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We can all (including myself) bemoan the hire of Tim Lester. It was a head shaker to say the least from a perspective of any fan outside of WMU. Unproven, and a move back to an old school WMU mediocre mindset.

Nothing we can do about it.

Lets break down this year.

#1 - We came out and beat a pathetic Akron game in fashion after a slow start. Offense looked unstoppable. Just plain carving up Akrons defense. Expected. We had hope. Akron was so bad on offense with a true freshman QB... we didn't see the defensive issues.

#2 - Toledo. We get run over by Toledo's offense. Defense looks jarred and another year looks to be built on the hopes we can outscore our opponents. Magic win. We should have easily lost that one. Tim again would be sitting there with another loss against a top MAC West team.

#3 - CMU... now we see that this team is much more dialed in at home. Make note of that. WMU somehow can't keep its mojo high when at home... what is taht about. However... grab a big lead and almost piss it away. (foreshadowing?). Defense looks like fools down the stretch and made an easy blowout look like a close contest.

#4 - NIU - Northern Took notes... they figured out how to effectively dominate our defense... Watching the end of the CMU game... it was easy to diagnose what caused our defense problems. Tempo, mis-direction... run game... sideline passes... It wasn't heard to see what we sucked at.... and we somehow snuck yet another win in a game that we were getting out played. Timmy luckily ran into another coach who was just a bit slower to the draw.

#5 - EMU - Eastern took the NIU notes and went a bit further. We were hampered on the DL and EMU took advantage. Dialed up yet more tempo and mis-direction creating an offensive output that scored on EVERY drive but ONE. Add three WMU turnovers and it was all over. Again... a team we should have easily smoked... we just turtled. 13 penalties and we looked absolutely un-disciplined.

#6 - Ball State. If anyone wathching that game doesn't believe BSU snuck that win they were blind. WMU was OBVIOUSLY the better team on the field. The defense again struggled with just tackling for gosh sakes... the offense was methodic... grabbing a 14 point lead in the second half... and then it all changed. Timmy and Co... decided to "hold the lead and hope for the win"... instead of doing what you had done all game... keep the damn foot on the throat!

This season... was built by this coaching staff and its milktoast attitude in games...

Injuries played a role... but honestly... watching that BSU game... it was clear as day that WMU was the better team. They have been the better team in almost every game... (Toledo was close)... and they just seem to consistently play down to their competition... its maddening!

I hope Tim turns it around.... i really do. Because we don't have another option. At this point I would be interested in how Tim shuffles his staff... I don't honestly think (even though my emotional output during the game may suggest otherwise) Big Lou is the entire problem with the defense. I think he needs to work on building out a better positional staff that focuses on fundamentals... Make a damn tackle! Lou is the Fire in that locker room... if you lose Lou... now we go power milk toast!

This season has been interesting... and its probably best we don't find ourselves in the MACC with this defense. Buffalo is going to shred BSU.

GO BRONCOS! 2021 MACC or BUST

We have the most potent offense in the West. And our Defense made Toledo's look just as good if not better. So I expected us to score every possession, and braced myself to let up a score every time on defense.

GREAT little season Kaleb. So efficient. Few turnovers when he was in control of the snap. Got our playmakers the ball.

We'll miss Dee on O and ST next year, but we truly are loaded.

(12-13-2020 12:41 PM)Hiller4Hyz09 Wrote:  We have the most potent offense in the West. And our Defense made Toledo's look just as good if not better. So I expected us to score every possession, and braced myself to let up a score every time on defense.

GREAT little season Kaleb. So efficient. Few turnovers when he was in control of the snap. Got our playmakers the ball.

We'll miss Dee on O and ST next year, but we truly are loaded.

Agree.

If Eleby wasn't under fire every snap from a "where the hell is that snap going to go this time!" ... he would have been even more effective.

I don’t understand how you guys can simultaneously think this coaching staff is comically inept but has also put together the best MAC offense and the defense should be expected to hold good offenses to 20 points. An average NCAA defense is going to give up 30 points.

The story of this year is simple: we had a bad defense against EMU because we were too afraid of the QB run. We had a bad offense yesterday because we were too afraid to bench the starting center or shift him to guard, where he belongs.

We lost because we played with fear. That’s what has to be fixed. And the problem is. And that problem is most apparent on offense in two straight final clinch the West games, where the offense just failed to execute.

(12-13-2020 01:16 PM)RunningGame Wrote:  I don’t understand how you guys can simultaneously think this coaching staff is comically inept but has also put together the best MAC offense and the defense should be expected to hold good offenses to 20 points. An average NCAA defense is going to give up 30 points.

The story of this year is simple: we had a bad defense against EMU because we were too afraid of the QB run. We had a bad offense yesterday because we were too afraid to bench the starting center or shift him to guard, where he belongs.

We lost because we played with fear. That’s what has to be fixed. And the problem is. And that problem is most apparent on offense in two straight final clinch the West games, where the offense just failed to execute.

So coaching.

Akron: we're a lot better then the bad teams in the Conference. That's obvious
Toledo: Don't seem to be as dominant as they've been. Team came back. Need to go into next season not scared vs them as they seem to be on the decline
Central Michigan: Offense on fire. I think we just left off the gas some in the second half. Could've been a problem if we weren't as far ahead
Northern Illinois: Not as bad as their record would indiciate. They'd blow it out vs Akron or BGSU.
Eastern Michigan: They treat us like a Super Bowl. We don't
Ball St: Good WMU team vs good BSU team. Couple bad turnovers & we come up short. D played light-years better then vs EMU

Good, not great. The story of WMU football.

