72 Roo

It seems I have started a bit of a wildfire here, much of which is spinning out of reality. Here are some thoughts: It seems Guthrie is the focus of many disgruntled fans. I do not believe, nor have I seen, any evidence that he cut the MSOC budget for FB. Athletics took a $3M hit that Charles is trying to make up thru big paycheck games. Still FB had its budget cut by nearly $1M. All sports took a 10% budget hit. I think Charles is doing the best he can in face of declining enrollment, resources and struggling FB. Most schools that are elite do have a Dir of Operations. We don't have one supposedly because the women would also need one funded. That's too much to spend. Charles thought about hiring one for both programs and found that unworkable. The equipment budget (primarily gear and Uni's) is less than most other schools with D1 football. When Louisville tried to hire Jared away they revealed they were getting double what Akron got. The disparity has grown in light of the contracts given to the P4 football schools with soccer. Soccer has benefited at those schools. Coaching counts. The NCAA has allowed full-time soccer coaching staffs to expand and many schools have taken advantage. Akron can't afford more coaches, just like its DoO position. The renovations to the soccer locker room have been funded by the alumni and day of giving. That has taken place over two years and two fundraising campaigns. The former players are generous and are to be thanked. The university did not fund the improvements and it has not happened all of a sudden. NIL money is a growing issue. We lost a kid last winter/spring who wanted money to live off campus. We couldn't afford the $ he wanted nor the precedent it would set. Contrast that to the University of Kentucky. They have set up a collective for soccer. My relative, a CFP and former captain, sits on the collective board. I only sought to offer a fuller perspective as to the challenge Akron faces. We can debate the hell out of it on this forum, but at the end of the day, the coaches have to figure a path out of this and back to elite performance.

Same old troubles: discipline, player control fouls, poor decision making, mouthing, poor performing OL. The staff is either tolerating it or coaching it because they are not fixing it. A great coach once told me his best assistant was the bench. If you are playing contrary to how you are coached you will be on the bench. He said it is surprising how fast the players corrected their mistakes. Discipline comes from the coaches, not the players. The coaches must demand it, then young men will give it. We will not win games because Joe is an offensive genius. We will win games because the players are well prepared down to the smallest detail. I still think we can go 4-8

This thread is fueled by frustration as well it should be if you care about Zip soccer. I am not an apologist for the staff, but I think they are being asked to keep the standards on an elite level w/o elite backing and resources. They have no director of operations that all top programs have. They are short a full-time asst coach and have no GA's. They are now losing players to NIL offers because they can't match them. The recruiting budget has been cut. Their equipment budget (uni's, gear, jackets, backpacks, field equipment, etc.) from Nike is nearly half what Nike offers the elite programs. Those are a lot of limitations to overcome. The talent pipeline has shifted from elite high school players to 1) transfer portal D3 & D2 players wanting to upgrade, and 2) overseas club players who have been told they are not going to make the top professional side. Academy players are being told to steer away from college as the academy route offers a better way to the top MLS team and money to boot. This does not give our staff a pass. They have underperformed. If the same problem keeps coming up they are either coaching it or allowing it. They need to correct it. I hope they do. In the meantime don't expect a savior to come in if a change is made. Our program is devolving into a stepping stone for a coach on his way to an elite program. We cannot compete at the financial level that an elite program now runs. Our best hope is for Jared and company to fix it.

I admire your optimism, but the MAC is not improving, the better teams are. As a whole the MAC is crap and the bottom is getting crappier. The top teams, Toledo, NIU, Miami, are figuring it out. The rest are not.

AS I watched Joe's presser the one overriding impression I got was here is a guy who is not happy in what he is doing. When Joe came to Akron one of the factors was that he and his wife really enjoyed their previous 5 year stay when he was OC under JD. Their quality of life was good and the job was very fulfilling. Joe came to Akron as a HC when the fundamentals of the college game in D1 were about to shift big time. He didn't sign up for that, it just happened. Turning around a program that was losing, but had potential became a herculean task under the new conditions. I could see Joe fulfilling his contract and exiting to an OC position at more money and less headaches, like he had at Penn State. I am beginning to wonder if Joe demands the discipline needed in the long run to turn this around. Our players do not show much discipline. From player control fouls, offsides, delay of game and (my pet peeve) lack of pride in appearance with blue undershirts hanging out against white uni's I see an issue. Last year we all saw the tolerance of Gaithing's lack of self control. It was continued all season even with Joe acknowledging it needed to be fixed. Discipline is an issue he can fix. NIL, talent or our opponent have nothing to do with it. It is on Joe to fix it. I hope he does because it is foundational to turning around football.

It is. They took away the permanent ads/signage on either side of the video board. With the new board they can run ads on the side if they want or switch to a huge video display. This gives more flexibility in what they wish to display. My hope is that they will stop shying away from replaying controversial plays, penalties and sidelines stupidity. The home TV audience sees them repeatedly on replay, but the folks in the stands apparently may riot if they see a controversial play.

