Big Zip

So does anyone know what kind of offense Terry was running at Norhtern Alabama? I make a quick look for references to it, but didn't come across anything....may have been looking in the wrong places. Wondering if any of the QBs on our roster will be the starter next year.....I wonder if this gets D'Orazio on equal footing to begin with Moore and Nicely? We'll definitely find out if we have a QB problem or a coaching problem.

I noticed according to the PD all area teams the last week Trubisky and Snowball were both still undecided. I think Snowball is a senior if I remember correctly so I wonder if his because of lack of offers. I have to wonder and would be interested in hearing from Cap'n how the message of Bowden was received by Trubisky's dad yesterday. I wonder if we could find a way into the conversation with him...I believe he is currently looking at Big Ten school so it may be a long shot. He has impressive receivers though so maybe we can land some of them.

One of the things that struck me and made me laugh a little as I've read through all the articles about Bowden is what a completely polar opposite he is from our previous coach. Can you imagine iCoach as a television personality, motivational speaker or hosting a radio program. I think about the videos of his press conferences and then I see Bowden's video about coming to Akron and the contrast is 180 degrees. Bowden showed more enthusiasm in his first 30 seconds than iCoach showed in his entire career. Think about what life must have been like for Akron development officers who had to take iCoach to meet with potential donors versus bringing Bowden to the conversation. This hire has potential to impact so much more than the product on the field.....it is going to be fun to watch. How soon until we get our season ticket renewals in the mail....if you were Akron wouldn't you send them out first thing January?

WOW! Pretty pumped about the Terry Bowden hire even if it is two years later than it should have been! TW I give you credit for hiring a guy who we can all get excited about again. I will renew my tickets for chance I get.

In a previous thread it was state that Peggy Elliot was horrible for this University and it took Mario Ruebel to calm things down and right the ship. Glen Mason actually feels like that kind of candidate (if it he were actually a candidate). He could coach here 5 years right the ship, start things heading in the right direction and then turn over to one of his assisants.

Cue the GP1 slam of Waddel....5, 4, 3, 2, 1......

Does this signal to Proenza he has a bigger problem on his hands than getting a coach in here?

Anyone else think George Thomas is going to get the inside story on the Winters non-hire? How impressed would you be if he drove to Detroit or set time to interview PW over the holidays when he was in town? Hey George this is your big chance to make some fans...just sayin.

Not sure I can root for a guy who turned us down. Why don't you root for Can't to while you are at it. If I understand the Ben Speas situation he wasn't guaranteed anything here so he left....Porter let him leave so I guess that was mutual. In that case Porter was the bigger man. Not to mention the slight he made of Akron in the article someon shared on here.

I'm not sure I wish PW any success if he was offered the job and turned it down....I'm not sure I care if he wins another game. If you aren't with me you are against me and it sound like PW is basically saying he's against me now. Those of you who want to wish Ben Speas well -- I'm not sure what is wrong with you either. He decided he had enough of Akron and left us. Say what you will about this job and this University it is light years a head of the pile of crap city and campus that Wayne State is on. Time to move on. If TW is going to remain the AD he needs to knock this one out of the park. If he doesn't this will be he end of his career as an FBS AD. He will still get his chances at lower levels...hell Helsel is an AD at some backwater school.

I don't think a reworked deal with Wayne State is a reason to say he isn't taking the job. Look at the history of successful coaches they all rework their deal in the MAC and then are gone before you know it. Think basketball. Paul would be stupide not to take the opportunity to rework his deal...the Akron deal isn't guaranteed.

So let me get this straight....if you interview somewhere one year and you get passed over for a guy who isn't as talented as you....nearly all of you people would have issue if you were presented the opportunity to do it again? Do you live in the real world? This is not show friends this is show business to quote Jerry Maguire. This is his job not some emotional break up with your high school girlfriend. The differences for Paul. more cash higher profile job career progression -- a step forward being closer to family rebuilding process Working for a guy who didn't hire you before is low on the totem pole.

