Sources: Western Michigan not maintaining Lester

7:32 AM ET Pete ThamelESPN Western Michigan is not maintaining coach Tim Lester, sources informed ESPN.The choice comes after Lester went 5-7 this season, his first losing season in six years as head coach.Lester went a decent 37-32 over 6 seasons and 26-20 in MAC play. Throughout those six years, Western Michigan did not appear in the conference title game

or win the MAC West.Lester had 3 years staying on his agreement, and the school is anticipated to pay him$500,000. Western Michigan is among the higher-resourced tasks in the MAC, with

one of the top salary swimming pools for both head coach and assistant coaches. Sources informed ESPN that the university had bigger ambitions and wished to consistently compete at the top of the MAC West.Lester took control of for P.J. Fleck, who led Western Michigan to an undefeated regular season and the Cotton Bowl during the 2016 season. Given that Lester took over, Western Michigan has appeared

in 3 bowl games and won among them. Lester’s best year came in 2021 when Western Michigan won 8 games and won the Quick Lane Bowl.Western Michigan plans to employ a search firm and will perform a national search, per sources. The school is looking for a profile of a high-energy coach who is a vibrant employer and has actually experienced success at

several levels.Lester is a previous quarterback at Western Michigan and has comprehensive experience as a quarterback coach, offending planner and play caller. He’s been the offending planner at Syracuse and the quarterback coach at both Purdue and as an assistant at Western Michigan. He likewise has been a successful Division II and Division III head coach.