Syracuse, N.Y. -- Tim Lester's dream job started to turn into a reality the night of the national championship game in 2017.
Lester, at the time a free agent on the coaching market, sat down for dinner in Nashville after a day of meetings at the coaches' convention. Earlier he met with Rice and had 4 hours of meetings with Pitt to be the offensive coordinator.
It sounded promising.
Then his phone rang.
A 2-hour conversation with Western Michigan Athletic Director Kathy Beauregard led to one of the greatest players in school history returning to coach at his alma mater, a job Lester had interviewed for before he landed at Syracuse to work under Scott Shafer in 2013.