clarkwgriswold

I'm everywhere....

Tom Arth on the UA campus today. Hmmmmm.

Given who's occupied that position, it would be a shame if he hadn't.

I suspect that a lot of the rumor mill of what coaches are front runners for certain jobs is driven in large part by agents for the "hot" candidates.

Akron born and raised. Played at St. V in the early/mid 70's then was on successful UA teams in the late 70's. As I recall, he was on the UA staff twice and was at also at Wisconsin at some point. He has been Head Coach at Wayne State for 10 or 15 years. I think he's a great guy and a good coach, but he has to be 60 at this point. Edit: I just read his Wikipedia and it says he declined the UA job in 2011. I don't recall anything other than his name being mentioned then.

Right next to the one Bill Cowher is buying.

I think we're waaaaaay behind in making the obligatory reference to Wayne State's Paul Winters as a candidate. He's been mentioned in every other Zips football coaching search for the last 20 years. I'd hate to see him left out now. LOL.

Polian was 23-27 at Nevada. That's downright....well....Terry Bowden-like.

There were some real "personalities" on that team. I think the highlight of the Mastodons recent history (other than playing in the JAR Of course) was their win over Indiana 3 or 4 years ago when Indiana was in the top 5.

GT Article with potential candidates- https://www.ohio.com/sports/20181203/university-of-akron-football-head-coaching-job-could-be-desirable-landing-spot-for-some Candidates referenced in article- • Luke Getsy: Offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach at Mississippi State. • Ryan Held: Running backs coach at Nebraska. • Mike Jacobs: Head coach at Notre Dame College. • Michael Johnson: Wide receivers coach at Oregon. • Vince Kehres. Head coach at Mount Union. • Brian Polian. Recruiting/special teams coordinator at Notre Dame. • Ed Warinner. Offensive line coach at Michigan. I think we can now eliminate these as strong possibilities. LOL.

The Mastodons gave us quite a game last year. It was a game that gave us a little bit of an inflated view of our young Zips.

Regardless of what you believe the talent level to be in NEO, I am pretty confident it is superior to upstate New York, SE Ohio, NW Ohio, eastern Michigan, western Michigan, northern Illinois, or central Indiana.

Infocision may be a financial albatross but it's also the primary draw (with the other facilities) right now. Can you imagine the hole the Zips would be in with the coaching search without it? I don't expect every kid to want to stay home. For some, getting away is part of the college experience. That being said, local kids can't be ignored like some of those on Kreed's list were, only to strengthen other MAC programs.

If the top talent is here, the next level MAC type talent is here. With that talent and the facilities, becoming bowl eligible shouldn't be the highlight of a UA season.

I get that, and I guess it is a worthwhile service in today's day and age. My hope would be that a university with an athletic staff, law enforcement agency and staff attorneys could do some or much of this. Here's an interesting article on search firms- https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/college-football-coach-search-firms-are-they-worth-the-money/

I realize I'm increasingly an "old fashioned guy", but I am not a fan of the whole search firm trend. Old Larry is making in the area of $300K, has a staff, and many qualified folks would volunteer to help. He should also be pretty well connected.

They were here last year for an early season entertaining game where the Zips pulled out a close one, so I assume it is.

The Zips head into Fort Wayne Wednesday night to face the 5-5 Mastodons. The Mastodons squeaked by a pretty awful Cleveland State team last week by only 3 points. They average 83.2 ppg and give up 78.1. 6-5 senior guard John Konchar leads the Mastodons at 16.4 ppg. According to Wikipedia- The Mastodons are led by fifth-year head coach Jon Coffman and split their home games at the Gates Sports Center and the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum as members of the Summit League. The season marks the first for the school representing the new Purdue University Fort Wayne. The team previously represented the now defunct Indiana University – Purdue University Fort Wayne. On July 1, 2018, IPFW split into two separate institutions,[1]with IU taking responsibility for IPFW's degree programs in health sciences and Purdue retaining all other academic programs. The Mastodons now represent Purdue University Fort Wayne.

Top notch facilities in the number 5 state for top notch high school talent. That should be enough to attract some very worthwhile candidates. It's the very same reason that being average in the MAC shouldn't be the Zips high point.

Might as well be a lifetime contract. I suspect he's cut from the same cloth as his dad and content to be dominant in that spot as long as he wants rather than take on the uncertainty of Zips football.

I'll never forget the Cheribundi Tart Cherry Boca Raton Bowl. Sob.

I see the women played at 2:00, so maybe it was intended as a doubleheader. However, they did not advertise it as such. Who knows.

By the way, what's the deal on a 5:00 game. Awful time.

Maybe it's just time to make GT "virtually forgotten."

Mercy's offense reminded me of the Cavs in World B. Free's heyday, with Antoine Davis in the role of World B. Free taking half of the team's shots. Highlights from Sunshine GT's latest journalistic upchuck - * It’s fortunate style points have little to do with actual basketball games because, based on the performance of the University of Akron men’s team Saturday, the Zips would get few. * Still, at a time when the Zips (6-2) want to be preparing for the Mid-American Conference schedule, they look as if progress is stalled. * Despite the win, the inability to put together a complete game could prove frustrating. Although the Titans (3-5) deserve credit for beating the Zips 14-11 in offensive rebounds and converting those opportunities into 13 points, UA’s problems were caused more by self-inflicted wounds and the inability to make shots.