Tim Lester may have signed a contract extension earlier this month, but a couple of his assistants won’t be along for wherever that extended ride takes the football program.
A week after being blown out in its bowl game, WMU announced Friday that Ashton Aikens and Nick Sanchez have been relieved of their duties by Lester and will not have their contracts renewed. Aikens just completed his second season as wide receivers coach, Sanchez his first as cornerbacks coach.
“I’d like to thank both Ashton Aikens and Nick Sanchez for their time with our program,” Lester said in a statement. “To continue to move Western Michigan forward these were areas we identified where we needed change. I wish both Ashton and Nick the best in their future endeavors.”
Taking over a WMU program that won 13 games in P.J. Fleck‘s final season in Kalamazoo, Lester has won a combined 13 games in his two seasons with the Broncos -- 7-6 in 2018, 6-6 in 2017. WMU’s recruiting classes have been the highest-ranked of any football program in the MAC the past two cycles (2018, 2019).
The Broncos also had the top-ranked class in the year prior to Fleck’s departure for Minnesota.