What are you looking for in a Head coach?

[LZIp]

Want to expand on this discussion, as its quite possible we'll be looking for a new one soon. Complaining and calling for people's heads is one thing, but I much prefer listening to solutions rather than complaints. I've heard all about why Arth isn't the right guy. Staff not respected, no D1 experience, etc. Getting rid of him does nothing for the program if we don't hit on the new hire. 

 

Is a NFL QB coach, like a Frye or a Getsy who has no HC experience/limited collegiate coaching experience in general acceptable? Arth's resume is better than theirs at the collegiate level and he's apparently just as qualified to be an NFL QB coach as he reportedly turned down the Chargers job.

 

Want a coordinator from a P5 program? Keep dreaming. We've long been priced out of that option.

 

A stud D2/D3 coach? Is that really any different than Arth?

 

A G5 coordinator is a reasonable target, but likely a big gamble.

 

Retread? It worked for us to an extent with Bowden,.  Could be an option. I always get the sense those guys are looking to move on as soon as they can though. Lane Kiffin comes to mind. You're also likely going to either hire a guy who flamed out at a top level or who is no longer there for off the field reasons, which brings into question as to whether or not you want them associated with the University.

 

Top FCS coach? We likely can't pay enough to make them want to leave their comfort zone to join this dumpster fire.

 

Just think you need a good idea of what you want before making the decision to move on and likely even have somebody specific in mind. Screw the search firm BS. Interesting in hearing you all's thoughts and and specific names if you got them.

[NWAkron]

A coach with half the sleeze of Bowden and half the purity of Arth.

[ZippyRulz]

48 minutes ago, LZIp said:

 

Top FCS coach? We likely can't pay enough to make them want to leave their comfort zone to join this dumpster fire.

 

 

This. We can give them a raise, entry into FBS, nice facilities, more fertile recruiting grounds and more lifestyle options than say North/South Dakota, Montana, Northern Iowa, etc. All due respect to Frye, Getsy, etc. but stick with a successful Div. I head coach.

[GP1]

John Hunter

[zipsoutsider]

I don't think it's it is as simple as making the right coaching hire. Akron has to change. I am not sure that the U has the will or means to do that.

 

In addition to proper X"s and O's skills,

 

1. He has to understand that the job involves the public and the need to raise money. Tom Arth didn't seem to u derstand this part of his job.

 

2.  The right connections to get quality assistants and recruits referred to them. Tom Arth did not have those.

 

3.  He has to be a motivator.

[Blue & Gold]

Vince Kehres

[Hilltopper]

"Brian Polian - Wikipedia" https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Polian

[LoyalZIP]

Last time around, the finalists were Arth, Ivin Jasper (Navy OC), and Stan Drayton (Texas RB at the time). 
 

I would love to have been a fly on the wall in whatever hotel conference room it was that the decision was made among the hiring committee. I get the whole NeO thing, but at the time Arth had proven that he was a shaky D1 coach at best. 
 

I would need to take some time to do research on who I think would be a decent candidate or realistic candidate, as the present conditions both in the program and university as a whole affect what that list might look like. Hell, Arth hasn’t even been fired yet and Lord knows when he even will be. 

[clarkwgriswold]

D1 guy pleeeeaaaaaaaaaassssee.

[zipsfan33]

How about a guy who makes changes after one game with 2 sideline infractions, let alone all three home games!!! 

[NWAkron]

1 hour ago, LoyalZIP said:

Last time around, the finalists were Arth, Ivin Jasper (Navy OC), and Stan Drayton (Texas RB at the time). 
 

I would love to have been a fly on the wall in whatever hotel conference room it was that the decision was made among the hiring committee. I get the whole NeO thing, but at the time Arth had proven that he was a shaky D1 coach at best. 
 

I would need to take some time to do research on who I think would be a decent candidate or realistic candidate, as the present conditions both in the program and university as a whole affect what that list might look like. Hell, Arth hasn’t even been fired yet and Lord knows when he even will be. 

