Football is a brutal sport, but watching it played at Eastern Michigan University can be equally as brutal lately.
Ever since the change of the school mascot in 1991 when the EMU Hurons became the EMU Eagles, the football program has been abysmal, accumulating a 61-160-1 record in 19 seasons.
The Eagles have only put together one winning season during that 19-season span when they finished 6-5 in 1995. And still, expectations for a winning season are on the minds of the players, coaches and fans every year.
When EMU signed Ron English, former defensive coordinator at the University of Michigan as coach two seasons ago, many believed he could be the man to help the program turn the corner.
For English so far, it’s not looking so good.
He is 2-22 through his first two seasons at the helm, and the question in many fans’ minds might be, Can English still turn it around?
Derrick Gragg, the athletic director at EMU, said he doesn’t think there is a formula for how many years it takes to see success.
“I feel that coaches who take over a program and inherit very little as it relates to resources and a history of a winning tradition should have time to build his or her program properly,” Gragg said. “I feel that a newly-hired coach should certainly have four to five years to recruit an entire four-to-five year class of his or her own players.”
Let’s be fair, English did inherit a bad program. The Eagles only recorded seven wins in the two seasons prior to his arrival.
So, it will take some time and money to get things right, and EMU is looking at rivals Central Michigan University and Western Michigan University as the example.
“This is the first year in EMU football history where the team has been able to train in the offseason in a proper indoor facility almost daily,” Gragg said. “By contrast, Central Michigan built its indoor facility over ten years ago, and Western Michigan opened a similar facility in 2003. Those facilities and other enhancements over the years have certainly had a direct, positive impact on those programs.”
EMUBut how long do fans have to wait to see some good college football in Ypsilanti?
Now that English has the necessary resources to compete, it shouldn’t be long right?
“We expect to be a lot better than we were last year,” English said. “We can’t assume we are going to be successful. We are going to keep making strides and we are very excited about spring ball and the beginning of the season.”
EMU senior Matt Coker said he is optimistic English can turn the program around and will start attending more games if the Eagles start to win.
“I think he can, but it takes time and a lot of people on board,” Coker said. “Everyone loves the underdog.”
I tend to agree. I think now that English has the resources to draw new recruits to the program and train all year round, the team will start making significant progress.
After all, practice makes perfect. When you practice about half of the time as the rest of the teams, it makes perfect sense to me that you are going to be about half as good.
Expect that to change.
