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That's the thing though, is he really better positioned at Charleston to get to the dance and not get out classed? CoC's record in the tournament is 1-7 with that win coming in 1997. Hofstra got whacked by alabama this year, and last year the CAA champion UNCW lost to Texas Tech in round 1. In 2023 Charleston went 31-3 and got a 12 seed and lost. This is just too similar of a program for this to make sense

This is what I imagine as well. Any pay bump he or his staff might get would likely be offset by COL increase. It's probably more about revenue share and NIL commitment. If he leaves for CoC it's probably because he thinks he can turn them into a Utah State with a $2-$3M NIL budget, but feels he took Akron as far as he could given the financial restraints.

He could always stay and keep trying. Also, I don't think he's gonna have a better chance to win in the NCAAT at "College of Charleston".

I imagine Groce is more interested in Akron’s overall commitment to advancing the program. Not necessarily his personal salary. He’s not a martyr by any stretch, but I bet he’s more frustrated with getting to the NCAAT and being out classed by so much every year. The NCAAT really matters to Groce, the staff and Wentz.

Or Dustin Ford gets a financially friendlier contract and the extra money goes towards NIL/assistants/etc.

Let's all band together and donate money for his raise. We can probably offer more than the university is able to offer.

Couldn't it just be the case that he is positioning himself and his staff for a nice pay increase at UofA?

Or not....

Noticed Groce's buyout is only $350K. For comparison Mack's at CoC was $1.5M, which was reduced to $1.3M by USF agreeing to a home & home. That seems like a very low sum for a coach that would be on the short list of a lot of coaching searches.

100% believe the Goodman/Borzello reports came from Groce's agent, especially considering the tweets came within 9 minutes of each other. Charleston doesn't really gain anything by leaking that.

Have you seen his record at Duquesne? He's not been bad, but it's hard to get excited about his performance. Also, if LBJ was going to be a benefactor for his friend wouldn't we already be seeing that take place at Duquesne?

If it would open the door to big LBJ money for the program then 💯

I often wonder how much of this stuff is spread by agents and friends of the "candidate."

Interesting thought for replacement:

Sort of. There is a Woke left and a Woke Right. Both run deep within American politics which is why we are living in dangerous times. Both utilize Maoist tactics but attach American characteristics to their arguments. Both are focused on group politics and fitting each of us into one of two groups. We are a country founded on the rights of individuals. The entire Bill of Rights is geared to the individual being protected from the state. This horse's ass running for the Republicans is trying to fit Ohioans into his world view. We don't need one university in NE Ohio, we need many with competing ideas which will strengthen each other. I can't believe this is the party of Ronald Reagan that I grew up with. It's a crying ass shame.

100%. If the reports are true, why wouldn’t he have taken USF? CofC isn’t anywhere near as good of job as that with the money they are putting into sports.

How funny that USF wanted Groce and then settled for Mack. And then CoC gets USF 1st choice to replace Mack. It’s honestly a bit of a head scratcher. And this timeline makes me think Groce is leveraging these offers to hopefully get Akron to commit more money. my prediction is he Stays!

@dirty-sanchez-thighmaster is listing Bobby Hurley and Keith Dambrot as leading candidates to replace Groce.

If this happens (and I still think it's a big "if") I agree I would full much better about it if Ford becomes the new HC. He would have player and alumni buy-in, support from Wentz/FTR, give us continuity, and would already have a relationship with existing recruits.

Should this turn out to be true, I'm actually excited for all parties. For Groce, Charleston is beautiful and I think that would be a big draw as he gets up there in age. CofC is similar to Akron/MAC and he should be able to continue down a dominant path in a different conference. There's no football to detract from his available resources. For Akron, I love the idea of Ford as our HC. Keep in mind the first ever assistant Groce hired was Chris Holtmann. Ford joined the staff the following year and has been with Groce ever since. If Ford is anywhere near Holtmann as a HC, we'll be just fine. LCJ's support for Ford is everything I need to know, in addition to Bud Wentz being a big Ford believer. To boot, this is really going to tick off the Ohio fans who have wanted Ford for years. When Buffalo lost Hurley, they got Oats who ended up being even better. Here's to hoping we're on the same trajectory. GO ZIPS!

There were 2 viral quotes from that press conference - Kowalchoke's "luck" comment and Blyden's commitment. Both are evident that Toledo is an unprofessional program. He knew the desired quote from the Toledo fan base would be his commitment to next year so he said it. That makes it a big deal. Hopefully he learns his lesson on how to handle the media going forward. Saying things you don't mean to please people is not wise.

I wasn't going to go too deep into personal politics with my post, but what you say is definitely true. It is astounding and sad to me. Thanks for being a voice of reason.

I feel you're underestimating this new age of identity politics. People constantly vote against their own interests on both sides of the aisle and still do mental gymnastics to defend how they voted when they get 'screwed' over. Edit: An example, I have a friend whose wife works in a department at UA that I imagine would be on the chopping block. He will 100% still vote for Vivek.

Yes, will keep Engineering, Law, and probably the business school/MBA program. Eliminate mostly everything else.

I think its fine to have some games on weeknights. If we played on Saturday, November 10th I really don't think the attendance will be that much better than Tuesday, November 5th. The biggest problem I have is the rivalry weeknight games. This would be my perfect week 11 schedule played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays: Akron vs. Umass Toledo vs. Buffalo EMU vs. Ohio WMU vs. Kent Ball State vs BGSU Sacramento vs. CMU