Zip_ME87

You don't have to. I try to talk to as many of our players as I can each season, and Ben was always very friendly to me. He's no longer a Zip, but was for 2 years and had one great header save vs UNC in the 2009 semi-final game to help the Zips get to the final.

I'm with you on both points. If/when the Crew someday picks up Chad Barson or any of the other Zips in their academy (yes, including Ben Speas, even though he went to UNC), I will follow the Crew.

Zips Sporting KC Portland Timbers upcoming season's Montreal Impact (hopefully fans will rival Sounders' fans) Seattle Sounders (best fans in the MLS) USMNT Every MLS team that actually plays our former Zips

The fact that they paid Parker Executive Search of Atlanta $50,000 plus expenses to recruit Ianello is also sickening.

No. He was an assistant coach at Central Florida right before coming here. He also had served as an assistant at Ohio State and West Virginia early in his career. Yes, you are correct that Huggins spent 1 year as an assistant at UCF after Walsh, before coming to Akron. He also had other D-1 experience as you mention. I never said that he didn't. I still hold that a lower division head coach can be successful in D-1. There's no perfect answer to who our new head coach should be. There's risk in any candidate who is chosen, but I prefer someone who has been successful actually being a head coach.

Although it wasn't football, Bob Huggins came to Akron from Walsh, where he was quite successful. He went on to take Akron to our first NCAA Tournament appearance in our D-1 era. Then he moved on to Cincy, Kansas State, and WVU and throughout has been to the Final Four several times. A successful lower division head coach can definitely be successful at D-1 if the coach is a winner and is driven to be a winner.

The only strikers Montreal have are Brian Ching (not going to happen) and Justin Braun. That is probably the position where they have the least depth. According to Ives, he would be their top choice. FOUR former Zips in Montreal would be awesome!

I was watching when Stanford scored their first 2 goals. That Kennesaw State University Stadium is gorgeous. I wish they'd hold the Men's College Cup there; however, I haven't checked the seating capacity. But, it looks sizable on television. Also, cool that Ohio Wesleyan is playing for the D III Championship. Thanks for pointing that out.

I don't know how much he makes, but I sure hope no one tries snatching him from us. At this point, he might be the most important associate head coach in the country. The Olympic gig seemed to work out perfectly for Porter because it won't interfere with this season or next season, but in between now and then, I think a lot of duties of the head coach are going to be relegated to Jared and the other assistants. We still have Spring season, and although it may not be extremely important, it shouldn't be written off as no big deal. Also, Porter will probably not be able to be as hands on with recruiting in the off season. We need this team of assistant coaches now more than ever. +1 Our Mens Soccer assistant coaches are all AWESOME. I'd hate to lose any of them. Also, I don't see Caleb Porter going to another college soccer program. He has too much invested in the Zips and is getting well-deserved opportunities due to his success at Akron. His family is settled here, and he has a good contract with UA. He also has a great fan base, and his team is the most successful on campus. (Have we commissioned the Caleb Porter statue yet?) Moving to another college soccer program seems like a lot of upheaval with little, if any, payoff.

DarNag moves to MF in that lineup. WOW! I disagree. Zakuani is more of a winger. He moves to MF. Nagbe - Bunbury Zemanski - Gavin - Ampai - Zakuani Korb - Valentin - Kitchen - Sarkodie Bush

If we consider lower Division head coaches like Winters, what about Greg Debeljak at Case Western Reserve? 52-22 through 2010, and I believe Case was 9-1 this season.

Ok. Bad choice of words on my part.

Meet Zarek Valentin Q: What are your plans for the off-season? A: I took a week off, first time in two years, and relaxed…spent some time with my family. After the jersey unveiling event, I’m heading back to L.A. to pack up and organize my things. Later, I’m hoping to get an invite to the U.S. U23 National Team camp in March in preparations for Olympic qualifying.

Wow am I with you! Can't wait until the GA offers start flowing in December (so we know who is most likely leaving/staying) and the MLS draft in January. Followed by MLS in March, US U23 qualifying, and Zips Soccer Spring schedule.

