Lee Adams

He seems like a middle linebacker to me, but I bet he can be successful at both.I think he is too skinny. I am going to send the athletic department a few vats of peanut butter to his attention.thank you..watched him closely in the emu game..he had problems covering their tight end,working in space...might be a big safety in a 4-3 IF he can roam the field..The lbs were in zone against emu. The td was a flag route i think. the lbs were covering hooks and seams. I thought he did well in coverage for a frosh.wasn't just referring to one play...he stands out because he runs around but seemed to consistently have some problems with decision making when he had to stay home with a receiver on his side...he just seems more like a safety in a 4-3...let him run around and head hunt...

whats the status of Seth Cunningham(St Ed DB)?

regardless of who is carrying the rock, coach I needs to eliminate the damned shotgun draw/too slow to develop inside running scheme. That never had a chance of working. Line up and smash it down their throats.ianello i believe has already said he won't be running the spread..so he nneds to find 2 dependable rbs and an fb...not to mention a tight end...IF martin was healthy he would be the #1 but his knee will probably not allow thatits a crap shoot until the season starts and one of these guys steps up..or not...

These positions will be fine. What we will need are WRs that can get open and catch the ball down field. Does anyone know who that will be?I'd like to see the TE in the offense more. For example, they need to block well if the Zips can get the ball down by the endzone.the same concern about rb was posed before last year..the same response was given by a number of folks...it wasn't fine last year...until we see who these guys put on the field we won't know if it will be fine..The lack of ability had nothing to do with the players last year and everything to do with a coach who couldn't get everyone moving in the right direction. If the new coaching staff can do any on field coaching at all, the talent is there at RB.Again, nobody has answered the question. Who are the big play WRs going to be next year? We have a QB with a cannon for an arm and we need to find a way to use it to throw the ball down field and not hand off the majority of the time.MAC schools are horrible at playing from behind. The Zips need to focus on big plays early in games that get leads and then if they want to try to run out the clock in the fourth quarter with seven or less minutes to go, I have no problem with that.Who are the big play WRs going to be?well,if last years coaching was the problem with the rb's,then since ianello was a wr coach that position should be no problem...he can 'coach 'em up'...nicely will make a lot of wrs look better...he'll get killed if there is no running game...fact is we don't know for sure what's gonna happen because the hc has no track record as an hc...fortunately some of the assts have experience...but as we have seen that doesn't mean much once the game starts...

Consider the source. Dan Scofield?evreybody has at least one opinoin one way or another(kinda like butt cheeks)...until september gets here it doesn't matter..there is no way to judge a new coach in a new position...especially if he has never been a hc before...ianello will get his chance, probably at least 3 years if not more to turn this thing around...here's hoping he does...

These positions will be fine. What we will need are WRs that can get open and catch the ball down field. Does anyone know who that will be?I'd like to see the TE in the offense more. For example, they need to block well if the Zips can get the ball down by the endzone.the same concern about rb was posed before last year..the same response was given by a number of folks...it wasn't fine last year...until we see who these guys put on the field we won't know if it will be fine..

penna has been prime u of a recruiting territory...thats why it was hoped that a coach who was familiar with the area would be hired...on another note, how many of these 'early commits' have bailed since ianello was hired..rivals shows guys who committed summer and fall..are they still coming?

I give Harris and Montgomery a small pass. They had QB problems. You won't be successful on offense without a solid QB. That position didn't sure up until the middle of the season. That will not be a problem next year. PN16 should be solid. Now if this staff can mix in a solid running game with PN16...sky is the limit IMO. I'm hoping our bread and butter running play is not a hand off in the shotgun with PN16 running next to the RB!?!here,here..don't think so though..ianello i don't think will be wedded to the spread...he needs to find a solid rb and tight end in the spring/summer... hopefully the t.e. will be more a part of the offense..i hope some of these hires who have 'recruiter' after their names can actually 'coach 'em up, on the field..unlike the last regime...the defense still worries..vince o would be a good keep...

i did during the initial rush...got 2 fairly quick replies...good for the ad...doubt that it does much to influence however...

most of us thought that hiring Harris/Montgomery last year would push the offense over the top...lots of these lower level coaches either look good or not on paper...ianello is short on hc experience but is bringing in assts with some good looking backgrounds..who knows?...whats on the field is what counts...

heard jones had a look from a big 10 school or two...he might have had some question marks around test scores...too bad he didn't come here...i believe he was at the spring game...

agree...even watching the cmu/troy game it appeared troy had better athletes across the board especially on defense... cmu had Lefevour and enough experience to hold on...scary to think that even sunbelt teams are that far ahead of the mac

Well hopefully the coaching talent can win over some players.I'd rather they win games than players. Every press release about our new coaches has a quote from Ianello about how the position coach or the coordinator is a great recruiter, but I don't see mentions of them being good coaches.When you win games, you don't need to be an amazing recruiter because the talent will be drawn to you. We have enough talent to win the MAC already. That should be the main focus.hopefully ianello is recognizing that with his own lack of hc experience as an hc he needs to surround himself with assts who can compensate...it will be interesting to see if ianello is a coach who is comfortable with pointing the direction and then allowing assts. to do their jobs or if he is compulsive and has to put his stamp on everything...

its called the 'good ol boys network'...sometimes it works...often it doesn't...its like working anywhere...including a govt. job...if you know somebody you will get hired whether you deserve it or not...BUT...this guy gets his chance like everybody else...judge him after the season is over...

if i recall,if you bought a season ticket for last year you will be able to 're-up' on the season ticket this year for the same price...that may have changed though...

