Football | December 06, 2016

KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Western Michigan head coach P.J. Fleck has been named a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award, presented by the Football Writers Association of America.

Fleck has guided Western Michigan to the school's first New Year's Six bowl with a trip to the Goodyear Cotton Bowl following a perfect 13-0 regular season which included its first Mid-American Conference Championship since 1988 with a 29-23 win over Ohio last week in the MAC Championship.

Last week, Fleck was named MAC Coach of the Year for the second time in the last three seasons. Under Fleck's guidance, the Broncos finished 8-0 in league play and became the first team in MAC history to win each of its league games by 14+ points.

This year the Broncos have achieved 65 "nevers" in program history, including beating two B1G teams, becoming ranked in the Associated Press poll, USA Today Amway Coaches Poll and College Football Playoff Ranking. Earlier this season the Broncos hosted ESPN's College Gameday for the first time in program history and just the second time in MAC history.

Fans have responded to the unprecedented success by setting a home attendance record with over 143,000 fans coming to Waldo Stadium this season and last week at Ford Field, the Bronco faithful set a MAC Championship attendance record with over 45,000 traveling from Kalamazoo to Detroit.

The winner of the 2016 Eddie Robinson Award will be announced on Dec. 15. Other finalists this year include Alabama's Nick Saban, Colorado's Mike MacIntyre, Penn State's James Franklin and Washington's Chris Petersen.