Lee Adams

I'm going to go out on a limb and say our starting QB this year will not physically grow taller in a different system or with a different coach. Well, Ianello trying to force a 6'1" QB into a pro-style offense to drop back against 6'5" defensive linemen never seemed too smart to me either. However, I really don't know if Moore might be better in a different system. Not saying Moore is in the same league, but Denard Robinson is also 6'1". BTW, I'm one of the people who sometimes stood at the games and screamed for Ianello to go to Nicely. So, I'm not here to defend Clayton. I'm just saying that things have been so screwed up for two years that I don't think the average fan (me) can assess what we have in terms of player talent. The one obvious exception being B. Wagner. And,it wasn't just that he was trying to force his guy Moore into a dropback system. The offensive system he installed didn't really fit most of the players he had to work with. In the middle of year 2 he started to make some changes on offense but at that point neither QB could save that team. And,the defense was just a bucket of s..t from start to finish. Thats one reason they have to find a coach who can be flexible enough to put the players he inherits into a system that fits them until he can get more of his guys. I was never really sold on Moore but I was never sold on Manley Waller and some of the other guys who got most of the playing time. Lets hope.

Maybe Tressel maybe not. Figure it out and move on. It is pretty obvious that nobody around here knows with 100% certainty what was going to happen with Ianello nor what is going to happen regarding the next coach. Again,they can make an 'offer' to anyone. And its not a matter of anyone having egg on their faces because they couldn't guess that the last coach was going to be fired or who is going to be hired.I didn't 'think' he would get fired. Many thought he 'should' have been fired including myself. This type of stuff is supposed to be fun for the people who post here. Its opinion. I hope its not a matter of having to 'prove' oneself here because this is at the bottom of my priority list when it comes to things that are really important. Have fun with it.

All good points. The law suit stuff doesn't bother me. It's not like he is his own lawyer or something and spends hours putting together his own cases. Bigger schools have to worry about the potential hit from ESPN if they hire him (ESPN will run negative stories about him), but Akron doesn't because nobody is paying attention. Only way Leach would drop to this level is if he felt he had absolutely no hope of getting into a bigger program. But his first choice if he does drop will be south or west not north. He can hang on doing the radio show with Jack Arute from his house in the Keys. Only other place he said he would consider living is Clorado.

Dennison is important to UA because he is one of the winningest coaches in its history. He also was involved with the program for 20 years (including 7 as the AD). And why would Tressel be interested in Akron? Its home.

Its one thing to offer a guy like Tressel a job. Its another thing for it to realistically have a chance of happening. They could offer a number of successful head coaches who are now out of work. Shoot Dennis Erickson won a national championship at Miami. I think he is now lost in the desert. I would think that most people would love to have a guy like Tressel IF he can actually get on the field. But if the possible sanctions are not going to allow him to actually coach move on.

A couple of problems right now. First and foremost we don't know if either Nicely or Moore could have performed better under a different system with coaches who knew what they were doing. Second there will be defections as there always are when a coach gets fired. Who knows who will stay. Its gonna depend on what type of system the new guy runs. Surer as hell hope its not a 'pro' or power set. Thats one reason I would question Fickell. If he were hired and tried to bring some of those OSU coordinators with him we are going to be looking at what they were doing down there. Can't do that here.

I agree with this except for Winters. An inconsistent coach in D37 or whatever low level league he plays in isn't what I want. Leach is rumored once again for the Wash State job. Please,not Turner Gill. He fell flat when he tried to move up. Probably wasn't ready. Don't need a guy on the way back down. Right now there are all kinds of guys out there with successful head coaching experience. Do you want a Solich type,an older guy who has coached at the highest levels and had some success? Do you want a younger guy(HC) from a lower level who is on the way up? Or do you want another coordinator with no HC experience? I want someone who has successfully run a program at some level and has dealt with the responsibilities of being in charge.

