Dave in Green

@Kangaroo Craig, it doesn't surprise me that college football fans in Alabama would spread nasty stuff about a rival's coach or ex-coach. I've spent some time on the SEC forums, and those Auburn and Alabama fans make UA and Can't fans look like longtime lovers. For Auburn and Alabama fans, every coach at the other school is the illegitimate spawn of an alcoholic mass-murderer and a drug-addicted street walker. I seriously doubt that any Auburn or Alabama coach has ever lost their job over infidelity problems. Bowden started out the 1998 season at Auburn with a 1-5 record. Now that's grounds for capital punishment among Auburn and Alabama fans.

Makes sense. In business, you interview a number of candidates before offering the position to the one who you find through the interview process to be the most qualified. There are things that are brought out during the interview process that may cause either the interviewer or interviewee to decide that there is not a good match. It appears that UA and Bowden found each other mutually attractive during the interview process, and that mutual attraction did not work out with the other candidates.

Local Alabama sports writer is a little testy about TB's departure: Terry Bowden's departure from UNA was only a matter of time

Every time Terry Bowden's name came up as a UA head coach candidate on ZN.o, I always asked the same question: Why had no FBS program in the country shown any interest in him? He was successful at Auburn in the '90s, but was released and no other school hired him. He became a broadcaster and motivational speaker. He finally came back as a D-II coach making $100k a year. Any FBS school could have had him at a bargain price. No one went after him. Why not? No one ever had an answer to that. So I've researched this myself and have reached my own conclusion as laid out below. Other opinions and interpretations are welcome. Auburn football was in trouble in 1992. Pat Dye was both athletic director and head coach of the football team, and the NCAA was investigating improprieties. Pay-for-play was suspected, but never proved by the NCAA. The football program would be put on probation in 1993 and 1994 for other violations. William Muse, the former president of UA who had just taken over as president at Auburn, knew they needed a new coach to come in and clean things up. Terry Bowden was the man. He took the team to an 11-0 record in his first season (1993) even though they were playing under NCAA sanctions. He also cleaned up the mess. In doing so, Bowden may have stepped on the toes of some powerful and wealthy boosters and fallen out of favor. In 1998 he was forced out, and had a problem finding a new head coaching job despite having a great coaching record. He was worried about stories he thought Auburn boosters might be spreading about him. In 2001 he sat down with a local newspaper reporter to tell his side of the story, and it was all recorded on tape. The Associated Press listened to the tape in 2003, and found that the comments matched up with statements that Muse had made in transcripts for his book, The Seventh Muse. Tape: Ex-coach says boosters paid Auburn players cash It's easy to understand why anyone researching all of this might have questions about Bowden. He was obviously involved in a very controversial situation at Auburn. Even though Bowden's own statements suggest that he was dedicated to cleaning up the mess, it could be argued that he should have reported what he found to the NCAA. UA is in a unique position to research this and come to an educated conclusion. Bowden was an assistant to Gerry Faust at UA, so Faust would have personal experience with Bowden's integrity, and Faust is an active advisor to UA. Bowden was at both UA and Auburn when Muse was president, so Muse would also have personal experience with Bowden's integrity, and he would certainly provide good advice to UA where he was president for 8 years. So I believe that UA did their due diligence on Bowden, and that Bowden passed the integrity test in the same way that Keith Dambrot, Caleb Porter and other current UA coaches have. No matter how desperate UA is to have a winning football program, I don't believe they would have compromised on the integrity component in selecting a head coach. That's why I feel really good about Terry Bowden being the new head coach for Zips football. I think he'll make the Zips a winning team, and I think he'll do it the right way.

Remember, Winters already had a contract in his hand from WSU. He took it into work Monday morning and signed it. It would be pretty easy for WSU to put together a sweet contract for Winters because he's already been there for 8 years and they know exactly what they have and what he can accomplish in D-II. He has job security at WSU for the rest of his coaching career if he wants, and I'm guessing his new contract is probably $300k or more -- probably the best in D-II, and not far behind Ianello's contract at UA. Coming to UA was a much bigger risk for both Winters and UA than staying at WSU was for both Winters and WSU.

