Coaching Carousel (Eastern Michigan)

Eastern Michigan has had a tough go over the last decade.  In the past ten years the Eagles have won only 30 games (20%) with zero bowl appereances.  Their best season was in 2011 when they finished 6-6 but couldn't go to a bowl game because two of their wins came against FCS opponents.  Their last bowl game happened to be the last (and only) MAC Championship season in 1987.  To say that Eastern Michigan has been struggling, is an understatement.

In December of 2008 the school hired Ron English as their new coach replacing Jeff Genyk.  English had been a successful defensive coordinator at Michigan before going to Louisville for the 2008 season.  The hiring brought a lot of excitement to the program since English had a good run while at Michigan and they were hoping his connections within the state could jump start the program.  Instead the program  never got off the ground.  EMU won only 11 games in his tenure.  He got them to a 6-6 record in 2012 but were ineligible for a bowl because two of their wins came against FCS competition.  The next year he won only two games and had only one win this year before being fired.  On November 8th English was fired due to leaked audio of him berating his players with profanities and homophobic remarks.  His record probably helped in the ease of firing him.

Where does Eastern Michigan go from here?  The problem that they will have is that the program is easily one of the worst in all of the FBS, so they likely are not going to get their first choice.  The Eagles  may have to go with a FCS coach or even an nontraditional route.  But as we have seen in the MAC any team can come up and win (Ohio and Buffalo) depending on the coach.  It should be really interesting to see where they go.

Potential Candidates

Tyrone Wheatley (Buffalo Bills RB Coach)
Their top choice could be another former Wolverine.   Wheatley is fastly moving up the coaching ladder and has had success wherever he has gone.  Wheatly is from Detroit which is just a stone's throw from Ypsilanti and was an assistant at the school under English in 2008 and 2009.  Wheatley has spent that past few years working under Doug Marrone at Syracuse and now Buffalo. He does have some head coaching experience as he was a head coach at his high school.

Bill Cubit (Illinois Offensive Coordinator)
Another option could be getting the former Western Michigan head coach.  Cubit had success at WMU before being fired two years ago.  Yes he did get fired, but Cubit had the Broncos competitive in the MAC and took them to three bowl games.  He also knows the area recruiting wise which only helps.  Add in that the Illinois coaching staff likely could be fired could force him to be looking.

Mike Haywood (former Miami OH Head Coach)
If Eastern Michigan wants to win, they could easily go with Haywood.  Haywood was very successful at Miami OH winning the MAC in 2010 and then accepted the Pittsburgh job the year after.  The problem with Haywood is that he got charged with felony domestic abuse which cost him his job at Pitt.  The charges were later dismissed, but Haywood hasn't coached since.   Would EMU want to deal with that publicity?

Thomas Wilcher (Cass Tech Head Coach)
If the Eagles want to really break the mold, they could go with widely success high school coach Thomas Wilcher.  Wilcher is the head coach at Detroit's Cass Tech who has won two straight state titles.  Wilcher would have lots of connections within Detroit which should help EMU recruiting.  However the jump from high school to FBS is a huge jump.  Even within the MAC.  But Wilcher has indicated that coaching in college might be something he's interested in.

Paul Winters (Wayne State University Head Coach)
One route that the school could go is hiring a successful lower level coach.  They wouldn't have to go too far to find one.  Wayne Michigan is just a down the street from Ypsilanti, so Winters has experience in the area and has build the Warriors program into one of the best in Division II.  The problem is that Winters may not want to leave a successful program to go to one of the worst in the FBS.   But getting that chance in a familiar area might be enough to sway him.

Charlie Batch (former Eagle Quarterback)
In a total out of left field choice could be one of the best alumni the football team has had.  Charlie Batch also happens to be a Super Bowl winning quarterback. The problem is that Charlie has never coached and may have no interest.  But with the success of Kliff Kingsbury at Texas Tech, the Eagles could turn to Batch.  If he can hire some good assistants he may be able to have success.  But this is completely out of left field.