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Community Welcomes Football Coach Charlie Fisher

Introductory press conference held Monday in the University Union

PHOTO GALLERY

COACH FISHER PRESS CONFERENCE

MACOMB, Ill. – A full room inside the Brattain Lounge in the University Union welcomed new Western Illinois head football coach Charlie Fisher on Monday afternoon (Jan. 4).
 
Director of Athletics Matt Tanney, University President Dr. Jack Thomas and Fisher spoke on the excitement surrounding Leatherneck Football and bright future ahead for the program.
 
Western is coming off a 2015 campaign in which it finished 7-6 overall, 5-3 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference (third place) and earned an at-large berth to the NCAA FCS Playoffs. The Leathernecks earned their 10th Division I postseason appearance all-time and outside of the top rusher from last year, return virtually all the top statistical leaders.
 
"It's a great day to be a Leatherneck and I'm honored to be the next head football coach at Western Illinois. It has been an awesome journey for me in 34 years of coaching and to come here at this point and be the next head football coach here is awesome," said Fisher. "It has come full circle for me to be a head coach again. I wouldn't trade anything about that journey, it's made me a better coach and a better person. I'm ready to take on this challenge at Western Illinois. I look forward to it and am very excited."
 
Fisher begins his second stint as a head coach, posting a 36-17 record in five years as head coach at West Georgia. From 1993-97 he was the head coach at West Georgia and captured a share of the 1997 Gulf South Conference championship with two postseason appearances. He coached 45 All-Gulf South Conference performers and seven All-Americans.
 
He has spent the last two years at Richmond, last year taking over as the offensive coordinator after serving as the wide receivers coach and director of recruiting in 2014. This season, the Spiders advanced to the semifinals of the FCS playoffs (10-4 overall record) while earning a 'Top 10' national ranking.
 
During the 2015 season, Richmond featured a balanced offensive attack, currently ranking 19th nationally in total offense (451.9), 31st in rushing (190.9), 27th in passing (260.9), 14th in passing efficiency (145.41), 23rd in scoring (33.0 ppg), eighth in third down conversions (47.4), 18th in time of possession (32:31) and 19th in redzone offense (.855). Richmond qualified for the FCS postseason both years he worked with the Spiders.
 
"People have asked me why are you interested in Western Illinois and I kept coming back to the tradition of the program, the winning tradition. The Leatherneck Way, the Leatherneck tradition," said Fisher. "Each step of the way here last week it was so obvious for me and my wife, and it's obvious looking out here (in the crowd), how many people are connected to Leatherneck Football, that love this program, love this University."
 
With more than 30 years of college coaching experience, Fisher has spent time as an assistant coach at: Penn State, Miami (Ohio), Vanderbilt, Temple, North Carolina State, West Georgia, Lenoir-Rhyne, Ole Miss and Eastern Kentucky. He was a graduate assistant on the 1982 Eastern Kentucky team that won the FCS national championship.
 
 
Additional Quotes from Head Coach Charlie Fisher
"The enthusiasm, the pride, everything you want in a program as a head football coach it's all here. Western is a great school, it has great tradition. That's the thing I always go back to is the tradition in the program.
 
The foundation for success has already been laid here. There's been a great job done here. There's a nucleus of talent and experience. It's time for us to continue to build on that. I said in my interview 'We're not there yet. We're starting there, we've got a great foundation, but there's lots of work to be done'. You don't ever want to be satisfied. You want to win championships, you want to take this program to the highest level on and off the field doing things the right way and achieve as much success as we can.
 
It's exciting to when you can come into a program and there's a wonderful foundation already there. We are not starting over, Matt (Tanney) made that clear to me many times. We've got a nucleus of young talent, some experience and kids that are hungry. (Sophomore linebacker) Brett (Taylor) was on the committee and I could see it in his eyes when I met with him. These young men are hungry to continue to build on what was achieved last year. As the head football coach and the staff I'm going to bring in, that's exciting.
 
I'm excited about bringing in here young men with a championship attitude, a blue-collar work ethic… At the end of the day we like a fast, physical football team. I like hard-nosed, tough kids. I like to build a football program that way from the inside-out. That's what we have to get done here. We got talent here, but we want to continue to do that so when we play a game people know we are all in for all 60 (minutes). We're going to come to play and compete the whole way. That is our goal, that's what we aim to recruit the type of young man that will get in here, that will do that each and every day on the practice field and carry that over to Saturdays. In this conference you have to be ready to do that.
 
I know what winning looks like. I've been around winners. I know how you do things right and what can lead to not doing it right. We're certainly going to do it the right way, set that example right off the bat and make sure we're setting a winning tone on and off the field."
 
 
Quotes from University President Dr. Jack Thomas
"Football is one of our signature athletic programs, and we have found a coach who will help us showcase our football program. More importantly, we have found a coach who will help us win games and to win National Championships… Along with winning football games, we want our football program and head coach to continue to develop young men of character, to care about our student-athletes, to help out student-athletes graduate, and to help prepare them to be future leaders of tomorrow… We want to win, and we will win here at Western Illinois University."
 
 
Quotes from Athletic Director Matt Tanney
"Today is a great day for Leatherneck Football.  It's a great day because we have a head coach that has the energy and the experience that's necessary to take this program to the next level, competing for championships in the Missouri Valley Football Conference and advancing in the FCS Playoffs. Let me be clear, this is not a rebuild, this is a reload. During his interview Coach Fisher articulated a vision for taking Leatherneck Football to that next level with a toughness and a blue collar, roll up your sleeves identity that fits our student-athletes and our Leatherneck history.
 
Coach Fisher has successfully worked at the highest levels of the game, including time in the SEC and Big Ten Conferences, in addition to his most recent success at the FCS level. He's a proven winner.
 
Many people provided feedback on Coach Fisher during the interview process, and one phrase continued to resonate with conversations I had with people, 'Great coach, better person'. That perhaps may be the most exciting reason for his arrival on campus today.
 
I'm confident in his ability to continue to build our program and developing our student-athletes on the field and in the classroom."
 
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