Western Michigan

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Mid-American · Lance Taylor, year 4 (21-20) · Waldo Stadium · 30,200 · 24,605 avg in 2026

The nationunrankedAP / Coaches
The model#23 CFB ZeitgeistSP+ #81 (-4.2) · FPI #65
The marketWestern Michigan by 9.5at Rice · our model 86% Western Michigan · a number, not a pick

LastW 49–14 vs Monmouth · Sat Sep 12 · Broc Lowry 212 pass yds, 3 TD, 40 rush yds

Nextat Rice · Sat Sep 19 · 7 pm ET · Rice Stadium · Western Michigan by 9.5 · series 0-1 · Game preview

Updated Tue Sep 15 · through week 2

Zeitgeist statureRegional Program II#137 all-time– holding
one line from Regional Program I
The era · 2014 through 2025

The CFP Era

12 seasons inside the CFP era, no bids yet — the era the program is still trying to break into.

Era record 85-62 12 seasons
Best season 13-1 2016
TRAJECTORY · quality-score line · AP rank dotted · CFP bids marked · coach regimes ribboned
Program Quality AP Rank (inverted) CFP Appearance
'14'16'18'20'22'24NOW
CHAPTERS · 12 seasons · tap to open the archive
'14 8-5 '15 8-5 '16 13-1 '17 6-6 '18 7-6 '19 7-6 '20 — '21 7-5 '22 5-7 '23 4-8 '24 6-7 '25 10-4

Western Michigan's 2014–2025 record is 85-62. The era is still being written; the CFP line is the one the program is arguing for.

Era win %
.578
Ranked seasons (AP)
1/12
Best AP finish
#12

Program outlook

Western Michigan was picked seventh in the MAC in 2025 and won the whole conference. A 23-13 title-game win over Miami (OH), then a 41-6 bowl demolition of Kennesaw State — the Broncos' first championship since P.J. Fleck's 13-1 miracle in 2016, by a team nobody saw coming.

Read the full essay — 3 more paragraphs

Waldo Stadium in Kalamazoo is where 'Row the Boat' was invented, and the phrase belongs to a Minnesota coach now, but the program that built it just proved the philosophy was always bigger than the slogan. Lance Taylor took a roster the MAC picked seventh and turned it into a conference champion — and the way it happened matters. Not a fluke win, not a soft bracket. A 10-4 season, a 7-1 league record, a statement title-game victory, and then the most lopsided bowl performance the Broncos have put together in years.

The nine years between 2016 and 2025 weren't a failure exactly — Western Michigan stayed competitive, made bowls, developed NFL players — but the program knew what it had been and what it hadn't gotten back to. Fleck left for Minnesota and took the rowing metaphor with him, and the Broncos spent the decade between defined by a season their coach wasn't even there for anymore. Taylor's 2025 team answered that. Quarterback Broc Lowry ran the offense, the defense held together in the close games, and the MAC trophy came back to Kalamazoo. The internal question entering 2026 is one the fanbase has felt before: whether the breakthrough holds, or whether the program follows the 2016 pattern and dips once the season of a generation passes.

The 2026 schedule will answer a direct question: is Lance Taylor building a MAC power, or was 2025 the same thing 2016 was — one extraordinary year that makes the next few years feel smaller? The Broncos return enough of the 2025 roster to be a legitimate favorite. Whether they handle the weight of defending champions in a league full of teams pointing at them is the actual test.

On the field

Development football — the MAC model at its most rigorous. Western Michigan wins by maximizing its players' ceiling, not by out-recruiting the conference. The offense under Taylor runs with tempo, uses the quick passing game to manufacture yards after contact, and asks the QB to operate within structure rather than freelance. The 'Row the Boat' DNA runs underneath all of it: belief that effort compounds, that every opponent can be beaten with enough preparation. Waldo Stadium's 1939-vintage intimacy makes the home crowd a real factor on autumn Saturdays in Kalamazoo.

program outlook · as of 2026-06-14

All-time record · Western Michigan

Western Michigan has won 50% of its games since 1917 — 63% at home, 40% on the road.

375-361-7 all-time · 83 seasons · 1917–2026

Home 219-126-5
Away 151-223-2
Neutral 5-12
3 g 1910s
1 g 1920s
8 g 1930s
5 g 1940s
1 g 1950s
45% 1960s
51% 1970s
51% 1980s
59% 1990s
49% 2000s
53% 2010s
53% 2020s

Coaching Era · Western Michigan

Lance Taylor

Lance Taylor has held the program for 4 seasons — the era is established.

Era Lance Taylor · 2023–presentPrev: Tim Lester (2017–2022)OC: Walt BellPrev OC: Billy Cosh (2023)DC: co-Greer Martini / co-Duane VaughnPrev DC: Chris O'Leary (2025)
The full CFP-era story →The full coaching lineage →
4 years · era

Program memory

What this program never forgets

Most weeks vanish. These didn’t.

