72 Roo

I don't know what to think of this class. Priority #1 was to improve at QB. I believe they did that. But I'm not sure about priorities # 2 & #3, DL and DB. We can't get much worse there so we can only go up, but I did not see immediate help. I'm with those of you urging Arth & Company to go the transfer/Grad student/JUCO route. I have no inside knowledge, but I believe he will do that. He has scholarships left. If we are to get to 4-5 wins next season he has to bring in immediate help. The fun thing about signing day is that hope is given to all fans. We need it.

I admire Dennison greatly. He is a great guy and good to all he meets. He was always very kind to me. But he was not as successful as some may believe. While in the OVC he had a losing record against the better coaches, Roy Kidd at EKU, Boots Donnelly at MTSU, Jim Feix at WKU and Frank Beamer at Murray State. He beat up Tenn Tech, Morehead, Austin Peay, YSU, etc. Yet against the best he lost regularly. He did the best with what he had but he was not ready for D1 football. We needed to look elsewhere. As a man he will always stand tall in my eyes. Despite his record I regard him as a credit to the Akron coaching brotherhood.

Zippy you raise thoughts about the coaching staff and that usually brings out a variety of strong opinions, especially amongst the crowd that won't accept Bowden's firing. I do and I'm glad he's gone. There is one thing about this staff that to me is fact, not opinion. It is that they will have to grow into the position of a competent staff. They aren't there yet, but if they can grow I'm OK with that. I like that they (Arth) are character driven. I have no issue with not playing any player who is not meeting their standards, on and off the field. I do have an issue with them not showing they can improve the product during the course of the season. Last year we showed no growth. This year was the same except for Dollard and I consider him to be akin to catching lightning in a bottle by accident. If Arth can learn to be a competent HC and his staff can keep up I will give him the life of his contract to show it. One thing is for certain though. Williams never thought he would be hiring a "learning on the job" coach. But he, and us, are stuck with him. He's got three more years. Good luck coach. We need and deserve a better product. It remains to be seen if you have the staff that can "coach 'em up".

Look what the hair dye did for Rudy. Hopefully Terry has more class. I think he does.

Big Jim, you came thru against BUGS and earned some Warsteiners. I won't hold you to produce miracles. I'll go to my parish priest for that.

Jordyn has a lot of the street in her. She needs to mature more and show she can handle the other team getting into her head or at least trying to.

You are on! I will provide the Warsteiner and you keep the W's coming, next year. I'm not holding you to a miracle W over Buffalo. Let's savor this win for now.

We have heard so many times argued on this site that players just want to play. Give them playing time and they will come. Proponents of the argument that UA will attract a lot of players because they can get on the field early should look at this list. All four players would have seen serious playing time, Hayes Patrick less because of Teon. Yet all have apparently opted out. Why? I feel part of their decision was based on having the chance to experience winning. If they want to leave because of discipline or character issues I have no sympathy for them, but if they want to win, even occasionally, I feel for them.

Good Lord! I love this description of the game. If this happens Big Jim I owe you a beer ..... or three, four, five, whatever. We will have a lot to celebrate. A win would feel real good.

OK Dre, UB's facilities are better than us in their locker room, players lounge and weight room. They are awesome. I wish we had them. I like our indoor field house and stadium better. Now, not even you, with all your fantastic powers, can make their weather better than ours!☔?️?️?️

I'll Bite. Yesterday there was an interesting post from Palmyra 19 discussing the quality and sophistication of DIII coaching. P19 said he was a former DIII coach and he had high regard for the coaches at that level. He went on to say that sometimes they could not improve the talent level overnight but they were more than willing to scheme up the game plan to negate the other team and play to his team's strengths. To me that is the embodiment of coaching. You are expected to find a way to win. With lousy talent that may not happen, but you still try. I have only seen enlightened scheming from this staff in one game over the last 16. That was Ohio U, and only on offense. So can Arth and company coach? I don't know as I have seen little evidence of it over 15 games. I want to be wrong on this. I want him to succeed. Yet what I saw against Miami causes me to ask questions. And I think that is appropriate.

"Been said on here multiple times I would hire that HS coach down the street who established a Dynasty at Hoban. A HS coach is all we can basically afford right now anyway" My friend I wouldn't hire any high school coach, but I would have given stronger preference to Vince Kehres who at the time was at Mt. Union. We could afford Kehres and he has legit credentials. I especially like the fact that he continued his dad's culture of winning. All the players expected to win at Mount. The staff got the talent and demanded at high work ethic. Kehres inherited a great program, but he went on to make it even better. Look at what a former DIII coach is doing at Buffalo! Their facilities do not match ours and the weather is horrendous. Yet players want to play for coaches who have a vision, can make them better and shows them how to win. Buffalo is doing that now and I believe Kehres could have done that for us. Coaching is always the key to winning programs.

This is a damn shame. Shane has the ability to read defenses quickly, call the right audible and lead 10 others. He processes what he sees quickly. Inevery game this season we have at least one delay of game because our QB couldn't act quick enough. I told agree Shane has a D-1 mind and the ability to lead. He has the intangibles to win. He finds a way to win. He should have been a Zip. As a PWO Kent got a steal. Kent continues to rise and we are still falling.

