GP1

I've never said anything on the board about it, but I have a strange dislike for Amish people. Last week, my wife and I were in Atlantic City gambling at the Borgata and the Amish Outlaws played to a packed following at the casio bar. They were awesome. Check out the web page.

Will it happen? No, look at how the fans on this board look at the program as being "out of control" because our QB gets thrown off the team and a third string scout team player gets in a bar fight. Akron fans are stuck in the 1950s and think "we need a program we can all be proud of". College football is cleaner now than it has ever been (that's not saying much), but there is a segment of sports fans who believe the 1950s were a clean and just time in college sports. We need to get focused on winning and those things we need to do to win.

Not so dirty secret indeed. Everyone should read the book, "The Blind Side". It will be out in movie soon and is about Michael Oher of the Baltimore Ravens and his growing up in Memphis.The lengths to which Mississippi went to in order to keep this kid on the field is mind blowing. There are SEC schools out there that have a tutor attend every class with the player and then meet with the player at night to reinforce the lessons learned that day. A player may have a different tutor for each class. These tutors do not come cheap either. All are earning income from the Athletic Department for these tasks. I wish we had that kind of money.If you guys really want to get the program to the point where they are winning 9-10 games a year, these are the things they need to do. If they don't, 6-7 wins should be normal. I'd love a six win season at this point.

That's where I draw the distinction regarding the merits of JD's alleged loyalty. In my mind, loyalty to the program and the university, from the head football coach, equals a burning desire to do whatever it takes to win on the field. The best coaches aren't particularly loyal to individual players or to other coaches on their staffs. They always put the team, and team success, ahead of everything else. For all of the twisted love of "the sweater vest" in Ohio, I have absolutely no doubt that his deal with players and coaches is that he is going to play the best players every week, the players and the schemes that give that team its best chance to win are the ones who are going to see the field. Players who were all-world in high school but don't produce or don't fit the scheme don't see the field, period. So, if the implication is that JD plays certain kids, who aren't right for the scheme, or aren't as good as others kids on the roster, I call that utterly misplaced loyalty and in the context of D-1 coaching, complete nonsense. Same goes for coaches on his staff.If your allusions to loyalty by JD are about his hard-workingness, hours spent in the team offices (which UA actually has now) and general boosterism for the program, I would again argue that those hours have simply been wasted. Hopefully for him personally, he has learned enough to catch a position on a college or professional staff after this year and earn a living, but he is a failure as a head college football coach. I actually don't care how hard working a head college football coach is. If he wins games and recruits good players, I'm happy. JD may even be a complete workaholic, but we've all known workaholics who weren't particularly productive. I'm convinced that JD could sell ice to eskimos, but he is a bad college head football coach.It's time for UA to decide what it wants. After they fire JD and this entire staff, it'll be time for Proenza to do a little soul searching. If the board wants to build a real football program, and decide that there exists the potential for success (some would doubt the potential for an upstart program in the veritable cradle of football, where there are already so many high-quality programs for kids to choose from) they will have to put more money into the program. They will have to pay (for the first time) for a high-quality head coach and staff, who will have to redouble their efforts to recruit high quality players. UA has gone part of the way with capital improvements, but that money will have been wasted if there is not a strong commitment made to the human beings who will build the program, basically from the ground up.STZLet's say the worst case scenario occurs and the Zips finish 1-10. Even in that situation, that certainly doesn't mean that the next coach will have to build "from the ground up". It's not like JD's teams of recent years have been involved in games like the Kansas State 65-0 debacle or the one where Miami's QB took a knee in scoring position JUST BEFORE HALFTIME. Things are bad, but in NO way is this program one that should be characterized as having to start over. The right coach can turn it around quickly. I'm fully convinced of that. The key will be having a smooth transition, one in which key players and recruits are retained.Well said. There is plenty of talent. We have spent too many years "building" at UofA. It's time to start winning.When people say "high quality recruits", the first thing that comes to my mind is a high quality recruit is a difference maker on the field. Sometimes difference makers struggle in the classroom. UofA needs to make a committment to bring in high quality players and support them academically. That's how really good teams get good. I'm not saying bring in a bad element, but let's keep the marginal players in school, help them get some cake degree and win some games.

I agree. The AD forced one coach out already and looks bad for doing it. Firing JD now not only will not prove anything, but it could look really negative in other ways.Hang in there coachers.....only six more games.

He was. On the day Robert Lyons was placed in the Varsity A Hall of Fame, French was presented with an award. I can't remember what the award was called though.

That's why stadiums of MAC teams sit half empty every week.

The Zips are bad. Next year I expect them to be good. The talent is there...the coaching isn't.

So what's your point?

Quoting Rachel Green from friends: "What a load of crap!"I remember after the Mac championship in 2005 JD was waiting for the first offer to move on but, unfortunately, no school was stupid enough to offer him.Secondly the NFL has given him offers, I never said anything about other schools but obviously you know he was waiting for the first opportunity to jump ship. He'll be gone after the end of the season. Don't worry about itI agree and know for a fact as well that JD has been offered jobs by NFL teams in the past. I even know one of the teams that offered him.JD is gone at the end of the season. Six years is enough. People posting post after post about it is a waste of time.

