Article by Dan Tortora
The Western Michigan Broncos have been to 10 Bowl games in their 60-year history.
Coming into the 2021 season, they had only won one of their previous nine Bowl outings, when the Broncos defeated the Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee State, 45-31, in the Popeyes Bahamas Bowl back on Christmas Eve on December 24, 2015, at the culmination of the 2015 season.
That victory came under former head football coach P.J. Fleck, who was 1-2 in Bowl games, guiding Western Michigan to a postseason berth in three of four seasons.
Current head football coach Tim Lester, a quarterback alum to the program, has not had a losing season at Western Michigan in his five seasons at the helm, going 6-6 in his first season as head coach and following with winning records in each of the last four seasons, including this campaign.
The 52-24 victory in the 2021 Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit, Michigan, gives Lester his first Bowl win with the Broncos, and their second all-time, making Lester and Fleck the only coaches in Western Michigan history to have a Bowl win under their belt.
Lester, like Fleck, now has a record of 1-2 in Bowl games as the leader for Western Michigan and has led the Broncos to three Bowl appearances in four seasons.
Under Lester, Western Michigan has concluded three of their last five seasons with at least seven wins, with this season being the first eight-win season under Lester, at 8-5.
It does not take a rocket scientist to see that this Broncos' program is trending upward, with six of their 10 Bowl appearances all coming within the last decade, three of those in the last four seasons under Lester, and only their second Bowl win in program history coming at the conclusion of their current season.
Lester may be onto something, and it is not simply just one of his plays he keeps nestled up that sleeve of his.
He led his Alma Mater down the field once as a quarterback, and he is heading down that field once again, this time with a headset on.
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