Cap'n I honestly don't want TW to be able to make this decision, becaus I simply don't trust his decision making ability. I can't name a single person on this board who was excited or even a little excited about the iCoach hire. IMHO fans could see from the word "go" he wasn't the righ guy yet this guy who is paid handsomely to make that decision couldnt' see it at all. Now we are going to give him another chance? I too am rather concerned about PW's comments which lead me to believe he trusts Rob Fournier and he doesn't trust TW. I suspect if he is hired it is going to take a lot of convincing to PW that this is the right decision. I also suspect if he gets the job we'll be in a better place in four years. If the guy from Temple gets the job we are looking at another potential failure. A MAC assistant coach is not going to excite Akron fans and is not going to get as long a leash as a PW hire would get. The fans will turn on the Temple guy quicker than PW or many others. Hoping this search concludes this week so we can all quit speculating.

As Urban Meyer is putting together his staff in Columbus is it possible some of the assistant coaches find their way to Winters staff? Does a guy like John Petereson who coached with Paul Winters come here to work as an O-Line coach/Assistant Head Coach? Does a guy like Vrabel come here (he is from Stow) to coach some aspect of the Defensive? Does Tressel's brother find his way to Akron to be an assistant coach of some kind. I think a staff of former assistants at a higher leve who are new, have local ties/MAC history...combined with some guys stepping up from lower divisions coudl make a nice mix.

Lots of recruiting news...very intersting. Will the new coach have any open slots left to recruit or will the entire class be locked up by the time he gets here?

Your going to fault the Bookstore for wanting to sell all of their existing inventory before ordering the new stuff. I'm pretty sure the soccer team didn't clear it with the Bookstore when they made the change. They are just running a business and attempting to provide Akron gear for us to buy. I'm not going to fault them on this one.

Although I would find it highly entertaining to reassign him to the Admissions department as a recruiter. I mean this is what the guy hung his had on....we should get some benefit out of it.

Charlier Weiss getting a job could end up being the best thing to happen to Zips football. We've all heard how Ianello was the best recruiter in the country...why wouldn't Charlier want to hire iCoach back to coordinate his recruiting efforts at Kansas?

From CollegeFootballTalk.com As far as the Akron job is concerned, the only other names we’ve heard attached to the opening are Florida State defensive coordinator and Ohio native Mark Stoops — also of interest to Auburn, reportedly — and Wayne State’s Paul Winters.

Can't imagine Mike Johnson would take the job and I'm surprised to hear he is even coming for an interview. I would be very interested in sitting in on that interview too -- I'd love to hear what he thinks about this opportunity and how he can help the team. He has been gone for so long I think he woudl struggle in recruiting. He would certainly need to fill his staff with guys who knew the area and had coaching affiliations. I am afraid a midwest job for Mike just might be too big of a learning curve.

We paid the previous search agency $50K to find us one of Wistricill's buddies....that sounds like stealing. The new company is only being paid $25K man I hope we don't get half of what we got for $50K.

Is Paul coaching himself into a better job? That would be damn funny. Everyday we continue search the harder this recruiting class is going to be hit.

@Jason....they got MAC level recruits. In fact I've seen some really good football in Akron over the years. The problem is we can't afford to have a year of lower than MAC level recruits. @Cap'n you may be right....does that mean we should root for Wayne State to lose?

Although I want Wistricill to make the right decision, he needs to make a quick decision. If Wistricill doesn't get this hire done very soon we run the real risk of potentially a second lost recruiting year out of the last three. If iCoach's first year was a pass and not really his recruiting class and we have that potential happening again this year -- how far back is it going to set this program back? I'm afraid we don't have time for a national search. We have time for a quick search. Then again perhaps this season is already lost and we might as well take our time and get it right. I'm really concerned for the future of this program and fear that a wrong decision that needed to be fired after two years could result in five years of rebuilding.

Hard to believe Wagner is going to be playing for his third coach -- how many college players play for three coaches in their tenure. WOW! Do you think if he could do it over he would still come here? If I recall we were his only Div. 1 offer -- I have to imagine he would have to think pretty hard about it.