ctmjbowes@sbcglobal.net

So let me get this right...because Winters is black he will recruit better? That is what I am getting out of your response. Uhhh, no. Not sure where you're getting that. I did point out that he was a local product. Local coaches should remember him and know of him, and his local ties should produce dividends. Was it my mention of Buchtel? I pointed out Buchtel because they are the local power in HS football. I can't imagine anyone reacting well to sales pitches from Ianello, regardless of race or ethnicity. Can you?

Another reason I like the idea of Winters is that as a true local high school football product, I believe he will recruit locally much more effectively than recent coaches here. Can you IMAGINE the reaction that coaches and players at Buchtel must have had to Ianello? It makes me shudder that he's considered a recruiter. Now picture Winters, a local guy done good, meeting with local coaches who remember him from days of old, and tell me that he won't be very effective in recruiting in NE Ohio. It's also a very comparable sales job to the one he will be coming from, in that he had to recruit kids to an inner city campus that had zero history/tradition of winning, and from what I've read, has done very well at finding good players there. The recruiting angle is a major part of why I'd like to see him here.

Au contraire. He's somehow managed to get Buckzip and skip-zip to wholeheartedly agree on something. That's worthy of a Nobel Peace prize nomination Ha Ha !! I knew someone would notice that. But, I don't feel like he's done nothing. I just don't see any way I'd move the guy up two divisions. And I don't see any other activity out there in coaching searches that would make me feel any differently. Most Zips fans I know personally agree as well. That's fine that some people like him. I see a lot of emotion in those who support him, which I think is clouding some people's thoughts. I wouldn't even consider picking him to coach our football team. How's about this for injecting a little logic into this conversation then? UA is, at this point in time, the worst coaching job in the country at the FBS level. The only positive is facilities. All else is objectively negative. The pay is marginal, the team is not talented, there are practically no recruits for next year, there is an abysmal tradition of losing only worsened recently by The Grim Reaper, no fan support outside of a few hundred intrepid souls on this board. If anything, my worry is whether Winters will take the job, not whether he's good enough for the job. To turn the question on its head, why would any prospective candidate want the job? It's a coach killer. For me, Winters is the most likely to really know what he's up against here and to be able to do what it takes to recruit, run a good MAC offense, appeal to the Akron fans and move the program forward.

Am I the only one who will take it as really tough news if Winters spurns UA? After the Ianello debacle, I would find it to be quite a feel-good story for Winters to take the UA job. It's my impression that he really knows the area inside and out, knows the MAC inside and out, and most importantly knows how and why the UA job is such a tough one. I can really see him recruiting some of the quality local kids and rebuilding the program. So, with all of these assumptions rambling around in my pea brain, if he decides to tell UA to pound sand (assuming that he gets an offer) and we end up with an unknown quantity, it will be a huge letdown. It makes me laugh a little to think that I've somehow gotten to a place where losing out on Paul Winters, about whom I knew very little 3 months ago, would upset me. How did we get to this place?

How any of these tools can find another job is beyond me, including Weis. None of Ianello's staff should be able to find jobs in football. They were just horrible in all phases. It makes you wonder how full of cronyism the football coaching community really is.

"Tressel has said he is at peace with where he is, and he’s comfortable passing judgment on his time at Ohio State. I think he believes there is a higher calling for him at this point, and he’s trying to figure out what that is, or how most to make an impact." Is Tressel going to grow a beard and become Football Cheating Jesus? I was excited when his name came up relative to the UA job, but still think he was not just a little dirty in his coaching stops. The lionizing of the guy makes me a wee bit nauseated.

Like to shuffle this just a bit. 1. unnamed candidate -- if he is who I think he is. Most of you will be very pleased. 2. Narduzzi -- excellent choice. 3. Johnson -- long shot, a really long shot 4. Winters -- now revealing why I place excellent coach Winters here. MODERATOR EDITED What the f&$@ are you talking about? Coach Winters daughters are all either in high school or college, and the one's in high school go to Stow! Just get the hell off the board if you're going to spread around shit like that. And, to pile on a bit, a flagrant foul should be called on anyone who posts to the effect that they have inside knowledge about who might be a candidate but fails to name the candidate. So very uncool and so very unhelpful. No leaving the board with blue balls.

