History of Western Michigan University Football
"Western Michigan University football has been and still is one of the most prestigious football teams in the country," according to Tim Knox, director of football operations for WMU.
Western Michigan football was founded in 1905, when a group of students created a team to compete with other state schools. Dwight Waldo, university president at the time, chose to coach the team until a full-time coach could be found. After the 1906 season, Waldo chose Bill Spaulding from tiny Wabash College to be coach. Spaulding led Western to a record of 62 wins and 25 losses over 15 years, and was later hired by the University of Minnesota to run their athletic department. " Dwight Spaulding was the man that really made football at Western a possibility," added Brian Hagens, Western Michigan University football equipment manager.
Oddly enough, Western hired Earl Martineau from Minnesota to become the next head football coach. Martineau took over the Broncos in 1924, and claimed the Midwest Tri State Area Teachers College Championship after winning six games and losing just one in his first season. Martineau coached at Western for five years, winning 59 games and losing 34 times. " The greatest accomplishment of the Martineau era was not the championships but the numbers of players that became coaches after their playing days," says Hagens.
Mike Gary took over the head coaching job for the Broncos in 1929, leading them to a record of 59 wins and 34 losses over 12 years. Gary had toe leave his head coaching position at Western in 1941 to enlist in the United State Navy for World War II.
Gary handed the reigns over to one of his students, John Gill, a former halfback for the 1930 team. Gill, who served as a health instructor for the Naval training program, was hampered with a minimum number of players. Some players were only in Kalamazoo for a short time, some played only part of a season. Most players did not return from the war effort to Kalamazoo until 1946. "The greatest accomplishment of the Gill era, was joining the Mid American Conference. That allowed the team to schedule ten games instead of the usual seven or eight," says Knox.
After Gill stepped down in 1952 to assume the role of assistant athletic director, Western hired Jack Petoskey to coach the Broncos. Petoskey, was faced with a dilemma: a decreased post-war budget meant that he couldn’t offer scholarships, and had to depend on "walk-ons." Petoskey’s teams ended up winning only eight games in five years and Petoskey was fired after the fall of 1956.
Western wanted to find a coach who would be around, and decided the best choice would be Bill Doolittle. Doolittle coached from 1957 to 1974. Winning 84 games while only losing 45 times, he currently hold the record for most wins by a Western coach and for the longest tenure.
Doolittle’s 1966 team, tied for the MAC championship and earned him coach of the year honors. Doolittle surprised everyone when he retired after the fall of 1974, after the most successful record in Western history. "Doolittle was one of the coaches who had a big heart and wasn’t afraid to show it," said Dick Pryor, a former player under Doolittle in 1966.
Western was now in search of a candidate to replace the coaching legend of Doolittle, the most successful coach in the University’s history. WMU decided on Elliot Uzelac, a former Bronco player under Doolittle. Uzelac, brought Western to national prominence playing such schools as the University of Michiga, University of Wisconsin and Michigan State University. After three unsuccessful years, Uzelac was fired. He became only the second coach at Western to have a losing record.
Western went in a new direction with its new head coach, hiring Jack Harbaugh from Stanford University. Harbaugh took over in 1982 and served till 1986, when his contract was not renewed. Harbaugh didn’t have a spectacular career. His teams were mostly middle of the pack, not winning enough to get recognized. Harbaugh was let go after the fall of 1986. After Harbaugh was let go his friend and associate Bo Schembechler called Western " the worst football school in the country."
"The interesting thing about Bo saying, was that after Bo made that remark, Western teams beat the University of Michigan in basketball, tennis and volleyball," remarked Hagens, who served as a student equipment manager in 1986.
Western took a gamble on a young head coach from Eastern Illinois, Al Molde. The gamble paid off as Molde, took the Broncos to the 1988 California Bowl. Molde’s 1988 team set the record for most wins in a season by a Western team and won the conference championship. Molde’s Broncos ended up losing the California Bowl 35-30, but that team was more accomplished than any other WMU team in history. Molde continued his winning ways until the fall of 1997, when Moldes team became separated over some racial anxiety. Rumor has it that white players on Molde’s teams stopped attending practices while the black players were forced to attend. These accusations have never been proven but they ended up leading to Molde’s resignation after the 1997 season.
Western decided that it must hire a coach who people could recognize, a coach people could associate Western with. Their choice for this position was Gary Darnell, the defenseive coordinator of the National Championship runner-up Texas Longhorns. "Jim Weaver, the athletic director, saw something in Darnell that no one else saw, nobody but Weaver believed that Darnell would be a successful coach," commented Knox. Darnell was a younger coach who had great promise. He proved that with the 1998 team that went 7-5, after going 1-11 the year before under Molde. Darnell’s 1999 and 2000 teams both won the Western division, only to lose to Marshall in the conference championship game in consecutive years. Westerns 2001 team was hit with injuries and bad luck, and they ended up finishing the season with five wins and six losses.
"The students and administration here have made a commitment to a winning team and that’s exactly what we plan to give them," said junior offensive lineman Jake Gasaway. The football program at Western has grown exponentially over the course of history. IT started as a small mid-western intramural team and has grown to be one of the 50 most successful teams in the country.