72 Roo

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.

I vote Zipmeister for Mr. Olympia. He's got guns and all. ?

Quick, get an exorcism! There is no time to lose ?.

Damn, I like him!

Dre, it must have killed you to say this but I appreciate that you did. You are a stand up guy. It appears we all have reason to hope and that's a good thing!

After last week this was a huge improvement. OU is no WMU and it showed. Last week I was depressed; this week there is reason for hope. My biggest concern is Gibson. I questioned his decision making against Western and I saw little improvement tonight. You cannot win with a QB who turns over the ball. Around him the team has gotten better. Love Dollard, love Bubba. The OL showed it can grow and learn. The DL showed flashes of talent. Riley is out of his depth, he can not cover a #1 receiver. The coaches stepped up their game and had the team ready. My compliments to them. Looking ahead Kent looks good and BG can be our first win. Hope so.

I get what you are saying and I understand a turnaround takes time. But I am not seeing the stream of better talent into this team. I do not know if these coaches can recruit at the MAC level. For that matter, I have not seen that these coaches can coach. Watching games this season and last there has never been a game where I could say I see what the coaches are trying to do, but they don't have the talent to do it. Can Arth turn it around? I don't know. I come from a business world that judged on performance. If I judged the Zips on that the coaches would not fare well. I believe Zip fans want to believe in their program but they are getting little to cling to. When Arth holds pressers and boasts about how improved his team is and then they lose by 45 I begin to lose confidence in him and the staff. I would rather him say we are not ready and will have trouble competing than getting my hopes up only to be destroyed. I can't help but compare this situation to the one Groce inherited. Groce came to Akron very late in the game, but he still found a way to add talent. Granted, it didn't stick, yet from that season he built and got better players that fit his culture. He was always competitive. True, Bball needs fewer players but he also had fewer scholarships, fewer coaches, a poor facility and was late in recruiting. He got the job done. Both Kent and Miami turned their programs around in two years. So did OU when Solich got there. So did BG when Babers got there. My point is good coaches can ignite excitement in two years. Personally I am sick of the excuse that we are young and will be getting better every year. It is a philosophy that accepts losing, which we are getting way too good at.

I 100,000% support this statement.

I have it on good authority from someone high up in the program that the coaches voted to hold off on the Secret Santa drawing until after Thanksgiving. They apparently did not want to get the two holidays mixed up. Coach Arth argued against this saying "turkey stuffing is an appropriate gift for either Thanksgiving or Christmas".

Wrong my old soccer friend! Decoys are only useful if there is an outside chance they will actually be the target of a pass. Opposing defenses, and Zip fans, have long ago given up on the idea that our TE's could one day be thrown a pass.

My thoughts: Coaching - no improvement over last year OL - Young, high potential. My only fear is that is a close description to what we have had for our OL's for the last six years Tackling - poor, never hit and drove the ball-carrier back. They in turn always fell forward Play Calling - improved Special teams - sucked, the tradition continues Defense - small LB's, no penetration from the DL, not aggressive QB - Has the tools except for decision making. That is the one quality that is more inate than taught which limits his potential and future. Too many bad decisions. Secondary - bad, corners burnt regularly, no help from safeties Season Outlook - We only have five more weeks and I don't see a quick improvement. 0-6 is a real possibility.

But are you willing to go out on a limb and state we will be better than last year? Coming off 0-12 you would think that is a prediction that is easy to make, yet breaking a culture of inferiority will be a big task for this coaching staff. Bring on those fearless forecasts.

Very said that UA Athletic Administration couldn't have taken the high road. It would not take away from this announcement to thank Frenchy for his many, many years of dedication to broadcasting Zips football and say at a future date Frenchy would be recognized. That would be very classy. Frankly I have seen little from this athletic leadership that I would regard as high values driven.

I don't have a problem with his size if he has speed and nasty attitude. We can add size and strength but he must bring the speed and attitude with him. If he's got those two qualities the rest will follow. We actually have some strength in turning underdeveloped, overlooked recruits into decent players.

If I left you with the impression that I want this staff gone I apologize. I do not want to see change. I am comfortable with the situation we are in, namely we go with who we have during the length of their contract. It is my fervant hope that during that contract we see substantial proof that the staff can coach. I was just lamenting the fact that at present we have no evidence of that. I hope it comes, sooner rather than later would be preferred.

I admire your patience and optimism. You are keeping your expectations reasonable and that's a good thing. But while we are talking about expectations I have them of this coaching staff. Namely can they positively influence the outcome of a game. 0-12 was my answer. Last year I watched the staff closely to see if they could make strategic changes as the game went on. Could they outcoach the other team? Could they get the players to rise to their potential or even above it? Did they make our position groups better as the season wore on? I did not find a positive answer to any of those questions. Arth and his staff are our coaches. I want them to succeed. I have yet to see that they have the ability. Please prove me wrong and give us hope for the future. To me that boils down to winning a few games. Not a lot to ask.