GJGood

One thing I don't understand...it has been stated on this board that Frye will stay in league longer because of his starting experience but that the best thing for him now is to not see the field and that his starting this week is a bad thing. Don't those two things contradict each other?Wouldn't Charlie starting the last three games of the season for Oakland just give him more experience and more RECENT experience thus enhancing his chances of a longer NFL career by that same logic? Unless he performs terribly, and he can't do worse than JaMarcus Russell, it can only be a good thing for Frye as I see it.I just hope he isn't too pumped up if he's named the starter in Cleveland in eight days. I'd love to see him perform well in that game, win or lose.

From an Akron alum and fellow Brookhaven High alum, Congrats LeVon.

Why does nobody think Temple would be the team selected by the Big Ten? They certainly don't want to go back to the Big East. The Owls think their ready to be in a big conference and basketball and that their football program is on the rise.Put that together with the Philly TV market and the fact that they would become a natural rival for PSU if they acheived any success and I think many underestimate this being a possibility.Personally, I don't think they'd do it and in the beginning Temple would struggle on the fields and courts but given a few years they would start to rise up to a respectable level...see Cincy in the Big East.

I'd like to get a home and home series with UAB. They are the team we would have played in the 2004 Hawaii Bowl had Michigan State not given up a late lead to Hawaii in the last game of the regular season. That was the year the Zips were the only bowl eligible team not to make the postseason and the upset over MSU allowed UH to be bowl eligible and stay home to play their bowl game. Everybody had the Zips projected for that spot.

Bruce Gradkowski went down with two bad knees Sunday against Washington after looking pretty good in his role as starting QB with the Raiders. After the injury JaMarcus Russell came in and looked terrible and nearly got booed out of the stadium.It now sounds as if Gradkowski may be out the rest of the season. Is it Charlie Frye time in Oakland?In an ironic twist, we are now 13 days away from Oakland @ Cleveland.

How ironic would it be if Buffalo hires Werriner, seeing as how he was interviewed for the Zips plus he was the OC at Kansas, which is where Turner Gill just left town for?

Didn't I hear that Michigan State was at least a possibilty sometime in the future?

What do you all think the hiring of Coach Ianello will do to our scheduling for future years?I think it will be interesting to see what happens there simply because he has never even been a position coach at a non-BCS school. I wonder if he is the type that will try to load up the schedule every year like a Fresno State or Southern Miss or if he's the type that likes to go for early season easy wins.

Personally, I think it is way too early to tell if this was a good hire or bad hire. Heck, I don't even think we'll know until his first recruits and redshirt sophomores and true juniors. It just take that long for a guy to start being able to play the guys he recruited.I just hope that the program finds success before Coach Ianello's own guys are ready to be major contributors. Then, if it finds success, that Ianello actually decides to stick around until a few of his recruiting classes have graduated and that he doesn't bolt a la Brian Kelly.So far, I don't think it is a good or bad hire. Although I will admit that I personally liked the OC at Kansas' resume a little better because he seemed like a guy that would stick around longer. I just have a bad feeling about the staying power of Ianello IF he turns the program into a winning one.

I just hope if success comes our way under his leadership that he isn't one of these guys that takes the first offer that comes along from a bigger program. That is what scares me about RI. I have no problem with the hire from an X and O's standpoint in the immeadiate future. I just don't want to see him jump ship two or three years down the road. From his comments today and his past "big school" only resume I have found no comfort in this area.

I'm hoping for the best and will give any guy hired to come in here and take over the benefit of the doubt at first.I will say, though, that my primary initial concern is that he has primarily, if not solely, been as BCS schools. While that doesn't make him a bad coach or a bad guy by any means I do wonder if it means that we are only a short-term stepping stone for him.I realize Akron would not be the destination job for many but I would like to see a guy who is willing to stick it out for 7 or 8 years. I'm afraid a guy with only big "name" school experience would be willing to bolt after just a season or two if another offer came along.Hopefully my fears prove to be nowhere near the truth.