I really like what I hear about Winters. I hope he gets the offer and takes the job. To have a guy with his experience, knowledge of the area, ability to recruit, and to build an offense, would be like a very pleasant dream after years of pain and football depression. A solid UA football program would be like going from black and white to color. Imagine reading about good local kids being offered and then committing to UA. Imagine it being more difficult for douches like George Thomas to backhand UA...

Where's the emoticon of me throwing stones at Indians06? Dude, Tressel should be happy to get the chance to redeem himself at a MUCH smaller school/program now that he is a disgrace. I was ready to embrace him like all of us would have, but in no small measure because I assumed that UA would be a great step-down opportunity for him to redeem himself while building our program for bigger and better things while also retooling his reputation. It would have been a wonderful two-fer. You need to embrace the possibility of bigger and better. We would not have rated Tressel before he disgraced the OSucks program, but at this point he is tainted. He probably is happy and honored that Akron wants him. But he doesn't want to coach here, or anywhere else. If you really believe he is a disgrace, then why would you want that person as the head coach of your school? I wouldn't. I have more pride than that. But let's face it, he's not a disgrace. A lot of people in the state of Ohio still adore him. He wanted two things in his career. One, to be a college football head coach. YSU gave him that opportunity. And second, to be head coach at Ohio State. He turned down numerous jobs that paid millions more than YSU while he was there to wait for OSU. He turned down NFL interviews to stay at OSU. That's all he wanted. And I know first hand Tressel doesn't feel disgraced at all. He has a wonderful family who are all doing their own successful things in life. He and his wife make philanthropic donations to all sorts of causes near and dear to them. His old players love him and stick up for him. He has 5 national titles. He's seen thousands of his players and staff members go on and do great things with their life. He's happy with his life. I think we all strive to have the internal happiness that Tressel has. For you to say he's a disgrace or how dear he turn down Akron is pathetic! Spell much? I'm calling you out as a troll and a hater of UA. If you desperately want to fellate Tressel, have at it fella. If you can't understand that Tressel is disgraced, and that it might still have been good for him and UA for him to redeem himself here while also pulling this program into the bigger time, you are neither intelligent nor nuanced.

Where's the emoticon of me throwing stones at Indians06? Dude, Tressel should be happy to get the chance to redeem himself at a MUCH smaller school/program now that he is a disgrace. I was ready to embrace him like all of us would have, but in no small measure because I assumed that UA would be a great step-down opportunity for him to redeem himself while building our program for bigger and better things while also retooling his reputation. It would have been a wonderful two-fer. You need to embrace the possibility of bigger and better. We would not have rated Tressel before he disgraced the OSucks program, but at this point he is tainted.

What's the point about getting excited about something that never had a chance at happening? It's not about deserving Tressel. It's about it being impossible to get that kind of name at Akron. If you want to waste your time going after coaches that don't want to come here fine. I'm glad Tressel is an adviser on this. Do we deserve a Tressel? NO! The MAC is at the bottom of FBS football. We pay $300,000 for our coach where the average in the MAC is $478,000. The national average is $1.38 million. We're also coming off of back to back 1-11 seasons. So no, we don't deserve Tressel, who while at OSU was one of the top 5 coaches in the entire country. If you can't get behind this then you need to go ahead and GTFO. Yes, we deserve a Tressel. This University deserves the absolute best and I can't stand the people who think otherwise. If you are going to be one of those people who look at Akron as a second rate institute then I have no use for you and you might as well go ahead and go back to being one of the ZN.o members who read and keep quiet. +1

You jest, but I believe you are right. As I said, OSU (as I suspect many other big football schools) have a subculture near to their football programs that worship everything about those programs and who are looking for clever ways to do favors for players. They know not only that you have to hide it from outsiders, but you even have to hide it from most of the insiders in the program. You just don't have that here. I would guess that he would actually not be under that much scrutiny at UA. In terms of the college football scene, UA is the sticks. Nobody cares about UA and he would be left alone to serve his penance I believe. He would probably slide into some measure of bittersweet obscurity unless he came here and won big. Then, as long as the program hasn't become too renegade, a Miami U in Akron, he would be lauded for raising the Phoenix and it is certainly possible that his presence, along with a winning football program, would help elevate UA into a different/better conference. Who knows, I hated Tressel when he was at Ohio State, but if he arrived and earnestly worked toward raising this program out of the ashes and had any measure of success, I'd probably become a sweater-vest lover too.

