skip-zip

Once other schools are beating down his door, it's too late for us buddy. Every coach has to get his first shot in the big leagues from somebody. Brian Kelly's came from Central Michigan. They took a winner at a lower level nobody was "beating down the door" for. I don't think they regretted their decision. This is a guy who knows how to turn a program around and win. Instead of focusing on everybody else, focus on the Zips needs, and you'll see he's exactly what we need. I'll respect your opinion based on the fact that you know him, and like him. That's why I say that many support Winters for emotional reasons. I hope you are not comparing this situation to Brian Kelly. He was enormously successful in D-II, had an incredible record, and won two national titles. So, if you believe that Kelly fit the definition of "taking a chance", then you must understand why people would think that the Winters situation is an incredible risk, right? And again, why hasn't someone at even the lower I-AA level "taken a chance" on him? But, some believe that we should move the guy up two levels? I don't get it.

Nothing has changed in my opinion about Winters and his qualifications to run Akron's D-1A program, or my reaction to all of the "emotion" that seems to be getting his name mentioned so often. And my question is the same as well. Please, someone provide me with a list of schools, even at the lower I-AA level, that are beating down the door for Winters' services?

I find something humorous. A few of you on here want to hire a D-II coach with a mediocre record. But, you scoff at the idea of hiring a current coordinator with previous D-1A head coaching experience, who finished 1st in the MAC East in 2 of the 4 years that he was Miami's head guy? If by chance, some of you are the same people making both statements, shame on you.

I hope for two things... 1) We handle this situation better than Ken+ State would handle this situation. 2) He gets it together and learns from his mistake.

I have to add this...since it keeps entering my mind. Since we have now made a move that will require us to pay both the departing coach and the incoming coach, how much will that affect who is hired? Is the dollar figure that we claim we can afford to pay a lower amount with the extra burden on the payroll? If we're told that the dollar amount isn't much of an issue, would we believe it?

I felt all along that Fickell's best chance of being employed was to hope his alma mater gave him a position on the new coach's staff. And I see that this has happened rather quickly. He's not a head coach. In addition, I think this was OSWho's way of avoiding the issue of why they were already working behind the scenes to remove him long before he even reached the end of his first season. The Meyer hire is all about trying to restore confidence with the donors as quickly as possible after the scandal. Plain and simple.

The "student experience"? Under Tressel at OSWho? You mean, hanging out at Tattoo parlors, and car dealerships? Selling lifetime memories of your school pride and accomplishments? And we know that he knew about these things and didn't stop it? And now every remaining student-athlete on that team is paying dearly for his mistakes? Yep...he's all about the "student experience".

Here's the deal. I think we've found out after 2+ seasons that Zeke is going to be most valuable to us as a shot blocker, like he did in the MAC title game last year. He's not going to be the great point scorer that everyone anticipated, and he may not ever become a double digit per night rebounder. So, I think it's time for the coaching staff to find a way to utilize him best by running defenses that keep him in the paint while he is in the game. Two of his fouls last night were away from the basket. We need to make sure that all 5 of his fouls are committed while blocking shots if we want to use him to help us produce victories.

