Lee Adams

As far as engaging the fan base,the twitter account doesn't seem all that significant.

Thank you.

Yep.Understand your point.I might behave myself. But its not always the person who is behaving himself/herself that causes the problem. Its those folks who don't 'behave' themselves on Twitter that can cause problems. Thousands of people can see your 'tweets' and you don't know who they are. They start posting stuff and it goes on and on. I would have to assume that at least some of his assistants are on Twitter if they want to use that as a recruiting tool. And, they do a lot of the initial recruiting. Phones are still in use. Personal visits though obviously limited are effective. As far as the fan base getting engaged,did Bowden have a Twitter account? I don't know. Want to get a fan base 'engaged'? Win football games!

Good for him. He won't get caught up in all the Twitter BS. Too many instances where coaches/players think they are 'invisible' on Twitter and it bites them in the ass. The guy in the White House is a perfect example. There is NO requirement that anybody be on social media!

Never been a Pluto fan even when he was with the Leakin' Urinal. Wonder if he will ever get to the Baseball HOF like his 'buddy' at the ABJ, Sheldon Ocker? It seems Pluto writes the same articles week after week, year after year but just changes some of the names. If you listen to him on WKSU he sounds as if he is preaching to the 'unwashed'.

Thats the way it works. You get something you give something. That Bowl was never close to being full for any games other than Acme Zip. Thats when the team was actually consistently good and going to the DII playoffs. If the University didn't take advantage of having all those people in the seats that was its problem. Sell concessions,souvenirs etc. Acme wasn't getting all the money from ticket sales. Just gotta say it was amazing to see close to 40,000 butts in the seats at that old place.

I understand what you are saying. Don't agree with it but I understand. Don't know if you have made millions of dollars over the years coaching football,appearing on TV. Maybe you have made millions of dollars over the years over the years in your chosen vocation. I know if I had gotten 'fired' from my job the amount on my pay check would be $0.00. No choice to retire and still get a ton of bucks if I didn't do my job the way my employer thought I should. I'm sure Bowden would have been happy to coach two more seasons. His employer didn't like the way he was doing his job. A significant number of fans felt the same way. I know the practice when hiring coaches is that unless you terminate 'for cause' the coach gets the rest of the money in the contract even if he is not performing up to expectations. Thats not the fault of The University of Akron or of Terry Bowden. Thats a fault of the system. Maybe thats what upsets me about this kind of crap. Option? Bowden didn't need all that money to 'survive'. Could the University and Bowden have negotiated a smaller buyout? Sure. But $600,000 for this school is a huge chunk of change. Akron has wanted to 'play big boy football' for years Unfortunately, for the University its ATM might not have enough cash to continue to do so in the future unless the program starts performing at a significantly higher level.

Think this was suggested already.

Beside winning games,this program needs to get fans interested again. I'm not talking about the students. If the team wins, a FEW more of them will show up. These kids never have been a dependable fan base. Williams has to get the community involved. Like they did with the Acme Zip game decades ago. A known name like Kosar would at least get some of the older crowds attention. Look ,this program has never been a real big draw. The most attendance was decades ago at the Bowl at the Acme Zip games. Used to 'fill the Bowl' at least for one game. And, they were winners back then. The football program is approaching a crossroads over the next few years. Better do what they can if they want to save it!

Looks like it. UAB decimated Northern Illinois last night! Hope they are losing a lot of people. Troy also home. UMass on the road.

Once the decision was made by Williams I wish Bowden had at least offered to retire. He certainly doesn't need the money Akron is going to have to pay him to maintain his lifestyle. He can go back to TV or maybe get a job at a lower level school. I agree that this is a situation the new AD and new coach probably do not want OR need. This needs to be Williams' and Arth's program. Don't need any 'ghosts'. They sink or swim with it. I would heartily suggest that Akron fans read the Crain's Business article about the severe financial issues the University has in general and athletics has specifically. That article makes it appear that Williams and The University need to succeed here on the field and financially or there may be bigger changes coming.

Hopefully people won't get too bent out of shape if next season,especially the non-conference portion is rocky. Its going to take playing some 'real' games not just scrimmages to see how players are actually going to respond to the new staff and the new 'system'. We should all know that from experience. Any information on length of contract? He gets 5 years unless there is another Ianello debacle.It does appear that if he can bring some of his own key recruits that there is at least enough serviceable talent left on the roster that an entire rebuild won't be necessary. I am waiting to see what he can do with the offense in general and Nelson and Ramart specifically. Wonder if he prefers a scrambler or more of a pocket guy. He will certainly have to improve the anemic run game by working on the O-line. Also,still want to know if Williams is going to try to get Kosar involved in the program somehow to try to raise awareness.

So Kosar shows up in person to support this guy. And,apparently has a history with him from the earliest. Wonder if Williams has something in mind as far as having Bernie somehow associated with the program. Still a whole lot of people around here who remember what he and the Browns did in the '80's. Even if he would work with the QB's in the offseason or do some PR for the football program. That would certainly help raise the profile a bit.

I wasn't really referring to getting rid of sports programs like football,b.ball etc. Was thinking more about 'moving down' to a different level of competition that would require a lesser financial obligation. But, thats a wait and see situation. Hopefully,the program will improve over the next few seasons.

I do like the fact the Arth has a strong background as a QB especially at the professional level. One would think that by being a backup to Manning that some knowledge about QB play specifically and offensive play generally would rub off. Maybe he can improve the caliber of play at that position here. Here is hoping.

I too had hoped Getsy would be the guy. Even e-mailed some people at the Athletic Department. Don't know for sure but, if Getsy was making the published $600,00/year at MSU it would have been real hard for him to walk away from that. He will get an HC position in the future. Not as positive about Bowden's overall record after his time as you are. But, on the surface this seems to be a different hire than Ianello. Certainly the talent left on the team is better than when Ianello left. But,we have to see who bails. As far as exciting the fan base if the program starts winning consistently more fans will pay attention. Thats the only way over time that will happen. If finances are that much of a hinderance it might be time to look at 'downsizing' the football program before the next guy is hired.

As I said previously. No matter who had gotten the job he gets 5 years. Over .500 in the MAC and a couple of firsts in the division after 5 years. Thats better than we have seen in along time.

I would rather see Arth recruit AND GET some of the top talent from Hoban.That would do a number of positive things for the program.

I'll show up with an offense that looks lie it knows what it is doing.

Doing anything MEANINGFUL?

Seems like Williams had pretty much made up his mind. Looks like he wanted a guy with NFL experience. Wanted somebody who was familiar with this part of the country. And wanted somebody UofA could afford. He gets 5 years. Has to be over .500 in the MAC.

Except for the Ianello train wreck,if I am not mistaken, Owens, Brookhart and as we know Bowden got more than 5 years. If AFTER 5 years Arth does not have a a total record in the MAC OVER .500 and has not won the East Div. at least 2 times you can start looking for another HC. Only the MAC record counts! Thats where they play.They need to be competitive every year IN THE MAC. They need to beat OU, Buffalo,Miami,KSU,NIU, Toledo....etc,etc. If they win 5 in the MAC they can still get to some obscure bowl game. I hope he has some really good assistants lined up. He has some talent on this roster,DEPENDING on which players BAIL on him. This is more like a Brookhart situation than an Ianello situation. Hit the ground running or lose more fan support. I am hopeful that when I buy my season tix for next year I will be seeing a more competitive MAC program.

Barf!

Maybe Moorehead is pushing him?

Hope so!