2016

The 13-1 Cotton Bowl season

An undefeated regular season, a MAC title, and a Cotton Bowl berth — the program's high-water mark

The 2025 MAC championship

A 23-13 title-game win over Miami (OH) for the first conference crown since 2016, by a team picked seventh

2025

Myrtle Beach Bowl rout

A 41-6 demolition of Kennesaw State that capped a 10-win season

Moment of the season — so far · Western Michigan · 2026

Lost 12-13 at Michigan

Week 1 of 2026. The early statement — the game this season gets measured from, for now. It turned on one snap in Q4 — a 85-point win-probability swing.

vs AP #16

NFL Draft Pipeline

2022–2025

Western Michigan has sent 4 players to the NFL Draft since 2022 — none in the first round.

Developing. Pipeline emerging.

4 picks · 0 in round 1
#54 Skyy Moore Wide Receiver · 2022 · Kansas City · #8/468 final season
#56 Marshawn Kneeland Defensive Edge · 2024 · Dallas · #189/418 final season
#178 Bilhal Kone Cornerback · 2025 · Baltimore · #144/327 final season
#103 all-time · 2 first-round picksthe talent factory →

More in this tab

Ladder finishHow far up the ladder this season got.

Season standing · 2026 · 1-1

Western Michigan is 1-1 and unranked in the season's first weeks.

Even or better through the season's first weeks. The resume is still forming.

Sub-FBSBuildingBowlRankedContenderPlayoff
Coaching historyEvery hire and departure on record, not just the current era.

Coaching history

  • Hired Lance Taylor2023
  • Tim Lester departs37-32, 6 seasons
  • Hired Tim Lester2017
  • P.J. Fleck departs30-22, 4 seasons
  • Hired P.J. Fleck2013
  • Bill Cubit departs51-47, 8 seasons
  • Hired Bill Cubit2005
  • Gary Darnell departs46-46, 8 seasons
Coordinator lineageOffense and defense under each coordinator.

Unit lineage

Western Michigan’s offense and defense, by coordinator

FBS-relative efficiency percentile per season (2014–2026), same population as the Coordinator Mirror board. Dashed vertical lines mark a coordinator change.

Offense2014–2026
2014201620182020202220242026
2014–2016 · Kirk Ciarrocca2017 · Kevin Johns / co-Jake Moreland2018–2020 · Jake Moreland2021 · co-Mike Bath / co-Eric Evans2022 · Jeff Thorne2023 · Billy Cosh2024–2026 · Walt Bell
Defense2014–2026
2014201620182020202220242026
2014–2016 · Ed Pinkham2017–2018 · Tim Daoust / co-Lou Esposito2019–2023 · Lou Esposito2024 · Scott Power2025 · Chris O'Leary2026 · co-Greer Martini / co-Duane Vaughn
Elite (≥70th pct)AveragePoor (≤30th pct)
Gameday customsThe gameday customs unique to this program.

Rituals

Three gameday rituals — the ones outsiders never quite catch.

P.J. Fleck Era (2013-2016)

since 2013

more

P.J. Fleck — age-32 youngest FBS head coach at the time — produced the program's modern peak: 2016 13-1 + MAC championship + Cotton Bowl appearance + #15 final AP rank. Fleck's 'Row the Boat' mantra + recruiting culture + program-rebuilding methodology made WMU national G5 case study. Fleck's 2017 departure to Minnesota took the Row the Boat brand with him.

Row the Boat Origin

since 2013

more

'Row the Boat' — P.J. Fleck's defining mantra — was born at WMU during the 2013-2016 era. The oar-as-team-symbol + the rowing-as-cohesion metaphor + the senior-class oar-handoff ritual originated here before traveling to Minnesota with Fleck. The Row the Boat trademark + brand identity are uniquely WMU's contribution to CFB.

Waldo Stadium Tradition

since 1939

more

Waldo Stadium (built 1939) — Western Michigan's on-campus venue with 30,200 capacity — anchors the program. The historic stadium + Kalamazoo geographic setting + MAC conference identity + the 1939 dedication tradition create a venue distinct from larger flagship-state programs.

Cultural identityWhat college football loses if this program didn't exist.
BowlsEvery bowl this program's played, and how it did.

Bowl / Postseason Ledger

Recent postseason (2014-2025): 3-5

Most recent: 2025 — win 41-6 (home). Last 5 postseason: 2-3.

20252024202120192018
Reddit blowupsThe plays that blew up on r/CFB.

r/cfb moments

141
[Postgame Thread] Western Michigan Defeats Buffalo 24-17
Oct 2021 · r/cfb

All-time top community posts · ranked by upvotes

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