Zippy1986

Agreed these players were not properly utilized. It seems like the staff was forced to use them more their first year but as more of their players came in the less the Bowden players were involved. Good coaches get their playmakers the ball. This staff tries to get their recruits the ball. Boogie, Morris, Stewart, Wolfey, and Hicks will be strong performers for their new teams this spring/ fall. A few will receive post season awards in their respected conferences

Boogie Knight is going to play for Coach Bowden again. I think the Zips are going to miss him the next two seasons.

Another One

@72 Roo I usually agree with you. On this topic I do not. I think the players leaving are due to the current state of the program. It seems as is there is a contagious losing mentality between coaches/ players and there has been very little progress over the last two seasons. Can’t blame these kids.. they want to win games and play in competitive games. Over winter break we have lost several key experienced players which include M. Wolfey, J. Hicks, J. Morris, N. Stewart, B. Knight, and J. Riley. Wolfey, Stewart, Knight, and Hicks were all under utilized this past season. Riley struggled this year but is a great athlete and could have helped program if he had more confidence this year. He played great in 2019. There has also been quite a few other players who have entered the portal that did not play much here. Out of the experienced players, that is 5 WR / TE’s. Maybe it is the WR coach or OC to blame

Nice program. West Florida would’ve beat us last year

Agreed. Zips current staff under utilized him. The way he worded his transfer portal announcement on Twitter and no support from Akron Staff on social media makes me think there was a conflict of interest between him and staff. I wonder what happened?

Boogie entered the portal today. Looks like Coach Bowden was the first guy he thanked. Do you think he ends up back on Coach Bowden’s staff? Has Bowden signed any of his other players yet?

I think so too. Very disappointed in the fact that we just lost another experienced player who had two years of eligibility left. Don’t blame him though because he was under utilized this season.

We need to remember that these players are still young and do not deserve to be bashed for their transfer decisions. They have went through a lot over the last couple seasons.Especially when players are graduating from Akron and Grad transferring. We need to respect their decisions and wish them the best in their careers. (I am still blaming the coaching staff for our record over the last two seasons but that’s for another discussion.) Nowadays the NCAA is giving the players more flexibility on transferring because players do get caught up in difficult situations or in coaching rebuilds.

Thanks for sharing your perspective. Agreed. It might be lower than a .00000001% to make it to the NFL with this coaching staff. I hope they change my opinion

Great point. I don’t think the players are selfish for leaving a poor program that is on a decline. Coaches have the right to leave a program for a better job or a more suitable job. Players need the right to transfer or grad transfer for a better opportunity. He is a grad transfer. There needs to be more respect since he is graduating as a Zip and has played two seasons for us

False he was a regular contributor and every day starter. He got upset after week 1 because of poor play call and he was punished all year. Someone needed to speak up to the staff on their poor ability to call plays.

Sounds like you practice with the team too

Jim you sure believe in this staff. When will you look at it from the players perspective? There was more talent than many people realized. Hicks is a great athlete and could have helped this team if he was properly utilized. He was actually an Arth recruit. The problem was that this staff’s EGO was in the way. They are too busy trying to prove points and play their walk ons and underclassmen. Check Akron freshman roster and recent signing class.. MOST OF THESE PLAYERS HAVE ONLY RECEIVED D1 FBS OFFERS FROM AKRON. AND MOST OF THEM ARE NOT EVEN FROM OHIO AS PROMISED. These players that are leaving were committed to the University of Akron to win games, compete for a MAC championship/ play in Bowl Games, and hopefully earn a shot in the NFL. not participate for participation trophies against bowling green and Umass as the worst d1 team in the country

LOL are we seriously still talking down on the past coaching staff? Have you watched any of the games in the last two years? AJ may have not been the greatest OC but he sure did show some potential at times and helped win a fair amount of games. Our OC now is terrible and not even sure if he even contributed in the BG win. Our passing game was still embarrassing. Still hopeful for our future

Jokes on you @clarkwgriswold . I bet you a 65 year old Terry Bowden wins more games next season than Akron. And he will have half the excuses when they lose !!!

Happy with the talent we brought in today. I have one concern. We only have 3 Ohio recruits so far. What happened to the recruiting from Ohio approach that was promised by Arth and Co? They have said several times that Akron would be recruiting more than ever from Northeast Ohio/ Ohio.

