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
Program prestige
Zeitgeist statureRegional Program IProgram outlook
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.
Since Jun 14: W 38-7 vs Kent State; W 21-14 at Central Michigan; L 38-45 at Toledo; W 23-10 vs Bowling Green. 6-3 this season.
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.
Western Michigan has won 51% of its games since 1917 — 63% at home, 41% on the road.
380-363-7 all-time · 83 seasons · 1917–2026
Home
221-127-5
Away
154-224-2
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
54%
2020s
The CFP era
13 seasons inside the CFP era, no bids yet — the era the program is still trying to break into.
Trajectory · quality-score line · AP rank dotted · CFP bids marked · coach regimes ribboned
Program quality
AP rank (inverted)
CFP appearance
Swipe left for earlier seasons
Western Michigan’s 2014–2026 record is 92-65.
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: Greer Martini (co) / Duane Vaughn (co)Prev DC: Chris O'Leary (2025)
4
years · era
Western Michigan and Central Michigan, meeting by meeting
Central Michigan leads the series 32-28-1 (since 1962); Western Michigan has won the last 2
2026: Western Michigan won 21-14. After this game, Central Michigan led 32-28-1.
Last 25 meetings: ▲ Western Michigan won, ▼ Central Michigan won, by how much
Each step is one meeting: up when Western Michigan wins, down when Central Michigan wins, flat for a tie. Counts every game in our records since 1962. Tap the line for any season.
Moments in Western Michigan history
- Wisconsin 24, Western Michigan 16Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic · Jan 2, 2017
- Ball State 30, Western Michigan 27Dec 12, 2020
- Western Michigan 41, Toledo 38Nov 11, 2020
What this program never forgets
Most weeks vanish. These didn’t.
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 year · 2026
Lost 12-13 at Michigan
Week 1 of 2026. The single game that defined the season's arc. It turned on one snap in Q4 — a 64-point win-probability swing.
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 Chiefs · #8/468 final season
Kansas City Chiefs · #8/468 final season
#56
Marshawn Kneeland
Defensive Edge · 2024 · 
Dallas Cowboys · #189/418 final season
Dallas Cowboys · #189/418 final season
#178
Bilhal Kone
Cornerback · 2025 · 
Baltimore Ravens · #144/327 final season
Baltimore Ravens · #144/327 final season
#103 all-time · 2 first-round picksthe talent factory →
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Ladder finish
Season standing · 2026 · 6-3
Season standing · 2026 · 6-3Western Michigan is 6-3 — bowl-eligible, unranked.
6+ wins, bowl access secured. The baseline of a successful FBS year.
Bowl eligible
Sub-FBSBuildingBowlRankedContenderPlayoff
Conference
Mid-American standing · 2026
3rd in the Mid-American
Western Michigan is 3rd in the Mid-American at 4-1. 2 teams above — that's the direct path to the title game.
| # | Program | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ohio | 5-0 |
| 2 | Buffalo | 4-1 |
| 3 | Western Michigan | 4-1 |
| 4 | Toledo | 3-1 |
| 5 | Eastern Michigan | 3-2 |
| 6 | Miami (OH) | 3-2 |
| 7 | Ball State | 2-2 |
| 8 | Bowling Green | 2-3 |
| 9 | Kent State | 2-3 |
| 10 | Central Michigan | 1-3 |
| 11 | Massachusetts | 1-3 |
| 12 | Sacramento State | 1-5 |
| 13 | Akron | 0-5 |
Coaching history
Coaching history
- Hired Lance Taylor
- Tim Lester departs
- Hired Tim Lester
- P.J. Fleck departs
- Hired P.J. Fleck
- Bill Cubit departs
- Hired Bill Cubit
- Gary Darnell departs
Coordinator 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
2014–2016 · Kirk Ciarrocca2017 · Kevin Johns / Jake Moreland (co)2018–2020 · Jake Moreland2021 · Mike Bath (co) / Eric Evans (co)2022 · Jeff Thorne2023 · Billy Cosh2024–2026 · Walt Bell
Defense2014–2026
2014–2016 · Ed Pinkham2017–2018 · Tim Daoust / Lou Esposito (co)2019–2023 · Lou Esposito2024 · Scott Power2025 · Chris O'Leary2026 · Greer Martini (co) / Duane Vaughn (co)
Elite (≥70th pct)AveragePoor (≤30th pct)
Gameday customs
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 identity
2025 W
2024 L
2021 W
2019 L
2018 LReddit blowups
r/CFB moments
1.2k
[Postgame Thread] Western Michigan Defeats Monmouth 49-14
165
[Postgame Thread] Western Michigan Defeats Rice 28-21
All-time top community posts
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