When he was hired in December 2010, coach Pete Lembo said he wanted to make his team more visible in the community in an effort to boost support.
"It's really important that the team is visible on campus in a positive way," Lembo said after his introductory press conference. "They need to reach out and connect with other students in class or activities that happen on campus."
Fifteen months later, he's the most popular coach at Ball State.
Lembo finished first in the Best of Ball State voting for Best Coach, beating out women's volleyball coach Steve Shondell and men's basketball coach Billy Taylor. Shondell and Taylor finished second and third, respectively.
After admitting he didn't know of the Best of Ball State vote, Lembo said he feels winning Best Coach is a result of getting his team more visible.
"It's very humbling," he said. "We've got some really good coaches here. [Shondell] has done an unbelievable job since he's been here. We've got a long way to go in the football program. We are trying really hard to build support on campus and to be visible on campus in a positive way. If that's one way to show there's progress, then that's a good thing."
Despite being voted the best coach at Ball State, attendance numbers at Scheumann Stadium were still down during the 2011 season. Lembo knew that taking the job at Ball State included getting the fans and students to show up for the football games. He said it wasn't just being visible on campus that would get more fans to show, it would be the results of games as well.
"If the students feel they are connected with the players, they will come," Lembo said after his introductory press conference. "Obviously, if you're competitive and winning games that helps, too."
But in winning the award and being the coach at Ball State with the shortest tenure thus far - the women's basketball coach vacancy left by Kelly Packard has yet to be filled - Lembo acknowledged getting his team involved is working, but there's still work to be done.
"We have tried really hard to jump in with both feet and immerse ourselves in campus," he said. "There's a lot of good people here and we've been working hard the last 15 months to get to every nook and cranny of this campus and build that support. It's certainly not a finished product yet."
Lembo said he still has people to meet in the community to help boost support. But with winning the vote after only one season at Ball State, what he's trying to accomplish is working so far.
"We're trying," he said. "We're trying to get our message out one person at a time."
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