g-mann17

Beckman is on the Illini's short list. Does that hurt our chances of getting Campbell? If he is a real up and comer Toledo could just hand him the reins.

Only one pick! Fair enough, Brian Pollian it is Mr. Sajak (everyone else is going Campbell)

Brian Pollian (Stanford) or Matt Campbell (Toledo)

Could you explain your reasoning? Strong ties to an NFL team are not exactly a knock to a coach.

And recruiting coordinator, he learned from the best during his previous tenure, at Notre Dame.....from 2005-2009. Think about it...

At least we know he can beat somebody.

The campus atmosphere is quite a bit different now, then it was in the 70s.

The MAC will likely have the most exciting football game on this evening. NIU vs Ohio or UCLA vs Oregon Though I think the UCLA vs. Oregon game will be higher scoring. (17-70 for 87 points) vs. The 35-31 win for Ohio.

We are the model of consistency, consistantly inconsistant. Also a very telling indicator is that the mean across all coaches over the the last 40 years has been between 5-6 wins. (Minus the outlier that was I-Coach).

We've never had a problem recruiting out of state. Look at our roster. The problem has been retaining quality NEO guys that choose Toledo, Ball State, Miami, or Ohio over Akron. We get out recruited in our own backyard. That is bad. If we want to improve the program we need to be on area kid's top 3 list, and there is no reason we shouldn't be. As far as recruiting goes, he was here for several years with Lee Owens. Winters helped recruit several offensive players that went on to play in the NFL.

To add to what GP1 and ITZ are saying. He is a known face to many coaches already in the area. He has taken some of these under-rated kids and missed out on some that chose FCS and MAC schools only because they wanted to be at the D-1 level. If he is at Akron those same coaches know him, know what he did for their players and he will be able to better recruit talent because they know what he is all about. There is one other thing that has been left out of the equation to this point. Winters is a St. V. alumnus. St. V. alumni are one of the most powerful, money rich, and influential groups in Akron. Just being part of that group will go a long way to improving the team.

Well, he has D-1 HC experience, unlike your favorite. Nothing personal. Maybe you should go back to the world's alleged number 1 sport.

And Gill is far from a viable candidate.

Yes the USA is a small part of the globe, but a huge part of the global economy. And in the land of the # 1 economy football is king. Heck in India cricket is king, go tell them about soccer. I believe in China table tennis is still numero uno. Japan its baseball. Maybe you need to get out more.

Spielman wasn't a good player, heck he isn't even a good announcer. He has no coaching experience and quite frankly, no people skills.

Ok, lets see... Gill, 20-30 as a head coach. Relied heavily on JUCO kids and transfers to win a MAC Championship in 2008. Yes, Buffalo was awful before he got there, but they should have been awful because they were an awful 1-AA team, and before that an awful D-3 team. Which gets to my point that Gill didn't "build" anything there. He found out how to win for a hot a minute and road that success to another offer and left the team with nothing. His replacement, Jeff Quinn, is a Brian Kelley guy. He assumed he was going to a team with something, and truth be told they had nothing. As for Zook, Zook took the Gators to three consecutive bowl games. Two 6-2 SEC records and missed a shot at an SEC championship game because of a tie breaker. The Gators haven't been in the "tank" since 1979 (0-10) that was the last losing season they had. Why? Several reasons, but mostly because they hire coaches that continue on the tradition. When Florida has to dump a coach its because his stuff isn't working anymore. It's not because the program is failing. If Gill had done his job in Buffalo any mediocre coach should have been able to be plugged in and been mediocre (in the MAC that is 5-7 to 4-8). Gill failed, and his style is why he isn't coaching in the Big 12 anymore.