We should not repeat how it was done last time or we are doomed to fail again. We just can not fail this time! This hire is more important than just football. There was no search committee last time no matter what people are saying. TW said he had his man and went against board recommendation for a committee and it back fired. The search committee will happen TW will sit on it, but as far as him having the final say...he will do nothing more than announce it, take the credit and move one. His contract is up in September and he will not be renewed. Man let's hope you're right about that! He doesn't even answer my "ask the AD" questions anymore...

hat I certainly agree that the search should be thorough, but am interested in the negatives regarding Winters. What are the things that give you pause? It's all speculation and advocacy amongst fans at this point, so I'd like to know what the perceived strengths and weaknesses of potential candidates might be. Keep in mind, I said things that give me pause. Not things that are show stoppers. Mostly, that he is running a smaller program without some of the complexities of a D1 program. Wistrcill thought Ianello could run the program, but he was overhelmed. It's not fair to compare Winters to Ianello (for many reasons) because he already has head coaching experience. But the point is that a D1 program can be complex, and it would clealy be bigger that what Winters has done to date. Not saying he can't do it, but it is a mild concern. Also, Akron can't just recruit locally. They MUST recruit out of state effectively if we are to get the athletes we need to be competitive. How much expericne does Winters have competing at that level, and against the likes of not just the MAC, but at times the Big East or even the Big 10? I am absolutley not saying Winters is a bad choice, but he does not walk on water. Let's give the selection committee a chance to do their work. Fair enough. I cannot disagree.

I certainly agree that the search should be thorough, but am interested in the negatives regarding Winters. What are the things that give you pause? It's all speculation and advocacy amongst fans at this point, so I'd like to know what the perceived strengths and weaknesses of potential candidates might be.

Who would you like to see interviewed?

I'm OK with that. Life is unfair. TW needs to go anyway. just pointing out the irony It's delicious isn't it?!

OK there bud. Keep him. Also, why the post that seems so troll-like when ZN is celebrating at the removal of The Grim Reaper? We wouldn't do that on a YSU board when your program is down.

Man, won't it be fascinating to see if/how a new coach can find players for next year's class? Whoever is named, I think it will be telling to see whether they can find players, so late in the game, to play at UA. They certainly can't do worse than Rob did.

I'm OK with that. Life is unfair. TW needs to go anyway.

I like the idea of Winters. He has somehow recruited at an urban school in Detroit. He has found a way to win games at a school that hasn't won in football before. I certainly don't know, but guess he would recruit as well here as he did there, which would be a huge step up for the program. A big part of what turned me off regarding Ianello (aside from his horrible public demeanor and apparently dour personality) was that his recruiting sucked, even though he was reputed to be a recruiter. As s side note, can we now cast aside the notion that Ianello was a great recruiter? He was the Grim Reaper. He could recruit at football factories because those schools sell themselves. Look at his recruiting for next year. It's essentially non-existent. Thanks Rob, for nothing. One would think Winters can do better. I also like the comparison to Dambrot. Local guy who might think of Akron as more than a stepping stone. That's not nothing.

Considering the demographics in the Akron area, the idea of hiring Paul Winters seems pretty appealing. He has turned around a program at an urban university, he has obvious ties here, seems solid to me. Why is there usually push back on here when his name comes up? Wouldn't he bring the potential to recruit well here? What are the negatives with him?

