InTheZone

Bit of an overreaction there chief.

I don't think Dalton Williams is going to light the world on fire, but if he comes out of nowhere and starts putting up big numbers and winning games, then by all means keep him in and let him finish the season as starter. I don't care if he's one and done, winning games will do a lot more for the program long term than playing a guy who isn't ready just to get him meaningful minutes and prepare for next year. I hope Kyle Pohl overtakes Williams on his own right this season, but if he doesn't run the offense better then I'm sure he'll be just fine getting ready for next season by taking notes from the sidelines and getting reps with the 1's come spring time.

Bought my tickets today. Would've liked to have bought them from the University and sat with other Akron fans but I couldn't justify buying 2 tickets at $45 a pop when tickets are on StubHub for $6 (I bought some $7 ones in a better section). They're upper level but I honestly love watching games from that height, you can see the play develop and what coverages the D's are playing and what pressure schemes are being used. I'll pay $14 for that as opposed to an extra $76 just to sit with other Akron fans.

Hakeem Lawrence Highlight Film: At first the 10 yards per carry cited by GT in the article jumps out at you as impressive, but after watching the film I get a different impression. He appears to play at a small school/low level of high school ball down in FL. Many of his long runs were through such gaping holes that even CK would've taken it to the house. He doesn't appear to have world class speed, and is running away from some pretty slow defenders, which is to be expected at a small school. I wasn't real impressed with his change of direction or his burst when those were required. I don't see much out of him if he ever gets his grades in order. Hope I'm wrong.

The 3 cornerback rotation of Corner, Tate, and Brandon Anderson was definitely the best trio of DB's in the MAC at the time, and probably top 15 in the country. Captain's right though, we haven't had a cornerback who could play since those guys moved on to NFL camps.

Pretty sweet being highlighted on a sight read by football coaches and administrators around the country. Check it out: http://www.footballscoop.com/ http://www.footballscoop.com/news/6362-vid...of-bowden-ballq

You get 25 "initials" a year... that covers HS and JUCO signees. Transfers from 4 year institutions don't count as "initials", and you can bring in as many of those on scholarship as you can fit under the 85 limit. A few years ago that wouldn't have been a big help, but since the NCAA changed the transfer rules for college graduates, it really changed the game. A lot of players at BCS programs will be graduating in May, ending their 4th year of college, with still a year of eligibility left. UA should be a prime destination for many of those guys looking to end their college careers with some playing time.

Goodman looks like a man amongst boys there. Good Lord is NY high school football bad, but Goodman looks like the real deal. We have a strong class of QB's coming in, I'm pretty confident we'll find at least one gem amongst them.

There is no playbook. That's part of bringing in a new coaching staff, an entirely new playbook must be put together and will be installed in pieces in the spring. The players will get the playbook in portions as it's installed, and won't have the complete playbook until the end of spring practice, with likely revisions over the summer and a final copy of the playbook in fall camp. It is odd however that Clayton hasn't met with Bowden. I remember there was some tension when Brookhart was hired between him and Charlie Frye, as Charlie expected Brookhart to reach out to him and when that didn't happen, he strongly considered entering the NFL draft a year early. Clayton's position is obviously quite different than Charlie's however. Charlie was coming off one of the best statistical seasons in the nation, and was a projected 2nd-4th round draft pick if he came out. Clayton is coming off one of the worst statistical seasons in the nation, and has no assurances of even a top 2 spot on the depth chart. Maybe he should get his ass over to the office.

I have to come out of my self-imposed break for a second to say one thing.... Great, great hire for the Zips! I went from the lowest of lows in terms of Zips football depression a few days ago to the highest of highs. This is huge for us. I'm going to go ahead and pat myself on the back for, I believe, being the first to mention Bowden's name in connection to our head coaching job, as he was my pick for head coach back in '09. http://zipsnation.org/forums//index.php?sh...hl=Terry+Bowden If we would've hired him then I think we would've saved ourselves a lot of heartache. After we didn't give him a sniff last time around, I didn't mention him this time because I figured there was no chance. Apparently he was neither on our radar then, nor was he this time around, which is about par for the course with this athletic department. This situation truly dropped in our laps. All that being said, these stats should encourage us greatly, and were the main reason I recommended Bowden last time around: SAMFORD: 1986 (pre-Bowden): 3-6 1987 (Bowden's 1st year): 9-1 AUBURN: 1992 (pre-Bowden): 5-5-1 1993 (Bowden's first year): 11-0 Big name recognition, history of turning programs around, head coaching experience out the wazzoo... Perfect hire for the Zips.

"I have kept my mouth shut, but I have read everything that you guys have written. I applaud your passion and commitment to Akron Zip football. Your support is going to bring Zip football back to prominence. You have the facilities and the campus to recruit great talent. I apologize to all of you who pushed to have me return. I just want you to know that this was the most difficult decision that I have ever made. I LOVE Akron Ohio! I actually applied for the job three times, was interviewed twice and turned down all three. The University has grown in that time and has become a different place than when I played and first started coaching. My mom worked there for 40 years. Over the last 13 months I lost my mom and dad and my feeling of home changed. I have built something special at Wayne State, and these players are important to me as is everyone who played with me or for me at Akron. The administration, Athletic Director Rob Fournier and all three presidents have treated me with respect and dignity here. At the end of the 2010 season 30 of my players drove to Akron to attend my mother's funeral. These people are my family and I love them. Please forgive me for not returning and understand that Wayne State is where I belong!"