The overall team hasn’t shown much improvement over the last 18 games. It is the Coaching staff. 1. struggle with game plan week in and week out 2. do not make mid- game adjustments 3. offensive play calling 4. Third down conversions - starts with play call 5. Adjustment to the blitz in passing situations 6. Do not get playmakers the ball on offense ( besides Dollard) Very basic offense all year with no creativity. Talent is decent. A good program gets players to buy in and puts the players in the best situation to win every week. I have only seen Akron do this once ( BGSU ) in last 18 games. BGSU was expected W. When players don’t buy in you will see a lot of doubt on the field & lack of confidence. Usually results in a contagious losing mentality & several players transferring. We saw many players opt out pre season and during season. I believe we will continue to see this in Spring 2021. They have more talent available than they choose to put on the field. Both sides of the ball. They have forced some of their recruits/ favorites into starting positions while running out experienced guys. Some of the experienced guys have gotten chances over the last 18 games and have showed they can help this team as they are more developed. I do believe some of the young players do belong on the field.. Akron just has been forcing it since day 1 with the new staff.

I have watched all 18 games that Coach Arth and Co have administrated. Very little improvement, still being out coached every game, and I don’t think they know how to rebuild.. They are consistent victims of poor game planning and will continue to get bullied by MAC opponents in 2021. Stop with the talent excuse.. talent is decent but it starts with game plan, play calling, and mid-game adjustments. They are the coaches they pick the talent they recruit and the talent they play. It’s nobody’s fault besides theirs if they felt the need to rush the Bowden recruits out of here.. yes you set a standard but you don’t move Bowden recruits down the depth chart to play your freshman. You blend your guys with your current roster. Offensive play call is terrible...local high schools OCs do a better job. QB is still clueless against the blitz and does not check down. How many RB screens have we called this season? If a team is blitzing the house call screens! Get creative. Also, pass game has consistently regressed throughout the 18 games. Our line is consistently out played by defensive schemes. They have showed showed flashes of improvement. Kent couldn’t stop the run against anyone this year and BGSU was terrible.. worse than Akron terrible. The other games we saw backup players in the second half.. including OU they were rotating there second/ third team in all game on defense. They have ran several experienced guys out of Akron and more are on their way out. This team would struggle against D-1AA teams. I can’t imagine Akron playing on the same field as OSU and Auburn next year. The Tom Arth experiment needs to be over right now. .... and yes I do miss Terry Bowden- we played competitively in MAC play and with established programs like Michigan, Marshall, Iowa State, & Northwestern. Stop acting like you guys don’t.

Terry Bowden comes off Akron contract February 2021. Where do you think he ends up?He currently is a Grad Assistant at Clemson. -Do you think he will be hired elsewhere as a head coach, assistant, or retire? - Personally, I could see him landing a head coaching job at a school like BGSU, Umass, or a solid D-1AA program.

Bowden knew how to recruit talent.. didn’t matter from where. Had solid pipelines in Ohio and Florida.

And now back to running back.. what was the point of the move if he is not involved? Where has Hicks been?

Nice win to end the streak. Arth needed this one. This win was expected as Akron were favorites in this game. Almost half of BGSU roster were true freshman. A couple discussion points.. 1. Defense: Bubba set the tone on defense as a true leader with his consistency and playmaking ability. Let’s get him some help in 2021. Should the staff bring in multiple defensive ready to play juco/ P5 transfer players or continue to build the freshman route? 2. QB: Zach Gibson. Is he our future or do we need to bring in help? Sub-par performance today against a bad team. I’m guessing Kato is moving on from Akron. 3. Offense/ Run: was executed well today as expected. Teon had a nice game. Boogie looked really good on his lonesome drive. Why don’t they share touches or play Boogie in the slot sometimes? He looks like he could help us. We saw a glimpse of RBBC in week 1 against western Michigan. 4. Offense / pass: a few nice plays by the WRs. Stewart needs to be more involved. Need to be more creative with play calls to keep D off balance and get playmakers involved. Mix in occasional shot play. Good teams will stack box and make Gibson beat you ( Miami week 4). 5. 4th Quarter: I disagree with leaving Teon in the game. The game was decided and the weather was ugly. It was almost like they were trying to pad his stats. If he is our future, we need to take care of him. Let’s mix in backups and young players for the last couple drives. Great day to be a Zips fan! Let’s build off of this for 2021

This has been a common trend with Coach Arth. Blaming the roster for performance. FYI, He inherited a very talented Chattanooga roster from Russ Huesman. In Huesman final 4 years with Chattanooga they were very successful and made the FCS playoffs in 2014, 2015, & 2016. Russ Huesman record @ Chattanooga 2013-2016 2013 8-4 2014 10-4 2015 9-4 2016 9-4 Tom Arth record @ Chattanooga 2017-2018 2017 3-8 2018 6-5 ...He must’ve inherited terrible guys from Huesman as well. Huesman inherited a 1-11 team(2008) at Chattanooga and in his first year in 2009 he went 6-5. Again, I think Tom Arth is a great guy, has a very positive perspective, and I hope the best for him.. hopefully he can turn things around. But it’s not looking good and his staff needs to stop blaming their roster and own up to their 0-16 record. They need to be better.