Long term damage

[mh55]

"Calling is what Temple has a "campus" is being generous. I've been there. It's just sort of a part of the city that bridges two slums.Could it be that Temple is winning because they are recruiting EXACTLY the type of player that is not afraid to go out at night around their campus? We're busy recruiting "players we can all be proud of"....we all know what that means."Wow, what an absolutely ignorant, profoundly stupid comment. I've attached a link with nightime pics of our campus for the edification of posters who want to make an objective opinion.I didn't get to Fri's game but was in Akron 2 years ago and obviously saw last year's game. Temple's players have all worked their ass off to get to the point we are at now. Our players physical fitness levels are the result of incerdible effort and work. Players bought into the program of community service, classwork and dedication to blowing up the terrible football reputation we earned. We have a good team because we have good football players, not players who "not afraid to go out at night."I think Akron has a nice young nucleus to build around. But I also saw some of the same nonsense I used to see at Temple. That DB who made a couple plays early but also was repeatedly burned making his flamboyant "show me the $$$" gestures....that was funny. Players laughing and clapping and danciong on the sideline. Thats what we used to have but we dont have it anymore. I suggest that is what your staff work on instead of finding guys who "arent afraid to go out at night......" http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt...:en-US%26um%3D1

[Lee Adams]

Akron has some very good talent. Don't confuse the coaching staffs inability to develop and properly utilize the talent with not having any talent.

Buckzip I like and respect your posts here, but let me challenge you and the other posters who talk about the talent we have on this team. Who exactly are you talking about? Go beyond Wagner, Lemon, Nicely and a couple other frequently-heard names. I'll tell you what I see: slow, soft, small, unathletic, unintelligent players who don't match up well with solid teams and get beat play after play.I see LaFrance signaling "field goal" when the Temple kicker puts it through the Akron uprights on a kick off from the 45 after a terrible face mask penalty by the Zips on the previous play, a Temple touchdown.I see Bowser having a blast on the sideline, as the score is sliding up into the 40s and 50s for Temple, yucking it up with other offensive players as the Info now has about 1,000 people (maybe) left in the stands. Bowser is racing around as if he has no injury, Mr. Prankster and his merry bunch (including the aforementioned LaFrance) while I'm contemplating a brown bag on my head for the next game.I see an entire secondary of tiny little players. I would guess that JD'd intention is that they are small but fast and will cover well down the field. Except that they don't! They don't chuck, they don't cover and they get killed when actual football contact occurs upon their little selves. I'm waiting for one of them to literally be "smote" on contact with larger opposing players one of these weeks, and I don't even really know what "smote" means. I see an undersized D-line (all three of them at a time!) and a well-sized but sluggish and oafish O-line. They both get beat, play after play.I will pass on even commenting on the kickers and the special teams players. I'm not a former college football player or coach, but I see what I see. I see players that don't fit. I see some players who are OK with getting demolished. I see a supposed NFL-type talent playing around with other players who are supposed to be prepping for their next possession. The whole thing has become painful. So, someone please provide specifics regarding the "talent" that is supposedly on this team. Who will magically turn into players when JD disappears?

hard to really assess what a new coach will do with what is left when he shows up...we gotta hope Nicely a nd a very few others do not transfer...i think many of us have believed for several years that a different scheme on defense might help some...problem there is the players recruited were for the current system...might not translate well to a more conventional defense where you need size on the line and at least one BIG backer who can control the middle...same with safeties...the upside next year may actually be on offense...if key players stay..i still find it difficult to believe that an o-line that was good last year all of a sudden got that bad losing one senior...there was more going on with coaching decisions there...quarterback issues,running back issues,no tight end in the offense etc etc..

[72 Roo]

Akron has some very good talent. Don't confuse the coaching staffs inability to develop and properly utilize the talent with not having any talent.

Buckzip I like and respect your posts here, but let me challenge you and the other posters who talk about the talent we have on this team. Who exactly are you talking about? Go beyond Wagner, Lemon, Nicely and a couple other frequently-heard names. I'll tell you what I see: slow, soft, small, unathletic, unintelligent players who don't match up well with solid teams and get beat play after play.I see LaFrance signaling "field goal" when the Temple kicker puts it through the Akron uprights on a kick off from the 45 after a terrible face mask penalty by the Zips on the previous play, a Temple touchdown.I see Bowser having a blast on the sideline, as the score is sliding up into the 40s and 50s for Temple, yucking it up with other offensive players as the Info now has about 1,000 people (maybe) left in the stands. Bowser is racing around as if he has no injury, Mr. Prankster and his merry bunch (including the aforementioned LaFrance) while I'm contemplating a brown bag on my head for the next game.I see an entire secondary of tiny little players. I would guess that JD'd intention is that they are small but fast and will cover well down the field. Except that they don't! They don't chuck, they don't cover and they get killed when actual football contact occurs upon their little selves. I'm waiting for one of them to literally be "smote" on contact with larger opposing players one of these weeks, and I don't even really know what "smote" means. I see an undersized D-line (all three of them at a time!) and a well-sized but sluggish and oafish O-line. They both get beat, play after play.I will pass on even commenting on the kickers and the special teams players. I'm not a former college football player or coach, but I see what I see. I see players that don't fit. I see some players who are OK with getting demolished. I see a supposed NFL-type talent playing around with other players who are supposed to be prepping for their next possession. The whole thing has become painful. So, someone please provide specifics regarding the "talent" that is supposedly on this team. Who will magically turn into players when JD disappears?

