GP1

True, but when a person is learning to spell and add, that person is usually at a very young age. A child. Akron has a bunch of adults playing basketball (at least on has already graduated from college) who have been shooting foul shots for at least 10 years. They need to stand, unguarded, on the line 15 feet from the basket straight away and put the freaking little orange ball through the orange ring. If they are having trouble doing it, they need to practice until they get better at it. It's a simple task.

A lot of them also are now ending up at southern ACC schools and I understand why. Kentucky is a dead end and I'm not sure why anyone would want to play football there. I'm surprised by the number of northern kids in game day programs who are from the north at Wake games. Winters in Chapel Hill, Durham, Raleigh, UVA and Atlanta are a lot nicer than W. Lafayette, Bloomington, Madison, Chicago, East Lansing, St. Paul or Iowa City. If you are a skill position guy, can you show off your skills better in warm weather where the fall/winter comes later, or northern schools? Being warm is a lot better than being cold. Some, but not many players who go from the south to the north to play are the cream of the crop. I believe if a southern ACC school does their recruiting right and is selective, they can forego a southern kid for a better quality northern kid and attract the kid to the lifestyle and opportunity to show off his skills better in the south. There are some very good northern kids who never get to show off their talents because they play in poor weather a lot of the time. There is a kid from my high school playing at Purdue. In about the same amount of time it takes him to drive from home to W. Lafayette, he could drive to Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Durham, Winston-Salem (he was a good student and could have handled Duke or Wake Forest) or UVA. The football opportunity would have been the same. I shake my head a the idea of him rotting away for four years there playing for a coach who may not make it four years.

Good article. Population shift?...I'd go along with that as maybe the top two reasons. The more apples you have in a barrel, the more likely you are to pick out a good one. The Michigan State vs. Stanford game was unique in that it was like having two mid west schools playing each other. I actually thought it was one of the more entertaining bowl games this year considering how physical the teams played. MSU is a very, very, very good team with lots of talent and an outstanding coach. They know their identity and play to their strengths then let the chips fall where they may. I'd be bored watching them 12 times a year, but it was fun to watch them that day. The one thing I would say though is looking at the history of the Rose Bowl, which has always been the cold weather vs. warm weather game, even back in the 70s and 80s before the population shift had a great impact, the PACwhatever was having their way most of the time with the Big Ten so while population shift may be a major reason, I think another major reason would be style of play that didn't favor Big Ten teams. The game evolved faster than Big Ten schools were willing to keep up. I'd go as far as to say high school philosophies evolved faster in other parts of the country than the mid west setting many of the college back. Back then, it was running vs. passing. Now, it is spread offense vs. pro offense. This year, it was pro offense vs pro offense and MSU had the better players. Interestingly, until this week and since 2000, the Big Ten has only won two Rose Bowls. tosu won in 2010 and Wisconsin beat Stanford in 2000 (pro style vs pro style). I think recent evolution of the game favors warm weather schools. While it is the case that mid west schools play spread offenses now, many of the really good mid west QBs are running backs playing QB. Braxton Miller and the guy from NIU come to mind (if I can't think of his name, does he really come to mind?). The QB from Oregon, Arizona State, CFU, etc. are passers who play QB. tosu fans may not like to hear this, but the Urban Meyer style spread offense is in the rear view mirror at this point as it is much less sophisticated. Tim Tebow was a running back who played QB similar to Miller. There is something now antiquated about that style of play. Passing precision and opportunistic running by the QB are key at the forefront of this evolution. The guy in the mid west who really wants to do this at the BCS level is Kelly at ND, but he doesn't have the pieces to do it. At the non BCS level, Bowden wants to do it at Akron.

In my opinion, it is completely the responsibility of the player to improve his foul shooting. It is one guy standing unguarded 15 away from the hoop. It is a basic shot that players start to attempt as early as 5th grade and needs to be made at least 70% of the time regardless of position. Practice, practice, practice....

Bortles is potentially an NFL star with huge upside. The problem with a lot of guys is they get within an organization that is terrible at developing QBs...Cleveland is one of those and a team like the NY Jets is another. These types of teams draft QBs and the players are ruined within two years. Hell, throw over half the NFL teams into that category. Bortles has some rough edges that need smoothed out. With the right team, he becomes a star. With the wrong team, he becomes another draft bust. Speaking of busts, did anyone see his girlfriend, Lindsey Duke?

You can't point to it because it doesn't exist. I'm one of the more critical and I've never once called for his head and neither has anyone else. There is a difference between criticism and calling to fire someone. It's something I hope some can better understand in 2014

Happy New Year to you as well. Maybe a good resolution for some on the Board could be to be a little less sensitive about what others write when they are being critical of something or someone.

Tell us more about this issue.

Please point to a post on this thread where this is the case.

All I know is this. It Tressel doesn't get an NFL job, it's all ESPN's fault.

