72 Roo

I spoke with a member of the staff this Sunday and he said all were sorry to see Version leave but no one would miss his lack of control and immaturity. The staff felt this was best for the team and the culture they wanted to achieve. That may be a good sign because Groce is looking long term, not necessarily seeking to leverage a great season for a better job as fast as possible. Spare me the comments that Groce will leave ASAP. I believe he will leave one day too, but I feel he will build a higher level of expectation than KD did before leaving. I'll take it. Akron is a stepping stone job, not a destination as much as I hate that.

If we have to lose a player or two due to character issues I'm all for doing it now so we set straight what culture we want from those players coming in. I'm not sold that Virsohn understands that or is willing to submit to a team first mentality. That being said I am not particularly close to the inner workings of the team and if i am wrong I am actually happy to be so. I want to keep talent, but it must be tempered by good character and the team above all else.

Buddy, you got it right! Regardless of our ups and downs this season or our ZNO arguments we can all take pride in this team. They will leave everything on the court. To me that's always been something of a trademark of Zip sports team. It's who we are.

I'll stand by what I said. Within that statement was "Seriously I'd like to see him straighten out...". I appreciate your support of his learning process and he deserves that. But how many freshmen had two suspensions basically within the first half of the season and went on to show good character and be a productive teammate? Do I want him gone? Hell no. Just start putting the team and school first.

But if it gets us leadership in the form of Senator Blutarsky it may be worth calling in Wormer. The country needs him now.

I don't see a future for Cotton here. He blows up under pressure and reveals he lacks character, and smarts. I have seen many times this year that I was not proud to say he was a Zip. If uncorrected it will get worse. I'd put him on double secret probation and have Dean Wormer deliver the news to him. Seriously I'd like to see him straighten out, but I'm tired of trying to talk guys out of being punks. We expect more at Akron. I think Coach Groce does too. Hence, I don't see him here for long.

Does anyone have an opinion on potential replacements? What about tapping into the Mount Union pipeline and seeing if HC Kehres would come to Akron as the DC. Didn't he handle defense for his dad before becoming the HC. Or was he the OC? Hell, I'd gladly take him as OC too! Seriously, I'd like opinions on who we can get. And no I don't want to offer the job to Keith Dambrot back just to get him in Akron again. That thread is so boring.

I gotta get this off my chest. This is not a good team. Not because of talent but because of how they play: they don't protect the basketball. An example is their often lazy, one -handed passes that are picked off they stop running plays and show no movement in the second half. That is not because of fatigue, they lose focus and purpose Ivey is a poor ball handler. He has a high dribble that can be stolen. He turns it over trying to penetrate and when tightly defended on penetration he is a terrible passer because he gets himself sealed off. Groce tolerates too much poor shot selection They will be better next year, but they can be better this year. Why wait. Play smarter basketball.

Skip, are you sure you didn't get a degree from PCCC? Probably in math, advanced math for them.

Thanks Zippy.

Can he be red-shirted this year or has he played in too many games? for sure, if he can take this year as a red-shirt year I'd do it.

A new OC would be a blessing. Continuing the local connection, I have watched Tim Tyrell at Hoban for the last three years. He is a head coach who also acts as the OC. You can not prepare for everything he can do. He is creative while playing to the strengths and abilities of his team. Colleges have started to float offers his way and Hoban knows it is just a question of time before he goes. I believe he would make a great addition to Terry's staff and be a huge improvement as a play caller.

There have been some good replies to my comment about the OL. I agree that an upgrade at running back will make our OL better. No doubt. No argument. My opinion is based on what I saw of the OL over the last two years. They flat out underperformed and that is indisputable. They were big, veteran and poised for production. So we wished but they did not block, period. On nearly every televised game the color commentator noted our guys got handled by the opposing DL. And we played some weak opponents at times. Let's judge them on what happened, not what might have been had Ball or Sands been healthy, or the receivers not dropped balls, or the coaching changed. They did not do what they were asked to so. Simple.

Well if he is doing a great job then we have horrible talent on the OL. But I concede that may be the case. I also feel we need to upgrade at running back, but they weren't the reason our run game failed this year. There was no blocking for them to have a place to run. That was blatantly clear as you sat in the stands and watched our lineman get pushed back.

I think it further illustrates that Keith is a good coach who has turned around the Dukes. It also says he is a good coach who did not want to be at Akron. I'm OK with that because I don't want anyone who doesn't want to be here. Good luck at Duquesne. I like the coach we now have.

I would like to get excited about this area of the team too. It seems we have better talent coming in. But I am not sold that we have the best OL coach who can develop that talent. Last year and the year before we had a veteran OL and the results were poor. We never learned to run block and our pass blocking went downhill when we were in obvious passing situations against good, not great teams. You expect players to get better during the course of the season. Both years we got worse. I know our coach is the youngest on the team but he has to produce. Bowden seems to support his coaches no matter what. To improve the team, and the coaching staff, he has to make hard, but necessary changes. The three areas that are glaring are offensive line, offensive coordinator and special teams. All coaches should be gone. We will be better because the talent is improving. Coaching has to improve too and then we will grow even faster.

Lil, can I help you?

Well said. I wish Keith well except whenever we play. How he left was not the right way, but he's gone and I believe we are better off for it. Still I appreciate all he did for us while here. He accomplished more than anyone thought could be done at our university.

I'm ready to marry her too!

I"ve always said that Milwee can shut down our O better than any DC.

I wish. But stranger things have happened. Keep the positive Thoughts coming. We need them and it can happen.

Creative playacting is all on Milwee. Executing those plays is all on the players. Both have had period of poor performance.

Are you sure you are much better looking? Your son sets a pretty high standard. Glad your family is on board with our Zip family. Your son has great potential here. We have to play better football, but we have come so far that sometimes we lose sight of the growth we've made and will continue. Count on it. Now if you want to see a really good looking man you need to get my picture

Some observations on our progrum, not necessarily the game: TB earned an extension of at least 2, and probably 3, years. Wilson wants stability and TB gives him that. TB, to his credit, has recruited better than ever and we now have youth and depth. All due to him. We are not playing good football. We are winning, but I doubt we have the fundamentals to beat the really good teams like Toledo. Milwee is still, and has been, a substandard OC. Our special teams suck and they won't get much better until TB gets them a new coach. I can't figure out our OL. I feel they are inferior. Is it talent or is it coaching or is it a combination of the two? TB does not coach, he manages the team. He delegates to his OC, DC and special teams coach. That is not a value judgement. It is just a statement of fact. If he can win that way it tickles me plum to death. Kato is clearly our QB. I have not been a TB supporter, but I very much respect the man because he made this hard decision which told TW that you must put the team first and TW's actions did not do that. Toledo will probably beat the hell out of us in Detroit. I will be taking 10 people there to support the Zips despite this. Miracles do happen. Recruiting and our future look very good. Good Lord! I never get tired of beating Kent. Well done Zips. The better team won. 7-5 feels real good. Find a way to win in Detroit.

I do too. I'd like to see a former Zip ace rebuild our program.