ZipsBBjunkie

Or when AD is done interviewing with Syracuse.

Congrats to the T&F team!

Agree! What a naive comment from someone (OP) who either isn’t wise on basic level investing or is not in tune with what most of the country is going through right now in terms of struggles with the job market and inflation. There has been no public info on what Nate has majored in or what degree he got from Akron that I’ve seen but the average starting salary for a UA graduate is $69K before taxes. Average annual salary for a mid-level MBB player overseas is $50-150K a year, for the top players it could be between $200-300K year. ~60% of US born players overseas earn under $75K a year. You were saying?

What about travel to Cali? I’m hearing the mutual exploration/courtship between Sac St and the MAC is more reality than rumor. That doesn’t mean it will happen but there are definitely conversations being had.

Hofstra takes down Vermont in OT. Didn’t realize it was golden goal wow

They say ‘just received’ but likely had this tee’d up along with the communication to build momentum. I’d be shocked if a letter alone led to the gift but as folks have said it’s something and a start. Did they do away with the Zips circle or whatever these fund was for large donations?

Serious question - did it help or hurt the MAC to take UMass if basketball also struggles?

BTW I may be in the minority but I said this last year when all the Joe rumors were swirling. Very similar this year. I absolutely agree with whoever mentioned it in the past few days .. the rumors are all being generated by Joe’s agent. Watch other rumors pop early in the search cycles for OCs in the NFL etc. I believe Joe’s options to leave for bigger and better pastures are extremely limited. I don’t believe James Franklin will look at him as a first choice or maybe second/third based on how he’s building his staff. I also think he remains comfortable from the standpoint of family life, nice house in Hudson, grandkids around - his son is off next year to play college ball and he has his routine at Akron down to where maybe he can keep a better eye on his son’s career va working his ass off as a OC for some other program with less familiarity. I could be completely wrong but this is my gut feel.

No contract extension out of the gate and included in this letter definitely signals this IMO

And now Deion has set up the departure on his own terms for medical reasons before they totally fall off the cliff back to mediocrity or worse. AD is already out there so another reason he has leave on his own terms vs get fired. Deion came in and he and his sons cashed in from both the University and all the endorsements that went along with it. Brilliant.

one of the MAC bowls bites the dust

Make the climb 😂🙄 But on a serious note, this is the heart of it. Funding or at least some bold statements of support from administration seems to be the missing piece here (along with the lack of interest or engagement externally by HC). I’m sure other MAC programs can point at the swirl and lack of support in the recruiting cycle and within that frame, Kent now would appear to have an advantage after taking back the WW and the reception to taking off the interim tag on a coach who appears to genuinely want to be there. Also, now what? Easy to lose any momentum we have from 5 wins and finishing with a win if this goes quiet and nobody makes any statement around the progress and expectations for more. They need to capitalize on interest now with some immediate follow up similar to what basketball does.

But what’s your take? Thoughts on seeding for NCAA etc?

We need a Revenge Tour graphic … this could be the OOC result we’ve been waiting for that sets them up for a better seed

Funny to look back at this thread 😬 is Joe getting an extension after this season?

That was downright enjoyable!

No decency when ego, agents, lawyers and such are involved - 100% of college football coaches today.

Is this the last contract yr for Joe? If not, is there a buyout?

Two things: - How much longer does Tibesar stick around? There’s more than enough tape to show he’s built a respectable defense to go somewhere with a chance to win. - Really can’t believe Finley hasn’t broken out as I imagined he would. Maybe we’ll see a more confident seasoned player during MAC games? Is Joe just getting what he can to fill the roster and not building out with the right players for his system. Guess it is just an ongoing problem when you’re trying to recruit ANY talent to this program at this point. Maybe the coach should try some adjustments in his game planning???

💯but for me substitute ‘entire system’ for league and ‘created by NIL and the NCAA’ for ‘weeknight games’ I can barely bring myself to watch any college football.

At least we have soccer tomorrow night to take the sting off this one.

Just a gut punch. So frustrating.

That's for sure definitely sounds like old school coach Bob Knight-like approach along with team hazing that is no longer tolerated this day and age! Teammates kicking a teammate tossed out of practice! I wonder if there were just no strict guardrails like Akron Children's has in place at UA now at her previous programs including Case. I would have thought athletes at a school like Case would have been even more sensitive to these types of bullying tactics then DI athletes and it doesn't appear she had any of these types of issues at Case where she was incredibly successful. Definitely came in without the DI experience but other than that her resume was quite impressive and she is known to have deep ties with the local clubs though maybe the reputation was more known locally as those ties never did pay off for Akron. https://athletics.case.edu/sports/womens-soccer/roster/coaches/jen-simonetti/245

Great context on the current state of the conference vs prior with the 8 teams. Sounds similar to the decline of MAC soccer and the decision to disband all together. Seems like there should be more pressure from MAC schools on the MAC commissioner and leadership as it appears to be in major decline across so many sports. The other thing I think about as we’ve seen this run of success (in the conference) by Akron non-revenue sports (lacrosse, SB, T&F, S&D) is how the state of affairs in the NCAA and the UA enrollment / budget crisis will continue to impact positive momentum and progress. I think the good news is the coaches in place don’t seem like a bunch of whiners and will do what they can with what they have. But I have to imagine Coach Mitchell had a different (not saying easier) opportunity when Akron was at its height of enrollment. I heard or read somewhere there’s been close to a 50% decline since 2014 - staggering. Then you also factor in the cuts made during Covid that have never been reinstated. Different times - sad state of higher ed and college athletics for purists like me.