zipsoutsider

I think, it is very likely that the very vocal, negative faculty response probably pushed the needle enough. The UA job was going to be tough enough. Imagine having to make tough decisions without the support of the faculty. They made their disdain of his lack of a PhD and football background well known. Their own prejudices blinded them. I would imagine Scarborough, or anyone else who would have taken his place would have had to make very difficult budget cut decisions, so don't read this as a hate on Scarborough comment - I think it is too early to tell if his ideas will work and I give him credit for trying some different things instead of the same old stuff, which got us here in the first place.

This could be, not saying will be, a great opportunity to retool curriculum and majors that are not technical to help students get jobs in those fields. If the closer alignment with industry aspect comes to fruition, it could be a huge win. Take for example, an English major. What if we added a technical writing focus? Still the primary focus is writing, but other courses that would enable students to work in fields in technical writing and copywriting fields? Pack the majors with relevant industry focused courses instead of some of the worthless gen-eds. The same could be true of other majors, like business. In the sales leadership programs, design the curriculum to help students land jobs in science and tech industries.

Bingo! This is exactly why I thought Tressel was the best man for the job. I got the impression UA did not pursue him hard enough and he sensed the lack of support. Tressel was successful in his role as an administrator and would have had no difficulty raising money. He was a go-getter. The elitist faculty snubbed their noses at him and we will struggle to raise the money we need to raise.

Why cutting football would not make sense: When you consider the kids on the team (probably 125-150), the kids in the band (175?) Color guard (25?), Cheerleaders (20?), and other kids who are somehow connected to football via media, equipment, and other roles, that number is probably close to 400. That is a much bigger impact than baseball. We have already built the stadium. What a waste to not use it. Furthermore, the stadium is used for other events, and could probably be better utilized in this area to generate revenue. We have first class facilities and have turned the corner from the worst in college football to favored to be MAC title contenders.Look at the front page to the Zips Nation forums. Football is one of the top interests. Even if attendance has struggled, the interest in football is still higher than other sports.Football has been and can be a way to connect the university with the community. Special event days, like those for veterans, the LBJ foundation, and others connects us in ways that nothing else really can. There will always be football haters, and those who to see only the negative, but losing football does not make sense from a strategic perspective. I think everyone outside of the Power 5 programs needs to re-think how they survive in an environment where costs are going up and funding is becoming more elusive. It's time to think outside of the box. There are more non-power 5 schools than there are power 5 schools. They need to coalesce to force the NCAA's hand, like the power 5 programs have. The NCAA needs to concede on things like allowing schools to get sponsors that can advertise via uniforms - patches, colors, designs, etc. Right now, D1 schools cannot give partial scholarships. Maybe they need to start allowing that. They need to go back to the drawing board and look for new ways to self-fund to take canceling the programs off the table. For example, there are a lot of MAC players in the NFL. The NFL has no minor league farm system - college is essentially that. For the benefit of the NFL, the NFL should start helping to fund some of these leagues. At Akron, they need to sell tickets. This might mean more aggressively marketing to businesses and organizations to buy tickets. There are countless ways to approach this, but what they were doing was not really working. Time for a new plan. Yes, winning, Saturday games, and good weather will all help.Maybe those are all bad ideas. Maybe they are really bad. But my point isn't that those ideas are the answer, but that we have to start looking for new tactics to survive.

As long as we are doing, "reality checks", let's take a look at where UA fits into the public ed pack in OH: Bowling Green State University Main Campus Bowling Green, 15,220 Students $9,096 Central State University Wilberforce, 2,255 Students $3,738 Cleveland State University Cleveland, 10,263 Students $9,449 Can't State University at Can't Can't, 21,028 Students $9,816 Miami University Oxford Best Value Oxford, 15,621 Students $11,443 Ohio State University Main Campus Columbus, 48,788 Students $9,168 Ohio University Main Campus Athens, 19,948 Students $10,446 Shawnee State University Portsmouth, 3,914 Students $6,085 University of Akron Main Campus Akron, 20,349 Students $8,449 University of Cincinnati Main Campus Cincinnati, 25,412 Students $9,124 University of Toledo Toledo, 17,697 Students $7,864 Wright State University Main Campus Dayton, 15,266 Students $8,542 Youngstown State University Youngstown, 10,929 Students $7,670 Understandably, actual will vary by year, but UA is right in the middle of the pack. The ranting about a fee for athletics is much ado about nothing.

