JD'S Future

[RACER]

i just wondered what everybody though it would take to save jd's job.7-5 would probably save his job i guess,but that's not that great of a season in my mind.we need to start winning our mac games,and going to bowls.the fact is jd has had three losing seasons in a row.if he was coaching any bcs school he would have been fired after last year.i think the akron fan base has been very fair to jd.the problem is the expectations levels are so low for football that a 7-5 season is considered good.our divison will probably have half of the teams in the bottom ten at one this year if not more.if jd does not go at least 7-5 he will have no one to blame,but himself.jd had alott better facilites than faust,or owens.we still somehow cannot have a winning season in three years.teams like temple,and buffalo owens beat up on a regular basis.now those teams are beating us.i am not making a case for lee owens,but just trying to show how far down this f-ball program is now.i am not so sure anything less than a division championship should save his job.the other factor is dr.p did not build a new stadium to see it half full every week.i just hope dr.p really looks at the long term future of this f-ball program,and does that include jd.there is no reason we cannot find a qualifed head coach with the facilites we have now.as long as akron is willing to pay a fair salary i don't think we will have a hard time finding a new coach if/when the time comes.

[bandzip]

You had to start another topic about this for...?

[zipseuph]

[GP1]

jd had alott better facilites than faust,or owens.we still somehow cannot have a winning season in three years

It's because buildings don't win games. There has been an arms race in the NCAA over the past few years. We were just part of the arms race and not operating in a vacuum.Getting back to the main point. 7-5 is a good MAC season. A senior QB would help right now but we all know how that went....Jacq was sent back to the mean streets of Mentor and we were left with our mess. Rodgers had been playing college football for three years now I think and he looks as if he will never be able to play. "Growers" beware, Rodgers isn't going to grow into anything.

[g-mann17]

jd had alott better facilites than faust,or owens.we still somehow cannot have a winning season in three years

It's because buildings don't win games. There has been an arms race in the NCAA over the past few years. We were just part of the arms race and not operating in a vacuum.Getting back to the main point. 7-5 is a good MAC season. A senior QB would help right now but we all know how that went....Jacq was sent back to the mean streets of Mentor and we were left with our mess. Rodgers had been playing college football for three years now I think and he looks as if he will never be able to play. "Growers" beware, Rodgers isn't going to grow into anything.

:horse: :horse: :horse: :horse: :horse: :horse:

[zip37]

If anyone is satisfied with a 7-5 record, I sure wouldn't them working for me, I am barely happy with 9-3, I cannot believe JD has lasted this long.

[Blue & Gold]

I think the handwriting is on the wall. I don't think there's anything JD can do to keep the job after this season. The ONLY chance he's got is if we sweep the MAC East, play in the MACC game and a bowl game.IMHO I don't see this happening. Tough, tough year.

[Buckzip]

If anyone is satisfied with a 7-5 record, I sure wouldn't them working for me, I am barely happy with 9-3, I cannot believe JD has lasted this long.

I am right there with you. We are so used to losing that we are happy with a 7-5 record..That about says it all.

[GP1]

If anyone is satisfied with a 7-5 record, I sure wouldn't them working for me, I am barely happy with 9-3, I cannot believe JD has lasted this long.