There's not much I can say after what transpired yesterday. I was as absolutely stunned by the news as everyone else. I'm literally at a loss for words. Those of you who know me off the board, and after this coaching search most everyone on here who reads my posts, knows how much respect I have for Coach Winters. I owe a lot to the man in terms of how I developed as both a player and a man. That being said, I can't express how disappointed I am in him today. I know that Coach Winters has been treated unjustly, burned, by this University in the past. There are some stories I've heard (not from him, mind you, as he's not the kind of guy that goes around airing his grievences to everyone) that would make any spite he has for the University of Akron understandable. But the numerous times I've spoken with him through the years and even recently, he's never given me any impression other than he'd love to come back here as Head Coach if given the opportunity. He was given that opportunity, and turned it down. I do plan on calling Coach at some point within the next few months and hopefully getting the story of exactly why he did this. At this point, I'm just as clueless as the rest of you. I don't know whether TW lowballed him, if Wayne State outbid Akron (how embarrassing), if TW wouldn't give him the necessary institutional commitments (budget, staff salaries, etc) that he felt he needed to win, or if he just doesn't have it in him to rebuild another program. Regardless of the reason however, I'm pissed at him, and don't understand it. All that being said, I'm going to take some time off this board, and off from Zip sports in general. Sports are supposed to be for entertainment and fun, and I'm allowing myself to get way too entwined in all of this. When you root for a program like Akron, that can take a toll quickly. Obviously it's taken its toll on me, as I allowed myself to get so agitated that I literally told another poster that I wanted to beat his ass at the VCU game. To Zipgrad01, I apologize. Regardless of what was said, there is never any justification for something that childish. I allowed my emotion and agitation to get the best of me, and I hope you'll accept my apology. Whomever TW hires, he's going to need our support. He's going to have a tough job ahead of him after the mess that's been left. Last time around, I saw the stupidity of the hire when it was made, and I was never on board with the guy. Regardless of who is hired this time around though, he'll have my support for a very tough job, so long as I generally see a commitment to winning, minus the arrogance and "better than this" attitude of RI. I hope the rest of you will make the same commitment, both with your voices on this board and with your wallet. If the hire is vastly unqualified like the last one, that won't be his fault... it'll be TW's. Let's give him our support and try to ressurrect this thing. GO ZIPS, ITZ

Pot meet kettle. You're right skip, I joined in 2005 just so I could pimp Winters six years later... I'm one helluva a psychic. Nice logic.

You're an excellent representation of an idiot who flaps his gums before he has any clue what he's talking about. And if you want to call people "internet tough guys" then be prepared to back up your shit talking.

Pot meet kettle. You can join him in that affair. Dude, I'm new to the forums, but I have seen you do nothing but pimp PW and chastise people who disagree with you since I joined. It gets old. Wrong on all accounts. In fact, I've suggested other candidates, and Winters wasn't even my first choice. I have posted on every topic imaginable on this forum since 2005, so your little comparison is way off. Do some research on how wrong you are and get back to me.

If you'd like to find out how tough I am off the internet I'd be happy to chat with you at the VCU game internet punk. I never said people couldn't give their opinion. I was simply pointing out that a new username came on here and immediately started blasting out one guy. If you don't think that's suspicious than you're as dense as I've always taken you to be.

Pot meet kettle. You can join him in that affair.

Oh yeah? What year did you graduate? So it is alright for you to pimp Winters, but a new guy can't come on here and talk about another guy? Ok...got ya. I have been a member here since almost the beginning. I played for this University and am a four year letterwinner. I've posted about thousands of topics, and know more about Akron football then you will ever want to. Me giving my opinion on who the coach should be after seven years posting here and being involved in Akron football for 12 years is a little different than some new username coming on here and only posting about one guy and one topic.

Oh yeah? What year did you graduate?

Did you join just to pimp this guy??

http://www.goccusports.com/sports/m-footbl.../120911aaf.html http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/...-college-coach/ http://www.thesunnews.com/2011/12/16/25534...ly-calling.html On it's face, it looks like a very, very foolish decision, and it sure has a lot of people fired up. Seems like it kind of came out of nowhere. It sounds like the typical situation of an AD who wants to get his own guy in there and make a big splash hire so he can get credit and move on to a bigger job. I'm not sure how you fire a guy who built a Division 1 program from scratch and just last year was his conference's coach of the year. Maybe ole Hunter saw his in conference rival Liberty hire Turner Gill and thought he could go make a big splash hire too.

You didn't like JD. Waddell was on the team that hired JD. We might be in exactly the same position we are in now. Hunter should be the AD right now. I guess if good marketing in the minors is taking cheap shots at a larger school, then this is a good billboard. The cheap shots strike me as childish to be honest. Never cloud a positive message with childish behavior. Many remember Waddell as the "Master of Billboards". I remember him as the guy who got in a pissing match with another University employee on this board, on his way out the door, using one of his various names....childish. JD was all Mike Thomas. Waddell really had no say in the matter. If it'd been up to him, I can tell you for a fact a very different path would've been followed, but that's neither here nor there. Say whatever you want about Mike, but like Dr. Z said, he's passionate about his work, and he succeeds.

I nearly did the same when Ianello was hired. Looking back over the last two years, maybe I should have.

And let me just end the speculation.... barring a "June Jones" situation, Coach Winters will be announced this week.

It would be pretty ironic to see Coach Tresey hired over Coach Winters, seeing as they were both coordinators at the same time at Akron, and while Coach Winters' offenses were putting up 470 a game, Tresey's D's were giving up even more. Tresey was a good guy, wish him the best, but definitely not the kind of coach we need right now.