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Not only was he interviewing for a job on Akron's company time, he was apparently working on the rebranding of the Fordham logo while still employed at UA? Someone in the Athletic Department found these renderings when they were cleaning out his desk.

I went through all the coaching hires for G5 turnarounds (programs that won 5 games or less) from 2021, 2022, and 2023. The information below is in order by HC/staff pay, not performance. Joe Moorhead - Akron Base Pay = $620k Total Asst. Pay = $920k Previous Coach = 2-10 2022 = 2-10 2023 = 2-10 Current = 4-8 Terry Bowden - Louisiana-Monroe Base Pay = $435k Total Asst. Pay = $1 mil Previous Coach = 0-10 2021 = 4-8 2022 = 4-8 2023 = 2-10 Current = Bowden was fired. Kenni Burns - Kent State Base Pay = $527k Total Asst. Pay = $1.1 mil Previous Coach = 5-7 2023 = 1-11 Current = 0-12 Lance Taylor - Western Michigan Base Pay = $850k Total Asst. Pay = $1.1 mil Previous Coach = 5-7 2023 = 4-8 Current = 6-6 Jerry Kill - New Mexico State Base Pay = $550k Total Asst. Pay = $1.45 mil Previous Coach = 2-10 2022 = 7-6 2023 = 10-5 Current = Kill stepped down. Mike MacIntyre - FIU Base Pay = $750k Total Asst. Pay = $1.6 mil Previous Coach = 1-11 2022 = 4-8 2023 = 4-8 Current = MacIntyre was 4-8 and fired. Clay Helton - Georgia Southern Base Pay = $805k Total Asst. Pay = $1.45 mil Previous Coach = 3-9 2022 = 6-7 2023 = 6-7 Current = 8-4 Don Brown - UMASS Base Pay = $882k Total Asst. Pay = $1.35 mil Previous Coach = 1-11 2022 = 1-11 2023 = 3-9 Current = Brown was fired at 2-8 Blake Anderson - Utah State Base Pay = $766k Total Asst. Pay = $1.6 mil Previous Coach = 1-5 2021 = 11-3 2022 = 6-7 2023 = 6-7 Current = Anderson was fired. Kane Wommack - South Alabama Base Pay = $810k Total Asst. Pay = $1.5 mil Previous Coach = 4-7 2021 = 5-7 2022 = 10-3 2023 = 7-6 Current = Wommack is now the DC at Alabama Butch Jones - Arkansas State Base Pay = $825k Total Asst. Pay = $1.5 mil Previous Coach = 4-7 2021 = 2-10 2022 = 3-9 2023 = 6-7 Current = 7-5 Will Hall - Southern Miss Base Pay = $824k Total Asst. Pay = $1.6 mil Previous Coach = 3-7 2021 = 3-9 2022 = 7-6 2023 = 3-9 Current = Hall was fired at 1-6 Jon Sumrall - Troy Base Pay = $825k Total Asst. Pay = $1.7 mil Previous Coach = 5-7 2022 = 12-2 2023 = 11-3 Current = Sumrall is now the HC at Tulane Sonny Cumbie - Louisiana Tech Base Pay = $1 mil Total Asst. Pay = $1.3 mil Previous Coach = 3-9 2022 = 3-9 2023 = 3-9 Current = 5-7 GJ Kinne - Texas State Base Pay = $1 mil Total Asst. Pay = $1.6 mil Previous Coach = 4-8 2023 = 8-5 Current = 7-5 Tom Herman - FAU Base Pay = $1 mil Total Asst. Pay = $1.7 mil Previous Coach = 5-7 2023 = 4-8 Current = Herman was fired at 2-8 Biff Poggi - Charlotte Base Pay = $1 mil Total Asst. Pay = $1.7 mil Previous Coach = 3-9 2023 = 3-9 Current = Poggi was fired at 3-7 Jim Mora - UCONN Base Pay = $1.7 mil Total Asst. Pay = $1.9 mil Previous Coach = 1-11 2022 = 6-7 2023 = 3-9 Current = 8-4 Jay Norvell - Colorado State Base Pay = $1.8 mil Total Asst. Pay = $2.1 mil Previous Coach = 3-9 2022 = 3-9 2023 = 5-7 Current = 8-4 Stan Drayton - Temple Base Pay = $1.8 mil Total Asst. Pay = ? Previous Coach = 3-9 2022 = 3-9 2023 = 3-9 Current = Drayton was fired at 3-7 Brian Newberry - Navy Base Pay = $1.8 mil Total Asst. Pay = ? Previous Coach = 4-8 2023 = 5-7 Current = 8-3 Kevin Wilson - Tulsa Base Pay = $1.9 mil Total Asst. Pay = ? Previous Coach = 5-7 2023 = 4-8 Current = Wilson was fired at 3-8 Barry Odom - UNLV Base Pay = $1.75 mil Total Asst. Pay = $2.3 mil Previous Coach = 5-7 2023 = 9-5 Current = 10-2 Alex Golesh - South Florida Base Pay = $2.5 mil Total Asst. Pay = $2.4 mil Previous Coach = 1-11 2023 = 7-6 Current = 6-6

