kreed5120

I just feel the MAC was better in the 1980s-early 2000s than it is today. The MAC use to actually send players to the NBA (Boykins, Bonzi Wells, Kaman, Wally, Harper) and actually competed for at-large bids. That and the tournament wins i why I have Coles ahead of Dambrot, but certainly the argument could be made otherwise.

Who is the greatest Akron coach vs who is the greatest MAC coach would be two entirely different discussions. As of today I don't think either is a debate. Dambrot is still the most accomplished Akron coach. I'd say Charlie Cole was the greatest MAC coach. With times things can change. Edit: Huggins proved to be a better coach than either of them thus far, but his success didn't come at Akron.

I don't see the appeal in moving our best rebounder further away from the basket.

Groce would need to stay here 8-10 years IMO before it would even be worth start comparing resumes. Last years team was pretty great. It would certainly up there with Dambrot's best teams, but that was only 1 season.

You took the words right out of my mouth

I don't think anyone here has anything against people who were hesitant at first of the hire. It was more so the people who posted Groce first year that were posting in a way that made it seem they were getting enjoyment out of Akron having a bad year because Dambrot wasn't the coach that irked this board. You see those same type of fans posting on the football board currently.

That would certainly be true under normal circumstances, but I'm not certain all teams will get all their games in. Buffalo for example still has to make up 3 games already, including one against us. It's very feasible that we could end up tied with Toledo in number of losses, but have 1 fewer win. It would be total BS if we beat them twice and have the same number of loses that we wouldn't be champions, but the possibility exists.

I certainly remember. The ones that are still around have admitted it was a good hire given what he accomplished last season. The others must have moved over to the Duquesne message board as I haven't seen them around lately. Perhaps they're just lurking waiting for their chance to say I told you so. If that's the case they will have a long wait as we're positioned to win long-term.

Short of him getting 7 figure offers elsewhere I say extend him. Eventually I think he will leave on his own so I'm going to enjoy him while he's here

Yes, I'm not going to lie a few weeks ago I was starting to become concerned how this team would perform once LCJ leaves. A lot of players have stepped up their games the past few weeks

I feel Toledo is a pretty good. From what I've seen I'd say Toledo, Akron, and BG are the three best teams in the MAC this year. The MAC as a whole though is much weaker than it has been the past few years. Last years Akron team would have stream rolled this conference.

Love to see that we're exploiting their zone. We already have 8 offensive boards and hold a 34-18 advantage in rebounding

I honestly think it's a mistake to not utilize the transfer portal more. I'm not saying that's how I want Akron to build it's roster, but it would be nice to identify areas in our roster that we don't have depth at and bring in someone who can help create some competition for the position. Just using the QB as an example, if you don't have a o-line that can block or receivers that can create separation then the QB is going to have his development stunted & you won't be able to properly evaluate him. I just used the QB position as an example as it's easy to correlate how another player can impact his performance, but the same can be said about really any other position. If the guy next to you can't do his job then it makes it harder for you to do yours. This can lead to players developing bad habits.

Not sure if there is any validity to it, but I've seen some speculation on some message boards that if covid worsens the MAC (and other conferences) may cancel their tournaments and just send the regular season winner to the big dance. I'm a little hesitant to believe as I'd think they would just cancel the tournament if things got that bad, but if there is any validity to it then that makes every regular season game all that more important.

That is a fair statement. I suppose time will see how things play out.

I'm not the one pretending to be a better talent evaluator than people who are paid professionals. Perhaps you should put your name in the hat for the next Akron opening.

Dude get over yourself. I never called out any individual kids nor did I say there were no good players on the roster. Council was obviously good, but we didn't have enough players near his caliber. To me it sounds like you're trying to be the talent scout now by insinuating this roster has plenty enough talent even though the teams 1-17 record over the past two years says otherwise. Also, since so many of Akron's transfers aren't getting picked up by other FBS teams, I guess those 129 other FBS teams must not know how to scout either

If we can get to 4 wins while also being competitive in a few losses that will be enough progress for me to not feel this is a complete lost cause

When was the last time a coach made the jump from HS to FBS and had any success? Is there even an example of a HS coach getting an FBS job in the last 20 years? Frankly I feel recruiting experience at the collegiate level is too important to consider any HS coach. I don't really have any names to drop as anyone that has a decent track record is probably well outside our budget. We will probably end up with a G5 assistant or a FCS/D2 head coach given the budget we will have to spend.

In college athletics recruiting is just as important, if not more so, than being an X's and O's coach. There is a reason that programs like Alabama, Clemson, and OSU are always there competing for national championships every year. They consistently are the teams that recruit the best year in and year out therefore they outmatch their opponent at nearly every single position. It's also why so many great college coaches go to pro sports and don't succeed (Saban, Calipara, Pitino, Spurrier, Butch Davis, etc.). At the pro level talent is spread more evenly and you can't hand pick your players so being a good X's and O's coach becomes more important in gaining an edge. Not to say Akron needs to become an OSU or Bama, but we need to start recruiting and developing talent if we want to compete and win the MAC. There are no GMs in college football so failure to attract the talent you need to succeed falls squarely on the head of the head coach.

I'd find it more concerning if the players that were transferring were actually getting good offers elsewhere. For the most part that hasn't been the case. I don't care how many guys who aren't good enough to play FBS football transfer. I'm more concerned by the fact we aren't recruiting well enough and the overall lack of talent on the roster.

Hell even Ryan Day at OSU took a pay cut. I'm pretty sure it was universal a cross all levels throughout the sport.

The problem with replacing Dailey with Clarke, Trimble or Wynn is that it would make us even that much more undersized on the defensive end of the floor. I'm not all about size, but giving up 4-5 inches to opposing teams SF would seem like a lot. That's not to say I wouldn't mind seeing that lineup for stretches of games.

I was never thrilled with the Arth hire, but I figured I'd give him a chance. Arth inherited a roster depleted of talent, but next season those excuses I feel need to stop. The team needs to show meaningful improvement next season. 3 years is enough time to bring in some talent. I'm not saying they need to contend for a MAC title, but they need to start looking like an FBS program instead of an FCS one. Not that the Zips can fire him with 2 additional years left on his deal, but if we have another 0-2 win seasons, I will lose any faith he can right this ship

Akron is 3-2 in MAC play. All 3 wins have been at home and two of those were wins against teams that should finish in the top half of the MAC. Both losses were on the road to 2 of the worst teams in the MAC. I don't think it's necessarily an issue of playing up or down to competition. We frankly just haven't learnt to play well outside of the JAR