 11:03 AM ^
i believe he is saying he won a division title as a PLAYER, which he did, in 1999. They lost to Marshall in the conference championship game.
December 9th, 2022 at 2:10 PM ^
Fleck raised expectations. No one is gonna be satisfied with mediocre anymore (nor should they)
December 9th, 2022 at 4:39 PM ^
1 bad season? He finished .500 in the MAC 3/6 seasons. He’s been consistently mediocre if anything, despite coming in as one of the highest paid MAC HCs. Failed to challenge for a MAC Title. Inherited a bunch of talent in Bogan & Franklin (Steelers), Beal(Giants), Spillane(Steelers), Phillips(Bengals), several of Fleck’s O lineman were drafted into the NFL even during the Lester years.
He was clearly learning on the job. More cut out to be QB coach somewhere or maybe a FCS OC. HC was a stretch but he knew Beauregard. Find me a game where his team didn’t get flagged for a personal foul and I can find you 5 where they did.
December 9th, 2022 at 10:06 AM ^
Being a WMU grad, I'm glad the move was made. Lester took over a loaded team. He won 0 MAC titles and 0 division titles and was trending down. Hiring division 2 and 3 coaches for his staff was not helping.
Hopefully Taylor can put together a decent staff with his FBS and NFL connections.
December 9th, 2022 at 11:16 AM ^
If the old coaching staff had made some much needed changes to the defensive staff they wouldn’t be the former staff
December 9th, 2022 at 11:18 AM ^
I have no inside info, but I went to WMU, and follow the program. It seems the AD is still new and wants "his guy" running the football program. He has specific ideas of what a head coach should be, and he don't think Lester was that guy. Plus the program leveled out and was stale under Lester. The AD wants to win and he didn't have the confidence Tim Lester was the right leader to make that happen.
December 9th, 2022 at 10:09 AM ^
So with this hire, what threat horizons are still out there for potential hires away (at least in terms of Head Coaches)?
Looking at the latest coaching change summary I can find (https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/college-football-coaching-carousel-tracker-analysis-grades-on-coach-changes-2022-23-hires/), looks like only open jobs right now that might be a temptation / stature to our staff are:
Stanford (but looks like they may go to a smaller Cali college coach from Sacramento St?)
Purdue
North Texas (maybe for one of our position coaches looking to get a coordinator job or a HC)
December 9th, 2022 at 11:30 AM ^
Won a MAC Championship during the five years I was there. Won a MAC Championship and went to the Cotton Bowl during the six years I was there.
It is possible to be better than they have been under Lester. Just like it was possible for Michigan to be better than they were under Hoke. Lester and Hoke both seem like good human beings, just not the right people for the HC jobs.
December 9th, 2022 at 11:40 AM ^
While I'd bet Jaybaugh could have done the WMU job (with his connections to get OC/DC), it seems better for Jaybaugh's career to lateral (or coordinator) to NFL or a top program like Alabama to build his network, rather than jumping straight to a G5 head coaching or even coordinator job?
December 9th, 2022 at 12:03 PM ^
The new AD is looking to the future, He knows the cfp is expanding in 2024. He doesnt think Lester could lead the team to a mac championship and possible spot in the cfp. He is trying to get them trending in that direction so maybe they could contend in a few years.
GO BLUE