hard to really assess what a new coach will do with what is left when he shows up...we gotta hope Nicely a nd a very few others do not transfer...i think many of us have believed for several years that a different scheme on defense might help some...problem there is the players recruited were for the current system...might not translate well to a more conventional defense where you need size on the line and at least one BIG backer who can control the middle...same with safeties...the upside next year may actually be on offense...if key players stay..i still find it difficult to believe that an o-line that was good last year all of a sudden got that bad losing one senior...there was more going on with coaching decisions there...quarterback issues,running back issues,no tight end in the offense etc etc..

Lee, the answer to the O-line is simple ...... they weren't that good last year. How quickly we forget. In games where we absolutely had to run i.e. Buffalo, Cinci, Temple, we couldn't because they couldn't block. So this year is a continuation of last. That is why this coaching staff has got to go. Our team is not getting better each year. All we have is excuses. No results.

[RACER]

in defense of nicely we have no running game.allen is not the same rb with all the injuries.tuzze is a fullback playing tb.i think our best rb torrence sat on the bench because he fumbles? i happen to see almost every skill player we had put the ball on the turf against temple.we have about six guys who can play against temple.wagner,nicely,sewell,jones,odifin,tuzze.tuzze would play on short yardage.the other players would not see the field if they played on temples team.our defensebackfield is way to small,and slow.how can you let somebody beat you deep on 3rd and long.somehow are defense gives up3rd long all the time.we lose almost all of our wr this year.we have enough talent coming back with the right coach to compete with some teams in the mac(miami, eastern, ball state,Can't,wmu, toledo ect.)the top mac teams we are along way off in terms of talent.we need to find the right coach.if that means waiting a few weeksafter the season then the zips need to do this.i hope they don't rush into hiring someone because they can take the job right away.they need to look at the top 1-aa coaches.most of the top 1-aa teams could beat the zips right now so im sure top 1-aa coaches are qualifed for the akron job.

[GP1]

"Calling is what Temple has a "campus" is being generous. I've been there. It's just sort of a part of the city that bridges two slums.Could it be that Temple is winning because they are recruiting EXACTLY the type of player that is not afraid to go out at night around their campus? We're busy recruiting "players we can all be proud of"....we all know what that means."Wow, what an absolutely ignorant, profoundly stupid comment. I've attached a link with nightime pics of our campus for the edification of posters who want to make an objective opinion.I didn't get to Fri's game but was in Akron 2 years ago and obviously saw last year's game. Temple's players have all worked their ass off to get to the point we are at now. Our players physical fitness levels are the result of incerdible effort and work. Players bought into the program of community service, classwork and dedication to blowing up the terrible football reputation we earned. We have a good team because we have good football players, not players who "not afraid to go out at night."I think Akron has a nice young nucleus to build around. But I also saw some of the same nonsense I used to see at Temple. That DB who made a couple plays early but also was repeatedly burned making his flamboyant "show me the $$$" gestures....that was funny. Players laughing and clapping and danciong on the sideline. Thats what we used to have but we dont have it anymore. I suggest that is what your staff work on instead of finding guys who "arent afraid to go out at night......" http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt...:en-US%26um%3D1

Thank you for your post. I've been to the campus and I stand by what I said. I've been to Philadelphia and the place should be pushed into the Delaware River. The only good thing about Philadelphia is you can easily fly there and quickly drive to Atlantic City. I don't disagree we have too many guys who are satisfied with losing....it is the history of our program.We have a QB named Nicely....I want a bunch of players named Angry. That, along with a lot of other reasons is why you guys are better and will be for a long time.Congratulations on your win.

[GP1]

the top mac teams we are along way off in terms of talent

The two best talent teams in the MAC right now are Temple and CMU. CMU will lose their QB next yera and be back to being average. Temple will continue to be good. Our problem is we are once again, a good team in the MAC in the same division as the best team in the MAC....Just like we were with Marshall a few years ago. With that said, we can still be good enough next year to make a bowl.

[johnnyzip84]

Akron has some very good talent. Don't confuse the coaching staffs inability to develop and properly utilize the talent with not having any talent.