Great post JZ84. I'd just like to focus on this little bit. We have learned in the past year that Tressel was a fake and fraud as it relates to his campaign to be the most honorable person in America. He can't afford to come to Akron and be exposed as a fake and fraud as a coach. He'll never take the chance. Tressel won a boatload of games at OSU with three MAC schools per year and a cake Big Ten schedule. He routinely got his butt kicked against OOC BCS teams. There is no scheduling to hide behind at Akron. He can't take the risk of being exposed. One thing Tressel isn't is a risk taker and Akron is a huge risk for him. I've never said that Tressel couldn't win at Akron. There just isn't any evidence to show he can win without breaking NCAA rules. I don't want to risk him not being able to win without breaking rules at Akron. If he doesn't break rules and loses, we are screwed. If he breaks rules, wins and gets caught, we are screwed. If he doesn't break rules and wins, which there is no proof of, we win. We have a 2 in 3 chance of losing with this guy. No thanks. People need to think with their heads and not with their hearts. This is a fair post. And the negatives don't end there. We know Tressel won boatloads of games at OSWho by scheduling inferior competition in the OOC games, and got a handful of cupcake games on top of that from the bad teams in the weak Big 11 conference. Against Top-ranked teams, he failed miserably. Against the Top conference in the country, he failed miserably. However, many people think that OSWho has the best talent in the country, right? So, I have to ask...how many inferior teams can we put on our schedule? Not many, since nearly every team in D-1A is better than us right now, And...how can anyone make the assumption that good players want to play for Tressel, and not that they just simply wanted to play at OSWho? How many kids on Solich's roster at OU are anywhere near high level talent? Plus, the nicely-pressed sweater vest won't look the same to kids in different colors, especially with the recent massive hit to his credibility and honesty. I just think there's some assumptions here that really need some further thought. First, lets look at his history against ranked teams: 2001 - Defeated #14 Northwestern, #11 Michigan...Lost to #14 UCLA, #12 Illinois, #14 South Carolina 2002 - Defeated #10 Washington State, #17 Penn State, #19 Minnesota, #12 Michigan, #1 Miami 2003 - Defeated #17 Washington, #9 Iowa, #24 NC State, #14 Michigan State, #11 Purdue, #8 Kansas State...Lost to #5 Michigan, #23 Wisconsin 2004 - Defeated #7 Michigan...Lost to #15 Wisconsin 2005 - Defeated #21 Iowa, #17 Michigan State, #22 Minnesota, #17 Michigan, #6 Notre Dame....Lost to #2 Texas, #18 Penn State 2006 - Defeated #2 Texas, #13 Iowa, #2 Michigan...Lost to #2 Florida 2007 - Defeated #20 Purdue, #25 Penn State, #19 Wisconsin, #23 Michigan...Lost to #2 LSU 2008 - Defeated #18 Wisconsin, #20 Michigan State...Lost to #1 USC, #3 Penn State, #3 Texas 2009 - Defeated #11 Penn State, #15 Iowa, #7 Oregon...Lost to #3 USC 2010 - Defeated #12 Miami, #21 Iowa, #8 Arkansas...Lost to #18 Wisconsin By my count: 34-15 vs Top 25 10-8 vs non-Big Ten Top 25 1) A ranked team is a top team, regardless of what conference they play in, and I don't think 10-8 is "failing miserably". 2) Nobody outside of Columbus thinks Ohio State has or has ever had the best overall talent in the country, even in their best years. 3) If his biggest on-field issue is not being able to beat Top 3 SEC schools, I think we'll be OK. Great! I knew some buckeye honk would post the tosu wins over second tier BCS schools and big ten schools ranked #15-25. THese schools were only ranked this high because they beat up on the MAC and started 4-0 or 5-1. This was a great thread until DFG had to post yet another meaningless thread just to clog up ZNO. Get a job, go volunteer or start your own Zips board. Just stop posting. Suckeye fans conveniently forget about the 1-5 record against Top-5 teams. But, they are sure anxious to tell you about the rest of them. I'm merely pointing out that, if OSWho has "Some of the top talent in the country" (is that better, Dave?), then it's fair to judge Tressel's coaching ability against SIMILAR competition, and say that he was a failure against equivalent opponents. How else do we judge "coaching ability" than to look at his games against teams with similar abiilty? And my point is that we don't play teams right now in which we have superior talent.