You are correct in Akron having little in football NIL. I was told by Guthrie that the MAC had decided not to play that game. All they would be doing was driving the price up for talent the bigger schools want. Well apparently that is not exactly the case. The Director of Operations at Toledo has stated they are in the game. To that point, this past Tuesday night Toledo held yoga on the 50 yard line led by Crandle's wife. All the money went to NIL. Toledo has a good, admirable program. Akron needs to model their future on them. In basketball we are well prepared. The best NIL in the MAC. All thanks to the leadership of Bud Wentz.

OSU has the best announcers in college football: Paul Keels, doing play by play , and Jim LaShay, doing color. They are the best.

While we ask Joe to clean up his act I'd like to ask the equipment manager to give the players white shirts for under their jerseys. That way when they pull up their white jersey over their bellies they don't show a wide band of blue, almost like a cumberbun. It makes us look like we've got no pride in the uni. This has been a pet peeve of mind since last season. Agree with me or not, but I feel the team has to project pride in their appearance and play. End of rant.

Your questions are ell thought out. I don't think the system of play is at fault. What I noticed is that our mids were not going to space to help relieve pressure on the back line so they could pass out. I also saw this when the ball got into the midfield. There was too much ball watching. We needed movement to unbalance the defensive pressure in the mid and create space for our forwards to run on to the ball, have a pass thru a created channel or have a wing back run into the attack. The need to go to, or create, space could go to chemistry, but the bottom line is that is our style. If you don't want to commit to it go to the bench. I thought this game was more about attitude than it was about strategy. For that the players are accountable.

The excuse is money. When the new scoreboard was announced Guthrie did not know athletics would have its budget cut by $3M. Many people criticize him w/o knowing what he is dealing with. Akron has many challenges, yet in the face of those I feel he is doing the best job an AD could. Just my opinion.

This was one pee poor soccer game by past Akron standards. Our forwards don't seem to create or play with a sense of urgency. The Midfield was non-existent and the back line was reckless and leaky. That's a bad combination. We are a program that has had four straight years of declining talent in our recruits and it shows. I'm afraid opposing coaches know this. Hence average CSU and OSU teams can play even or dominate. I am very disappointed. I thought ND was a turning point. Apparently not.

Celebrate! We are better, but not by much if you measure us on today's performance against OSU. Defense is a strength if they aren't out there forever. Playcalling was good, thanks Joe. Running game sucked. Our OL is better, but has a long way to go. Where was our supposedly all-world lineman from Florida, Seymore? We are headed for another 2-10 if Taj is our QB, he has not improved his passing. No passing that stretched the D. Where was Adams? Without a running game we were too easy to defend, especially by one of the country's best D's. There is reason for hope since we started with the best team in the country, but don't buy into the thought that we will excel against the MAC. We have too many weaknesses to address. We have a shot at 4-8. Solve our problems (OL, QB, RB, Special teams) and we can go 5-7 or 6-6.

I'll take Lingard over any MAC runner. He was behind a poor line and still proved to be dangerous any time he touched the ball. Thank you for putting me in the same opinion as Bud Went. He dreams big and then produces. Akron needs more of him.

Your observation about Joe calling the plays is not to be overlooked. Fesler did a horrible job last year. We had the best back in the MAC and Fesler refused to increase his carries when everyone in the stadium wanted to see Lingard pounding the ball more. When you are a Zip football fan you cling to the smallest sign of hope!

Thanks to Captain for giving us a shot of hope that we are getting better. This week I was on campus visiting athletics. The word I got was Seymore has not healed and is not ready to start. Additionally football is running a bare bones operation. Athletics took a $3M cut and football has suffered. No GA's, no publicity, cuts in support staff. The money games are saving the budget this year. The attitude seemed to be 4-8 is reasonable and it will be the foundation for a better year next season.

NOOOOO! 😱 Stop the madness. In these days of mental health awareness you are close to getting a call from the police regarding the deliberate infliction of harm and duress on the U of Akron community. Talk about crimes against humanity!

Good Lord I hope you are right! Reality I think supports my 4-8 prediction. We have yet to solve our OL problems. Behind it we have only one true D1 QB. Our DB's had turnover again. Our RB's need rebuilt. We lost WR's and our kicking game is questionable. If all those areas pan out we can go 7-5 or better. Reality and Akron history strongly say otherwise. The bottom line is that we, the public and fans, have no idea what we have. The flow of information and preparation of this team is non-existent and that is a flaw in the sports information dept and athletics marketing. Yet to end with some hope, I pray you are right. The last 5 years seem to indicate differently.