7-5 in the MAC is 9-3 at a BCS school. Throw out two guaranteed losses for two guaranteed wins like BCS schools do and you increase the wins by two. MAC schools guarantee losses for money to sustain their athletic departments. BCS schools guarantee wins for money was well, but the money they are looking for comes from packed stadiums with guaranteed wins against lesser competition, bowl money and the alumni support that comes from going to bowls. That which goes on in college football really isn't that difficult to figure out.Does anyone really think a MAC school can sustain 9 win seasons year in and year out in the current college football climate? I think the historical record shows different. Save me the new facilities nonsense, the new stadium has only been open for a month and at one time everyone in the MAC had a new stadium yet they all go through more periods of sucking than being good. Marshall won in the MAC and their school is in Huntington, WV....anyone who has ever been there knows what a dump the place is yet they won. Did Marshall have a new indoor practice facility or did they have chronic winners playing for them? I know they had chronic winners but I'm not sure about the facilities.One solution is to eliminate the money games, play I-AA teams at least twice and cupcake D-1A teams. The Zips can not continue to play three BCS conference teams a year...the risk of losing is too great. If we did that, I would expect nine wins a year. Until then, 7 wins is the benchmark for a good season.Anyone who thought any MAC team would be more than 1-3 at this point with the schedule the Zips have played is fooling themselves. I did think we could rally late after the first four, but I didn't figure losing our senior QB before the rally, the playcalling that got Shame fired from Miami (although this shoud have been obvious to me) or a QB coach that is hanging around until the end of the season so he can retire back to Pittsburgh (should have also been obvious to me looking back now). The Zips are in heap big trouble. The Zips badly need to schedule differently unless they really need the huge paydays.

[g-mann17]

Does anyone really think a MAC school can sustain 9 win seasons year in and year out in the current college football climate? I think the historical record shows different. Save me the new facilities nonsense, the new stadium has only been open for a month and at one time everyone in the MAC had a new stadium yet they all go through more periods of sucking than being good. Marshall won in the MAC and their school is in Huntington, WV....anyone who has ever been there knows what a dump the place is yet they won. Did Marshall have a new indoor practice facility or did they have chronic winners playing for them? I know they had chronic winners but I'm not sure about the facilities.

Marshall won in the MAC because of numerous recruiting violations that have now finally caught up to them (hence the recent suckage in C-USA).And Marshall had probably the best facilities in the MAC at the time.Joan Edwards Stadium was built in 1991 (the stadium was 6 years old at the time and the largest in the MAC) and they had been ramping up for D-1 since 1990.edit* and on your Shane comment, you fail to realize that he was the offensive coordinator that developed Roethlisberger while under Hoepner.

[ZachTheZip]

GP1, I agree with everything you said about scheduling.How can we hope to sustain any type of success when you spend the first third of the year getting beat up for a paycheck? 2005 was the last season that we didn't play at least 3 BCS teams, and that's because there were only 11 games in a season.If Akron wants to see success, they need to change the way they make money. Stop getting two or three paychecks a year, and replace them with home games.There's a very simple formula that can be followed to change this. You play ONE paycheck game per year, but only against a team that is known for handing out big $$$. If you're going to get paid to lose, you might as well get paid well. You schedule ONE 1-AA team every year as a home game, any more and they don't count towards bowl-eligibility. If possible, you schedule the 1-AA team to open the season which allows the team to work out their first-game mistakes in a safe environment. Then you schedule home-and-homes with two other teams, either low-level BCS or nonBCS teams. This gives you 6 home games (sometimes seven) every year, which will make your money for you. I think Akron is moving toward that schedule, but it takes years to set up.

[johnnyzip84]

Does anyone really think a MAC school can sustain 9 win seasons year in and year out in the current college football climate? I think the historical record shows different. Save me the new facilities nonsense, the new stadium has only been open for a month and at one time everyone in the MAC had a new stadium yet they all go through more periods of sucking than being good. Marshall won in the MAC and their school is in Huntington, WV....anyone who has ever been there knows what a dump the place is yet they won. Did Marshall have a new indoor practice facility or did they have chronic winners playing for them? I know they had chronic winners but I'm not sure about the facilities.

Marshall won in the MAC because of numerous recruiting violations that have now finally caught up to them (hence the recent suckage in C-USA).And Marshall had probably the best facilities in the MAC at the time.Joan Edwards Stadium was built in 1991 (the stadium was 6 years old at the time and the largest in the MAC) and they had been ramping up for D-1 since 1990.edit* and on your Shane comment, you fail to realize that he was the offensive coordinator that developed Roethlisberger while under Hoepner.

OR the offensive coordinator who road Big Ben's coattails while under Hoepner. Time will tell.