Great post JZ84. I'd just like to focus on this little bit. We have learned in the past year that Tressel was a fake and fraud as it relates to his campaign to be the most honorable person in America. He can't afford to come to Akron and be exposed as a fake and fraud as a coach. He'll never take the chance. Tressel won a boatload of games at OSU with three MAC schools per year and a cake Big Ten schedule. He routinely got his butt kicked against OOC BCS teams. There is no scheduling to hide behind at Akron. He can't take the risk of being exposed. One thing Tressel isn't is a risk taker and Akron is a huge risk for him. I've never said that Tressel couldn't win at Akron. There just isn't any evidence to show he can win without breaking NCAA rules. I don't want to risk him not being able to win without breaking rules at Akron. If he doesn't break rules and loses, we are screwed. If he breaks rules, wins and gets caught, we are screwed. If he doesn't break rules and wins, which there is no proof of, we win. We have a 2 in 3 chance of losing with this guy. No thanks. People need to think with their heads and not with their hearts. This is a fair post. And the negatives don't end there. We know Tressel won boatloads of games at OSWho by scheduling inferior competition in the OOC games, and got a handful of cupcake games on top of that from the bad teams in the weak Big 11 conference. Against Top-ranked teams, he failed miserably. Against the Top conference in the country, he failed miserably. However, many people think that OSWho has the best talent in the country, right? So, I have to ask...how many inferior teams can we put on our schedule? Not many, since nearly every team in D-1A is better than us right now, And...how can anyone make the assumption that good players want to play for Tressel, and not that they just simply wanted to play at OSWho? How many kids on Solich's roster at OU are anywhere near high level talent? Plus, the nicely-pressed sweater vest won't look the same to kids in different colors, especially with the recent massive hit to his credibility and honesty. I just think there's some assumptions here that really need some further thought.

Didn't the same thing get said about Ianello? The example has been set by Rob. Recruiting here is not the same as recruiting at Notre Dame. Same would probably be true for Tressel. Recruiting here is no the same as at OSU. One exception though; He would probably recruit Ohio well because of his reputation (even if tarnished a bit) and his connections. Was Tressel a "cheater"? I don't know where it is, but someone on here made a great post about what he did wrong, but nothing he did was cheating, particularly on the field. It appears that there was a subculture trying to get things for some of the players, and Tressel didn't reign it in. Did he know and turn a blind eye or was he truly oblivious and poorly motivated to acknowledge the problem when the signs surfaced? Either way, it's bad in the eyes of the NCAA, and he is the man to take the blame, but was he "cheating"? He played 5 players for an entire season, who he knew were ineligible because they committed NCAA violations. That's cheating.

I know we won't continue to see Quincy and Gilliam starting together in the backcourt. But in this particular game, it really worked for two reasons. 1) We had two guys who were a threat to get all the way to the rim against a quick, athletic team. 2) We had guys who could really frustrate and wear down a guard like McCallum Lets hope that lineup works again on Monday.

Good post. However, do we really need any more examples of the classless nature of those folks down south. We have enough for a lifetime. I know I've spent some time commenting on some of the candidates that have been mentioned. Let me comment on what I want to see with a new head coach. 1) My first preference would be a guy with high level I-A coaching experience and connections, who may be hungry for another chance to be a successful figure in the highest division. That's why I joined most people here in voting for Stoops in the previous poll. I think Zook would be a great candidate as well (We should have taken him when we had the chance in the mid-90s). I don't expect the same results that OU got by following this route, but we need someone who has the tools to make a major splash, quickly. 2) If we would go down to I-AA, I want a proven winner. 3) If we go down to D-II as a last resort, I REALLY want a proven winner. No, not a guy who is "An Akron Guy", has "Done OK at a tough place to recruit", and certainly not a guy who was a key part of the leadership in a previous unsuccessful era of Akron Football.

I'm looking forward to having Quincy at the point for extended time. I think that could produce some good things for us. My only concern with having Abreu out is our backcourt depth.

Here's another questions. Lets say we find a way to get the board to approve his firing. And we eat the final 3 years of his contract. How much will they approve to pay the new coach under those circumstances? I think it puts a real damper on our hopes to get any "high profile" coach.

Again, everything I've heard says he's coming back. But, with what's happened the last few weeks, I'd like to hope that things have changed. And just for the record, I am now 100% on the "Fire Him Now" bandwagon. I've never been this embarrassed.

Yes. Because it's recent, and the only 6 games in the last half decade in which they played similarly ranked competition. It's a very fair criteria on which to judge a potential coach (see the title of the thread). You, on the other hand, have been pretty typical of the OSWho fans who run around pounding their chests at all of the other victories that were against inferior talent.