Not exactly. This is the match BEFORE one that got moved to NW. This was vs OSU. On Tuesday before Thanksgiving, we drunkenly stumbled out of BW3 and up Exchange St. to Lee Jackson. The snow was thick and heavy and the field lights were dark. Match was postponed to Wednesday and relocated to St. V/M. Boo! As the announcer counted down the last seconds of a scoreless 2OT draw…. Zemanski with the free kick and Tutich with the finish header. Game clock expires. I was standing directly behind the goal nets. Zips over Buckeyes! No PKs after all. One of the best memories of my life. The NCAA then moving the following match to Northwestern was and still is unconscionable.🤬

To date I haven't commented on Charles leaving, not that anyone cares what I think which is fair enough. From my viewpoint I see posts that are unfortunate because they are making fun of a man who genuinely tried to do what he thought was best. Like Moorhead Charles came at a time when the sands of the position shifted. For Moorhead it was NIL. For Guthrie it was repeated budget cuts due to enrollment. Charles did not want money games, but he had to take them to keep from cutting even more. He took the OSU game when he found he was losing $3M in the budget. University administration wanted him to take the game. In fact the week before Charles resigned UA administration asked him to schedule another money game for next year. Charles was the one AD who could think big. To get there he improved facilities, went thru the rebranding, found new sources of funding (Summit Circle, Children's Hospital) and held coaches accountable. He wanted all coaches to be in the top three of the MAC. Some give him credit for soccer going to the BE. I give the credit to Jared for working the BE soccer coaches and having them work their AD's. Still Charles had to support it and he did. Just as he supported Bud Wentz forming a collective for basketball. He brought in professionals to run athletics. Nearly all of Williams staff was replaced except for Paul Hammond, assoc. AD for facilities. Once Hammond retired he farmed his duties out to his staff, again due to budget cuts. He worked the deal with Children's Hospital to build a clinic in Stiles Fieldhouse and staff all our trainers. When our longest serving trainer, Brent Draper, was close but not yet qualified for retirement Guthrie saw to it that he received full retirement and got him a job with Children's as their trainer for soccer, which he had been for many years. The rebranding seems to be a hot spot for some. They let us know about it in every post. Yet it needed to be done. Like Hilltopper I sat on the alumni committee that reviewed the final product. I preferred the Z and argued for it. It was unique and solely ours. Guthrie said he was told by the board of trustees he could not consider it as our primary logo. That had to be an A. They wanted closer linkage with the city of Akron. Hence Zips is no longer in one of the end zones at Infocision. Both ends say Akron. I still prefer the Z, but I have come to like the new A. I see the Z in it and that helps differentiate it in my opinion. I will not crucify him for doing what he thought was best. That's what a leader does. Akron is not an easy place in which to be a leader. You make decisions and then listen to the criticism. Guthrie's hires have been encouraging. I would say that w/o football he has done well. He kept Embick, Peresie, Groce, King and Engle. Good new hires are Gensler and Nicholson. Jones, Kiptoo and Faulds appear to be encouraging. Bad hires seem to be Moorhead, Simonetti, Gonzales and Norton. Everyone, including me, praised the hiring of Moorhead. No one knew he would be so prickly to deal with and inflexible in adapting his coaching style to the needs of the team. Still that is a hire he made and it is bad. Was Charles the best we could get at the time. I'll let you answer that one. As for me it took me a year to understand what he was doing, what he was dealing with and how he was planning ahead. I feel he was good for us. He made mistakes and rubbed people the wrong way. He didn't explain his thinking and actions well. The collapse of football ruptured his plans. That coupled with Miller resigning and the recent death of his dad led to him leaving. He is from Albany and his wife from Binghamton. Charles is close to his mom and sisters. Moving to Akron from Green Bay was a blessing for him because he could get home more often. Now he felt a need to be even closer. Fordham doesn't fit his career trajectory, but it does put him four hours from home. I wish him well. Charles introduced change to an athletic dept that needed it. Some say he was all about himself. I can see that, but if he was making athletics better I feel some leaders are like that. We will be better off for what he did in his time here though I sincerely doubt we will find a better AD with the state of the university. I could give more, but that's enough.

