Mike Sanford Out at Western Kentucky

Western Kentucky has fired head football coach Mike Sanford.  Below is a look at the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers since the 2008 season.  Western Kentucky has had five head coaching changes from 2009 to 2018:  2009 David Elson, fired; 2012 Willie Taggert, left for South Florida;  2013 Bobby Petrino, left for Louisville; 2016 Jeff Brohm, left for Purdue; and 2018 Mike Sanford, fired.  As you can see, after three above average seasons in total production rankings, the Hilltoppers production dropped dramatically during Sanford's tenure as head football coach.

2017
Western Kentucky finished the regular season at (6-6); bowl eligible,losing their bowl game to #94 ranked Georgia State by a score of (17-27), while playing against a “much easier” strength of schedule (SOS), meaning that the Hilltoppers SOS was greater than two standard deviations that the "league" average SOS.  The Hilltoppers best victory was against #69 ranked Middle Tennessee State (41-38) and their worst loss was to #125 ranked Illinois by a score of (7-20).  Western Kentucky finished as the #80 ranked team overall, with the #79 ranked offense and the #66 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.

2018

Western Kentucky finished the regular season at (3-9), and were bowl ineligible.  To date, the Hilltoppers played again against an “easier” strength of schedule (SOS), meaning that the Hilltoppers SOS was between one and two standard deviations greater than the "league" average SOS.  The Hilltoppers best win was against currently ranked #62 Louisiana Tech (30-15) and their worst loss to FCS Maine by a score of (28-31).  Currently, Western Kentucky is the #99 ranked team overall, #113 ranked offense and #75 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.

2018 NCAA FBS Head Coaching Changes
Mike Jinks at Bowling Green
DJ Durkin at Maryland
Bobby Petrino and Louisville
Mike MacIntyre and Colorado
Everett Withers and Texas State

Brad Lambert and Charlotte 
Mark Whipple and Massachusetts
John Bonamego and Central Michigan
David Beaty and Kansas
Larry Fedora and North Carolina
Kliff Kingsbury and Texas Tech