Why? It would be a guaranteed loss. Just because WMU does it, it doesn't mean we should do it. Is ND going to go to Kalamazoo to play?

There will not be a coach remaining from JD's staff. That's the way it works. The team will have all new coaches next season.

I don't want to single anyone out, especially those who love to redshirt players (redshirting can actually be horrible for a player, but that's another discussion), but the only way Zeke gets redshirted is if he gets an injury between now and the beginning of the season that will not mend until after the MAC Tournament.God forbid if the kid got hurt tomorrow and only got back a week before the MAC Tournament, he should play. He is a high school All American. For those that like "growing", put Zeke in the starting line-up on day one and let him grow on the court instead of growing at practice and hoping he is ready to play when he gets in games.

"System" stuff is totally overblown, especially as it relates to college football. PERHAPS you can say it about some QBs, but I think Nicely would actually be even more productive in a pro-set/I-formation offense. Yeah, we might have to find a FB or two. But it can be done.We need to bring in a coach that knows how to teach, knows how to coach (on gameday) and knows and how to WIN. Plain & simple. Well, maybe not simple.Excellent post. There can be no more "building". There is enough talent on this team to win. They need to start winning. 20+ years of building is enough.I like what Pitt is doing right now. They are playing a physical brand of football in a pro-style offense and a tough run jamming defense. They are one of the best teams in what is the worst BCS league. We just aren't a physical team and if we were more physical, more game situations would go our way.Here is one of the many examples of why we are not physical and it is a very telling statistic. The Zips are -2 in fumbles against D-1A teams this year. When teams are physical and hit hard, they cause more fumbles for the other team than the other team creates for them.

Just don't stop believing this football season can turn around.

Referring to oneself in the third person is characteristic of illeism. If you aren't familiar with the term, you should look it up and see if you imagine you fit with some of the notable historical figures closely associated with illeism (Julius Caesar, Charles de Gaulle, Joseph Stalin, Richard Nixon, Geraldo Rivera, etc.).Aside from that self-aggrandizing trait, many of your comments here are quite sensible.The Great GP1 has looked at your post and agrees that the comments are sensible. Probably even brilliant as usual.The Great GP1 would also like to add that the names you mentioned may have been, with the exception of etc., presidents, emperors, dictators and hack lawyers, none of them are the Great GP1.

The music is a rip off of something the Steelers do in the fourth quarter of their games when the defense comes out in a close game.

my life sucks...I think I will bash the kids on the football team today because it might make me feel better even though I have no clue what the heck I am talking about...yeah thats what i will do because my life completely sucks and because I am such a winner I will continue to bash and stomp the team because my number of post listings increase my stature as a zips basher and it will show the world I am one step away from actually jumping from the Y bridge, but thank god i have zips nation to express true negativity throughout the world....i only wish more positive people read my post so i can bring them down to my low level of life!!!!RUMPLEMINTZ - You are on ZipsNation, but maybe you need to spend some time on -Spend some time on Prozac or her?............

Captain Kangaroo should like this one. Even when we win the greatest game in program history, we create reasons for why we really should not have.We back-doored into the 2008-9 MAC basketball championship too. Humpty got lucky...we should have lost to the 12-seed. Right?I guess so.....I don't agree, but it seems to be the prevailing wisdom on the board, which is why GP1 goes the other way when it comes to prevailing wisdom on sports boards. Maybe we need to the start of any critical comment now on the basketball board with, "I love KD and even though he backed into that championship last year (insert criticism)".

"We" as Zips fans, are cursed with more excuses than any other team in the history of collegiate athletics.I really don't believe people are making excuses for the underperfomance of the team. Excuses are for when someone is trying to sugar-coat the losing and make it seem not as bad as it is. The reasons for their losing are clearly obvious and I don't think that makes them excuses. There will be no reasons for losing next season. The new coach will have plenty to work with. We should be the best team in a bad conference.Everyone should be optimistic about the very near future. This team has plenty of talent and will win with a new coach. I'm not saying 100% of what is going on is the fault of the coach, but the vast majority is and a cultural change is needed. Let's just say that spring practices are going to be brutal this year.....they need to be.

Captain Kangaroo should like this one. Even when we win the greatest game in program history, we create reasons for why we really should not have.