Great question. I think it would be a terrible career move for him. IF he can stay on staff at OSU for just a couple of more years, better opportunities will open up and his professional experience will be expanded beyond Owens and Tressel. I would tend to agree with these as reasons logic would compel Fick to stay at OSU, plus no move for his family (kids schools). Staying is certainly less risky than leaving. Heck, he may get a better offer than Akron yet this year. On the other hand, maybe he has anxiety over how his role will play out under Urban Meyer. Have you ever had a job where you got a new boss, and it was clear the new boss never considered you one of "his guys", and you never really felt comfortable with them? Luke must be wondering how that situation will work out. Plus, while he'd be taking over a bad program at Akron, he should be able to improve it fairly quickly and then move on to coach at a bigger program. IMO, it could be decided based on money, and how comfortable Luke feels being in a situation where he knows he was "pushed" onto Urban Meyer by the OSU atheletic department. UA may be able to close the gap regarding money. The other variable can only be determined by Luke's gut decisons, and likely only after he has had substantial discussion with Meyer (who will surely say all the right things). I doubt Fickel will be prepared to make a decision right away, unless he has already concluded he does not want to stay on under Meyer. Why would Meyer want a leftover from the Tressel era. All that does is divide loyalties among the players. You know there would be players who would have more loyalty to Fickell than to Meyer in a case like that. He doesn't need that crap. Its not as if Meyer couldn't pretty much get the pick of any assisstants he wanted. Supposedly, the OSU administration and athletic department insisted to Meyer that he offer Fickel a position as a reward for his thankless job of loyally leading the team during this season of suspensions, investigations, and turmoil. They are rewarding Fick for his service as a good soldier. Thats nice of OSU. One would then assume as Meyer is, that Fickell will take a head coaching job somehwere pretty quickly. No reason for him to hang on at OSU any longer than he has to if he gets a job offer. His guy Tressel is gone. Meyer owes him nothing.

The guys on 92.3 are talking about the 'Akron Thing' right now. Thats Phelps not the two blowhards who are on before. The take there is Tress goes to the pros so the sanctions aren't an issue. Fickell MIGHT fall to Akron,IF he wants a headcoaching job. They also made the point about Hazell being at Can't and how that would jack up the rivary(not that that is a reason to hire Fickell). They pretty much dismissed the Vest to Akron rumor.

Great question. I think it would be a terrible career move for him. IF he can stay on staff at OSU for just a couple of more years, better opportunities will open up and his professional experience will be expanded beyond Owens and Tressel. I would tend to agree with these as reasons logic would compel Fick to stay at OSU, plus no move for his family (kids schools). Staying is certainly less risky than leaving. Heck, he may get a better offer than Akron yet this year. On the other hand, maybe he has anxiety over how his role will play out under Urban Meyer. Have you ever had a job where you got a new boss, and it was clear the new boss never considered you one of "his guys", and you never really felt comfortable with them? Luke must be wondering how that situation will work out. Plus, while he'd be taking over a bad program at Akron, he should be able to improve it fairly quickly and then move on to coach at a bigger program. IMO, it could be decided based on money, and how comfortable Luke feels being in a situation where he knows he was "pushed" onto Urban Meyer by the OSU atheletic department. UA may be able to close the gap regarding money. The other variable can only be determined by Luke's gut decisons, and likely only after he has had substantial discussion with Meyer (who will surely say all the right things). I doubt Fickel will be prepared to make a decision right away, unless he has already concluded he does not want to stay on under Meyer. Why would Meyer want a leftover from the Tressel era. All that does is divide loyalties among the players. You know there would be players who would have more loyalty to Fickell than to Meyer in a case like that. He doesn't need that crap. Its not as if Meyer couldn't pretty much get the pick of any assisstants he wanted.

Or stall splinters For the record, I'm not set on any one individual. As much as I despised Tressel in the past, both at YSU and OSU, I'll admit if there is any chance of hiring him here, UA needs to give it a shot even if it is primarily for financial reasons. Assuming the potential coaching ban is not an issue, I still have a mild concern over whether he can operate the same program as he did at YSU without the threat of NCAA violations occuring here. And if he runs a 100% clean operation, will he necessarily be successful? Aside from these particulars, there is always the possibility that the one time successful "big time coach" simply doesn't get it done at the lower level program (for example Dick Crum at K.E.N.T., and more recently Bill Curry at Georgia St and Larry Coker at UTSA). Still, it's probably a risk worth taking, but there are certainly no guarantees regardless of who gets the job. Oh and one more thing. We can't schedule Slippery Rock and Clarion to open every season like Tressel did back in his YSU heyday. Ya and you can't schedule Akron,Toledo,OU etc,etc as your OOC patsies.

Tressel was in Tommy Evans Lounge yesterday, spotted by several people. This is Tressel's job if he wants it. He's been to several athletic events this year including the Zips soccer game against OSUcks. Who knows if he'll accept, but we should get everyone in this community behind a Tressel hire. Spread the word that Akron wants him. Put some pressure on him to say "yes" Maybe he was here talking up his man Fickell. Maybe not.