I wouldn't be so sure about that. I have been a fan of american football since I was 10 years old. I doubt anything would ever replace the deeply ingrained involvement I developed for football, but that is just me, and I could easily see Soccer growing in my sports world. Right now, you can find football all over the TV on saturdays and sundays. Soccer is something you have to search for. That is an advantage that will go away some day. And I am just a generation. It may take a few generations, but I could see soccer on the top of the heap in the U.S. eventually. High school football receives higher ratings then professional soccer. Think about that for a minute. The problem with US futbol is that we don't have the best players playing. Likely never will. Too much money for athletes to get into football, baseball, basketball and for those soccer players that are "great" they head to Europe where the money is. I follow soccer, I played both footballs growing up, I buy FIFA video games more often then Madden. But the rest of this country isn't about it.

I would say he didn't "rebuild it" look at what has happened since he left. Relegated to playing us for "Turd of the conference". A rebuilt program would sustain success after a coach. Maybe you dip to mediocre for a year as the team adjusts to the new coach, but certainly not to the abysmal depths that Akron and Buffalo have sunk. Gill did what Brookhart did. Took some other coach's hard work, win with it, and try to get the heck out. JD's problem was his success happened in his second year in an era where a coach had to have "sustained success" to get a new job. Now you just need to be a flash in a pan and people want to throw money at you without looking at what you had to work with.

Ok, this whole thing is stupid. Someone send an e-mail to the athletic department and ask about continued expansion. As for soccer/olympic sports/non revenue vs. football. Soccer supporters - like it or not you are in the US, football is king here, it likely always will be. Football purests - that soccer national championship did more for this school then the football program has done since the MAC championship (look at fundraising, this past year was the highest fundraising totals since 2006). The real bottom line is that the programs aren't competing with each other, and we are better off having as much success in as many sports as possible. Anybody that roots against any Akron program, for any reason, is not a real Zip.

Not as much as if it were a D-3 Champ Coach. So we are all coming to agreement that Winters should get his shot?

Football Scoop update (probably already posted but I'm lazy) Akron: Multiple sources tell us that the University has spoken with Joe Moorhead (quarterbacks coach at UConn), Paul Winters (head coach at D-II Wayne State) and Mike Johnson (offensive coordinator / interim head coach at UCLA). All three have good ties to Akron. We believe Johnson will provide his input; but remain on the west coast. Both Moorhead and Winters are coaching this weekend. Winters' team, a 6 seed, is playing the defending national champion MN - Duluth and UConn is at Cincinnati needing a win to be bowl eligible. Should get interesting in Akron next week. So looking at guys with Akron connections is a good start.

Go look at his roster, the size is better than ours. You will see guys from Shaw and St. V and other area schools. He's already paid his favors to big high school coaches. He can totally recruit upper tier MAC talent. Plus his assistants, surely some will come with him, already understand the MAC. He unified a campus much like our own. It's what we need.

+1

A lion surrounded by meer kats. I truly hope after next season he gets a shot in the pros, cause the kid really has it.

Skip, I never like to bring this thing up, but if Winters is qualifed like ITZ says, there is one distinct difference between the two of them. Now it is sad that it has to be that way, but when there are a whopping 3 (maybe 5 now, I don't remember, in 2009 it was 3) African American coaches in the FBS, that can explain why Winters hasn't really gotten much opportunity. To me race should never be a factor, but when the vast majority of schools are run by old white people, what do you expect. There are some things I've been reading about Winters, and that is why I am not a staunch no against him. I just need more and more information. I was concerned about recruiting, but since he is in Michigan with 5 FBS school, and two right in his own backyard, for him to be able to recruit enough talent to his school to compete is a big deal. Also I believe he had to spend the first few years fixing facilities there. (Hence the lag). He should be one of the final 3, but not because he's an alum, or has Akron ties, but because he has some serious qualifications. If the final 3 are all equal, then you take into account the other stuff and Winters wins out. If he isn't as qualified as the other 2, then Coach Winters, we need the most qualified candidate not the most loyal. (this all comes down to who actually moves along.) Between Him, Campbell, and say Wolford, I'd take Winters. Between Martin, Winters, and say Fritz (that I mentioned before) I think I take Martin. *edit - This last paragraph is exactly why he should have been hired last time over Ianello.