Last week we learned of the Zips’ upcoming participation in The College Spring League. Fantastic! We are really looking forward to these matches against quality competition. This particular Spring indicates fresh lifeblood arriving to a program in desperate need of a transfusion. Yes. Desperate.
I could not help but notice how the advertisement for The College Spring League boasted four participants in the previous NCAA MSOC Tournament, Akron not among those. And like rubbing alcohol applied to a flesh wound, the pain was searing and immediate, but ultimately worth bearing. Zips missed the NCAA Tournament. I can talk about it now.
It is so unconscionable that one must reference the records to believe it: A handful of departing Akron seniors (because of the COVID-19 exemption) played 5 years of eligibility without ever winning an NCAA Tournament match. Even though this sad fact is mercifully in the past, out of respect for the players’ effort, I will not name the names. We know who they are. How many times in program history have the Zips missed the Tournament? Not bloody often! Somebody can research that if they like. Suffice it to say that Akron has qualified for the Tourney the great majority of the time, especially in recent decades.
It is rarer still to find a player who exhausted all 4 years of their eligibility without an NCAA Tourney victory. It has happened more often than I would have guessed before consulting the books. The last class to play 4 years sans NCAA win was in the early 2000s under Ken Lolla. It is extraordinary that any player be granted 5 years of eligibility. Injuries and medical redshirt seasons usually accompany such scenarios. To think that a few players were around that long without even one NCAA post- season success is just astounding.
The easy rationale would be to blame the afore-referenced players. They were not tough enough; they were of insufficient quality. “Good riddance! Bring in the new guys!” Surely participants ultimately rule any athletic contest. Having the best player almost always prevails over having the best coach. Sports is the essential reality drama. But in this instance, to place 100% of the fault on the players would be lazy if not disingenuous.
I frankly trust that our coaching staff is severely scrutinizing themselves and each other. THEY are culpable. This result is not OK. This will not stand. THEY must hold themselves accountable. THEY must hold each other accountable. It is (past) time to rigorously re-evaluate previously successful methods and techniques.
Change your process, coach. Test the old ways; keep only what proves out as viable. Scrap the rest. Assimilate new ideas and perspectives.
Either you make changes or changes will be made for you.
In the new millennium, Akron Zips MSOC have risen from the morass of anonymity, rerouting the apathy and mediocrity plaguing most MSOC programs. But we can easily return to that quagmire. We are much closer to it than most suspect.