Nice work. Here are my qualifications: 1) Some type of successful HC experience at the D-II level or above. 2) Experience recruiting Ohio,Western Penna first and the ability to bring in a few athletes from down south or out west. 3)Has the ability and WILLINGNESS to adapt his schemes to the players he inherits. 4)Willingness to at least try to keep players from the previous regime and not run them off. 5)Willingess to bring in asisstants who aren't just retreads and who can adapt to the conditions as they exist here. 6)The ability to coach before and ON gameday. He has to be able to do more than assign positions and put players on the field. 7)The willingness to accept responsibility when he screws up and say so in public. 8)The willingness to connect with the few fans who actually still follow football here. 9)The ability to beat Can't. It ain't gonna be easy.

Suddenly a lot of people have crystallized their opinions. Hell,24 hours ago we weren't absolutely sure we would be looking for another coach. Without naming names,what are the qualities that the next coach absolutely has to have?

How about we speculate w/o getting personal. I suppose if any of us were suited to make these decisions we would have been doing so for years.

Ya and so is Dennis Erickson,probably.

Keep us posted. I think that there were a sizable number of people who didn't think Proenza would pull the plug on Ianello this year. I thought it would be another year because of mone not because Ianello deserved another. Proenza has reached despararation to do this now. He has to make some sort of a splash with the next hire or the program becomes moribund. Anybody know what names were recommended when Ianello was hired?

Perhaps Winters would be a good choice. UA needs to conduct a true search before reaching that conclusion. We need to make the BEST choice, not an emotional choice. I would be interested in knowing what other names were recommended when Ianello was hired.

That folks, is impressive!

Wonder how much they will try to raise ticket prices to cover all that salary?

WOW! The Beacon has not even reported this yet! Shows how much they care. they're more concerned about the Urban Meyers to OSU rumors. Thats part of the reason the Akron football is in the state that it is in. Fans and the media are more interested in OSU. Always have been,always will be. Its called front running.

LOL! I know it's really really unfair to pull this back up now (necropost)... but it wasn't my idea. I looked at the currently online users and saw a guest looking at this thread. The above quoted post stands out to me as a way of demonstrating changing perspectives. Oh how much different 27-32 looks now. Not saying it's something to strive for or praise. I just think a lot of people felt there was no risk in changing. heh After Ianello, I regret ever creating this thread and calling for JD's head. I said the same thing. The program was losing ground. The '06 season should have been better. JD unfortunately started bringing in some questionable characters. Remember David Harvey? If JD had been able to salvage one .500 season after '05 he could have bought some time. The team wasn't performing real well on the field and there were some issues off the field as I recall.

Some good,hopeful arguments. I think Solich's situation was a little different. He got the bum's rush from Nebraska,probably without real good reasons. Nebraska had tons of money to cover a vacant contract if they even needed to with Solich. OU very likely has better financial resources behind its athletic programs than Akron so they could actually afford someone of his stature. Why did Solich pick a MAC program in the middle of nowhere? Maybe he wanted a low pressure situation. Maybe somebody at OU had a connection. Who knows? I am still not convinced Ianello will be fired. The person I have spoken with still says they can't afford it this year. Would Tressel even consider a place like Akron? If Tressel wanted to be an AD and if the NCAA allowed him to work,I could conceive of Tressel considering an offer from a place like Akron. But,then you have basketball and soccer that are on the outside looking in.The stars just don't look like they are aligned at this point. But good points all Big Zip.

Let play 'devil's advocate'. Its too expensive to fire Ianello now no matter how bad the record is. A pick up in ticket sales by bringing in in a new coach could never come close to making up what it would cost to pay 2 coaches. Football does, has and always will lose money. It will always be dependent on student fees and the few donors that are out there now. Sacrifice games paying 500,000-800,000 don't put the program in the black. There still has to be a minimum amount in the coffers to run the program with one coach let alone two. The rest of the athletic programs still have to get their money. Drawing off an extra 350,000 grand for another year or two on top of what would be needed for a new coach hits all programs.What would realistically motivate someone like Tressel to come to a program like Akron? Not money. He doesn't have to work another day in his life to maintain his current life style. He coached at Akron for a hot minute? You could say that about YSU also. Only there it was for a substantial amount of time. Maybe he would go back there? If he gets a ban from the NCAA what compelling reason could Akron or Tressel make to allow him to coach now. Its not money. He doesn't need to work. Tressel is the only coach that could turn around the Akron program? There are coaches out there who if given the opportunity have the ability to do that if a thorough,comprhensive search is done.Don't get me wrong it would be a hoot to get a guy like Tressel. How realistic is it that any of this will really happen?