Hunter or the next "rising star"

[Dr Z]

On the heals of the BJ story how would you like Dr P to handle the AD position?Leave your comments.

[g-mann17]

I went with Hunter, but that is assuming he is one of the top 3 after a bit of looking.It produces continuity in the department, and we would probably be able to retain some of the hard workers we have like Jeremiah Dickey.

[Zips fan]

I went with the next rising star. I think the university needs to take look at what is available nationally. I thought they hit a homerun with Mike Thomas and did a solid job with Mack. I would want to see who else is available before handing the reigns over to someone in house. I think Hunter is good guy with qualities that will eventually lead to a AD position, but I don't think he is a homerun type guy either.

[Let'sGoZips94]

I said "other". I want Hunter, but I think we should look around for an experienced AD. I don't want the next "rising star" because they could just be using us as a stepping stone then jump ship for another bigger college. If we can't find anyone with experience and that will stay, I like Hunter.

[Jalapeño Zippy]

I went with Hunter, but that is assuming he is one of the top 3 after a bit of looking.It produces continuity in the department, and we would probably be able to retain some of the hard workers we have like Jeremiah Dickey.

Working hard and working smart are two different things....

[Dr Z]

Things that make me go hmmmmm.....If they hire Hunter, how many people around go with Mack to Houston, or stay here with Hunter? Why does everybody think that hiring somebody who will use Akron as "a stepping stone" is a bad thing? Since Mack has been interviewing for some time, Dr P should have been ready for this, is it possible that interviews were going on even before we knew Mack was leaving? Did Dr P already have a list? Has he made any public comments? Does anybody have LoJack on Mike Waddell's vehicle?

[flipthezip]

I went with Hunter. Most of our sports are either at the top of their game or are making the move in the right direction. I think this will continue under his leadership.The biggest item on the plate of the AD at the moment is the opening of Info. Hunter has been here listening to the fans as to what we want in this new stadium, what we want on game days, planning how things are going to run with the new stadium. I don't really want to start fresh with a new individual so close to the opening.We are in a big transistion as a department and university. Hunter will bring stability immediately and not present a probable hiccup that would occur with a "new" AD.

[Dr Z]

I don't really want to start fresh with a new individual so close to the opening. Hunter will bring stability immediately and not present a probable hiccup that would occur with a "new" AD.

I'm sorry about all the Steeler references, but you go with what you know. What would have happened if the Steelers hired Russ Grimm and stayed with the guy within to bring stability instead of going with "the rising star" in Mike Tomlin? We'll never know, but I'm guessing it wouldn't have turned out as good. Of course there is no right or wrong answer, but I'm giving you one success story of hiring the "the rising star." I'm sure most people remember the story that the Steelers were ready to hire Grimm but went out and interviewed as a formality and were blown away with Tomlin.

[GP1]

[i'm sorry about all the Steeler references, but you go with what you know. What would have happened if the Steelers hired Russ Grimm and stayed with the guy within to bring stability instead of going with "the rising star" in Mike Tomlin? We'll never know, but I'm guessing it wouldn't have turned out as good.

Or, maybe the Steelers knew Russ Grimm was a big meathead who couldn't hold the big chair.....The Steelers have a stable organization, hired Tomlin then forced him to do things the Steelers way. There hasn't been radical change with the Steelers since Tomlin entered the scene. For example, Tomlin is a 4-3 defensive coach and the Steelers are 3-4. They made him coach with the 3-4. They also forced him to keep the existing defensive coordinator on staff. What Tomlin brought to the Steelers was much more intelligence than Cowher and he got away from being a "players coach" to the ball buster the Steelers needed to get over the hump. The best thing Tomlin did was bring in an offensive coodinator who has a reputation for putting points on the board. The Steelers were not winning championships with defense, they were losing them with defense. They won with offense like all championships are won. What does this mean for the Zips? UofA needs to bring in someone who shares Dr. Proenza's vision for the University and is willing to work in that framework. Just like the ownership of the Steelers forced Tomlin to do things their way and not his way.

[InTheZone]

The best thing Tomlin did was bring in an offensive coodinator who has a reputation for putting points on the board. The Steelers were not winning championships with defense, they were losing them with defense. They won with offense like all championships are won.

