72 Roo

So help me out ZM, what was loopy? You highlighted the drain football is to all other programs so maybe your comment applies to that statement. The athletic dept had a 10% across the board cut in funding this year which was ultimately due to the loss of revenue from football, not the decline in enrollment. You are right about the loopy pills kicking in though. They help with dealing with the shame of an 0-12 season. For any Zip fan this is a depressing kick in the gut. BTW, I think that Arth may have read his contract wrong. I believe there is a bonus for a perfect season. He just didn't realize it was for wins and not losses. He's going to be so upset when he learns from Williams there's no bonus.

Arth killed all reason for hope this season. They now have to restore it. Ultimately that can only be done with W's, not excuses or justifications. Those were all used up this season. Williams bears responsibility here also. He staked his credibility on a guy whose claim to fame was that he beat Mount Union (once) and got JCU into the DIII national semi-final game. Other than that what are his achievements? I now seriously doubt his ability to coach, his ability to lead and his ability to hire good assistants, which I have seen none. To have your top assistant (coach Z) in charge of the worst performing unit (OL) on the field does not inspire confidence. I think Zip nation has been more than supportive. Next season he must show he can wins games. I feel lower now than when iCoach ruined the program. He was obviously incompetent, but I actually had hope Arth would demonstrate he is a program builder. If football didn't drain all other athletic budgets I would just say screw it. Yet as long as it is pathetic all other programs will suffer. That's a tragedy because many other teams are excellent or getting there.

18,000 fans. Far more than any UA game this year or last, if you judge by actual butts in the stands. I hope Hoban pulls it off, but Massillon will be loaded for bear. This will be a great HS game.

Wow! I want some of the drugs you are doing. Arslanian is 5"11, 215 with no speed to play as a DB. Yet you think he could be playing on Sundays? You and I need to get together as we are probably from the same ancient era at UA. I want your optimism my friend!

"Okay, crucify me for my Jared comments...." Zips Voice, to borrow a phrase from Stripes "Lighten up Francis". No one is going to crucify you for offering an opinion that the staff needs to up their game too. Jared will be the first to say he bears some responsibility for this season. He is open to criticism and holds himself accountable for getting better and he has proven he does just that. He gets better. That's why he is one of the best in the country. Now can we just get back to ripping up each other over our opinions about Arth and Bowden. That is more in keeping with recent tradition on this board. Who cares that we are all Zip fans? Let's destroy anyone who doesn't believe as we do about our football coaches. Oh, and let's do it ad nauseum.

Excellent analysis. My compliments. Couldn't agree with you more on Ben, Marcel and Abdi. Skye would have made our mid field so much stronger if he was there and healthy. I'll add one more point. As talented as Egbo is I believe his immaturity hurts us often. On last year's team he was surrounded by leadership that would not let him get caught up with himself. They had far better chemistry and that pulled them thru many difficult situations at the end of the season when they needed it. In closing I have complete confidence in Jerod and his coaching staff. They will get the team back on track. They are humble. They will change what they must in themselves and not be afraid to do the same with the team. We are lucky to have them.

Answer: YES!

I couldn't help myself ?

I just became a WVB fan. That was one hell of a point!

"Arth's tenure was plagued by a complete lack of a running game, terrible offensive line play, and an overall inept offense. Defense, which was a Chattanooga trademark under previous HC Russ Huessman, remained very good under Arth, particularly with the inability of our offense to sustain drives and give the defense a rest. One thing Chattanooga fans never could quite understand is that we had been running a spread run/pass option offense and a solid 4-3 defense and Arth changed us to a pro style offense and a 3-4 defense. You wouldn't think you would change things up that much taking over an already successful team. Arth did seem to recruit fairly well so there may be hope for the Zips, the biggest problem is that his most prized recruits never saw the field and most are no longer with the program. Arth did fire his OC and Offensive Line coach after the 2018 season so the OC you have there is not the same one we had in Chattanooga, but it looks like you're seeing the same results. " Mocs fan, thanks for your post, but it does not give me much comfort. Good football all starts with the line and our OLine is the worst it has been in years. BTW, we are known for bad OLines. They have been bad for the three years prior to coach Arth getting here. What bothers me is that they are getting worse, not better, as the season rolls on. Coach Z, who is responsible for their play, seems way lost on how to solve it. I do not believe he deserves to be on this staff. This is a results business and the results he is giving us are horrible. Of course Arth is where the buck stops. If he can't lead us to results he needs to go too.