Just in thinking about the logical candidates for Big TelEveN membership, based on size & location of the institution, I'd come up with the following, no particular order:ND (never happen)Pitt (natural rival for PSU .. competitive pretty much across the board?)LouisvilleCincyMissouriOther Big East (Syracuse or Rutgers?)I'm sure there's many more that folks will speculate about .. but it seems to me that the move that would have the LEAST impact on the MAC and potentially UA's situation would be if Missouri jumped to the Big TelEveN. Big XII could back fill easily from within the WAC / C-USA / MTN West .. and the dominoes would probably stop there.If however, the new member comes from the Big East, the dominoes and implications for UA could be MUCH more interesting. Some Big East coaches are already clamoring for a ninth team since they now have to schedule 5 OOC games (only 7 conference games). If one of the teams jumps out, the league will be FORCED to take action to at least replace that team. Perhaps it would trigger the re-structuring / growth of the Big East than many have been predicting since the last go around .. maybe it won't.My comment that chaos brings opportunity relates to UA and its options. If the move is Missouri .. nothing's going to really change with BigEast, C-USA, MAC .. etc. However, if a member of the Big East jumps, then UA will be presented with potential options to re-evaluate it's conference affiliation.The strategy around UA has been to think bigger .. a big dustup within FBS conference alignments will give Luis & Co. the opportunity to explore more options than they have available to them right now.I'd like to see the Big East forced into some action, needing at least 1, maybe 2 or 5 teams. B) Go Zips!to the big east..navy...army? east coast teams with a big following

the sunbelt is the conference mac schools match up with best...schedule home/home with that conference..at least it is competetive and its not a I-AA joke...

Brian Wagner ran the ball pretty well in HS. Not break away speed but 4.5-6 is pretty nice @ 225 pds.He will be too small for the middle linebacker spot in a 4-3 defense and we do have alot of OLB talent. It might make sense.Why on earth would we move Wagner who was are best defensive player to FB. Your talking about a guy who will most likely be a frosh all american and who led the MAC in tackles and was also 6th in the nation overall in tackels. If anything we move him to OLB and move one of the current OLB to fullback.he may be a safety in a 4-3..imagine him 'headhunting' from back there...

what about the D?

FB? Tight end? What are these?ianello will have to find a legitimate tight end who can block and at least pose some threat in the passing game...too bad tuzze isn't back at fb...

He seems like a middle linebacker to me, but I bet he can be successful at both.I think he is too skinny. I am going to send the athletic department a few vats of peanut butter to his attention.thank you..watched him closely in the emu game..he had problems covering their tight end,working in space...might be a big safety in a 4-3 IF he can roam the field..

Dear Mr. Wistrcill: as you are hopefully becoming aware there is a small but passionate number of fans who do and have followed akron football for years...certainly the numbers are not that of osu and nd etc. etc...but we are just as passionate about this program...we have watched for years while the program has lacked consistency on the field and on the sideline...we realize you have no prior connections with this area...however, please realize that many of us are as passionate about football as fans at schools with greater 'visibility'...if you visit this site you will find that there are those who agree and disagree with the hiring of mr. ianello...many of us have purchased season tickets and contributed to the athletic department for years...we are not expecting this program to compete consistently with the osu's,psu's'wisconsins,etc,etc...what we do expect is that the program CONSISTENTLY competes with the BEST programs in the mac and legitimately contends for the mac championshionship or bowl game year in and year out...the new coach gets his opportunity starting today to do so..we will support him as long as progress is being made...with the wonderful facilities here at akron there is no reason that you and coach ianello should not put a consistently competetive team on the field year in and year out...best of luck...

it appears one of the things wistrcill wants to try to do with this hire is upgrade the level of talent consistently attracted to akron...if the new coach is the recruiting whizz it appears he is,hopefully he will be able to pick off a few recruits who would have gone to the big ten,big east etc...who knows,with whats going on at ol'nd he might be able to persuade 1 or 2 of those guys to come this way this year...as long as the new coach recognizes his own strengths and weaknesses and builds his staff accordingly he'll have a chance...the change that many wanted before has been made...the new guy gets his chance...

no hc experience at the college level???...we just watched 6 years of someone who had no head coaching experience anywhere..there are too many good candidates with experience out there to settle for this...

that might be the level (coach)fleming could succeed at...too bad akron will likely lose the son...physically he had a lot of upside...