Akron's brand hasn't severely degraded. They've elevated to the Big East and still possess national notoriety. They are 14 years removed from a National Championship and only 6 years removed from their 3rd National Title Game appearance in 9 seasons (at the time). They had 5 College Cup appearances from 2009-2018. We have one of the nicer soccer facilities in the country and can have some of the best fan support. The Akron brand is fine.
The issue is, the further Embick gets away from the Porter era, the worse the program gets. I'm well aware the grass isn't always greener, but I'm seeing a "comfortable" coach and program, not a hungry one. I believe Akron would easily be able to attract a hungry coach that can get this program back to where it needs to be - where we expect it to be.