It would appear that we are the graveyard of football coaches. That points more to the culture than any one AD or president. Culture change is the unquestioned hardest thing to affect in any organization. But, O God, do we need it. Finally, it's kinda ironic that another MAC program has dubbed itself the cradle of coaches. Looks like the MAC has coaching careers covered from the beginning to the end.

Can't make an argument against what you say ME87. We can't eat contracts but we do not want to keep repeating past mistakes and extend to coaches and AD's who do not show results. When the contract is up let them go. This is a results driven business and they need to be held accountable. Personally I hope coach Arth can find a way to win a championship in future years despite the mess that is this year, but I now have my doubts. Mostly based on how well the team performs, how well they are prepared and how the coaching staff improves them as the season goes on. What I see is a team getting worse. And worse against bad teams. It hurts to be a Zip football fan.

Probably the most sensible post I've read today. Art will be here for awhile. he should use that time to show he is capable of winning a championship. When we get in a better financial boat there needs to be a decision based on results. If Arth has turned it around he can stay, if not cut your losses and find a new coach.

Unfortunately, it can. What a disaster. I hope Arth has the guts to restructure his staff in the off-season. This team is poorly prepared and has zero confidence it can win.

I voted for Gordon Larsen. From having seen Akron coaches over the years he is by far the best. He prepared teams better than any coach I've seen and he also performed well in the big games. I'm thinking about against Kent led by Don James and against Tampa, who was going big time with several D1 All Americans. Larsen beat them 40-0. He gave Terry Bradshaw of Louisiana Tech a game in the Grantland Rice Bowl. I wish I could have voted for Jim Dennison, but the fact is he had a losing record against the best coaches in the Ohio Valley Conference. He was regularly out-coached by Jim Feix at Western Kentucky, Frank Beamer at Murray State and Roy Kidd at Eastern Kentucky. Dennison got most of his wins against the bottom half of the OVC. Nonetheless he was a great guy and I admired his character so much.

I have not posted much this fall. Depression may have something to do with it. Here are some thoughts on our football program. You may like them and you may hate them, but they reflect what I have seen and feel. Our team is bad. They have poor talent and are not prepared each week. We are young and that may change in years to come, but for now we are bad. Arth is not ready for D1 football. The coaching staff is not ready for D1 football. Should we fire Arth? Hell no. Give him time to grow into the position. We do not have the money to swallow a hire that may prove poor. But it also may prove good if Arth has the smarts to correct the team's weaknesses. That is the same problem Bowden had. He failed to make the changes he needed to make. Think Milwee. It cost him his job. I'm glad he's gone. Arth has to surround himself with better coaches. His first change must be to get a better O-Line coach. Coach Z has proven to be incompetent in solving our atrocious line play. Friend or no friend of Arth he has to be replaced/reassigned. Can Arth make the hard calls for the betterment of his program? If we have a turnaround it will be slow and painful. This program is bad and will take a lot to heal. It can be done, but only with laying the fundamentals that are not sexy and are not readily apparent. Athletes will not come here until they feel they can win. Forget the crap that we are sold that athletes want to come here so they can play early. They eventually don't care about winning and they will play down to that expectation insuring losses. We love Akron and can see it's potential. Recruits only love themselves and see us as losers, which we are. We will not get the better ones until we can show that we are committed to winning. The jury's out on that. Football must succeed at Akron for other athletic programs to flourish. We aren't dropping football so let's find a way to win. The schools we consider our peers are doing OK (Toledo, Miami, OU, NIU, CMU) so we need to emulate them. Our AD and his staff need to be given time to see if this hire (Arth) can work out. If not, they need to go. I did not like the secretive process they employed, not because I felt the alumni/supporters needed to be informed. On the contrary I think the alumni/supporters need to be left out. But I do feel that in the hiring process there needs to be a feedback mechanism that opines whether the staff is on the right path or not. This hire seemed to be solely focused on one candidate, the guy they wanted and that's it. We are in a world of hurt. It pains me to know that Akron football is the worst in the country. Yet if Arth can turn it around I am willing to give him the time to do so. Still I look at Ohio State and see that since Woody Hayes in the late 50's losing is not tolerated. I hope to see a culture emerge at Akron that feels the same way.