Just not sure what happened to our offense after the CMU game. Maybe NIU, EMU, & BSU just have better defenses then CMU & UT? The score at-will offense disappeared the last few games.

4-2 is what I expected going in, tho I had Ls to Central & Toledo. I wonder how people here would've felt w/ that same record but Ls to (say we had Kent in the East) Kent & Central, or w/ this same schedule L's to Central & Toledo.

Tim Lester is exactly who and what we all thought he would be. A mediocre coach. He's a nice guy alum, everyone likes him, he loves WMU and Kzoo, he recruits well because he's passionate about this school. But he doesn't have the killer attitude, he doesn't take chances, he cannot put games away because he gets scared. He's scared to lose and it shows in his playcalling and game management, and those decisions ironically cause him to lose.

I'm not mad anymore. I know Lester won't go anywhere. KB won't fire him and she's not going to retire. Disappointment and apathy have sent in. I don't really care anymore because I know nothing is going to change, WMU will never challenge for the MACC because his teams are scared of success. I don't bother getting my hopes up, because we all know how the season will end. Lester's teams always fade down the stretch. This year, the team got worse as the season went on.

I'm tired of the ridiculous losses, especially the ones against vastly less talented teams. The 2017 Sunday loss to Akron, the 2018 OT loss to Ball State, the 2019 loss to EMU's backup QB and flop against NIU to blow our chances at winning the division, the losses to EMU and BSU this year where anyone that watched the game would tell you our Broncos were more talented, but they were sabotaged by the coaching staff.

Then there's the embarrassing blowout losses: 2018 Michigan, Toledo, Ohio (-6 in turnovers), and BYU; 2019 MSU and Syracuse.

Then there's the games against decent teams where we just got outcoached and snatched defeat from the jaws of victory: 2017 NIU and CMU (gave up 21 unanswered points in the 4th quarter), 2019 Toledo and WKU. I'd put our last game against BSU in this category as well, even though I think our team was much better than theirs.

Lester's teams get complacent and blow late leads or allow games to become closer than they should be. How many times have we racked up big leads only to allow other teams to come roaring back? He is either unable to unwilling to strike the killing blow. And let's face it, he got really lucky this year against Toledo and NIU, and even failed to completely put away CMU. He could easily be looking at 1-2 wins this year if just a handful of plays bounce differently.

Perhaps worst of all is the lack of discipline in his teams that seems to be getting worse, not better. There's the fundamental stuff like poor execution, gap integrity, tackling, angles. But also, penalties! How many before and after the play penalties do we need to take before the coaches address it? It has cost us numerous games over the years. Our guys play like thugs sometimes (mostly defense). Just too many mental mistakes. -3 on turnovers for the season, and not one true takeaway after the Akron game.

I could write a novel, but I'm just tired of it. Our administration's apathy is rubbing off on me. If they don't care, why should I?

Tim Lester can eat ****. I'm not giving the university any money until he and KB are both gone.


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Remember when WMU was coming off a 13-0 season and a Cotton Bowl appearance and WMU admin thought we couldn't get anyone better than an alum that was just fired from his job as QB coach at Purdue. And he had never been a HC at the D1 level. And we made him the highest paid coach in the MAC at the time because of *reasons*.

Why not just rehire Bill Cubit at that point? He'd get the same results and do it for half of Lester's salary.

He’s not the highest paid coach in the MAC.

(12-13-2020 03:04 PM)wingsenforcer Wrote:  Tim Lester can eat ****. I'm not giving the university any money until he and KB are both gone.


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I think like 4% of alums give back to WMU. I don’t think they care

(12-13-2020 05:00 PM)Broncos83 Wrote:  He’s not the highest paid coach in the MAC.

Lester is overpaid. As is his Defensive Coordinator Esposito, who should be fired. His Defense commits the most atrocious personal foul penalities I've ever seen.

(12-13-2020 05:00 PM)Broncos83 Wrote:  He’s not the highest paid coach in the MAC.

He was when he was hired. Now he ranks 3rd or something like that.

It's not just alums who give money, so that's a red herring.

What will matter is getting enough people on board (esp. football alums) to sign onto getting rid of the entire staff.

Expectations have changed but it appears KB doesn't care what we think.

This is the exact kind of **** we had to put up with when Cubit was coach and we're right back to it.

The entire staff MUST go and KB needs to ride off into her sunset.

Lol. This board has 0 bearing on the decisions made at WMU.

Maybe less than zero. Good Lord, I shudder at the thought of me or any of my sports buddies making coaching decisions...we’d be brutal!

What are people's expectations? I expect 7-5 & w/ an occasional 8-4 thrown in. 6-6 or under is unacceptable to me. I expect to beat teams of similar records from other G5 conferences, & beat bad P5 teams. Occasional Bowl win.

I get it, after the Cotton Bowl, those shouldn't be our expectations, but I think some of it's just reality. All the time I see schools win a conference championship & then struggle for years after. We're hardly the first team to drop after a championship, & I think that's some of the problem, where we won it for the first time in forever, fans just thought that it'd be easy to maintain it. Was Lester the best hire after the Cotton Bowl, probably not, But I can't guarantee anyone would've been better & TL's kept us in a good spot.

Boom! Well said.

(12-13-2020 07:50 PM)Broncos83 Wrote:  Maybe less than zero. Good Lord, I shudder at the thought of me or any of my sports buddies making coaching decisions...we’d be brutal!

I'd have fired Mike Neu prior to 2020 & Chuck Martin prior to 2019 were I their ADs, but in retrospect, that'd have been foolish.

Exactly! For that matter...get Frank Solich’s butt out of there at Ohio U! Complete failure...hasn’t won the MAC yet.