The unofficial online home for fans of the Western Michigan University Broncos. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

last year and this player/leaders were told by staff NOT to police the freshmen or hold others accountable - the culture that was built by Fleck was destroyed early on last season and couple that with poor even inept coaching from position coaches to coordinators to the HC - and the leftovers from RTB are just playing out their years and moving on. they wanted to beat CMU and be bowl eligible - after that when the goals are set low by the HC, why chance getting hurt. players last year were questioning the knowledge and ability of the staff and nothing changed or got better

KB is the main problem though - she will not do anything about it - if I was TL I would come back to WMU for 800k whether I was ready or not - who wouldn't? (of course coulda paid 150k and got him, but why use brains) WMU athletic Dept. needs a whole new look - starting at the top

And you know all this- how?

This should all be taken with a grain of salt as with any rumor but I heard much of the same last year particularly re: players questioning the staff.

I think the hope now is that as more and more of his own players get in Lester will have a better control of the team/culture. But I think for results to follow we need staff changes.

He only has 10 posts, so I suspect he is either a troll or an insider-maybe a player? Who can say?

(11-14-2018 03:59 PM)BroncoPhilly Wrote:  He only has 10 posts, so I suspect he is either a troll or an insider-maybe a player? Who can say?

Can't be a player; join date indicates 2007.

(11-14-2018 04:01 PM)Brindlee2015 Wrote:  

(11-14-2018 03:59 PM)BroncoPhilly Wrote:  He only has 10 posts, so I suspect he is either a troll or an insider-maybe a player? Who can say?

Can't be a player; join date indicates 2007.

There you go, it's probably Kathy's Associate Athletic Director looking for advancement.

Everybody has an agenda.

Don't be so quick to disregard what he's saying. If you've ever sat in the right area last year, you heard much of the same stuff.

**from players and from parents FWIW -

I know Tim and several other coaches - but I do not feel they were/are ready and am sick that we are paying 800k for this mess. I bleed brown and gold and am saddened that we have taken multiple steps backward as a program.

the real problem is KB - always has been - she's a pushover and a mess

(11-15-2018 12:46 PM)talg8er Wrote:  **from players and from parents FWIW -

I know Tim and several other coaches - but I do not feel they were/are ready and am sick that we are paying 800k for this mess. I bleed brown and gold and am saddened that we have taken multiple steps backward as a program.

the real problem is KB - always has been - she's a pushover and a mess

Kathy has hired some good coaches-Fleck, Blashill, Hawks. She's also hired some duds-Culhane for example. And she stuck with Jim Culhane WAY past the time it was obvious he wasn't getting the job done.

She's probably the best AD Western has had in recent decades, but that isn't saying too much-we've had some real duds in that Position. Still, before we consider replacing her, you need to have somebody in mind. That's the issue.

BTW, having donors "making" these kinds of decisions is a REALLY bad idea.

(11-15-2018 02:37 PM)Brindlee2015 Wrote:  BTW, having donors "making" these kinds of decisions is a REALLY bad idea.

My guess is that the prez and donors were starting to get loud. Probably making some threats about pulling funding and basically insisting something be done. I doubt there was an ultimatum it Tim realized he needed to make a change and figured now was as good of a time as ever if to just cool off his seat. It was likely Daoust wasn’t going to be retained after this year.

(11-15-2018 02:37 PM)Brindlee2015 Wrote:  BTW, having donors "making" these kinds of decisions is a REALLY bad idea.

While I would normally agree, I am actually inclined to think our donors have had better ideas than the brass of late.

(11-15-2018 02:37 PM)Brindlee2015 Wrote:  BTW, having donors "making" these kinds of decisions is a REALLY bad idea.

Yes, we don't want big money donors running our programs, only supporting them.

Selecting a coach is not a guarantee of success. KB caught a lot of flack for selecting Fleck, and he got the Broncos to the Cotton Bowl.

Coach Lester has developed an productive offensive machine...even with losing Wassink and replacing him with a young but talented freshman.

Defense, for whatever reason, has regressed. This seems to have been addressed with the firing of Doust the the search for a replacement.

Next year, the Bronco offense will be strong. However, Bogan will be missed as will others such as Keenoy. The defense has to get better. The Broncos have got to stop the other team. As often said, the team that scores more points is going to win. It doesn't matter how many points the Broncos put up if the opposition puts up more.

If Western can beat NIU which is a huge challenge, we all can breathe more easily. However, if they don't win, it will be very disappointing but the future could be very promising.

(11-15-2018 02:11 PM)BroncoPhilly Wrote:  

(11-15-2018 12:46 PM)talg8er Wrote:  **from players and from parents FWIW -

I know Tim and several other coaches - but I do not feel they were/are ready and am sick that we are paying 800k for this mess. I bleed brown and gold and am saddened that we have taken multiple steps backward as a program.

the real problem is KB - always has been - she's a pushover and a mess

Kathy has hired some good coaches-Fleck, Blashill, Hawks. She's also hired some duds-Culhane for example. And she stuck with Jim Culhane WAY past the time it was obvious he wasn't getting the job done.

She's probably the best AD Western has had in recent decades, but that isn't saying too much-we've had some real duds in that Position. Still, before we consider replacing her, you need to have somebody in mind. That's the issue.

Kathy did not hire Fleck. She wanted TL and was forced to move on Fleck him by Dunn. I love Hawk but he needs to move on. No one on campus cares about the basketball team. There is no energy at all around the program.

(11-16-2018 03:20 PM)bronco89 Wrote:  

(11-15-2018 02:11 PM)BroncoPhilly Wrote:  

(11-15-2018 12:46 PM)talg8er Wrote:  **from players and from parents FWIW -

I know Tim and several other coaches - but I do not feel they were/are ready and am sick that we are paying 800k for this mess. I bleed brown and gold and am saddened that we have taken multiple steps backward as a program.

the real problem is KB - always has been - she's a pushover and a mess

Kathy has hired some good coaches-Fleck, Blashill, Hawks. She's also hired some duds-Culhane for example. And she stuck with Jim Culhane WAY past the time it was obvious he wasn't getting the job done.

She's probably the best AD Western has had in recent decades, but that isn't saying too much-we've had some real duds in that Position. Still, before we consider replacing her, you need to have somebody in mind. That's the issue.

Kathy did not hire Fleck. She wanted TL and was forced to move on Fleck him by Dunn. I love Hawk but he needs to move on. No one on campus cares about the basketball team. There is no energy at all around the program.

Agreed, but a point must be clarified. Dunn didn't direct KB to hire Fleck, only to move away from Lester and the Cubit tree. He directed her to "shake things up".

Spot on about basketball, too. Nobody cares.

What can WMU do to get people to care about WMU bball? I think Hawk has a talented squad but injuries ended this year before it began. Team is playing with more emotion and cohesion this year than they did last year so far.

(11-19-2018 08:47 PM)Nacho Wrote:  What can WMU do to get people to care about WMU bball? I think Hawk has a talented squad but injuries ended this year before it began. Team is playing with more emotion and cohesion this year than they did last year so far.

We could drop hockey......

As long as Hawk is there, the program will be stuck right where it is. Nice man, but as vanilla as can be. The program has no identity. [/align]

(11-20-2018 08:36 AM)bronco89 Wrote:  

(11-19-2018 08:47 PM)Nacho Wrote:  What can WMU do to get people to care about WMU bball? I think Hawk has a talented squad but injuries ended this year before it began. Team is playing with more emotion and cohesion this year than they did last year so far.

We could drop hockey......

That'd be great. This isn't Canada for gosh sakes.