[tbozeglav]

There's a very simple formula that can be followed to change this. You play ONE paycheck game per year, but only against a team that is known for handing out big $$. If you're going to get paid to lose, you might as well get paid well. You schedule ONE 1-AA team every year as a home game, any more and they don't count towards bowl-eligibility. If possible, you schedule the 1-AA team to open the season which allows the team to work out their first-game mistakes in a safe environment. Then you schedule home-and-homes with two other teams, either low-level BCS or nonBCS teams. This gives you 6 home games (sometimes seven) every year, which will make your money for you. I think Akron is moving toward that schedule, but it takes years to set up.

The problem that exists there is that its a high risk approach. You cannot go with this kind of strategy unless you have the attendance numbers to sustain it. If you can fairly well estimate that you will make up the money you lose by not playing a paycheck game through tickets, concessions, and merch, then it's a good idea. However, with the current attendance numbers, I just can't see the athletic department considering such a strategy because there's far too much risk for failure involved. Throw into the mix that we have contracts with OOC opponents for scheduling and one could estimate it'd take at least 4 years before we'd be able to make a schedule that gives us 6-7 home games a season. Other than those issues... I absolutely approve of the idea. The more exposure to the local community the school can make through it's football program, especially when it is consistently winning, cannot hurt at all. Yes the quality of opponents drops quite a bit, but I think in the long run it'd pay off.

[zip37]

GP-1 Excuses, excuses, excuses, you're not working for me-- If you enter a horse race, you better get a horse, witness the Indians & Pirates, they are satisified to exist in the Major Leagues. I do not follow either one they are not worthy of my time. If we can't compete with the big diogs then we better stay on tjhe porch or better yet in the house.

[g-mann17]

Does anyone really think a MAC school can sustain 9 win seasons year in and year out in the current college football climate? I think the historical record shows different. Save me the new facilities nonsense, the new stadium has only been open for a month and at one time everyone in the MAC had a new stadium yet they all go through more periods of sucking than being good. Marshall won in the MAC and their school is in Huntington, WV....anyone who has ever been there knows what a dump the place is yet they won. Did Marshall have a new indoor practice facility or did they have chronic winners playing for them? I know they had chronic winners but I'm not sure about the facilities.

Marshall won in the MAC because of numerous recruiting violations that have now finally caught up to them (hence the recent suckage in C-USA).And Marshall had probably the best facilities in the MAC at the time.Joan Edwards Stadium was built in 1991 (the stadium was 6 years old at the time and the largest in the MAC) and they had been ramping up for D-1 since 1990.edit* and on your Shane comment, you fail to realize that he was the offensive coordinator that developed Roethlisberger while under Hoepner.

OR the offensive coordinator who road Big Ben's coattails while under Hoepner. Time will tell.

Can I get a spinning smiley? Just for use on GP1...

[GP1]

GP-1 Excuses, excuses, excuses, you're not working for me--

Why would I work for you, I already work for myself?

[GP1]

GP1, I agree with everything you said about scheduling.How can we hope to sustain any type of success when you spend the first third of the year getting beat up for a paycheck? 2005 was the last season that we didn't play at least 3 BCS teams, and that's because there were only 11 games in a season.

Thanks. We can't gain momentum with the schedule we play. I used to think our MBB scheduling was weak....and it is on some level, but it does what KD wants it to do. It creates a winning record and winners want to play for winners. Below is our upcoming MBB ooc schedule. Keep in mind that only 15% of those games are played against what in football would be BCS level teams. Our football team currently plays 75% of their ooc games against BCS level teams.Austin PNC StateDrakeHowardAR Pine BluffNiagraTX A&MMalone (this game is an absolute joke)UNCGUICValpoWyomingRhode IslandWhat if we changed the games so that the team played 75% of their games against BCS level teams? It might look like this:North CarolinaNC StateDrakeGeorgetownAR Pine BluffBoston CollegeTX A&MOklahomaIllinoisUICVillanovaUCLARhode IslandInstead of starting out the season 10-3, they might start out the season at best 4-9. How does that establish a winning program? It doesn't. KD is absolutely scheduling properly and the football team....sorry, the AD needs to take note (unless they really need the money).

