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You guys realize that when Arth arrived over 70 players were failing at least one class. Stories of players falling asleep in meetings, missing meetings, constantly tardy, missed workouts, disobedience to coaches and staff was the norm. No administration is going to allow that. Hence the complete rebuild. Give Arth 2 years he will turn it around because of the character and quality young men he is bringing in.

Yes, it's a culture thing. Arth weeded out those that weren't going to buy into the culture and perhaps it did cost a win or two so far in his career. But I think the foundation he is building is going to pay off more than whatever setbacks came from it.

Congrats! https://gozips.com/news/2020/12/9/womens-basketball-akron-ranked-no-23-in-latest-collegeinsider-com-mid-major-top-25-poll.aspx

He had his hits, and had his misses. When the waiver wire was in his favor guys like Coe, Marcus, Pittman (jr year), Davis, etc gave us a good chance to win. When it wasn't in our favor, Sands, Johns, Ball...we struggled. Bowden's QB stable was always thin. That hurt us. Williams was great, but only played one season. Chapman wasn't a QB. Woodson was usually overweight, suspended or injured. Ramart wasn't D1 material. Bowden couldn't recruit a good RB. He identified good, under the radar talents like Davis, Lako, Brown and Gilbert. But for every Northwestern win there were 4 losses to middling MAC/G5 teams. That was the problem. I thought we broke through against Marshall. That was probably Bowden's greatest win. But Woodson peaked that day, and we regressed afterwards. I liked Bowden. He was always very nice to me. He would have stuck around Akron for another 8 years and given us stability. But would he have turned us into "Toledo?" Or would we have been an "Eastern Michigan?" The AD made the call to try and get better, and here we are.

Maybe not.

But he's a grad assistant....if he dyes his hair he can probably trick someone into thinking he's a young up and comer. Maybe La.-Monroe?

He sucked. ?

The Zips will take a beating in this game. Looking at common opponents, Buffalo smoked Miami and Kent, two teams that beat us badly. The Ohio game was cancelled, so we cannot compare the scores. The AP has Buffalo ranked at 24, and I would think that they will not want to give up that ranking. Although we beat BGSU badly, they outgained the Zips. I do not expect Buffalo will be turning the ball over. The BGSU win was very important, but it will not be enough to get another Zips victory. 72 ROO - I cannot get a victory as you suggested, I am only making a prediction. However, the Zips will greatly improve next year.

My opinion - I think his detractors feel he ran a loose ship. Infractions that some coaches might deem "suspendable offenses," were sometimes overlooked. The team's GPA wasn't the best...I think Arth improved on it by almost 0.7? He brought in some kids with a troubled history. Rodney Coe was booted off Iowa State. JoJo Natson was booted from Utah State. Brian Bell had some well-publicized problems in Florida that prevented him from entering Florida State. Tommy Woodson had his scholarship offer pulled from Arizona. Woodson and Bell had suspensions while at Akron. Woodson left, and Bell ended up playing-out his eligibility. Coe had a cup of tea in the NFL, and Natson would be returning kicks for the Browns if his knee didn't give out. So high risk, high reward... Bowden had his negatives, but I feel the guy did his best to bring the best talent to UA. Culture was important to him…I know this from his post-practice speeches covering topics like race, faith and community service. He always treated me and Dr. Z well, extending us the same courtesies he would to any member of the press. Chuck Amato was a great guy. Todd Stoud (Bowden's DC) is one of the best human beings you'll ever meet in your life. There were lots of good people on his staff. So it's not fair to paint the Bowden time as some lawless "Barry Switzer - Oklahoma" era. I think he's just an old-school coach.

No issues with the staff as far I know. He wasn't afraid to take on players who had a checkered past, though to their credit I don't know of any public issues while they were on campus. For frame of reference, Tyreek Hill was supposed to come here at one point after being dismissed for his heinous act at Oklahoma State. The "homegrown" players mostly seemed to just have issues passing drug tests, like the QB mentioned above. Arth had some early issues with TB players last year with that as well.

"...it has happened before..."