Bill Cubit - Western Michigan

Western Michigan

Cubit was named head football coach at Western Michigan on December 4, 2004, succeeding Gary Darnell. Cubit was among a group of finalists for the job that included Notre Dame defensive line coach Greg Mattison (a former WMU assistant); Edinboro head coach Lou Tepper (a former head coach at Illinois); and Cornell head coach Jim Knowles (a former WMU assistant). In his first season, Cubit turned around a program that was 1–10 the prior season and had had three losing seasons in a row to a 7–4 record, the biggest single-season turnaround in Mid-American Conference (MAC) history and the second largest of the 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season. For his efforts, Cubit was named the 2005 MAC Coach of the Year.

Cubit led Western Michigan to the International Bowl following the 2006 season. This was the first bowl game for Western Michigan since 1988, when the team played in the California Raisin Bowl. The Broncos fell to Cincinnati, 27–24. Cincinnati was led to victory by new head coach Brian Kelly, who had also beaten the Broncos earlier in the season while he was head coach at Central Michigan.

After a nine-win season in 2008, Cubit lead Western Michigan to the Texas Bowl against Rice, where the Broncos lost, 38–14. The nine wins tied a school record for victories in a season, which had also been accomplished in 1988 and 2000.

Following the 2011 season, the Cubit and Broncos participated in the 2011 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, where they fell to Purdue in the final minutes by a score of 37–32.

During the course of his career at Western, Cubit has led the Broncos to upset road victories over Automatic Qualifying conference opponents Virginia (2006), Iowa (2007), Illinois (2008), and Connecticut (2011). The Iowa victory was of particular note, as Iowa entered the game with a season record of 6–5, and a 32–6 record in their previous five seasons at Kinnick Stadium. The Daily Iowan proclaimed it the worst loss of the Kirk Ferentz era. The win made Western Michigan 2–0 all-time against Iowa, having previously upset the Hawkeyes at Kinnick Stadium in 2000. Western Michigan concluded the 2007 season with a victory at home against Temple, then carried that momentum to a program-best 9–4 record in 2008.

Cubit's contract at WMU paid $377,250 per year, with possible bonuses of $251,500.

Western Michigan fired Cubit on November 17, 2012, following a season-ending loss to Eastern Michigan. WMU finished the year 4–8, its worst record since 2004. Cubit's final overall record at WMU was 51–47, with a conference record of 36–27, and a 0–3 bowl record. The three bowl game appearances under Cubit were more than the two total bowl game appearances made in the history of the program prior to his arrival.