[Z.I.P.]

GP-1 Excuses, excuses, excuses, you're not working for me-- If you enter a horse race, you better get a horse, witness the Indians & Pirates, they are satisified to exist in the Major Leagues. I do not follow either one they are not worthy of my time. If we can't compete with the big diogs then we better stay on tjhe porch or better yet in the house.

To which I began the thread after the Indiana game, "Akron to Missouri Valley Conference". Seems it drew little interest except from the YSU lurker. Since Akron does not have the resources to "compete with the big diogs" (diogs apparently meaning BCS conference schools?) should we therefore abandon all intent on competing? That goes, in essence for every school in the MAC, Sun Belt and nearly all in the WAC and Mountain West. Those universities get less national interest than the Cleveland Indians and Pittsboig Pirates, therefore, they should fold the tent?

[GP1]

GP-1 Excuses, excuses, excuses, you're not working for me-- If you enter a horse race, you better get a horse, witness the Indians & Pirates, they are satisified to exist in the Major Leagues. I do not follow either one they are not worthy of my time. If we can't compete with the big diogs then we better stay on tjhe porch or better yet in the house.

To which I began the thread after the Indiana game, "Akron to Missouri Valley Conference". Seems it drew little interest except from the YSU lurker. Since Akron does not have the resources to "compete with the big diogs" (diogs apparently meaning BCS conference schools?) should we therefore abandon all intent on competing?

Excellent point. There was a time in college football when there were not divisions in place to separate the schools. If you look back, tOSU used to play teams like Muskingum and other now D-III schools. Most of the time that did not happen because people knew where they belonged without formal divisions.Mt. Union is by all standards the best team in D-III over the past 15-20 years. They couldn't win a game against any D-I team and college athletics are set up so they can never get to that point.Some fan logic would have us believe the end result of striving for excellence is going 12-0. Could not the end result of striving for excellene also be going 7-5, making the MAC Championship game and then winning it? I just want to be the best team in a bad conference. 7-5 can get you there. The team that won the Super Bowl last year went 12-4 in the regular season. What if they go 10-6, limp in to a Wild Card spot and they go on to win the Super Bowl again somehow? Is that still excellence or "is their program going in the wrong direction" because they didn't win as many games as the year before? In the end, they just want to get to the playoffs and let the chips fall where they may. Doesn't 7-5 get a MAC team close to the division championship with a chance to let the chips fall where they may in December?

[g-mann17]

GP-1 Excuses, excuses, excuses, you're not working for me-- If you enter a horse race, you better get a horse, witness the Indians & Pirates, they are satisified to exist in the Major Leagues. I do not follow either one they are not worthy of my time. If we can't compete with the big diogs then we better stay on tjhe porch or better yet in the house.

To which I began the thread after the Indiana game, "Akron to Missouri Valley Conference". Seems it drew little interest except from the YSU lurker. Since Akron does not have the resources to "compete with the big diogs" (diogs apparently meaning BCS conference schools?) should we therefore abandon all intent on competing?

Excellent point. There was a time in college football when there were not divisions in place to separate the schools. If you look back, tOSU used to play teams like Muskingum and other now D-III schools. Most of the time that did not happen because people knew where they belonged without formal divisions.Mt. Union is by all standards the best team in D-III over the past 15-20 years. They couldn't win a game against any D-I team and college athletics are set up so they can never get to that point.Some fan logic would have us believe the end result of striving for excellence is going 12-0. Could not the end result of striving for excellene also be going 7-5, making the MAC Championship game and then winning it? I just want to be the best team in a bad conference. 7-5 can get you there. The team that won the Super Bowl last year went 12-4 in the regular season. What if they go 10-6, limp in to a Wild Card spot and they go on to win the Super Bowl again somehow? Is that still excellence or "is their program going in the wrong direction" because they didn't win as many games as the year before? In the end, they just want to get to the playoffs and let the chips fall where they may. Doesn't 7-5 get a MAC team close to the division championship with a chance to let the chips fall where they may in December?