WHOA.

Look who got his first NBA start tonight. Unbelievable.

Yay…a figurehead AD…with no AD experience whatsoever…to run our D1 Athletic Department. No way this could be true.

It's only a matter of time before we find out he's hosting fentanyl-fueled midget orgies in his basement. One financial default is never the end of it.

KD is allegedly going to be in an advisory role with George Van Horne as the figurehead for AD

@fknbuflobo......I think #1 ....is what you are looking for.... maybe around 2:40 in the video.......but you will enjoy watching #10 to #2....... can you find yourself in the crowd behind the goal?

Thanks for affirming my memory. I might have been at that game but cannot remember. I just remember the coach complaining. I might have just read that in the paper. I do remember the game at Northwestern and watching it on TV and remembering how windy it was. When the goal kicks were against the wind it went almost nowhere.

The Fuddrucker's F.

It will be a good job for him. A10 conference in everything except Patriot League (FCS) football which is far less stress and twenty less scholarships. The Rams have a large, wealthy group of donors and $1.1 billion dollar endowment. He can walk around and tell everyone how great he is without having to worry about funding or any other pesky numbers.

Yeah, Zips Men's Soccer was nothing until Chuckles came to Akron. 😴 Ofc, he told me. 💤

I and my friends were at the BW3 on Exchange with so many layers of winter attire on we almost passed out from heat exhaustion. We piled out and started walking to the “Lee Jackson” field and noticed lights not on! Found out the match was postponed, moved to Chicago (yes it was vs Northwestern). And in Chicago, the wind was blowing off Lake Michigan at 30mph and rain/sleet sideways. I believe that was the impetus for the new stadium and the special turf developed for Akron climate.

We thought the Info was a bad financial decision. Northwestern said, "Hold my wine..."

We should never forget just how great Steve Zakuani was at Akron. Stevo deserved a College Cup appearance. Damned NCAA bastards!

Here's the bottom line. The Zips are 2-8 and not particularly competitive. This Kent State team is a special kind of awful, yes. I don't really care how close it is or isn't. Just win please.

WOW...THANKS @TennZip. Brought tears to my eyes to watch that. Fantastic team who deserved better than to have a home NCAA Tournament game taken away from them. 2008 could easily have been the first Zips' appearance in the College Cup since 1986.

Don't try to sneak a grill in either...there's only going to be 38 cars in the Dix lot, so you'll easily be spotted! My favorite Kent tailgate story - Probably 20 years ago they decided to enforce an open container policy at their Homecoming game. They ticketed every alum and fan they identified with an open beer. $75 fine. I doubt any of them have been to another game since (a couple worked with me). Much worse that only having the Zips team shop open 1/2 hour before kickoff on Homecoming.

George went to fund raising at Case Western when Guthrie brought in Markus Jennings. George was number 2 guy at Akron when Larry Williams was AD. https://gozips.com/sports/2017/5/25/athletics-staffdirectory-bio-George-Van-Horne

PCCC apparently has no "fixer."

They got diplomas and everything!

This would seemingly allow Freeman to get back to the wing role they wanted him in originally.

How do you make $500k+ a year, living in Portage County OHIO and default on your Credit Cards?

They got a donation, so they don't really need to convince anyone

In case you haven't noticed, the MAC is a football centric conference. Football is the #1 emphasis at every school. G5 schools can only afford to put enough money into to one sport to be competitive. In fact, the MAC cares so little about other sports that they got rid of men's soccer! So yes, Akron by virtue of it's membership in the MAC is a football school. Sometimes the truth hurts. BTW, it was Guthrie who used his connections with those other AD's in the BE to find a great landing place for men's soccer.

Northwestern has something that Akron does not: CASH and the Endowment to back it up and they finally decided to spend some of it......

That is unbelievable. See ya later Charlie Brown

Guthrie is always the hero...when he is telling the story !!!! You can believe what you want to believe. Other athletic directors considered him to be a narcissist and a snow boater. You are talking about the same athletic director ......who at last year's student athletic meeting....told Caleb Borneo and other student athletes....that Akron is a "football" school and that athletes in minor sports needed to get used to Akron being a football school. That arrogant comment by Guthrie did not go over well with men's soccer players and men's basketball players and other fine student athletes. Chuckles talked a good game and claimed credit for everything. As YipaZip accurately said in the 2nd post in this topic..............................."Hopefully the new AD cares more about soccer. " Personally, I hope that the next AD has a smaller amount of arrogance and narcissism. I also hope that the next AD does not call in "sick" on senior day when he is out secretly interviewing for another job (and violating terms in his contract).