Attendance is not dictated by one factor, alone, it is a complex, multi-facet issue. Tuesdays nights were obviously, an insurmountable challenge, especially on very cold, rainy nights. But consider the following as factors: UA is still transitioning from a "commuter campus"Recent history - less than successfulPoor marketingZips fest - has been pretty lame. Only family watches the Roo walk. The walk is too short, tailgating happens at opposite end, sometimes they walk early, without anyone knowingLack of traditions - nothing storied or established. Just a handful of folks in Lot 9. No songs that everyone connects to, no chants that unique to the fans (just the I Believe for students)Scheduling Can't State the day after Thanksgiving - when no one is at school - this is the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen. Why schedule with the rival when no one is there to go?TV broadcasts, even ESPN3, give people a reason to stay home, especially in poor weatherCollege football attendance, apart from the power programs, is strugglingAgree with Balsy. TB is here for the long haul to build a quality D1 program. Take a look at the roster and the amount of players who have a red shirt status. There is a vast difference between the seniors and freshen. Rome was not built in a day.If you look at that stat, alone, it is understandable why this has been a multi-year process. Winning will attendance. Winning big games will be the biggest help. Beating Pitt at home this year goes along way towards boosting interest.

Blah, blah, blah. What a load of unsubstantiated crap. You will always find students and faculty at every school who, feel this way but it does not reflect the majority. UA was able to build, "that" stadium largely due to sponsors. The football team, along with other sports provide tremendous value not only to the university and student athletes, but to the community. Truthfully, I doubt anyone here wants to hear any more of your negative crap. Most of us are excited about the 2015 season, so move along.

Grad transfer from Louisville, WR Michele Harris, eligible immediately. Really glad to see us adding more competition at WR. I was not overly impressed with anyone catching the ball last year. Let's hope he stays healthy. https://trove.com/a/Michaelee-Harris-to-play-final-season-at-Akron.guRIA?nocrawl=1&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=sns&utm_campaign=hosted ​ ​

PPV, which really stinks. So much for national attention. http://collegefootball.ap.org/article/6-pm-kickoff-set-oklahoma-opener-against-akron

If this game doesn't draw qa crowd, I'm not sure what will.

Poor TB. They keep showing the picture with the orange hair from the PSU game.

I don't gamble, but it's not like Oklahoma is coming off of a great year. Truthfully, almost any team can win any game. It all is matter of things coming together for us. We played PSU tough and beat Pitt. Tough to say we have no chance. I believe our defense can keep up, it will be a matter of how far along the O-Line has come to give our run game a chance.

It is completely plausible that we can beat Oklahoma.

Sort of hoping they keep keying in Pohl and that Hundley turns in another performance like he did at Pitt. He looked good at the Spring game.

Article with a look ahead to the OK matchup: http://collegesportsblog.dallasnews.com/2015/05/an-early-look-at-oklahomas-2015-non-conference-schedule.html/ They are not completely dismissive but typical type of pre-game analysis from a Power 5 school.

I wouldn't assume because he is transferring he is getting a scholarship.

He would have to sit out for a year due to being on the WVSU 2014 roster. Not sure what happened with the OU commitment. Anyone else notice the amount of offers being out to OL players? I like the focus.

Coach Jerry Williams from SVSM tweeted that his son, Jerry is transferring from WVSU to join his brother at UA. His brother signed a NLOI to play basketball for the Zips. Jerry is 6‘ 4" OL. https://twitter.com/CoachWilliamsjr/statuses/597403105999736835 http://wvsuyellowjackets.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=945&path=football

Another JuCo pick-up: OL Xavier Quigley from IA Western Community College. 6' 2, 285 lbs http://twitter.com/XQ_sietecuatro/statuses/595227763704930304 http://www.hudl.com/athlete/795628/highlights/165123375/v2

Canton, MI RB, Chuck Turfe has committed. Unclear if recruited as a RB or athlete. http://www.hudl.com/athlete/2427295/chuck-turfe http://dailypeninsula.com/2014/06/17/cantons-chuck-turfe-hears-trio-mac-teams/

Zach Paul, Rodney Coe, Kris Givens.

Looked like a good turnout for the game, more than last year. Anyone know if they report #'s from a spring game? I am guessing they don't. The game is essentially a practice, open to the public. Hundley looked good - reminded me a bit of what the Herd did to us last year, powering right up the middle. He looks even better than his best play last year. No doubt, defenses will key in on him. Receiving core was still not what we need, although, I am not sure there were quite as many drops. Defense looks to be very solid. Paired with a solid offense, they could be an exciting force to behold in 2015. QB situation - still pretty much a dead heat. Difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of a dual threat QB, given the rules of engagement. #19 looked good when he threw a few passes, as well. I was pleased to see Pohl playing at a faster pace. Pohl had the only turnover of the game, I believe. With 15 players out, hard to get a great picture of where we are at, but everything looked pretty much like I expected.

Coach Bowden's home for misfit boys brings another one to the fold. To date, there have been no problems with the second chance kids. As long as that continues, I think most are willing to give a young man a second chance on life. Chapman's issue truly seemed like an anomaly, from what I have read. We will have to wait and see how this young man handles himself. I don't think it is hypocritical to dismiss Treadwell and take this kid. The punishment was being dismissed from the team. If the behavior warrants shunning from other teams, that should come from the NCAA. If you watch any footage, this kid can catch, better than anyone we currently have. He is explosive and can take a hit and hold onto the ball. A dual threat RB and a dual threat QB could tear up the MAC.

The Browns new unis look like HS unis. Not impressed.

I take GT's analysis with a grain of salt.