I can't recall a lower time for any Zip sports enthusiast. This is not a rant or a fire any coach, AD or BOT member call to action. It is merely a statement that our athletics culture is depressed. Football is now the worst of the bottom 10. Arth may raise us to the top of the MAC. I hope he does, but we have a lot more pain ahead before that happens. I'll give him a chance. Soccer is experiencing an unprecedented winless streak. Jared will fix it, he's too good a coach and we are lucky to have him. Tennis loses a coach who raised the program to the top of the MAC and then resigns days before the first fall season match for personal reasons. What gives? I don't believe why he left. There's more than that at play here. Track and Field can't have a spring home meet because the track is unsafe. Is this any way to treat a program that has made it to a top 25 national ranking? I don't believe this dysfunction is the result of one man's leadership, but rather a deteriorating culture that tolerates excuses and does not think of the university as able to achieve a high level of MAC competition. It's not always about money and funding. For us it's about expecting to lose eventually. There is little evidence of commitment to excellence. I've seen more passion on ZNO than I have ever seen from athletic dept staff. Their response always seems to be "This is Akron, what do you expect?" Well screw that. I expect to win and you coach, athletic staff member or administrator are supposed to find a way to make that happen. Not an excuse as to why it can't. Please men's and women's BBall gives us something to be proud of.

Can you say Milwee? Enough said.

NW my friend, if you watch the O-line you may need to budget some $$$ for therapy. It is likely to be an ugly viewing. I hope I'm wrong but for three years I haven't been.

I like it. Unfortunately the corner poles are load-bearing and cannot be eliminated. This architect was an idiot. Dr. Guezetta and the board of trustees were idiots for approving the architectual plans. I have felt for a long, long time that UA continually has incompetent boards of trustees. For Decades our problems, academic or athletic, continue to go back to their decisions.

Arth has no case for getting fired up when the question is asked about replacing O Linemen. I agree with him that a coach needs to expect his players to be out there every day working their butts off. But they also need to be effective at what they do. They need to show that all that work is making them better and they are prepared to do their job. This line has yet to show they can block. They have been bad so far. The numbers don't lie. Asking if other players should get a look-see is reasonable, even if it is asked by GT.

I went with the Zips because of the power of the Takeaway Pencil. Kinda like never doubt the power of the pen .....cil. Seriously, to me it all boils down to the O Line. We win if they can block.

What a heartbreaking time for Niko's family. Isn't it incredible that in such a time of great pain his family stays rooted in their faith and love. All my prayers go to him and his family. It makes me so proud to see the outstanding character our boys bring with them to Akron. I am proud to have worn the colors and to say "Once a Zip always a Zip."

As I sat in the stands watching this game I reflected that we are first and foremost an academic institution. So what grades would this game produce? Here's my opinion for what it's worth. BTW, I support coach Arth and will give him the time he needs. Additionally, I thought coach Bowden deserved to be let go. Here's my grades. I welcome your criticism. Coaching - D Special Teams - F O Line - F WR's - B/B+ RB's - D- QB - C D Line - D+ LB's - B DB's - F Fans - F