Western Michigan set to hire Walt Bell as offensive coordinator

The Western Michigan Broncos are set to hire Walt Bell as their new offensive coordinator, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported on Saturday afternoon. He was previously the head coach for the UMass Minutemen (2019-2021) and was also the offensive coordinator for Indiana (2022-2023), Florida State (2018), Maryland (2016-2018), and Arkansas State (2014-2015).

Bell was the offensive coordinator for the Indiana Hoosiers (2022-2023), where the Hoosiers had the nation’s 111th ranked offensive attack. They put up 20.8 points per game, ranking them 111 out of 133 qualifying teams. He was fired from the position after the fifth game of the 2023 campaign.

Bell had an unsuccessful stint as the head coach for the Umass Minutemen (2019-2021), where he went 2-23 in three seasons. Bell was relieved of his duties in 2021. He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant. He initially worked with Louisiana-Lafayette in 2007, before moving onto the Memphis Tigers, where he served in the same role in 2007-2008.

Walt Bell coached the tight ends at North Carolina

In 2012-2013, he coached the tight ends for North Carolina, where he coached the most prolific tight end in school history in Eric Ebron. Ebron went on to finish as a finalist for the Mackey Award–given to the nation’s top tight end. Once he hung up his cleats, he hauled in 112 total catches for 1,805 total receiving yards and eight touchdowns.

While he went on to have a bit of a disappointing career in the NFL, Ebron still emerged with brilliant seasons in small doses. For instance, in 2018 with the Indianapolis Colts, he was remarkably dominant, hauling in 66 catches for 750 yards and 13 touchdowns. From 2014-2021, he hauled in 351 catches for 3,837 yards and 33 touchdowns. Ebron played with the Detroit Lions, Indianapolis Colts, and the Pittsburgh Steelers during his time in the league.

In joining Western Michigan, Bell will hope to improve an offense that averaged 23.7 points per game last year, ranking them 90th in the country in that stat category. The Broncos finished with a 4-8 overall record this year, finishing 4th place in the MAC-West.

WMU’s current head coach is Lance Taylor. He was officially hired in December of 2022. Their last bowl appearance came in the 2021 Quick Lane Bowl, when WMU whipped Nevada by a score of 52-24. The Broncos last MAC crown came in 2016, when P.J. Fleck was their head coach. Western Michigan defeated Ohio in the 2016 MAC Championship Game, 29-23.