Thanks LetsGo. I enjoyed the article in that I felt there was some honesty. I was surprised at how many AD's seemed to like the weekday games of MACtion. I don't and never have. I especially respect the comments of one AD who said rivalry games should absolutely not be played on weekdays. The respect the AD's had for Toledo was anticipated, but I was surprised at how much credit is given to WMU. I don't see that. Perhaps their new arena has influenced them. I understand the mention of Akron as one of the most difficult places to coach in football. Yet last year we lost 7 games by seven or less points. I wonder if three of those games had gone our way would they still feel the same way? History is what it is and we deserved their low opinions. When we do turn the corner I bet they will be envious.

A few thoughts on last night's basketball celebration and reunion. The event was the brainchild of Karl Schwarzinger, former 70's player and huge supporter of Zip basketball. The night sold out. Tickets were $100 each plus fees. Approximately 220 were sold, but not attended. It was a class event. I asked if the proceeds were going to NIL. Karl said no, but they would go to the program. The team showed up. They are a great group of guys. Groce once said if you go to Akron you have to buy into our culture because we don't change for you. These players have bought in. They are very athletic and because of that, and no dominant low post player, for now, Groce said they will play faster and emphasize transition. All have bought into defense. Josiah Harris came over and introduced himself. He is very personable. I asked him how he liked the team and he was very optimistic they will keep Akron at the top of the MAC. I asked him why he came to Akron. He said he liked the program, Groce, the tradition and it got him closer to home (Canton). He loves the new practice facility. He thought it was equal to what he had at WVU. Tressel was there. You could not get to him as all the old, deep pocket supporters were always surrounding him. When he spoke he was typical Tressel. Joe Dunn asked him to comment on the changing world of college athletics. His answer was 5 minutes long and he said zero. My friend leaned over to me and said "that is why the media in Columbus called him the senator. He talked and talked and said nothing concrete." Huggins was asked to describe how he built Akron by Joe Dunn. Hugs answered he got guys who wanted to get better and would play defense. That's it. He has lost weight, but he now looks like a recluse or hermit: beard, long hair, slicked back. At my table were three players who played for him. To a man they all loved him as a coach and said he made them better every day. Bud Wentz talked. I thought he and Len Paul were the best speakers of the evening. Bud said he is having more fun with Akron basketball than any other time in his life. He said our NIL will aid in retaining players, not poaching them. Akron was one of the first schools to set up a collective. Bud contacted the lawyer who set up the first collective he knew about, for Arkansas baseball, and learned all he could about doing it right. His enthusiasm for the program, the coach and our future are very high. Len Paul, perhaps the best player to ever play for UA, spoke more from the heart. He said if he had it to do all over again he would still go to Akron. He loved Wyatt Webb and his teammates. Brian Westover, a 6'8" center on one of Len's teams told his wife that the reunion with his teammates was one of the best moments in his life. Len actually left a school in Texas to come to Akron. When Wyatt called him he was already in Texas but said send me a ticket and I'll be on your team. The rest is history. Guthrie was very circumspect about leading an athletic dept in these changing times. He noted he is talking more with lawyers that anyone else. He believes the MAC is the best place for UA. Our focus would be conference championships, not trying to find a seat with the big boys. He noted the AD's and presidents do not want to get into player bidding wars, which we will not win. Instead Akron needs to focus on retaining players thru offering a place that cares about them, builds personal relationships, gives them great facilities and educates them. He told me later NIL will play little role at Akron. Football has little, if any, NIL money to offer. Basketball has what it needs to hold our players. Finally, other administrators feel we need to be ready for a G5 championship. This was not said in any remarks by the speakers. There were many other speakers like Steve McNeese, Eric Mclaughlin, Dr. Climon Lee and Enrique Freeman. All talked glowingly about their time at Akron. Thru the eyes of these former players you realized we have a special place at UA, despite all its challenges. The last speaker was Groce. He captured the crowd. His thoughts on continuous improvement got you excited for the future. We were listening to someone who was ready to move the program still higher. And he knows how to do it. Another night like this is already scheduled for the last weekend in July 2025. The focus on using this weekend for all teams to reunite will be emphasized.

We all understand why this is happening, but we don't have to agree with it. Everything good about college football can't always be measured in dollars and cents. The top 35 programs are doing all they can to ruin the game in their unquenchable thirst for more and more money. A champion from the Big Ten and SEC is not a national champion. Just the richest.

It seems Joe has done a good job in retaining his recruits altho' I hate to lose Jester and Laing-Taylor.

Damn, I'd run thru a wet toilet paper wall for this guy. All Bruins everywhere have got to be pumped. With his kind of motivation UCLA will easily finish in the top 16 out of the 16 members of the Big Ten.

After reading that article I wanted to go out and hire him again. Then reality set in and I was reminded a very simple fact, he's a horrible head coach. Thank you reality!

Thanks to Catdaddyp for his comprehensive review of our last two classes. Being ranked both years in the top two is something to get excited about. Yet it is fascinating to see that Joe's peers don't place much credence in the thought of UA turning it around. Hence the ranking of 11 out of 12 MAC teams. We only outranked the team at PCCC. The guys who are paid big bucks to know their opposition don't see much to worry about in UA. Can we prove them wrong?