I can only think of one other reason, other than the money. BTW, Grobe was stealing over a million a year from WF. That's reason enough, but since this is a discussion board.... The reason you take a job like Wake is to challenge yourself by competing at a higher level. It's the same reason the coach left Wisconsin and went to Arkansas. Does a coach want to hide in the MAC or challenge himself? The ACC is better than the MAC. It's not a great football league, but still better than the MAC. Not only is the ACC better, but additions like Syracuse, Pitt and the smattering of Notre Dame games makes it even more attractive if you are looking at the competition aspect of the job. Syracuse and Pitt are turning out to be pretty good teams and ND is what it is. I actually admire coaches for taking this kind of risk to see what they are made out of. If he gets fired from WF, he can take his $1 million buy out or whatever it is and go be a head coach at another MAClike school or a high level assistant at another BCS school. Luke Fickel makes over $600K a year at tosu. I'm sure a guy with head coaching experience could do about the same AND have the satisfaction of knowing he competed as a head coach at a high level. The WF job secures a very high paying job for this guy for the next 10-15 years...the kind of money nobody ever has to worry about their retirement.

Nice, sincere post and I think it comes from the right place. Thanks for posting it. My opinion of KD is not as down as yours, but certainly not as glowing as is posted on this board. I think KD is a DII coach with DII ideas who has surrounded himself with people mostly having smaller ideas and experience. We saw a real DI coach last night in Frank Martin coach circles around KD and he isn't exactly John Wooden. That doesn't make KD a bad MAC coach though. Those ideas can win in the MAC and that is what he has done. For most fans and more importantly the powers that be in the Administration, that is sufficient to justify being the highest paid coach in the Athletic Department and to have a contracted extended out 10 years. The former is deserved, the second is idiocy. I see the helter skelter substitutions the same as you. Many on this board see it as a method of "figuring out his rotation for MAC season" and I see it frequently as grasping at straws and directionless. For example, why at the first stoppage of play are three substitutes brought into the game last night? Three tells me the wrong guys started the game. Why is Diggs not starting and being brought off the bench?...Is he our Kevin McHale?...Good grief, start the freaking guy because he is at least working hard when he is in and has some ability. If your opinion is the same as mine, you will continue to feel unsatisfied as Akron marches through a horrible conference and easily ends up in at least the MAC Championship. There is a very good chance that despite what you saw the last couple of games, Akron will be in the NCAA Tournament this year. You will find some enjoyment in it, but in the back of your mind, you know what lies behind the facade of 20 win seasons. At the end of the day, the reality on the ground is this. We have an idiot for an AD who could never be trusted to hire a basketball coach if KD left so he keeps throwing years of contract extensions at KD, who nobody would want outside of Akron, to make it look like he is doing something. People like me trust KD more with the basketball program than the AD, so we back KD because of the disaster that would follow.

"tuning out"? Maybe. I used the word "dismissive" for a reason. Some of them are almost openly defiant at this point the the worst cases are those with the biggest leadership roles. Teams rot from within and this needs to stop regardless of what we call it.

I always talk on the football forum about confidence and momentum. The Zips need a boost of both quickly. Their confidence has to be at a low point after losing to a below average SEC team two games in a row and getting destroyed in one of them. There is also zero momentum at this point. Will Coppin State give them enough momentum to provide a boost going into the marshall game and then the mac? Hard to tell. Marshall will be in interesting game. Marshall has beaten nobody and will be playing SC tomorrow before coming to Akron. Akron and Marshall are a lot alike and this game could be a teal telltale for the rest of the season.

Here is what I think after seeing the game last night. To get this out of the way tough, I'll say this....from the coach on down, the last couple of games have been an embarrassment for the program. The Zips lost to a team with way too many underclassmen for a program like Akron to lose to. SC will get smashed when SEC play starts, and the SEC isn't even a very good basketball conference. There is little good to say about any of them at this point. Group 1 Some on the team are rowing the boat as hard as they can. Diggs and big Pat come to mind when I think of the guys rowing as hard as they can. The problem with this group is they are "pressing" along with the rest of the team and it is leading to missed shots, turnovers and a slew of other negative outcomes. Once the negative outcomes accumulate, this group become frustrated and it leads to worse outcomes. The good thing about this group is, no matter how bad it gets, they continue to row. Group 2 The second group contains guys like Deji and Johnson. They are rowing hard as they can and work up a Hell of sweat doing so, but their oars aren't quite touching the water. The first group understands this may happen and doesn't worry too much about them as they are part of the nature of basketball. Group 1 will welcome a stray oar touching the water from this group throughout the race. Group 3 This group contains guys like Evans and Tree. Group 1 is counting on them to have their oars in the water and rowing at their pace and in the same direction. Group 1 also needs help carrying Group 2. The problem with Group 3 is they are not rowing at all time so the boat slows. This group even has fits of rowing in the wrong direction. Worse, when someone reminds them they aren't rowing in the same direction, they row even less. The less they row, the less they row. Their bad attitude spreads like a case of the clap from sailors visiting the same Philippine whorehouse during shore leave. The one thing the Zips really need to work on is their half court offense. SC played a very good half court set yesterday with guys well spread out and getting quality shots. Akron's players are spaced too close together and if a team plays good defense against them, with 20 seconds left on the shot clock they are all between the foul line and center court. It's an absolutely horrid offense that may work in the MAC and build up a facade that makes fans comfortable, but it is far from great and a huge opportunity for improvement. Coaching. KD looked like a guy who went to his tiny bag of tricks and tried to pull something out differently against SC. Frank Martin looked like a guy who actually watched film of the game in HI and developed a game plan to not just win, but to beat Akron worse than they did in HI and make a statement on national television. Sorry to upset some, but there is a world of difference between a coach like Martin and KD. When Martin coaches his players, there is complete attention to what he is saying and you could see it frequently throughout the game. Martin's players look like a group who knows Martin has gone deep in to the NCAAs at a Kansas State of all places and believes in him. When KD talks to his players, especially some of the "stars", they are sometimes dismissive of him. It's horrible body language and sends and even worse message to the young players. After several years, players get tired of the same message delivered by the same guy; however, they have to show leadership and not show to the younger guys they are tired of the same message delivered by the same guy. Leadership is more than just how you play. Leadership is how you play, how you carry yourself, how you treat others including the coach, your compliance with instruction, how you react to adversity, etc. If I was KD, I would have some closed door discussions with some of my "stars" and convey this exact message individually.

