KALAMAZOO, MI – Western Michigan University football coach P.J. Fleck said his players did nothing wrong when they celebrated a win at the University of Idaho on Sept. 13.

Responding to a story published Monday evening by the Associated Press, which detailed damage done to Idaho's visiting locker room by WMU players after a 45-33 win, Fleck said the only wrongdoing was on his part.

P.J. Fleck

"Our players did nothing wrong," Fleck said at WMU's weekly press conference Tuesday. "That is not called damaged in my opinion, that's called dirty.

"I'm the last one out of the locker room, I check everything and our equipment people were in the process of picking it up and I walked out of there and I allowed someone from a different team to say 'don't worry, we got it, you guys got a long flight, why don't you go.' That's the last time I trust anybody from another team. That's OK, it's my fault because I'm the last one and I check everything."

According to the AP report, which cited emails between Idaho athletic director Rob Spear and WMU athletic director Kathy Beauregard, loose sinks, a broken trophy, a smashed ceiling tile and a signed marketing poster from the winning track and field team was torn off the wall and cooked in a microwave along with other items.

Spear also wrote to Beauregard that the damaged sinks would possibly have to be remounted and that a ceiling tile was broken, items were destroyed and stolen from lockers and one locker was written on. Photos obtained by the Associated Press show trash and towels on the floor inside the locker room.

In an email to the Kalamazoo Gazette on Sept. 17, WMU athletic director Kathy Beauregard stated WMU would pay Idaho $500 for "small damage to a hallway and to a locker room area assigned to us as the visiting locker room."

That email did not detail the damage done.

Fleck said on Tuesday he and other WMU officials reported the damaged ceiling tile and trophy to Idaho staff members right away.

"I will say this, the broken ceiling tile was mine," said Fleck, the Broncos' 33-year-old coach who is often seen running and jumping around the sidelines during games. "I jumped so high when we won into our players that that is my fault. We reported that to them. We showed that to them and that was me. I would do it again because I was excited.

"There was a plaque that fell of the wall. You know what, we jumped and jumped and jumped and celebrated, but there was nothing that was done intentionally whatsoever and our players did nothing wrong."

Fleck said towels and other litter is a common sight in most visiting locker rooms across the country, but he said on Tuesday he takes full responsibility for not going through and cleaning up the mess himself.

"It is what is and I take 100 percent responsibility for it because it is my program," he said. "That is not what I want our program or our university to look like, but I call that dirty, not damaged.

"We paid for both of them already and it's just unfortunate it came out that way."

Western Michigan (2-3) plays at Ball State (1-4) on Saturday in a key Mid-American Conference West Division showdown.

Email David Drew at ddrew1@mlive.com and follow him on Twitter and on Instagram.