Buckzip I like and respect your posts here, but let me challenge you and the other posters who talk about the talent we have on this team. Who exactly are you talking about? Go beyond Wagner, Lemon, Nicely and a couple other frequently-heard names. I'll tell you what I see: slow, soft, small, unathletic, unintelligent players who don't match up well with solid teams and get beat play after play.I see LaFrance signaling "field goal" when the Temple kicker puts it through the Akron uprights on a kick off from the 45 after a terrible face mask penalty by the Zips on the previous play, a Temple touchdown.I see Bowser having a blast on the sideline, as the score is sliding up into the 40s and 50s for Temple, yucking it up with other offensive players as the Info now has about 1,000 people (maybe) left in the stands. Bowser is racing around as if he has no injury, Mr. Prankster and his merry bunch (including the aforementioned LaFrance) while I'm contemplating a brown bag on my head for the next game.So, someone please provide specifics regarding the "talent" that is supposedly on this team. Who will magically turn into players when JD disappears?

Regarding LaFrance's mock FG gesture, I also thought it to be somewhat sickening. But where was the special teams coach grabbing him by the facemask and letting him hear about it once he got back to the sidelines? The next HC needs to run a tighter ship in that regard.As far as talent on the team, I don't see how you can leave out Almondo Sewell, who is probably the second best Zip D-Lineman in history IMHO. His game might not translate to the next level, but I'm sure EVERY MAC coach would love to have him. I would really like to see how he would perform in a 4-man front. Hazime looks like a keeper to me as well. Harvey has shown promise at 6'4" 290 LB. Jalil Carter is talented, but needs to be more consitent. The one kid who has impressed me lately is Safety Kevin Davis. This guy actually HITS coming out of the secondary (something we haven't seen since the Dwight Smith days).On offense, I believe the O-Line has enough ability that it could be overhauled rather quickly. The QB spot is a given. Alexander and Torrence have shown flushes. Beyond LaFrance, the receivers are somewhat unknown. So this needs to be an area of focus for the next guy.

[Dave in Green]

Good input from the Temple fans. It helped focus my attention on a key element that affects so many aspects of a football program: discipline. This is a quality that begins with the coaching staff. They must be disciplined themselves, and they must drill it into all the players.The Temple team performed like a precision military drill team both on the field and on the sideline. By comparison, the Zips looked like a rag-tag bunch of individuals running around doing their own things, both on the field and on the sideline.I have no doubt that the Temple coaching staff takes a highly disciplined approach with their players, and wonder how the Zips players would perform had they been trained by the Temple coaching staff or one with a similar focus on discipline?

[Lee Adams]

this season reminds me of faust's last year...the players finally realized the coach was gone and eventually played 'not to get hurt'..i remeber the Eastren Michigan game...when they were the hurons...just knocked the crap out of jerry's kids...

[GP1]

this season reminds me of faust's last year...the players finally realized the coach was gone and eventually played 'not to get hurt'..i remeber the Eastren Michigan game...when they were the hurons...just knocked the crap out of jerry's kids...

A couple of weeks ago my wife and I drove up to the NC mountains (near Western Carolina University if anyone knows where that is) to take a train ride and watch the leaves change. Part of the ride takes you buy where they filmed the scene from The Fugitive with Harrison Ford where he jumps from the train track and the train crashes into the prison buss. The two trains they crashed are still there stuck in the mud with the two buses painted Illinois Department of Corrections.When I think of this season, I'll think of that train ride and the trainwreck we saw.I really don't think the kids have quit. They were completely overmatched last week by a team that had more talent and a ton on the line. Temple is on a roll and things got out of control. They don't go from playing their butts off one week to giving up the next week.

[ZachTheZip]

They don't go from playing their butts off one week to giving up the next week.

They could if they heard news that we don't have access to. Players are the first ones to know when a coach is going to be gone.

[GP1]

They don't go from playing their butts off one week to giving up the next week.

They could if they heard news that we don't have access to. Players are the first ones to know when a coach is going to be gone.

I'm sure they had figured that one out long before last week.

[jaycevs]

We will find out tomorrow at 5:30 if we have quit.

[Zipmeister]

this season reminds me of faust's last year...the players finally realized the coach was gone and eventually played 'not to get hurt'..i remeber the Eastren Michigan game...when they were the hurons...just knocked the crap out of jerry's kids...

I was thinking the same thing.

[ZachTheZip]

Ah, the good old days.

have the players quit on the new coach already? It took them six years to quit on JD.

[RACER]

gp i give you credit for having faith in the current players.reality set in after the lose to g.w. on how bad we are.

[ZachTheZip]

wonder how the Zips players would perform had they been trained by the Temple coaching staff or one with a similar focus on discipline?

The answer is "not that great".

[Lee Adams]

wonder how the Zips players would perform had they been trained by the Temple coaching staff or one with a similar focus on discipline?

The answer is "not that great".

The talent level is not here to win against the good MAC teams. But, this team should be at least a little more competetive by now. You can't compare NIU,Temple etc to EMU,BG,Buffalo etc. Akron has enough talent to compete against the bottom of the MAC. They may not win but they should be competetive. And,teams should not be running up 'half a hundred' on them. Whats going on?