What the hell are you talking about??STEELERS 2008 OFFENSIVE RANKINGS-Total YPG: 22ndTotal PPG: 20thSTEELERS 2008 DEFENSIVE RANKINGS-Total YPG: 1stTotal PPG: 1stIf that's what you call winning a championship with offense, you need to have your head examined. I know education wasn't exactly a priority in the abysmal Faust era, but come on...Also, the Steelers offensive coordinator, Bruce Arians, was not "brought in" by Tomlin. He was a holdover from the Cowher staff, where he served as WR coach. In fact, aside from Grimm's replacement and the new WR coach to step in for Arians, pretty much the entire Steelers coaching staff is a holdover from Cowher. The entire defensive staff remained exactly the same. Tomlin basically won a Super Bowl playing with Cowher's players and letting Cowher's coaches coach.I'm not sure what any of that has to do with our AD search, but since you made a comment that made absolutely no sense, I just couldn't help but pointing it out Anyways, I'm a Mike Waddell guy myself I think they should hire him tomorrow.

[Dr Z]

Anyways, I'm a Mike Waddell guy myself I think they should hire him tomorrow.

Worst winning SB offensive line in my lifetime. The lack of D in the SB comes from Wiz's familiarity with it.I'm with you ITZ, hire Mike tomorrow. (that was my thought for "other")

[Z-P]

What happened to the GVH discussion?

[bandzip]

The best thing Tomlin did was bring in an offensive coodinator who has a reputation for putting points on the board. The Steelers were not winning championships with defense, they were losing them with defense. They won with offense like all championships are won.

What the hell are you talking about??STEELERS 2008 OFFENSIVE RANKINGS-Total YPG: 22ndTotal PPG: 20thSTEELERS 2008 DEFENSIVE RANKINGS-Total YPG: 1stTotal PPG: 1stIf that's what you call winning a championship with offense, you need to have your head examined. I know education wasn't exactly a priority in the abysmal Faust era, but come on...Also, the Steelers offensive coordinator, Bruce Arians, was not "brought in" by Tomlin. He was a holdover from the Cowher staff, where he served as WR coach. In fact, aside from Grimm's replacement and the new WR coach to step in for Arians, pretty much the entire Steelers coaching staff is a holdover from Cowher. The entire defensive staff remained exactly the same. Tomlin basically won a Super Bowl playing with Cowher's players and letting Cowher's coaches coach.I'm not sure what any of that has to do with our AD search, but since you made a comment that made absolutely no sense, I just couldn't help but pointing it out Anyways, I'm a Mike Waddell guy myself I think they should hire him tomorrow.

Owned.

[Dr Z]

What happened to the GVH discussion?

I think that would be another good decision. Another guy that seems to "get it." I meant to comment on that earlier. I think GP1 brought it up.It must be a good decision if it gets Z-P to make a post!

[GP1]

The best thing Tomlin did was bring in an offensive coodinator who has a reputation for putting points on the board. The Steelers were not winning championships with defense, they were losing them with defense. They won with offense like all championships are won.

What the hell are you talking about??STEELERS 2008 OFFENSIVE RANKINGS-Total YPG: 22ndTotal PPG: 20thSTEELERS 2008 DEFENSIVE RANKINGS-Total YPG: 1stTotal PPG: 1stIf that's what you call winning a championship with offense, you need to have your head examined. I know education wasn't exactly a priority in the abysmal Faust era, but come on...Also, the Steelers offensive coordinator, Bruce Arians, was not "brought in" by Tomlin. He was a holdover from the Cowher staff, where he served as WR coach. In fact, aside from Grimm's replacement and the new WR coach to step in for Arians, pretty much the entire Steelers coaching staff is a holdover from Cowher. The entire defensive staff remained exactly the same. Tomlin basically won a Super Bowl playing with Cowher's players and letting Cowher's coaches coach.I'm not sure what any of that has to do with our AD search, but since you made a comment that made absolutely no sense, I just couldn't help but pointing it out Anyways, I'm a Mike Waddell guy myself I think they should hire him tomorrow.

Good points. Rankings and statistics are intersting things. They don't always tell the whole story. Time after time when the Steelers needed it, the offense came through. When they needed their defense in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl, the defense had their pants pulled down by Arizona. Believe me, they have always had a good defense and I love they have such a good defense. It wasn't until they put their trust in a guy like Ben Roethlisberger did they start to win. Brought in, promoted, whatever. The guy was moved into that position by Tomlin.As far as you supporting Waddell, I'm not surprised. You guys from the Owens years couldn't close deals either. Birds of a feather flock together.

