Away from the mass of reporters that converges upon the Mid-American Conference favorite each year at Media Day, Ron English bided his time. In an annual late July ritual, Eastern Michigan, his team, had been picked last in the MAC West. English was entering his third year at Eastern Michigan. It was the third time the Eagles were predicted to be the division's worst team.
But when a reporter did sit down to talk, inevitably working in a question about the preseason poll, English was ready.
"We have to earn our respect," English said. "And I believe we're going to do that."
Three months later, English and the Eagles are doing just that. Going into Saturday's game against Ball State, Eastern Michigan is 5-3, 3-1 in the MAC. With just one more victory, the Eagles will assure themselves of finishing at least .500 for the first time since 1995.
This season has a chance to carry plenty of other superlatives that date back to 1995 and the Eagles even find themselves in bowl projections. They must win at least two more games to become bowl eligible, however, because only one of their victories against a Football Championship Subdivision school can count toward eligibility.
But for Eastern Michigan to even be seriously considered in discussions for a bowl game is a big step for a program that hasn't finished better than last place in the MAC West since 2004. English said the first two years of his tenure, in which the Eagles won just two games, were so difficult because of all the change the program needed to undergo.
"It was hard the first couple of years because of attitudes we had to change, cultures that we had to change," English said. "But now it's fun to go to work. It's fun to be around these guys. We're at a point now where I feel like we have our foundation laid and we can really start to build."
As fifth-year Ball State seniors, safety Sean Baker and center Kreg Hunter have prepared to play Eastern Michigan four times before. Both said the biggest difference they see this year is that the Eagles are playing harder.
"They're playing with a lot more heart than I've ever seen out of an Eastern [Michigan] team," Hunter said.
"They just play hard," Baker said. "That's what separates them."
As a coach new to the MAC, Pete Lembo has had little exposure to what English has had to overcome this year. But when he watches the Eagles on film, he also sees a team playing hard.
"You look at how successful they've been in kickoff coverage, leading the conference, and a lot of kickoff coverage comes down to effort and intensity and toughness," Lembo said. "I think those things say a lot about this team."
Some observers remain skeptical about Eastern Michigan, citing its easy schedule as one reason it has been successful. But one Bowl Championship Series computer disagrees. Jeff Sagarin's rankings rate Eastern Michigan's schedule as the 108th toughest in Division I, ahead of three other MAC teams.
Baker is not one of the skeptics. He said he isn't surprised by the Eagles' resurgence after watching them lose several close games in the last two years.
"You just knew it was a matter of time before it started clicking," Baker said. "This year, they got it. Five wins already, which is really good for any team in this conference. They got something going and they're running with it right now."
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