Thanks CK. As I said in another thread, these guys need to make restitution (including apologizing to their teammates for letting them down), learn from this, and not let it happen again. Hopefully, Tree's day in court will work out for the best.

Ok, since I don't want to be misinterpreted...I took ZIP's statement "Those minor sports can really get in the way of supporting the best and cleanest team in NCAA men's soccer." in the way I believe he meant it, facetiously. I root for all Zips' sports. I'm not able to attend them all, but I certainly don't root against any of them. I love it when any of our athletes/teams are successful. Yours or anyone's opinion on soccer's popularity in the US vs American Football doesn't matter to me. Thanks to our Mens Soccer team, I personally have come to appreciate and love soccer more than American Football. That's my opinion and that's all it is. Go Zips!

I understand your concern, but it will definitely set the program back 5 or more years if we make the wrong decision again.

+1 As I've told Caleb Porter, I have front row seats to the GREATEST show in college sports!

I agree with you on this. I have football season tickets but found myself unable to attend games because the coaching was so bad and unprepared. Watching our head coach roam the sidelines looking very unprofessional made me sick and embarrassed. I even had to convince myself to stay out of the football forum on this board because all I was posting was venomous comments about the coaching staff and those who didn't do their jobs when making the hire. But, our administration couldn't be perfectly okay with it, or they wouldn't have removed the head coach and his staff. Hopefully, they pay proper due diligence to the hiring process this time.

I'm sorry for you that you can't get past what others think. We have National and MAC Champion athletes who are proud to play for Akron and whom I proudly support. I'm also sorry for you that you so readily dismiss soccer. You may not like it, but most of the world loves the sport. If you gave it a chance, you might discover, like I have, that it's much more exciting than American football. It's also one sport that has a real world championship, not the fake ones that the NFL and MLB claim. Since you don't seem to know or care much about the sport, I will let you know that it is a HUGE deal that our head coach was chosen to be the head coach of the US Mens U23 team (the 2012 Olympics team, if they qualify). Also, believe it or not, OSWho fans hate that we own them in soccer even if they try to dismiss it as "who cares". No one should be happy about our football team having 2 wins over the past 2 years. It's about as low as it can get, but I'd rather think that better days are ahead now that a change is being made rather than to just give up. As far as our basketball team, I had a lot of fun traveling to Portland with them, and I'm sure those who went to Chicago last year had as much fun. You can dwell on us not getting past the first game in the NCAA Tourney, or you can choose to enjoy our successes. I choose the latter and still believe the day is coming when we get beyond that first game. I have a lot of fun supporting Zips sports. I thank every athlete who chose/chooses to come to and play for Akron. Our Zips make me very proud.

You're correct. Akron's soccer field plays at the maximum width and length, which I think is 120 yards long by 80 yards wide. Football fields are only 53 1/3 yards wide. Even with the added space on the sidelines It wouldn't fit. I'm unsure of the length, but I believe Cub Cadet Field is only 77 or 78 yards wide...not the full 8o yards.

Would you stop with the "Woe is me" NE Ohio crap, please. Our Mens Soccer Team went to back-to-back College Cups in 2009 and 2010 and brought home the National Championship trophy in 2010. That's since 1964. Our Mens Soccer Team Head Coach may be coaching in the 2012 Olympics. That's since 1964. The Zips have also had several individual National Championships in recent years. That's since 1964. This is Akron. And, Akron has National Champions and is continuing to build toward more! As far as Treadwell and Abreu, they need to get their crap together NOW! People make mistakes, but that needs to end NOW! They should be totally embarrassed that they let down their teammates and sent them to WVU short-handed. It's time for them to grow up and do what they need to do to get back onto the team, apologize to their teammates, and work their butts off to bring home another MAC Tournament title and win some games in the NCAA Tourney.

GA players do not count against the salary cap.

I'm cheering for the guy from Stow. Hope he finally gets the Crew's attention.

I would be shocked. It actually makes sense. You fire Ianello with 3 years remaining under either of 2 circumstances or a combination thereof: 1) A donor ponied up most of the money to buy out Ianello's remaining contract; or 2) You have a handshake deal in place with someone to replace Ianello, and that someone is someone who can guarantee ticket sales We'll see.