If UofA can do it without the Mayor's influence AND it can pay for itself, or at least come close to paying for itself, do it. If not, don't do it.

I'll post review tomorrow after I calm down. That was horrible. Having beer in Carolina Ale House and SCs call ACH is having a beer and god time a couple of tables over.

Big day today! Will the Zips play better than on Christmas or will they continue to slouch along? I guess the real question is, do they have to do anything different to beat USC other than playing harder/the way they are capable? I think if they play they way they are capable, they win.

But, I trust KD to beat up on cupcakes and make the punch drinkers feel better......

I agree. I'm also not down on KD and I just think he needs to challenge himself and the program a little more. If not, stagnation follows closely behind and that's the worst place to be.

A bizarre use of numbers to say the least. Weigand, McFadden, Thomas and McNees are on court coaches and spend their time directly impacting game day decisions. Coach Peters retirement will not impact game decisions in the least or the coaching of the players. His retirement will represent a zero percent change in on court coaches. Our long term assistants have zero years experience coaching D1 basketball other than at Akron. McNees is too young and has never played or worked for anyone other than Dambrot. Thomas has the most time at a higher level of basketball. It's hard for me to imagine that after 9+ years each, Weigand and McFadden offer a fresh perspective on anything. McNees is too young and has no experience with anyone to provide a fresh perspective. Thomas is an unknown to me, but he would probably provide the freshest experience. I find it impossible to believe that a mastermind of a coach like KD couldn't use of all of his vast experience and know-how to replace a couple of assistance that may have been around too long. At some point, KD can't continue to challenge the character of his own players every time things don't go well. At some point, he has to look elsewhere.

I'm not sure how this conversation got turned into whether or not KD should continue. He should. Winthrop is a school near me and you can look at their program history with and without Gregg Marshall in this link. It's a common story and could easily happen to Akron. Akron can go to another level with KD, but some things have to change or the program will stagnate in its current form. My wife works for a brilliant guy who always says, "Nothing good happens from people being completely comfortable." I think the program has gotten too comfortable for those who run it. I think it has gotten too comfortable for those playing it as well and the lax effort we are seeing may be part of it. KD has a ten year contract and probably feels a high level of comfort. His assistants seem to have a permanent place on the bench along with him and I don't think this is good for them or KD. KD is the leader of an organization and should challenge himself to improve that organization in a way that may not make him comfortable. Changing out some assistants (something I recommended a couple of years ago) would initiate that change for them and for KD. A couple of them have been around entirely too long for a school like Akron. This change would not make KD a different person, it would get his thought process rolling in a different way that I'm sure he is comfortable with right now. He's more than able to handle it, he just has to allow himself to do it. What would be wrong if at the end of the season, he sat down with a couple of assistants and said, "Why in the heck are you still here? You're not doing yourself any favors." At that point, the assistants start to look for another job. If nobody wants them, why would we want them and shouldn't we get rid of them at that point? If someone wants them, good for them and good for us...a change would be good for everyone all the way down to the player level. I think the players just need to hear some different voices deliver instruction and freshen things up a little. Same head coach with his message being delivered a little differently would be a good thing.

I'm not shocked. Most fans would be surprised at how little real closeness there is between players on an 85 man roster. Most guys have 5-6 people they would consider close friends and the rest are just guys on the team. I would go as far as to say many guys are closer with more guys from their team after they graduate than when they played. Football is such a shallow connection in reality and after school, former players get to know a lot more about each other personally once that football layer is removed. Think about how better the relationship between MC and Will Allen could be now that more is know about each other on a personal level.

I'm with you. Coaches talk about "coaching toughness". Any guy who has to be coached into toughness isn't tough. Wood was a tough guy before Akron and he was a tough guy after Akron. He worked hard and produced. That's enough for me.

I don't take bowls too seriously because they are exhibition games, but the MAC teams aren't playing that bad. Pitt is a good program and Utah State has had a really good season and played some big programs close...they just aren't on TV much in the east so people don't know about them