Watch Rob Ianello Press Conference (Live at Noon)

[g-mann17]

Terry Pluto wanted Paul Winters

Of course he did. More "feel good" stories about the little engine that almost could.

[Dr Z]

Terry Pluto wanted Paul Winters

That's why he is just a newspaper writer.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Terry Pluto wanted Paul Winters

Sure...it would have given him a slam dunk, sappy "feel good" column. Something like:You're Paul Winters.You played for Akron. You graduated from Akron.You were released from Lee Owens' Akron staff. Your heart was injured. You hurt. You could have quit. But you didn't.Where your alma mater lacked faith, Wayne State didn't. They believed in the hard-working kid from Akron. The kid that practically willed Jim Dennison's teams to victory on 33 different Saturday's during his record setting career. The kid who became a leader on men - Lee Owens record setting offensive coordinator. Lee Owens' confidant. Lee Owens "rock."It was never easy for Paul Gibson Winters, the 8th of 9 kids, born to a single mother who worked nights cleaning...blah blah blah.

[GoZips]

Dang, isn't fun ... trashing Terry Pluto ...!!!!The reality is that Pluto (love him or hate him) wrote the best and most comprehensive article onthe hiring of Ron Ianello of any journalist. Pluto raised the issues all of us are pondering.I found that Pluto actually presented a positive future for coach Ianello. I thank him for his insight.Sure, the Zips coaches have mined NE Ohio and Western PA for generations for talent. To me,the more important question is whether Ianello will recruit and GET a different and better talentthan previous Akron coaches have managed to recruit.As Pluto stated, many have been lost to academics and character issues. This pre-dates Brookhart.And continued under Brookhart. Far too often bad apples were allowed to fester their poison inthe locker room (figure of speech) before being sent packing. There needs to be a zero toleranceattitude that the incoming kids know exists. Not the turn the other cheek philosophy long prosperedin Zippyland.Like most of you, I believe there is a wealth of football talent currently on the Akron team. Stupiddefenses, trick plays and playing favorites, failure to use the depth, doomed this year's team.Along with allowing a known problem child to poison the team and ruin the efforts of many.Its not enough to stay late and even sleep in your office. Many coaches do that and more. To me,the best part I have observed about Ianello is that he presented an optimistic plan that morefavorably impressed Wistrcill than the other candidates did. Vision is important. Just pray thatit is not "pie in the sky" vision, ala obama and his twits.

[cornbread]

...Vision is important. Just pray thatit is not "pie in the sky" vision, ala obama and his twits.

Nobel prize winner, pending economic disaster from previous admin averted, ending war in Iraq, finishing the job in Afghanistan, and now health care for all. I am sure that if he had the time, he would run a progressive style offense with a defense grounded in realism.

[Zip Watcher]

One warning for all. Take politics to the Off-Topic Forum.

[Dave in Green]

..... To me, the more important question is whether Ianello will recruit and GET a different and better talent than previous Akron coaches have managed to recruit.As Pluto stated, many have been lost to academics and character issues. This pre-dates Brookhart. And continued under Brookhart. Far too often bad apples were allowed to fester their poison in the locker room (figure of speech) before being sent packing. There needs to be a zero tolerance attitude that the incoming kids know exists. Not the turn the other cheek philosophy long prospered in Zippyland. .....

When Ianello was given responsibility for football operations at Notre Dame after Weis was fired, he said the following:He stressed that Notre Dame is “about all the right things in college athletics, and that is why you should come to school here.”He talked about Weis meeting with two recruits after the home loss to UConn and how Weis stressed the same message to those recruits – that Notre Dame is a place you go to because of the school and what it stands for, not just the coaching staff.In talking about why recruits choose Notre Dame, Ianello said that recruits come to Notre Dame because: “You come to school here because everybody that comes here is going to get a degree. We graduate everyone that stays here."uhnd.com link

[g-mann17]

..... To me, the more important question is whether Ianello will recruit and GET a different and better talent than previous Akron coaches have managed to recruit.As Pluto stated, many have been lost to academics and character issues. This pre-dates Brookhart. And continued under Brookhart. Far too often bad apples were allowed to fester their poison in the locker room (figure of speech) before being sent packing. There needs to be a zero tolerance attitude that the incoming kids know exists. Not the turn the other cheek philosophy long prospered in Zippyland. .....

When Ianello was given responsibility for football operations at Notre Dame after Weis was fired, he said the following:He stressed that Notre Dame is “about all the right things in college athletics, and that is why you should come to school here.”He talked about Weis meeting with two recruits after the home loss to UConn and how Weis stressed the same message to those recruits – that Notre Dame is a place you go to because of the school and what it stands for, not just the coaching staff.In talking about why recruits choose Notre Dame, Ianello said that recruits come to Notre Dame because: “You come to school here because everybody that comes here is going to get a degree. We graduate everyone that stays here."uhnd.com link

I like that.