It doesn't matter what you have done, it only matters what you will do. Tressel has no history of success beyond lying and cheating. Where is the evidence that lacking lying and cheating he will win at Akron? Again, he did NOTHING that had an impact on th game. Kids sold their personnal stuff and got other free things from people outside of the program (as is pretty much tradition at every other program in the country) NOTHING, I repeat, NOTHING JT did had any effect on the game it's self. He didn't pay any kid to come to OSU, he didn't shoot kids up with roids, he didn't steal the other teams playbook, he didn't film the other teams practice. Let it go dude. Haters are going to hate. He has the most BCS wins of any coach yet they talk about his record in big games. Enough said right there. I wish our problem was we couldn't beat the USC, Texas, or the SEC in big games. He played Texas twice. Beat them once and lost the other on a dropped TD pass near the end of the game. USC was a disaster. Florida was a disaster. He played in the NC game against LSU the year after his Heisman trophy winning QB and 2 NFL WR and NFL RB graduated...Yeah, terrible coach..LOL Buckzip...you have become one of the best examples I know of a OSWho fan who looks at your team through red and silver colored glasses. The ONLY win in those 6 games for OSWho was against a Texas team that just lost their own Heisman candidate to the NFL, and was starting a brand new QB, in his second start. Funny how you used that point to make excuses, but CONVENIENTLY forget the same fact when it contributed to your ONLY win in that 6 game stretch. So, could we just use your logic and say that this series of games should be regarded as a 0-6 record? I know. I'm just a "hater" for pointing this out.

My only problem with Winters as a potential hire, and it is a small one...He isn't really there yet in the GLIAC and it's hard for me to say how much talent you need to be a successful coach at that level. If he was at a FCS school and he did the same turnaround, I would be a little more impressed. Other than that I would hope that if he was hired, he would go get Lee Owens to be his OC. I'm still pulling more for the miracle Big Fish hire... So, we could just reverse their roles, and bring back the two guys who previously took our program nowhere with a winning percentage 20+ games under the .500 mark, for a second chance? Great idea.

It doesn't matter what you have done, it only matters what you will do. Tressel has no history of success beyond lying and cheating. Where is the evidence that lacking lying and cheating he will win at Akron? Many people judge coaches based on how they perform in games against similar competition. Most OSWho fans claim that they are "one of the top programs in the country". Yet, their beloved Tressel is 1-5 in his last 6 games against Top-5 teams. He's also been blown out in two recent appearances in national title games. And, as most people will point out, he's one bad pass interference call away from being 0-3 in those title games during his tenure. So, if some of you out there want to applaud this guy for compiling good win totals every year by stacking up victories against a few MAC teams and the lower half of the Big 11 (note last year's 64th ranked SOS), that's your own delusional choice. History is a great indicator of future performance. And there's not many lower ranked teams you can put on your schedule when you are a team at the bottom of the MAC. And now he knowingly played a group of ineligible star players for an entire season? Please. The short term impact of the publicity of his hiring, and his connections, would fade quickly. Then what? Gerry had all of that too. It only takes you so far.

Are you the poster formerly known as Akron Football by chance?

Are some people still forgetting that Tressel is going to get a coaching ban? And people are speculating that the ban is going to last a significant amount of time?

As I've already said, his best chance of being employed after Saturday is to hope the new coach keeps him at his alma mater as an assistant. How humiliating must it be to find out that your school is looking for another coach when you are only about 10 games into your tenure? He's clearly shown that he's not head coaching material by not only looking clueless, but by taking OSWho's talent and posting a .500 record with a Big 10 schedule and Toledo, Akron, and Miami as your OOC. And heck, he even lost to one of those teams, and almost lost to another. This team started the season ranked #17, and now isn't getting a SINGLE Top-25 vote. Yep, that's the proven leader and winner that we want for our program

It would be great news. But, based on everything I know, I am still quite certain it won't happen.

I actually meant the finals against Dallas, but just generalized it by saying playoffs. I agree, they walked over boston and chicago, but they couldn't seal the deal with Dallas when they had the chance to. Him and his "dream team" getting manhandled by Dirk was all I needed to get over him, really. It'll be interesting to see what happens with Miami post-lockout (personnel changes) to repeat a finals appearance, especially now that people know how to beat the trio. I actually give you credit for having a much more rational perspective on the whole LeBron situation than most Cleveland sports fans. And it will indeed be interesting to see how the lockout affects the makeup of the NBA.