Abreu had his knee surgery yesterday. He was walking around with only the slightest of limps. Odds are against him playing against VCU. It all depends on whether his knee heals quicker than average. My best guess is that he will at least try to put in a brief appearance on the floor to try to inspire his teammates.

Check the box score: 19 assists to 9 turnovers -- better than a 2:1 assist-to turnover-ratio. And all accomplished without a true point guard. Pretty darned impressive. The Zips were definitely thin with Rico and Harney sitting, and Egner also at the end of the bench for some reason and not getting any PT. So they were down to an 8-player rotation. NCA&T, on the other hand, rotated players in and out continuously, with 10 players getting more than 16 minutes. So this was one game where the Zips did not have a depth advantage. Yet they still wore down their opponents. NCA&T players were all over the Zips, and tempers got a little heated at times. The refs were pretty liberal with their whistles, so we had to sit through 50 free throws. This is the kind of game and refs where Zeke has been prone to getting into foul trouble. But he played under control, only got 3 fouls and continued his run of good stats -- 20 points, 8 rebounds and 5 blocks. With the Seb snagging 11 rebounds and Tree 9, the Big Three combined for 28 boards. Walsh had a great game, scoring 15 points, 7 rebounds, 1 block and 1 assist in 34 minutes. Q played under control and dished out 7 assists against just 1 turnover. They still have a lot of work to do. And now the schedule starts getting tough.

If the team has a dress code for players who aren't suited up, then all the players should follow the rules. If there's no dress code, then it's nobody's business what any of the players wear. I'm older than most of you, and I didn't give a second thought to what Harney was wearing when I saw him at the game. Back when I was in my 50s and working for one of American's biggest and oldest corporations where men were always required to coats and ties, I presented a proposal that this traditional old corporation would be more attractive to talented young people if the dress code was loosened. I was an advocate for 100% business casual while another person proposed having casual Fridays and maintaining coats and ties the rest of the week. We made our cases to a group of senior executives, and I made a better case for business casual all the time, so that's what the corporation adopted. After that, a lot of the younger employees thought I was pretty cool for an old guy.

Definitely a contributing factor. The more the other Zips keep the players they're defending in check, the less Zeke has to be relied on as the final line of defense. That presents fewer opportunities for Zeke to commit fouls. This situation should continue to improve as all the new players get better at executing Zips defensive schemes. With Zeke now a major part of the Zips' offense as well as the defense, the team takes an even bigger hit if he fouls out. Zeke needs to play long minutes for the Zips to be consistent winners.

@Quickzips, I do get your point about getting a statistically significant sample before declaring a permanent change in any area of Zeke's game. Looking only at the foul situation, here's how it averages out comparing all of last season to all of this season to date: In 35 games last season Zeke averaged 22 minutes and 3.3 fouls per game, while this season through 11 games he's averaged 24 minutes and 2.6 fouls per game. So, despite the 4 games this season where he fouled out, on average he's improved about 20% on reducing fouls per minute over the first 30% of the season. Zeke has also clearly improved in other areas when comparing stats from last season to nearly the first third of this season, such as shooting percentage. We're only 6-7 games from the halfway point of this season, at which time I think everyone could agree that these improvements are likely permanent.

@Quickzips, were you in Cleveland for the CSU game? That's where I first noticed Zeke's ability to slightly back off from committing the touch fouls he had been getting called for. CSU is much stronger than the three teams that the Zips have beaten at home over the past week, yet Zeke had only 2 personals in 33 minutes at CSU. Zeke has had 6 fouls in the last 114 minutes against one strong team (CSU), one fair team (YSU) and a couple of weaker teams. That's an average of 1.5 fouls per game while averaging 28.5 minutes per game. Doesn't mean he will never foul out again. But it represents a good trend. If he continues to play defense the way he has the last four games, he should not have as many foul problems as he has in the past. I can see a difference in the way he's playing defense from way up in the stands, so I'd expect the refs to see it down on the floor.