Adding insult to injury, Chuckles replaced the fence coverings in our soccer stadium, and not one of the logos has a star for our national championship. Add to it the small print of all of our NCAA Tournament appearances to squeeze them all into a small section. Sucks to not properly advertise our successes to visitors and viewers.

Whoever is hired as the new AD is going to have his hands full. Big budget cuts are coming and the new AD will be viewed as a a hatchet man. Charles did the best he could with the cards that were dealt to him. Over the last 3 years the athletic department budget has been reduced by $6 million. We went from a marketing department of four down to one. Every sport had it's budget cut. Even with that obstacle he still managed to get many significant projects accomplished. New turf at Infocision, new scoreboard at Infocision, complete renovation of Lee Jackson field just to mention a few. The overall condition of all our venues improved. He worked hard to retain our best coaches, men's basketball, men's soccer and swimming. If they were unhappy with him they would have left for many of the lucrative offers they recieved during his tenure. We won 11 MAC championships and one BE championship. Did he probably miss on hiring Joe Mooehead? Maybe, but at the time is was a wildly applauded move. I'm not sure short of a miracle, anyone can turn around Zips football. As far as him being an outsider, you could say that about every AD we have had since Jim Dennison. He did miss on the logo change. He misread how much our fan base liked the logos we had. He also missed on the baseball coaching hire that put us back a few steps. Since he is a NY native and has worked in that market before(Columbia) I think be successful at Fordham. This is what happens at major institutions when there is a leadership change. The new leader wants to bring in his guys to execute his vision.

I am glad that we don't have to play Fordham in NCAA soccer https://fordhamsports.com/news/2024/11/18/general-charles-guthrie-named-director-of-intercollegiate-athletics-and-recreation-at-fordham-university.aspx

I'm sure most already have their tickets but if you don't their cheaper on the secondary market vs through our opponents site I saved 10 bucks through stubhub

I have not watched a down of Kent this year; however l don't think they are as bad as it seems. We will have a fight on our hands. Will we jab jab jab; or will we kick ass and take numbers? I think we will be taking numbers! Let's see some balance. Run the damn ball 30 times. I don't care if they stack 9 at the line; all the better to break the big ones.

I believe our last NCAA tournament win was, unbelievably, when we beat Michigan State 5-1 in the College Cup semifinals in Santa Barbara.

Akron has not won an NCAA match since 2018. We are lucky to be here. NO LOOKING PAST CURRENT OPPONENT!!!!!!!!

The AK Rowdies got revived last week, hope to have an electric environment Thursday.

I never heard of any of these teams and really was not looking forward to these games but those scores are much better than our score against St. Mary. This might be an interesting weekend. I hope we rebound better than last week.

For the first time in a long time, the excitement isn't building.

At the beginning of the football season my wife wanted a couple of new Akron shirts. She ordered them from the University's shop on-line. A week later she got an email that both items were out of stock. You can't make this ineptitude up.

I know this seems crazy, but the athletic department has no say in how the team shop and bookstore operate or what items they sell. One of the many frustrating aspects of the administration at UA. Hopefully RJ can change this.

We need another thread for this

I'm with you on this one. A couple years ago Chris Spielman was complaining how, back in the 80's he was eating ramen noodles as a staple. But when he went into the stadium on a Saturday he saw giant posters of himself, and stands filled with his #36 jersey and he wasn't allowed to take a penny as the University raked in piles of cash...all for the cost of an in-state scholarship. Chris had a very valid point. But Akron, and most other programs were strapped for cash before the NIL was instituted. Now they have to come up with an additional few hundred thousand dollars (or more) every year to pay the players who're already getting all the benefits you listed above? I hate the portal. I hate the NIL program. I miss the "You play for the name on the front of the jersey, not the back of the jersey" mentality. The "old way" wasn't perfect. But it had a lot more plusses, and "team-ism", than today's game. It didn't need to undergo such a drastic abomination.

Well he speaks coherently so that disqualifies him from the current White House. Good things are happening with the basketball program. 3 P5 guys are coming here and a 4th player that chose us over P5s and high mid-majors. Clearly there's, at the very least, some truth to what Wentz is saying. He's also putting his money where his mouth his and heavily financing these endeavors. Why do you feel the need to 💩 all over it?