a-zip

I did a little research based on the state of UA right now. · We have just lost our coveted BBall coach (who I don’t think any of us thought would leave) · We are losing BBall players left and right – headed from the penthouse to the outhouse · We can’t recruit because we don’t have a BBall coach · What will LBJ support be? (he is key for us) · We have the lowest football attendance in FBS · The school is in financial distress I played football at UA, I love the school and the football program. I don’t want it to go away but when I add up all the issues facing the school, I have to question the decision making that has gone on. I do agree, ICoach was a disaster….certainly when opening a brand new stadium. There is a side of me the believes we would be in a much better place had JD Brookhart remained coach or we had announced Terry Bowden as coach for the opening season of Infocision. None of that matters now. I have been asking questions for some time; Why are we in the MAC – the MAC is rudderless? What is/was the direction of UA athletics? Who do we aspire to be? Was anybody looking at the landscape of college sports? Conferences that were relevant in the past have been gutted by their flagship programs leaving for super-conferences. If we thought we were a flagship program and that was our goal, somebody needs to have their heads checked. What were the decision making criteria for where tens of millions of dollars were invested in UA athletic programs. Did someone believe heavy investment UA athletics was going to help us academically? Men’s basketball is the second most important sport at any school. We lost our coach because he went to a league that got multiple NCAA bids. It is hard to blame him for that, he isn’t getting any younger. There has been a lot of hoping and discussion around UA becoming the “Gonzaga of the Midwest”. When you look at the top Mid-Major basketball programs, they are all in leagues that have multiple NCAA bids, only 4 of the 20 play FBS. There are NO MAC teams on the list. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2639716-ranking-the-best-mid-major-programs-in-college-basketball That begs the question around decision making at UA. I pulled some stats of UA football from 2002-present (that is as far back as Wiki would go). When I strictly look at data, I don’t get it. UA Average football attendance (no money games) 14,509 MAC ONLY GAMES (home & away) 13,938 ALL UA Home Games 13,723 UA Home games vs MAC 13,143 Home games over 25K 3 Home games over 20K 8 Home games under 10K 23 Average attendance before INFO 14,024 Average attendance after INFO 13,504 Here are some facts from the conferences we should have gone after. If we had, I think we would still have KD, likely have much more success in football (possibly a FCS Championship), and better attendance all around. Atlantic 10 Conference – 14 Full-time members Playing FBS – 1 (UMASS) Playing FCS - 6 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_10_Conference#Full_members West Coast Conference – 10 Full-time members Playing FBS – 1 (BYU) Playing FCS - 1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Coast_Conference Missouri Valley Conference – 10 Full-time members Playing FBS – 0 Playing FCS - 6 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri_Valley_Conference#Current_members We can't do anything about the past and where we are now but the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Is it too late? Shouldn't KD leaving be ANOTHER wake up call? The MAC is a sinking ship, we need to get off!!! Attached is UA's football attendance since 2002. Year.pdf

Lebron and Dusquene

Yup and Trust me, I don't like it but it is what it is. I don't get it....Xavier and Dayton have been successful.

And that was my exact comment years ago when "THAT" stadium was built. The Georgetown, Gonzaga, UConn model was the solution. Basketball and soccer was where the money should have been invested. KD and Lebron were our only shot at making a leap. Those two were what made us unique. The best basketball player in the world and his coach were right here!! Our chance to break out was to have people that are loyal to UA and the city. Tressel, Dambrot and Lebron were those people. They are all gone and sadly I think we will have a revolving door with presidents and coaches. BTW - I never griped without giving suggestions.

Those of us that have offered solutions get smacked by the ZNO crew, so what is the point. A comment was made about "EMU, NIU, and Miami actually start to invest in their basketball programs". Well.....what about Akron? What have we done except put glue and paint on a poorly designed JAR? Our destiny was set when a new arena got squashed - PERIOD. Bye bye KD...tight ties with Lebron and any chances of anything better than the MAC. We are exactly where we deserve to be.

Bettor Instincts Not sure if this has been posted somewhere but there are mentions of Akron and Charlie Frye helping Edelman

What a joke!

Paul Winters should have been the hire. It could have happened. That would have righted some wrongs and gotten me excited.

How? Other than it being the same time last year.

This whole thing parallels what is going on with our country. People want to protest, tweet, complain but they don't have answers. Common sense is gone! To those that didn't want Jim Tressel as president....big mistake IMHO. To those that have been calling for Terry Bowden's head - big mistake. There was a great chance to capitalize on the "This is Akron" promo with Tressel, Dambrot, Lebron....I think Embick and Bowden could be lifers too. Now we have a revolving door of presidents and coaches. What's the plan folks? This is what you want?

This hire, regardless of who it is, will show LW's philosophy. It's apparent it will be a young "up and comer" who's tenure will be dictated by how quick the success will be.

....and not offensive coordinators?

Love to see this tool lose

True Dat!! Constantly losing players after a year or two....reloading.....getting them to gel. Absolutely Amazing!!!

I hear ya but look through the posts from the past. MANY (maybe not you) said Dambrot needed to go because he couldn't "take us to the next level". There were multiple posts about 1 and done in post season, embarrassing losses, etc. Hey bud, I loved Dambrot and my post is in no way a disservice to what he did for us. He is a friend and I was happy to have him as our coach, sad to see him leave. I just don't understand what the "next level" is. You have the power 5 Conferences and then everyone else....Being in the MAC, you hope to knock off a marquis team in the 2-3 chances you get every year. Once you get in to MAC play...any team can win, the parody is ridiculous. In an attempt to get to the "next level" you can hire a hot shot young coach who will be gone in 2 years and fall in to oblivion or respectable coach who will stay (i.e. Solich at OU, TB with us). Just sayin'......be careful what you wish for.

What is the next level you all are looking for? So, who can lead us to the next level....a young hot shot coach who will leave after 2-3 years? This reminds me of the discussions around our basketball team "going to the next level" and KD not being the guy to do it. Bball wins 20+ games, MAC Championships, loses marquis games - deemed a failure by most...KD can't win the big ones and take us to the "next level" FBall is consistently competitive, has marquis wins, 4 years with Wagon Wheel, bowl appearances, a bowl win - deemed a failure...TB can't take us to the "next level" The definitions of "next level" on here are all over the place. We are and will remain a MAC school - that in itself limits what level you can get to IMHO.

Anyone know where I can get a Zippy head cover for my driver?

Thanks...it appears they don't make em' anymore. How much you want for yours ;-)

Love it! http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/college/fl-sp-fau-oklahoma-game-20180901-story.html

So predictable...yawn. Stupid me for coming on ZipsNation to ask the question.

That's why there are only a dozen or so of you left on here, tbh ;-)

Is it building a program to have 6 recruits already having collegiate experience? Or is it someone looking to try and make an impact and get another big job. Fire away at me lol

one more time

That was my confusion....if he is so good, why is he essentially going to be in school for what......5 years now?

Huh?