I don't recall reading these were the final 3.  Jasper has had a rough time as late:  Navy fired him as OC and then re-hired him as QB coach.  Drayton is still RB coach for a good Texas team.  There must have been some serious "group think" going on during the decision-making process.  And I wonder if Williams chose anyone for the committee who would disagree with him or had more or equal football knowledge.

[Blue & Gold]

14 hours ago, LZIp said:

Just think you need a good idea of what you want before making the decision to move on and likely even have somebody specific in mind. Screw the search firm BS.

I think this is likely the situation with Williams & Arth.  There's no way in my mind Williams would have bought out Bowden if he wasn't already feverishly salivating at the prospect of bringing in Arth.  Honestly, he probably had the hots for Arth while Arth was still at John Carroll.  And, even now, I still think Arth would be the absolutely ideal HC... if he could win games. 😭😭

 

 

Same as I had hoped 4 years ago: Vince Kehres.

[Zipmeister]

The next coach should

come directly from a P5 school,

have D1 head coaching experience,

have served as a successful recruiter at some point in his career,

have high expectations for his players,

have some previous association with the University of Akron,

and carry his game notes tucked in his pants – no wait.

[94zipgrad]

I believe Akron needs to make football a priority.  Like it or not with title 9 at D1 your football program is critical for all the other sports.

 

Getsy, I like his resume but would require a higher salary.  Frye is another guy I’m interested in and may be more interested in rebuilding his old football program.  I like these 2 because we are at a point who wants to come here.  I’m hoping these 2 want to help there alma matter and save the program.

 

Next, anyone know how long Infocision has name rights?  They are not the same company as when field was built and doesn’t support anymore.  This is where Akron needs to make a splash.  It needs to partner with Matt Kaulig if he is willing to help rebuild this thing.  Stadium becomes Leaf Filter Stadium and we partner and let Matt’s company run the marketing for football.  TV commercial in the area pumping Akron football & Leaf Filter helping both companies.  Make family game experiences fun like going to a rubber ducks game & figure a way out to get students, 5 extra bonus points for your class you need it most in.  Don’t give them out until leaving at end of game.  They turn them into class when they go for the extra credit.  Get real concessions & tailgating going, maybe get some of the best local smokers set up in the tailgating lots to get the fringe tailgaters so it’s not such a big deal to tailgate.  Just bring your cooler and can order some good smoked food and party.

 

Winning will help but we need to build excitement about the program.  It needs to be fun, the whole experience needs to draw people to come and stay.  It can’t be like going to the dentist, you hate that & your gonna go once because you feel you have to and don’t come back cause the experience is worst than you remember.  Unfortunately, that is where we are at right now.

[a-zip]

There is one IDEAL candidate for the job - PAUL WINTERS!!  

 

UA HOFer

Class act

Good track record (Wayne State could likely beat us)

Great mentor

Loved by the community and local HS coaches

 

I know he has bad feelings for UA but things can be worked out.  They need to be worked out.

 

Best of all, I don't think he would leave no matter how successful we become.

Edited October 4, 2021 by a-zip

[Captain Kangaroo]

Paul Winters career HC record. 63 years old.

 

[a-zip]

3 minutes ago, Captain Kangaroo said:

Paul Winters career HC record. 63 years old.

 

It's not the greatest winning % but I think he could have much better success coming home to Akron.  It would be well received, probably a boost in attendance and a safe pick.  HS coaches around Akron love Coach Winters.  Let's face it, we are not the most desirable destination right now.

[Zipmeister]

1 hour ago, 94zipgrad said:

Like it or not with title 9 at D1 your football program is critical for all the other sports.

 

Would love to hear your explanation for the critical nature of football for other sports at D1 programs.

Seems like a lot of ADs spend time creating obscure women's sports like rowing in order to comply with title 9 because they have football.

[LoyalZIP]

I'll throw a couple of names I find interesting out there. I don't necessarily expect them to be guys that would come here, but considering the state of everything at Akron from the football program being a hot mess to the University itself being its own hot mess, I have no idea what direction we could go with this. There are still 7 games left in this season anyway.