There has been a huge change in Zeke's demeanor on the floor. He no longer makes the exaggerated reactions when he's called for a personal or loses the ball. He's much more stone-faced and in control of himself. He accepts things that go wrong as part of the game, immediately puts them out of his mind and focuses on the next play. It's like he went from playing like a kid to playing like a man. He still plays tough, tight defense. But he's developed a feel for when to back off slightly at the last second so that he doesn't draw the minor contact fouls he was called for in the past. On offense, he has great confidence in his shots. As 1981grad points out, he generally does better when he shoots quickly rather than hesitating and allowing the defense to collapse on him. But most of the time when he hesitates, he ends up kicking the ball back out. He even has a good rhythm on his free throws, and is making a good percentage of them. He's also snagging more rebounds. In fact, I can't think of any phase of his game that hasn't improved. He's gained weight without slowing down because the weight is all muscle. He can play long minutes without tiring out. His progress has been slow but steady, and I expect that progress to continue at a slow but steady pace throughout the rest of his college career and on into the NBA.

The Tressel-to-UA story won't go away because it's pure Hollywood. It's the ultimate story of the worst FBS program in the country, the disgraced national championship winning coach, and how they came together through an improbable series of events and found mutual salvation and redemption. The crazy thing is that it could work in reality. But the only way that works is if Tressel sees it the way Hollywood sees it. He'd have to believe in the script and he'd have to want to play the leading role. People close to Tressel say that hasn't happened. That's not to say it couldn't happen. Situations change, and people change their minds about coaching jobs all the time. Exhibit A: Paul Winters. So, yes, it could still happen, even if the odds are way against it. And it would still make a good Hollywood movie even if the script doesn't play out in reality.

Timing is everything. Two years ago, Winters would have been ready to take an offer and come to Akron to lead the Zips with his mother and father sitting in the stands cheering him on. But the timing wasn't right for UA. Winters had yet to prove that he could completely turn around a perennial D-II loser. Two years later, Winters had proved to UA that he was ready by taking a perennial D-II loser to the national championship game. But both of his parents had passed, and he would no longer be able to completely fulfill his dream at UA. Instead, he had a new dream at Wayne State. Life is full of instances where the timing is not right for all parties and partnerships just don't work out. This appears to be one of them.

@InTheZone, classy post. The statement from Winters, which you posted in another thread, helps explain his personal situation. Winters had dreamed of coaching the Zips while his mother and father were in the stands. Their loss caused him to reassess where he wanted to be and what he wanted to do with his life. I hope that made you personally feel more comfortable with his decision. ZN.o is a better place with people like you active. I hope you'll reconsider your thoughts about taking time off from this forum. Your educated observations from the perspective of an ex-Zips player are always welcome here.

Source?

Yep, Akron basketball is all about the team. There are no big stars, but someone different stepping up every game. Focus on playing tough D, and you earn more PT to show what you can do on offense. You can see it starting to sink in with the newer players. Everyone is trying harder on defense. And on offense, many of the turnovers in this game were from trying to get an extra pass to the player who was most open. Lots of unselfishness on this team, which will pay big dividends later in the season as everyone gets familiar with everyone else and the timing gets polished. Defenses will not be able to sag off any Zips player. One thing that stood out to me in this game was Brian Walsh's rebounding ability. For a guard, he does a great job of positioning himself, he has a pretty decent vertical leap, and he is sure-handed. Along with his 50%+ shooting percentage and ability to handle the ball, he's a real multi-dimensional player who's going to be contributing a lot to the Zips over the next three years. I spent much of this game focusing on Nitro, especially on defense. If you want to know where Nitro's value to the team is, pay attention to how closely he guards his man and how infrequently his man gets around him to the basket. KD rewards the best defensive players with more PT. That's why Nitro is on the floor a lot. On offense, he's also steady and reliable. He has a good assist-to-turnover ratio. His 3-point shooting can be streaky, but that's the way it is with most shooters. He's also shown a few nice drives to the bucket, scoring a few and having a few go in and out. He doesn't have a lot of bad misses. I think he will really step up in conference play. The Zips have a great mix of scorers, rebounders, ball handlers and defenders. Some are flashy and some are steady. There's only one true PG and one true C, so team performance may drop a little when Rico and Zeke are on the bench. But the Zips are really deep at the 2, 3 and 4 positions, so team performance is not hurt when there are subs at these positions. These last few games have shown how well this team can perform against lower-ranked teams. The VCU game will tell us how they can perform against a team with a similar level of athleticism, talent and coaching.