Ya gotta love your optimism and support of the Zips. You are one of the good guys. Thanks for having worn the colors.

Damn, I thought this week we would continue our meteoric climb and rise to 120.

This is a really good observation. Arth hired few coaches with strong D1 pedigrees at winning programs. He now is relying on assistants who have never had the pressure to win at the D1 level and do not know how to change a culture of losing to one of winning. The coaches are looking to Arth for leadership because they have never had to turn around a program. Arth has no experienced assistant to go to for help. I am not impressed with coach Z, both as an OC and OL coach. Our play calling sucks and the OL is poorly prepared. The theme of our OL for the last 6 years was " wait until next year, these guys are coming together". Rather than demand performance we have slipped into dreaming of the future with little evidence the staff can produce. I am not talking about winning now. I am talking about playing good football. We all know we have a talent issue. I can wait if the staff puts out a team that tries hard every play and plays with an intelligent scheme. We are not getting that.

It is no doubt interesting to recruits to get on the field early, but the competitive ones still want to win at sometime. Our program cannot realistically promise/predict when that will be. All recruits want to play, yet if it were true that they want to get on the field early, no matter what, perennially losing teams would have decent talent. That is not the case and never has been. Losing becomes a culture, as it has at Akron, and the good ones want no part of that.

Fearless Forecast: The Zips continue to show improvement. Enough to keep us excited for the future, but not enough to win. We still show we have problems on D that will not be solved quickly. Basketball will prove to be the savior of Zip fans' mental health. That along with good craft beers.

I'm thankful that I have something (the Zips) to get passionate about. Something that I believe stands for more than my selfish interests. Something that unites me with strangers who happen to believe as I do, maybe even more so. Something in which that my dad was a great fan. Something that represents a community and a university that I love. I think I'm lucky.

B & G, so how do you really feel about the ABJ?

I watched the game too and was very impressed. I've seen Hoban play about 10 times in the last 3 years. There is great talent there and I hope Arth can get some of them to stay home and help rebuild the Zips. I'm most impressed with coach Terrell. He has always had his team prepared in each game I've seen. I've never seen him out-coached. He develops players. His play calling stands out as unpredictable, creative and able to take advantage of what the D gives you. In other words the complete opposite of Milwee (I'm still deeply scarred and get nightmares thinking of his offense). I would love to see Arth add Terrell to his staff and further build a relationship with NE Ohio H.S. programs. With his success he would help build a consistent culture of winning at Akron, something we sorely lack. Luke Bauer will find a place on the field and I hope Kharion Davis joins him in the Akron colors. I like their kicker too.

Can't blame him. He wants to do more than block and it is clear that in this offensive scheme he will not see the ball. I think this is regrettable because 1) he could have been a good TE and 2) we should us the TE as a weapon, not always blocking. With the emergence of a running gain the threat of a TE actually catching the ball presents cover problems to the defense thus freeing up our WR's and RB's. I wish him well but I truly hate to lose him. Loved his name. I always felt it fit the Zips family. It is becoming more than suspicious that Arth wants to build only with his own recruits. I hope I can wait until he can produce on the field. I'm thinking it will take another two seasons before we begin winning consistently.

My Take.... There is reason for hope. We can build on many things: OL, WR's, Teon, team attitude (they never quit), improving special teams. What bothers me is the D and its coaching. I know, as everyone on this board does, that we lack the talent on D, but we have to go with what we have. Coaching has to make a difference. Maybe we won't win but we can play better. I believe the DL will get better. Bubba and McClain come to play. The rest is troubling. DB's need an overhaul. Riley needs to be sat down. He can't cover, tackle or anticipate. He may be a very nice guy and we know he is young and can recover. Yet he has not performed. Don't give up on him, but expect more while trying others. Coach him up. I do not find hope in Gibson. His decision making is poor. He has a delay of game penalty every game. That's on him, not the coaches. His shot put passes are totally unacceptable. Since we have seen them in three games they are not going away. They are worthy of benching. When he runs his first few steps are slow, no quickness. I don't feel that because he is a R Fr he will automatically get better with time. Many of his weaknesses are innate and nearly impossible to coach out of him. Perhaps Cato's time away due to injury will make him more coachable and a better alternative. It's not all doom and gloom. That's coming from a guy who was ready to string up this staff. They are building, it shows in recruiting, Teon, the OL and WR's. Yet their work continues. Sadly, we have to live with the memory of 69 points put up on us from Kent. Sheeeesh!

Riley did have a big game. Big for Kent that is. He was terrible. Gave up big receptions and TD's. His tackling was inferior. He got so scared to get beat deep that he lined up far off the receiver thus giving up automatic first downs. He is an experiment whose time has come to stop. Try someone else and work with him to rebuild his confidence. He is lost at corner.

I agree that Snowden is a talent, but his play against WMU showed he's not ready. Still I'm with you that he needs to get experience, especially in a year when he won't lose eligibility. Work him in gradually. This is the year to do it. I know Arth loves the guy's attitude and he has the size we need from our future LB's. In our strength program he will grow to be a force.