The Zips need a radio affiliate in central Ohio. I live just outside Columbus and while the airwaves are dominated by that local goliath down here we also have network affiliates for both Bowling Green and Ohio University, plus if I fiddle with dial enough I can pick up Toledo and Miami games too. Why not Akron?Even if they got a station in something like Mansfield or Mount Vernon it would cover a large listening area including a good chunk of central Ohio. I don't know if you've all noticed but Akron has been recruiting down this quite a bit, especially in basketball. Guys like Steward, Linhart, the McKnights, and Hitchens were guys I used to go out and watch at the local high schools here. There ought to at least be a way to listen to the games on the radio here.

I too was hoping for CMU to get a shot at a "name" program. Looking at their matchup, though, it isn't that bad. It is after all the champions of the 10th and 11th rated contferences meeting each other. At least they aren't playing some team that backed into a bowl game. Troy may very well end up being the favorite in this game in public perception because they are playing closer to home and have been close to quite a few BCS upsets in recent years. Then again it is LeFevour's last game and the Chips just got ranked in the Top 25 this week. It is already being touted as the only matchup of conference champs outside of the BCS games. That alone will increase the game's popularity nationally, just nowhere near to the degree it would have been if it was Notre Dame and not Troy.I just have a feeling that if you like good close football games that come down to the end this may be one of your favorite bowls of the entire postseason.

I was happy to see Ronnie getting some minutes in College Station. I have thought since day one that he stepped on campus that he is the best ball handler on the team. I really do believe that. Hitchens is more of the scorer, Steward the ball handler and assist guy at this point possibly. I want to start seeing those two guys on the court together, especially when we go to three guard sets.

Found this article this morning on everybody's favorite player from Nitro. Its a good read. I like reading about some of the Zips' players background. Brett sounds like a pretty good all-around athlete. But will someone tell these people it is U of A and not AU?http://www.dailymail.com/Sports/200912010772

Probably already been mentioned somewhere here but I just saw this article on Rivals that talks about coaching candidates at Akron.http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news...o&type=lgnsAkron openingThe Akron job won’t be the most high-profile post that opens, but it will be one of the most sought-after jobs. Why? Because most coaches think Akron has the top facilities in the MAC, while also sitting in fertile recruiting territory.Among the top contenders will be Kansas associate head coach/offensive coordinator Ed Warinner who has done a good job building one of the Big 12’s top attacks. He is a native of Strasburg, Ohio, and was an assistant at Akron in 1984. He also has extensive ties to the area, having played at Mount Union College and receiving a Master’s degree from Akron.Others believed to be targets are Wisconsin offensive coordinator Paul Chryst, South Carolina offensive line coach Eric Wolford, Pitt offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti, Nebraska defensive coordinator Carl Pelini, Arizona defensive coordinator Mark Stoops and Tennessee assistant Mitch Browning.Cignetti has earned praise for his makeover of Pitt quarterback Bill Stull. Chryst has been involved in several searches in recent years, including at Washington State and Purdue.

Also worth mentioning...Glen Mason was the HC at Minnesota and where did the new AD come from? Is there a prior relationship that exists there?

Fired for 47-51 in 8 3/4 seasons. Although they went to bowl games in five of the last six years.I don't think that's the case about five of the last six years. They haven't been to a Bowl game since our meeting in the Motor City Bowl I don't think. He did go to a Bowl game in 3 of his first 4 years however.Since you sparked my curiosity:2003: Tigers end 32-year bowl drought, beating North Texas in the New Orleans Bowl to finish 9-4.2004: Tigers finish 8-4, including a loss to Bowling Green in the GMAC Bowl.2005: Tigers finish 7-5, including a Motor City Bowl victory over Akron. All-American Williams rushes for 233 yards and three touchdowns to win bowl MVP honors.2007: Tigers finish 7-6 and return to postseason with a New Orleans Bowl loss to Florida Atlantic.2008: Tigers finish 6-7, including St. Petersburg Bowl loss to South Florida.Tommy West TimelineLooks like he's moving backward.I hear what you guys are saying and its just a name I thought I'd throw out there since he is the kind of guy that looks like he'd turn down bigger offers if he's happy where he is. That's the kind of guy I want. I do wonder though how easy it is to recruit to Memphis in Conference USA, not sure when looking at facilities if Akron might be an easier place to recruit to. I think most would tell you West is a good coach that always seems to have lesser caliber players than the opponents he was facing. The question to me then would be is he not good enough at recruiting or does he need to be at a school that will be more impressive to potential recruits?Anybody know the status of the head coach at the University of New Hampshire? If we go the FCS head coach route that might be an excellent choice.

