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I'm a STH and donor (granted I probably give a lot less than most of you, but I'm still young and working my way up the ladder). I'm not saying we don't matter. However, it irks me when I see someone post that we should intentionally neglect the people (students) who both provide the bulk of the current funding and will be tomorrows donors. Seems like a fantastic way to run our athletics into the ground.

Great players attract the majority of fans, always have, always will. I would have paid to watch Jimmal Ball play at Mason park.

I think the best plan to keep a coach, if indeed that is your #1 priority, is to avoid being either terrible or great. If you float in the middle your coach can't leave for better offers, and you can't fire him/her. Rather than focus on keeping a coach I would instead prefer having a strong athletics department where great talent is consistently replaced by great talent. Toledo Football seems to be a great example of hiring great coaches, and reloading with another winner when the incumbent leave for greener pastures. Schools like Boise State (football), and VCU (basketball) are some of the many examples of schools who've figured out how to build a Program and thrive after repeated coaching departures. Kent Basketball thought they had it figured out...but they don't. Maybe OU basketball does... Akron has never had a strong Department of Athletics. Sure Thomas/Waddell and Rhodes/Yurachek did enough work at UA to strike oil at P5 programs, but the changing of the guard every 4-5 years always seems to send us a step backwards. And don't even get me started on the Wisterc_I-ll era. Maybe Larry Williams is the guy to arrange a winning team that breaks the trend? If he kicks butt and moves to a better AD job, "Akron" guys like VanHorne and Newhouse could ascend and give UA that combination of investment, stability and leadership we've been lacking for the past umpteen years. But the next Wistec_I-II...or I-and-ll-o...or Coleman Crawford... is always just a hire away.

I think there is a few built in assumptions there. Not every student that goes to OSU and Auburn know those things. Most "die-hard" fans probably do, where they have 300,000 die-hard fans, or Ohio State with 400,000ish die hard fans? Akron has 2,000ish? I highly doubt most young people really know the history you give them credit for. I know from my high school students that out of a 100, maybe 20 are Ohio State fans. Another 20 are OSU fans because they don't know anything else, and 20 are in social experiences. (I fell into the third category in HS). The other 40 kids could care less. Of the 20 that are true OSU fans, maybe 5 of them really know that much history. The majority of the 20 will know current and recent players, but players from 40,50,60 years ago, very few will know. The way the younger fans learn the history is by going to games; by spending time in the environment around the die-hards. When I went to the Akron OSU game in 2011, I sat next to an 83-year old OSU fan who explained the interesting history of some of the Ring of Honor players (which I didn't care about, but listened none the less because they were kinda cool stories). I learned at an Akron game that same year that John Heisman had once been a coach at Akron. I thought that was an awesome fact. How many young people were at that game...not many. A couple years ago an elderly woman sat next to me and my girlfriend at the MAC Tournament and explained how the Zips were Runner ups in the 1972 DII national championship game (or something like that?). So you build an atmosphere worth being a part of. You have players that make the game matter, and you have alumni that give a damn, and give a damn to interact with younger people. So in short skip, I'd say Culture.

First, I was saying the 1986 thing tongue in cheek but since you & LZip act like nobody cares about that, I'll tell you who cares.... 80% of the season ticket holders - the ones that sit in the lower bowl - and spend the money to support that program - and have for 30 years. You already said that you don't go to games anymore. You're like the rest of the students, they don't care either. The people that do support Zips athletics now and will until they're gone are the people that would love to see the 1986 team honored. I understand that marketing is about drawing new people in and not doing things for the people that are already there (see Progressive Field). But expecting students to come to 6 games for a chance at a jersey of someone who never played there is bad. Most UA students don't go to one game, let alone SIX! The focus should be on bringing in casual fans, kids groups etc, and show them a good time and get them back again. The students don't and will not come to the games.

Sorry old timers (no offense), but follow Balsy and I's lead on this one as we are two of the youngest on the board. As big of a Zips fan as he and I are, we don't give a crap about some OVC championship or some Nagy or Jakubick fellow. There is no name recongition there. If we don't give a crap/know who they are, the average Akron student sure isn't. They don't care about Trav or Dru either. Or Charlie Frye. Jason Taylor..probably because he is well, a future NFL HOFer. John Heisman would probably attract people too. I was just thinking today how much I miss watching Zeke, but his name doesn't mean anything to any current student either. The promo is targeted towards students and for it to work, it has to be someone the students can relate to. Akron hardly has anyone with name recognition that people care about, so they have to use Lebron.

Yup. 3 years before I was born. 8-9 years before current freshman were born. Sure gonna draw in those new supporters with that! No-one cares, sorry...or at least younger newer fans do not. Create memories for them, so they'll be fans for life...not just reliving them for older fans. Amen! That's why my own personal attendance has declined over the years since I graduated...and I live in Akron.

yesssss! So glad we got on this guy early. he is true beast!

Obviously our goal should be to start growing our footprint. If we can get to the point where we are getting our pick of the 2* & 3* players from Cleveland to Stark County and from Stark County to Youngstown, meanwhile, be able to add a couple Florida boys per year we will be sitting pretty in the MAC.

So I came across something pretty interesting that I think is worth sharing. There are generally two sides on this site when it comes to discussing recruiting. The side that thinks stars mean everything and the type that think stars don't tell the whole story/could possibly be inflated or deflated depending on who they have offers from. I like to think I'm somewhere in the middle. Stars do obviously have meaning, but there are certainly many players that get overlooked for one reason or another. With PJ Fleck hopefully gone at WMU after this season, I was curious as to what mutual players both Akron and WMU have offered in the case that some may decommit after Fleck leaves. So I pulled up WMU's commit list per 247. http://westernmichigan.247sports.com/Season/2017-Football/Commits Now Fleck is obviously heralded as some great recruiter. He's obviously a talented coach as well. I didn't look through them all, but take a look at those top 5 rated commits. All 3 stars I might add. There is a QB (who Akron has also offered) who looks a lot like you'd expect WMU to be pulling in. A handful of offers with a few decent P5s sprinkled in. However when you look at the other 4, you will see that 2 of them ONLY have an offer from WMU and 2 of them have an offer from WMU and one other G5 program. Does that not seem a little odd?? Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to say Akron's recruiting is on par with WMU's, but it doesn't appear as far off as I think most of us assume. Also, FWIW, Zach Terrell was a 2 star prospect with offers to WMU, Illinois State, and Kent St per Rivals. Corey Davis was a 2 star prospect whose only offer was to WMU.

I was there.

Jakubick? No, I get it. It seems like some people who responded would rather have LeBron's name on their jersey. I was just wondering what everyone thought. I personally would rather have something added to my collection that said Zips, or a Zips player. I love LeBron, but I don't collect LeBron artifacts

No.

That's a wonderful appointment. Matt was the graduate student who started the Ak-Rowdies organization back in 2004-2005. He was the one who planned the switch-a-roo at Kent state and as CK pointed out, those were the best marketing times of UA athletics. I am so happy to see Akron hiring its own loyal "qualified" sons. This is how you build pride. Because those guys actually work for more than a paycheck. Willy Kolman was the first one, Matt Newhouse now and I am hoping to see a third one in the Athletic Department soon. #gozips