 

Nick Caley--New England Patriots TE coach. John Carroll guy (which pretty much turns me off) was a GA here during the Brookhart years. He's served as an assistant at a couple P5s, and has been with the Patriots for 6 years. He's not a guy you hear about too often, at least I haven't in any Akron circles. 

 

Bryan Gasser--Akron OC. If the U was looking to save money with this hire, this may be the route to go. DISCLAIMER: This is probably not a good idea. But here's my thinking. He has no connection to Arth other than he has worked with him since 2019. Basically, he isn't one of these cronies that are a cancer. And after the disastrous 2019 season, Arth took away the playcalling from Zagorski and turned it over to Gasser and I think most people would agree, it has gotten a good amount better. He's got a nice resume that is littered with success at Toledo and Iowa State with Campbell. If Gasser was the OC in the Bowden years instead of Milwee, those teams would have been much better. But ultimately, house will probably (rightfully) be cleaned and Gasser will put Akron in the rearview. 

 

Some kind of successful JUCO head coach--My thinking here is that they will be able to manage the personalities you may need to recruit in order to build something here, and they are used to being in programs that have absolutely no money. Can you get Teon Dollard and make him behave as well? That's so hard to do at Akron, and the "border" of Exchange St. is so crucial for both the school and the program. That mess over there is what's holding everything back right now. Why would a good player's parents want to send him to Akron when you can just as well send him to Kent where none of that crap is going to be an issue? Sure, this is much more of a university issue, but I'm not sure I trust anyone LESS than Tom Arth to deal with something like that. 

 

Pardon the long-windedness. I'm pretty much at a loss when it comes to this topic right now. I love Akron with all of my heart and soul, and I can't even say I'd want to coach at Akron right now considering what's going on with the program and university. Getsy or Charlie would be absolute home runs, but I'm afraid those are just fantasies at this point. Akron isn't good enough for its most successful alums. Reality hurts. Hope I'm wrong. 

[GJGood]

1 hour ago, Zipmeister said:

The next coach should

come directly from a P5 school,

have D1 head coaching experience,

have served as a successful recruiter at some point in his career,

have high expectations for his players,

have some previous association with the University of Akron,

and carry his game notes tucked in his pants – no wait.

🥵

[clarkwgriswold]

Whoever it is has to have, or be able to build, some credibility with the area high school coaches.  I don't expect them to bring in the Parris Campbells of the area but there should be no kid under consideration of a MAC school that the Zips aren't in the ear of.  Also, until he gets the program up to speed he needs to use the transfer portal, graduate transfers and jucos as much as possible.  On a smaller scale, Groce did this on the basketball side to get things up and running quickly.

 

Also, he needs to have the connections and or personality to get some decent assistants here.

[GJGood]

I know it’s not the popular thought in this thread but I feel like making a coaching change now is starting over anyway. This current team is very young and has shown some signs of having some good talent. I kind of want to see where this goes without uprooting everything again right now. 
That said I do think there is a glaring weakness on defense on the outside. I don’t know if it’s a lack of speed, players in the wrong position, or misreads but every time an Akron opponent heads for the sideline during an offensive play I cringe because the Akron players are always three steps behind.

Edited October 4, 2021 by GJGood

[dre22era]

The coach I want is a few miles up the road at Hoban 

[GoZips86]

Urban Meyer after he gets canned in Jacksonville after this season....

😜😜

Edited October 4, 2021 by GoZips86

[jupitertoo]

You want a coach who will be liked by Ohio high school coaches.  The guy at Hoban comes with a lot of baggage related to recruiting, etc..  Bunch of HS coaches would love to get even with him.

 

Back in the late 1970s, Akron was considering Barberton's Jack Greynolds for the BBall job that ultimately went to Bob Rupert.  Greynolds had alienated so many other high school coaches that he'd have had a hard time putting five talented men on the floor.