What do you guys think about somebody like Tommy West? He was just let go by Memphis after being with the program for a full decade. He was the coach on the opposite sideline when Akron played in the 2005 Motor City Bowl.The fact that he stayed at Memphis when he had opportunities to go elsewhere may bode well for his staying power at a school like Akron which has much better facilities than Memphis for football and arguably a more fertile recruiting area as well.

Yeah, I heard the Syracuse and Gardner-Webb thing yesterday too. Plus I have heard a couple of my Cinci Bearcat friends say we are supposed to be in the queen city as well, so my best guess is that the @Cincy game is still going to happen.I'd like to see us add a low level BCS team or mid-level non-BCS team to round out the OOC schedule. I'd like to see us play someone like Iowa State, NC State, or even somebody like Air Force for example.

The two most media-covered teams in NE Ohio.Recruiting won't be really impacted, since if we are going after these kids they will likely have already seen the stadium. The biggest benefit would be non-athlete students seeing campus for the first time, and adults seeing the changes that might change their perception of Akron as a smaller version of Cleveland State.Well, I was thinking the players would get to experience the facilities that you don't see from watching a game on TV or from the stands. Plus, it can't hurt to have the stadium on TV again this week, this time with a team from Cleveland on the field. I believe in the old saying "out of sight, out of mind" so at least the Zips name and logo will be being displayed again to a viewing audience.

Part of the reason for the afternoon time is because the basketball team is playing Friday night. The game time wasn't set until mid-season and it was probably decided to go with the football game in the afternoon once it became apparent where this season was headed. Had the team been in contention for the division you'd have to think they'd be playing at night and the basketball game would be an afternoon affair.I know the crowd will be small but I hope its not emabarrasingly so at the stadium Friday. All you guys that have their significant others going out to shop for Black friday should grab your buddies and go see a football game. Also, a good time to try to talk anyone you know who hasn't seen the stadium yet into going.

After the Zips UAPB plays a bunch of BCS conference schools consecutively and, of course, all are on the road. I'd like to see these good Zips teams get maybe three games like that but not 8 or 9 like they have. Now if we could get home and home deals with more teams then I'd be more in favor of it. I actually like the way Akron is scheduling now somewhat. I could see bumping it up some but I like the idea of trying to play the bigger name schools at neutral sites instead of always having to go on the road.The one thing I disagree with KD on is that he has said the only way Akron is making the NCAA tournament is if they win the conference tourney. That is only true if we play consistently average or weak non-conference schedules. I remember two years ago all the experts were saying our arch rival would be a very likely at-large team in the field of 65 if they hadn't won the conference tourney. There is no reason the same couldn't be true with the Zips if they have a great season and the schedule gives them a respectable RPI. Just don't make the schedule a kamikaze mission either like UAPB has done.

Glenville-Massillon this week at the stadium...I guess it can't hurt from a recruting standpoint.Don't expect quite the crowd as last week's playoff game though.

I don't want any FCS schools. I just think its wrong in principle. Teams with 85 schollys should only play other teams with 85 schollys. Plus, its a little harder to live down if you lose. There are plenty of FBS schools we should be able to beat or at least be fairly even with. I love the FIU game. I imagine that is part of a home and home series, does anybody know?