I disagree that we experienced a "perfect storm of problems." Then what did we experience in 2008...or 2007...or 2006...etc, etc, etc? Another series of "perfect storms?"I believe we have experienced a "perfect storm of excuses." That's it.Lee Owens didn't have the stadium or the training facilities. Then JD had the training facilities, but not the stadium. Now we have the training facilities and the stadium, BUT <insert next excuse here>.In JD's 6th season, playing what is likely the easiest schedule in D1 (maybe it is tied with some other MAC East program, but I don't count them). He's 1 - 5. Not only is he 1-5, but he's 0-5 vs. D-1 competition. He's 1-2 at home, and winning 25% of his home games over the past 1 1/2 seasons.Was Jacquemain's suspension crippling? Sure. But who's idea was it to tether the ship to this train-wreck of a kid? His history as an unreliable player on-the-field were only exceeded by his known issues off it. Yet JD rolled the dice that Jacquemain could keep his hands out of the cookie jar for 1 semester. Shocking that this 5th year senior QB...who mysteriously escaped the nomination of Team Captain prior to the start of the season...couldn't do it? Rodgers as the #2 QB was again not any "perfect storm" problem. He's a great kid. He's not a Division 1 QB. If he was, JD would have played him over Jacquemain in the first place. Rodgers blowing his ACL is a convenient excuse to play Nicely, but the truth is, Nicely was warming up on the sidelines prior to Rodgers' injury. If not for the quick OU turnover, Nicely would have entered the game on the ensuing series. There's a reason JD told Nicely not to play in the Football World Championships this past summer...he knew there was a damn good chance he'd need to play him this season, and it was more important that he was in Zips camp.The Ferri "recruiting scandal" is a joke. If this is the excuse for 1 - 5, I have to laugh. I think Tom Gaffney and Elton Alexander have given it all of 100 combined words of print. The University's reaction to the "scandal" (BTW - now downgraded to "an investigation of recruiting practices") has been more damaging than the allegations themselves. Go to a BCS school and see what a real "scandal" looks like. Like Dr. Z, I'm tired of losing. I'm tired of excuses. I'm tired of traveling to support the team, only to watch 20yard rugby punts, pop-up kick off and the 3-3-5 defense get shredded late in a close game. I'm tired of watching other MAC programs go bowling while we sit at home with our woe-is-me laundry list of "prefect storm" excuses. I'm tired of explaining to my kid why, as a Zips fan, he always walks out of the stadium a loser.F*ck losing. I'm tired of it.So are you saying we are cursed with excuses?

Cursed may be a bit harsh, but I get your point.The answer is........Alumni...as in school pride and school support by "our" alumni...Most.. err...99% don't give a damn, so why should anyone else.Wait, so you're saying our ALUMNI have cursed the football team? How so? Indifference is not evil voodoo magic. It's just non-caring either win or lose. Broken legs, player suspensions, coaches beeeennnding rules, bad play calling, more bad play calling, more injuries compounding over many years creates a Peanuts-style black cloud that follows this team whereever they play. I think Faust sacrificied live chickens before he left so no other coach would ever succeed.There is no curse. We've won a MAC Championship so I know we can do that. We've seen good coaching, although sporadic (the MAC Championship was probably the best coached game in the D-1A era). Faust had a 7-3-1 year so we know we can win around 70% of our games. Even Owens had some good years in the Butchie Washington era. The potential is there.It's so many things that pointing the blame at one doesn't make sense. It's the MAC,. It's the alumni. It's the MAC. It's the coaching. It's the MAC. It's the players making mistakes on and off the field they shouldn't make. It's the MAC. It's the injuries. It's the MAC. It's A LOT of things.I'm not sure how to solve the alumni problem. Educated people go to college and get more educated so we know they are smart when they become alumni. A smart person looks at the MAC and says, "This is crap." However, I don't think it is unreasonable for alumni to attend at least one game a year. It isn't right around the corner, but alumni participation will improve as more students live around and on campus. That will take time. I actually thing the school needs to really focus on alumni in their 20s and early 30s as a long term plan. I know a lot of us are older, but there aren't enough of the older generations interested in going to games to develop much of a base. The alumni problem is a loooooong term solution, but it can be done.The coaching is easy to solve. Get someone in here who can take advantage of the talent on the team. I remain optimistic about the future.Players making mistakes off the field........ People do stupid things every day. It depends on who makes them. If it is a third string center, things happen. If it is the starting QB, that's a problem. Overall, I don't think this has been a huge problem for the Zips, or at least out of the ordinary in relation to the rest of college football.Mistakes on the field.... Coaching can solve that. Players, who are adults by the way, pulling their heads out of their own butts can help also.Injuries..... This will kill any sports team, from any type of sport faster than anything. One thing they should look at is no longer bringing in transfers from BCS schools who couldn't get on the field because they were injured all the time. Some players are prone to injury and you can tell them by the fact they are injured all the time.The MAC.... We are exactly where we belong. Unfortunately, so are all of our other MAC participants.The Zips have had a perfect storm of problems this year. It happens to a lot of teams in the MAC. Timing was terrible, but the future remains bright.

8,000 will be enough. Not too big, not too small.I'm very hesitant to get in bed with the City of Akron. If the choice is play in the JAR or co-op an arena with the City.....I say play in the JAR and kick around some other ideas.If all they can afford is 6,500 seats, then do that. First things first, the soccer team has EARNED a new stadium before anyone else gets one.

A fire? There is no need for a fire because his goose is cooked.