NFL and College football is apples and oranges. All 12 games matter in college football, in the NFL you play for a playoff spot then home field advantage. That means if you clinch both in 11 you don't care about the last 5. (which is why college playoffs would be a waste) your wrongness being stated, I agree with the fact that we need to first worry about being the best team in our conference, winning championships and getting bowl appearances makes money for the program and as everyone (but GP1) knows, money is what makes the program better.

[GP1]

as everyone (but GP1) knows, money is what makes the program better.

I respectfully submit that I do not fully buy into this Marxist idea of college athletics. It's not that money isn't important, but is it the only reason for making programs better? I would submit that winning and winning players make teams better. I would bet that over the past ten years, the football program has generated more money YOY in each year. Why do we still suck? There is more money, but we still only have one MAC Championship under our belts.I'll continue to use our MBB program as an example again. From what I read on this board, crowd numbers are up but not as much as one might think given the success of the program. Sell-outs are few and far between. There is no way the MBB team turns a profit. They play in a horrible arena. Yet, they win. Is it money or the winners on the team?

[GP1]

All 12 games matter in college football

In the next 50 years, Akron will not be competing for the national championship. The MAC has been around since 1940whatever and nobody has won the national championship. Just like the NFL, all 12 games do not matter. If you are concerned about defining excellence as winning the MAC, the games that do matter are the MAC games and they consist of 8 games a year. The goal of UofA should be to win the MAC East and get to the Championship game. Once there, anything can happen. 7-5 can get a team to the MAC Championship game....8-4 almost guarantees it. Our biggest problem right now is we are not even good enough to win seven games with the schedule we play.If the goal is to win 9-10 games a year, scheduling needs to be addressed.

[MDZip]

The bottom line really is that it is all about money. There is no way that MAC schools are going to compete against $60M budgets that the BCS schools get. I'm not saying that is fair nor right (and the NCAA ought to be sued over it - hey I think someone tried that) but it is reality. Basketball is a little different, since the team is much smaller a couple of very good players can get you into that atmosphere, but in footbal the financial landscape is so much different. Hard line to walk, do you play name schools to help with recognition and money or do you want to have more wins? I know several people (including me) have espoused one big money payout game, one I-AA "buy" game for us and then a couple of mid-level/low-level BCS teams for a 1-1. Problem is that even with the two we have now (Indiana and Syracuse) are both 2-1 series and I think we had to make some guarantee on the games they are playing at our house. So we need to work it out with whomever will work a 1-1 deal with us - which means WAC, C-USA, Sunbelt and maybe MWC. How about a Houston - we have a connection there , a Rice, a UAB 1-1 series?. That should help with getting 6 homes games and get a more realistic schedule in place to hopefully eke out a couple more wins.

[GP1]

The bottom line really is that it is all about money.

All good points. I would like to know what our money situation is in comparison to other MAC schools. Does anyone know?Everyone fully understands we are not going to generate as much revenue as BCS schools. If we are generating relatively the same revenue as other MAC schools, then there is a problem beyond money.

[ZachTheZip]

It is all about winning, because winning generates more money than losing. If you want a steady flow of money to improve the program, you first have to win. A losing team gets lucky here and there with a few major donations from rich alumni who still care about their school, but a winning team gets donations from most of the rich alumni because we give them a (high-profile, which means they get to stroke their egos when their donation goes public) reason to care about their school.Winning cures all.Right now, all I want is to average 7 wins per regular season. That gets you into a bowl game every year and in the MAC East it gets you into the conference championship game every other year (which is essentially another bowl game). Some years you'll go above 7 wins, and some years below, but it gets established that you win more than you lose overall, and that's something that no other football team in the area could claim.