Two Western Michigan freshmen were arrested late Friday night after allegedly holding up a woman with weapons in an off-campus area.
Ron George and Bryson White were first suspended indefinitely when the news broke, but then as coach P.J. Fleck learned more, the two players were kicked off the team.
“It falls on one person — me,” Fleck said. “As the leader of this family, it’s up to me to simulate what it is going to be like for these kids to live in a college setting, and I didn’t do good enough.”
New Coaches
Three new coaches will debut for Mid-American Conference teams this week.
Bowling Green hired Mike Jinks. Mike Neu is taking over at Ball State, and Jason Candle, who coached the bowl game for Toledo, will start his first full season.
Jinks has never been a head coach at the college level. For his first game, he'll face national power Ohio State. But he won't be nervous taking on the challenge.
“It’ll be the same thing that I always have on my mind (before the game),” Jinks said. “I’ll take 10 or 15 seconds, say a quick prayer to myself because I’m blessed to have this opportunity and then it’s game on.”
Neu is taking over his alma mater and is also a first time collegiate head coach. He'll draw from his previous experience, quarterbacks coach of the New Orleans Saints, to help in his new role.
“The great part about working with a guy like Drew Brees, a six-foot quarterback who has played in the National Football League for 15 years, (is) he showed me what it took to become the player he is now,“ Neu said. “I can show these guys how to prepare, how to take care of (their) body and be a successful football player.”
Bowling Green, Western Michigan projected to play in MAC Championship Game
The preseason media and coaches’ polls both selected Western Michigan to win the MAC West and Bowling Green to win the MAC East. Both projected division winners are there by a narrow margin, with Northern Illinois coming in second in the West and Ohio projected as the runner-up in the East.
The Bobcats, who for years have had trouble competing with the Falcons, are now close on their heels — at least in the eyes of the coaches and media.
“It’s well deserved. (Ohio's) coach is a legend,” Jinks said when asked about the close competition in the MAC East. “But right now, our focus is Ohio State.”