[GP1]

Worst winning SB offensive line in my lifetime. The lack of D in the SB comes from Wiz's familiarity with it.

How many sacks did the Steelers give up after the Philadelphia disaster? Their offensive line drastically improved over the course of the season.

[GP1]

What happened to the GVH discussion?

I think that would be another good decision. Another guy that seems to "get it." I meant to comment on that earlier. I think GP1 brought it up.It must be a good decision if it gets Z-P to make a post!

I was just throwing out an idea. I think GVH would be crazy to look into it. He has a really good job right now and would be crazy to get back into the rat race.

[zipper]

What happened to the GVH discussion?

I think that would be another good decision. Another guy that seems to "get it." I meant to comment on that earlier. I think GP1 brought it up.It must be a good decision if it gets Z-P to make a post!

I was just throwing out an idea. I think GVH would be crazy to look into it. He has a really good job right now and would be crazy to get back into the rat race.

You might have been just throwing out an idea but it's a good one. Van Horne is well liked and respected. I also bet he'd stay around for a while - I think he's had other opportunities to leave Akron in the past but has turned them down. He gets athletics.I know I sound like I'm down on Hunter. It's just that in his main area of responsibility here he has been, well, lackluster. If we don't cough up the bucks for a real search I'll think we're back to where we were when we hired that one guy (the bald guy - here just over a year before he got canned - Somebody, what WAS that guy's name?) where we don't operate like a big program, we just move someone up who may or may not be qualified. I'm sure Mack supports him, and some of the coaches may even prefer the devil they know to the one they don't. My question is, objectively (and I don't think Mack OR the coaches can be objective here), who is the best candidate for the job? I'm sure there are athletics people around the country right now planning on applying for this job. Doing anything else than a national search is rinky-dink. Trying to rush Hunter into the job makes me think some want to rush it because they know he won't stack up to the nationwide search. And if that's the case, he shouldn't be the AD. If, however, after interviewing several candidates he's the best, then by all means, the job should be his.

[johnnyzip84]

The search is the right thing to do. It's not like you can't come back and hire Hunter, Mike or whomever if the search is disappointing.

[Z.I.P.]

The search is the right thing to do. It's not like you can't come back and hire Hunter, Mike or whomever if the search is disappointing.

As I asked on the other thread: Has anyone heard Rodriguez' name bandied about yet? Just asking.

[GP1]

You might have been just throwing out an idea but it's a good one. Van Horne is well liked and respected. I also bet he'd stay around for a while - I think he's had other opportunities to leave Akron in the past but has turned them down. He gets athletics.

I want George to stay at the University for the rest of his career and I think he might be a good candidate. Athletics doesn't lend itself to long careers.I guess the knock would be the change in Athletics over the past few years. I think the AD job has changed into one that is more fundraiser than marketing/selling (maybe it is not a knock afterall). Because of the general stupidity of the average person working in college athletics, the marketing job has needed to be sub contracted to companies such as ISP. Managing the sales/marketing producers (by managing, I mean hands off and let the pros do it) seems to be more important that actually generating the money yourself. Being a good paper pusher seems to be the key.Like I said, we need someone who shares Dr. Proenza's vision for the future.

[Z.I.P.]

You might have been just throwing out an idea but it's a good one. Van Horne is well liked and respected. I also bet he'd stay around for a while - I think he's had other opportunities to leave Akron in the past but has turned them down. He gets athletics.

I want George to stay at the University for the rest of his career and I think he might be a good candidate. Athletics doesn't lend itself to long careers.I guess the knock would be the change in Athletics over the past few years. I think the AD job has changed into one that is more fundraiser than marketing/selling (maybe it is not a knock afterall). Because of the general stupidity of the average person working in college athletics, the marketing job has needed to be sub contracted to companies such as ISP. Managing the sales/marketing producers (by managing, I mean hands off and let the pros do it) seems to be more important that actually generating the money yourself. Being a good paper pusher seems to be the key.Like I said, we need someone who shares Dr. Proenza's vision for the future.

For the out-of-towners on here -- what is George doing these days? When did he leave the UA? You never know who might just come from out of the shadows to be a serious candidate.

[Dr Z]

what is George doing these days?

Eating Hungarian food

[akronad]

Yurachek Interim AD

[Dave in Green]

Smart move. Now UA can take its time in conducting a thorough search. While the story doesn't say so, I would imagine that Yurachek remains a candidate for permanent AD. If he ends up getting it, the interim work will give him a running start.