I have been privileged to attend many games in a friend's suite since the stadium opened. They feel that it has been a complete waste of money. Food and drink only go so far. When going to a game--in a luxury suite--is a dreaded weekly burden, something needs to change. My friends and I cannot and will not tolerate another game of Ianello-ball. So, personally speaking, I know of tens of thousands of dollars that the coach is ALREADY costing UA. Not to mention the empty stands and many other suite owners whose renewal notices will go unreturned. College football is a big business. UA better realize that and get in the game....or get out altogether. They're putting a coach and product on the field that's like milquetoaste compared to Cardinal Mooney, Chagrin Falls, Mentor, St. V. It's pathetic, Luis. College is about EDUCATION. If football is all about big business then it should be left to those willing to take financial risk for financial reward. You seem to be OK with others footing the bill in all things. The university to provide your entertainment and your friends to provide access that entertainment. Your attitude is exactly what is wrong with society today. "Give me", "Provide it for me", "I/we deserve it" Ridiculous post. You missed the entire point. How much revenue is UA going to lose holding onto The Grim Reaper as head coach? College may be about education, but college football has nothing to do with education and everything to do with entertainment and revenue generation. I simply don't understand how UA puts ANY butts in the seats other than parents/family anymore. You talk about financial risk. How about the financial risk of building a 68 million dollar football stadium without the ability to sell any tickets to events held there? You're OK with that? You're OK with suite/box subscribers walking away? Football in the MAC generates REVENUE but not INCOME. YES...I am OK suite/box subscribers walking away rather than asking students to subsidize their entertainment. College football is just not that important. Colleges should NOT be in business to provide entertainment. Sorry...you just don't get it. Sports are intended to enhance the student experience. But not at any cost. Mount Union, Xavier, Dayton and other schools have great student experience and don’t ask its students to subsidize football for the entertainment of a few fans. The ship you wish for sailed long ago. FBS college football is almost entirely about revenue generation. While I would agree that maybe it shouldn't be so, this is a FBS program operating in a FBS league. You can advocate that UA should perhaps go small-time in football (aren't we there already?) but UA obviously hasn't figured out what it wants to be. They have spent money on facilities as if they would like to be a larger FBS program and have yet failed to do ANYTHING which would allow for additional revenue generation to support those moves. What exactly is the point of a 68 million dollar stadium? How do you pay for that facility? Do you believe that the advocates for its creation pointed to "enhanced student experience" alone as justification? How much "additional revenue" was anticipated through luxury box sales, catering, team shop sales, tickets, etc? If the Doug Snyder vision were uniformly applied the team would be FCS or smaller, it would play in a stadium seating 10K and would just be a nice little adjunct to Fall weekends. Come to think of it, that would actually be a gigantic improvement over where the program is right now, but still, that's not what UA appeared to be going for when the whole Infocision thing started. Now that the facilities are built and as long as UA is FBS, they must generate revenue. You wish it weren't so, but someone has to pay, and "revenue generators" sure as hell aren't lining up right now are they?

I have been privileged to attend many games in a friend's suite since the stadium opened. They feel that it has been a complete waste of money. Food and drink only go so far. When going to a game--in a luxury suite--is a dreaded weekly burden, something needs to change. My friends and I cannot and will not tolerate another game of Ianello-ball. So, personally speaking, I know of tens of thousands of dollars that the coach is ALREADY costing UA. Not to mention the empty stands and many other suite owners whose renewal notices will go unreturned. College football is a big business. UA better realize that and get in the game....or get out altogether. They're putting a coach and product on the field that's like milquetoaste compared to Cardinal Mooney, Chagrin Falls, Mentor, St. V. It's pathetic, Luis. College is about EDUCATION. If football is all about big business then it should be left to those willing to take financial risk for financial reward. You seem to be OK with others footing the bill in all things. The university to provide your entertainment and your friends to provide access that entertainment. Your attitude is exactly what is wrong with society today. "Give me", "Provide it for me", "I/we deserve it" Ridiculous post. You missed the entire point. How much revenue is UA going to lose holding onto The Grim Reaper as head coach? College may be about education, but college football has nothing to do with education and everything to do with entertainment and revenue generation. I simply don't understand how UA puts ANY butts in the seats other than parents/family anymore. You talk about financial risk. How about the financial risk of building a 68 million dollar football stadium without the ability to sell any tickets to events held there? You're OK with that? You're OK with suite/box subscribers walking away?

SEETEEZIP LIVES! Actually I fell off of the face of the ZN earth because I spent the Summer transferring for work to the West Coast. We still haven't moved into a new house and with things in flux there just hasn't been much time to post. I have been lurking regularly though. Here are the ZN goods and bads about being so far away now: The good: not having to see an almost-empty Info. I still can scarcely believe how badly UA blew it with the opening of the Info precisely as the football program began the great belly flop into an empty pool. Astounding really and quite depressing. The bad: missing the coming of age of the basketball program under KD. I'll keep on lurking and soon will become one of those annoying posters who posts with more certainty from 2500 miles away than I ever did while I lived 4 miles from the campus! Go Zips!