Egner's height and weight translate to SF in DI. But Q and Harney have this position covered. Egner's high vertical leap gives him the ability to play PF. But the Serb and Tree have this position covered. Playing Egner at C is a big stretch. But with Bardo gone, someone needs to provide backup for Zeke. Egner is a team player who's willing to take on any role his coach wants. He was a late bloomer in HS and it looks as if he's going to be a late bloomer in college. The one thing to never lose sight of is that Egner has a 37-inch maximum (with step) vertical leap. To put that in perspective, here are the averages of all NBA players who've been measured: NBA Player Average Maximum Vertical Leap By Player Position PG: 34.9 SG: 35 SF: 34.5 PF: 32.8 C: 30.7 NBA Player Average No Step Vertical Leap By Player Position PG: 29.4 SG: 29.7 SF: 29.7 PF: 28.5 C: 26.8

It does cause you to shake your head in disbelief when you see what a guy with only one year of HS basketball experience is doing in his 10th game in college. Tree has improved a bunch in the short time I've been watching him. He and Harney both have all the potential in the world. Zips fans just aren't used to seeing players with this much ability doing so well so early in their UA careers. Teams that regularly show up in the top 25 always have a number of young players with this kind of talent level. The Zips have incredible depth this season. As the new players continue to mesh with the veterans, the Zips are just going to keep getting better and better. But reality will set in when they go up against VCU without Rico. VCU is also stacked with talented young players, and hopefully Tree, Harney and the rest of the Zips will show all they've got. That's going to be one heck of a game.

Could you please expand on this with a few details?

So now there are internet rumors that Loeffler is a potential OC candidate for Les Miles at LSU and Urban Meyer at tOSU, who had experience with Loeffler as an assistant at Florida. Those are two pretty big endorsements in the college coaching world. No guarantees that Loeffler would be able to turn the Zips around as a rookie HC. But who of the available options has a higher upside? By all accounts, Loeffler appears to be a bright, young, personable up-and-comer. I think it's a big bonus that he's a Barberton native. Not many good, young coaches would look at this area as a place to call home as opposed to a place to avoid or escape from. Since Loeffler is FootballScoop.com's top pick for the position now that Winters is out of the way, I'm getting used to the idea that he's the likeliest Zips candidate at this point if he doesn't get a better offer from LSU or tOSU.

I have to say that I put a lot of weight on the prediction below in thinking that Winters was likely to get an offer and likely to accept. If the stories coming out today are true that he was offered and didn't accept, then I'd be interested in knowing where ITZ thinks things went wrong. If there's still an active relationship, maybe ITZ will have a chance someday to get an honest answer from Winters. If today's story is true, it's highly unlikely that Winters would ever be considered by UA again.

Bingo. Ideally you'd have a matrix with all the candidates' names on one axis and all the qualities of a good head coach (which could run into the hundreds) on the other axis. Objectively score each candidate in each category, add up all the scores and see who has the highest composite score. A professional search team will do something like this, and not automatically reject candidates who may be lacking in some categories but make up for that with strength in other categories.

Since Zach doesn't like to include references in his posts, I'll point to where he likely got the info on Narduzzi: Bruce Feldman Twitter This is a wakeup call to all of those who dream of luring a name coach to UA. Note that Narduzzi did not pull his name from consideration for the Pitt coaching vacancy. Reality is that UA has to pick from among those candidates who would realistically consider the Zips head coaching position a step up from where they are now or from other, more glamorous options that may be open to them.

@skip-zip, you do a really good job of presenting the optimistic viewpoint.