Who will be Western Michigan’s coach vs. Michigan State football?
By Stephen Robb
After leaving for Minnesota, P.J. Fleck leaves a void at Western Michigan, making the Broncos’ 2017 matchup with Michigan State football intriguing.
Western Michigan coach PJ Fleck took over for Minnesota today, leaving the Broncos searching for a replacement. Fleck’s Broncos played the Spartans well and he will be an excellent addition for the Gophers as the Big Ten continues to get tougher.
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I realize this is a Michigan State website, however, when I read this news, my first thought of a replacement for the Broncos was an antagonist from the Spartans’ past: Mike Hart.
Yes, I wrote his name and I am not taking crazy pills anymore. Hart is famous for his college career in Ann Arbor and he did have a short stint with the Indianapolis Colts, but he is infamous in Spartan lore for his post game interview where he labeled Michigan State the ‘Little Brother.’
Why on earth would the Broncos take a chance on him as a coach? Hart, like Fleck, has experience playing in the NFL as well as a position coach in college.
It should be noted that Fleck was the Northern Illinois offensive coordinator for just one day, before taking a position with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a wide receivers coach. Hart is currently the running backs coach with the Syracuse Orange, but he was on the Broncos’ staff from 2013-15.
If you’re Western Michigan, you would understand that you are unable to keep your good coaches for any length of time. Central Michigan has experienced this problem with a revolving door from Brian Kelly, Butch Davis and then most recently Dan Enos leaving for better jobs.
Therefore, WMU should consider hiring another young up and coming coach who knows the state of Michigan and the roster current players. Plus, Hart is young enough to be able to relate to recruits and their trust. There will be growing pains, but there were with Fleck as well.
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Smaller schools have to think outside the box when it comes to coaching decisions, because the Power Five schools always get their man. If this were to happen, the 2017 contest with Western would be hyped with the ‘Little Brother’ comments and thus the matchup would have an extra spice to the contest.