[g-mann17]

New York TimesIt's about Kelly, but they only talk to Ianello.

[Z.I.P.]

I think we should give Terry Pluto more appreciation than he ordinarily receives here. For example he's determined how the new coach's wife is going to help revive the dormant football program:His wife, Denise, is a former assistant women's basketball coach at Wisconsin -- so she will be an asset in recruiting. My eyes sure are getting tired

[Z.I.P.]

New York TimesIt's about Kelly, but they only talk to Ianello.

Anyone notice the things being said about Notre Dame, e.g., "The cupboard is not bare in South Bend" sound familar to Zip fans? Is Akron the Notre Dame of the MAC?

[jaycevs]

ND of the MAC? I wish we were the ND of anything, and yes we should take our spot in this conference as the leader and best. I have heard what he said yesterday, and heard the talk before in coaching, etc that this is a place you can win, and an opportunity. To me its a lot like UCF, big school, bigger market than most in the conference really being in NE Ohio. If you can win here and energize this Alumni base, then being the premier school in this conference is there for the taking. I remember a few years ago, when Can't was playing in the Elite 8, trying to go to a sportsbar in Parma, and it was completely full of K.S.U. people, as was most bars and places like that as we tried to go to a few different places that night. It was incredible as I grew up in Ravenna and went to countless Can't State bball games as a kid with maybe 1000 people there. We have the same type of Alumni numbers in this area, and if we can ever wake ours up and keep them awake, then Infocision can be a special place and a difficult place to win, and can get us on a whole different level than the rest of the MAC. To get this rolling, eventually we will need to knock off someone we shouldn't (a top half BCS team, not Syracuse) and then follow it up by winning this conference. A close game at OSU in 2 years or so would help, giving them a scare and making people realize that we play D1(FBS) football up here too.

[ctmjbowes@sbcglobal.net]

..... To me, the more important question is whether Ianello will recruit and GET a different and better talent than previous Akron coaches have managed to recruit.As Pluto stated, many have been lost to academics and character issues. This pre-dates Brookhart. And continued under Brookhart. Far too often bad apples were allowed to fester their poison in the locker room (figure of speech) before being sent packing. There needs to be a zero tolerance attitude that the incoming kids know exists. Not the turn the other cheek philosophy long prospered in Zippyland. .....

When Ianello was given responsibility for football operations at Notre Dame after Weis was fired, he said the following:He stressed that Notre Dame is “about all the right things in college athletics, and that is why you should come to school here.”He talked about Weis meeting with two recruits after the home loss to UConn and how Weis stressed the same message to those recruits – that Notre Dame is a place you go to because of the school and what it stands for, not just the coaching staff.In talking about why recruits choose Notre Dame, Ianello said that recruits come to Notre Dame because: “You come to school here because everybody that comes here is going to get a degree. We graduate everyone that stays here."uhnd.com link

I like that.

Me too, but remember that his schtick is going to have to be different here. Every place, every university, every program has something to sell. Rob is going to have to work aggressively to hone a theme to be used in recruiting for UA. Ideas about what "pitch" might work the best with the kids UA wants in the program?

[MaxZIP]

..... To me, the more important question is whether Ianello will recruit and GET a different and better talent than previous Akron coaches have managed to recruit.As Pluto stated, many have been lost to academics and character issues. This pre-dates Brookhart. And continued under Brookhart. Far too often bad apples were allowed to fester their poison in the locker room (figure of speech) before being sent packing. There needs to be a zero tolerance attitude that the incoming kids know exists. Not the turn the other cheek philosophy long prospered in Zippyland. .....

When Ianello was given responsibility for football operations at Notre Dame after Weis was fired, he said the following:He stressed that Notre Dame is “about all the right things in college athletics, and that is why you should come to school here.”He talked about Weis meeting with two recruits after the home loss to UConn and how Weis stressed the same message to those recruits – that Notre Dame is a place you go to because of the school and what it stands for, not just the coaching staff.In talking about why recruits choose Notre Dame, Ianello said that recruits come to Notre Dame because: “You come to school here because everybody that comes here is going to get a degree. We graduate everyone that stays here."uhnd.com link

I like that.

Me too, but remember that his schtick is going to have to be different here. Every place, every university, every program has something to sell. Rob is going to have to work aggressively to hone a theme to be used in recruiting for UA. Ideas about what "pitch" might work the best with the kids UA wants in the program?

Rob should head over to the JAR and ask KD what he said to get Zeke to commit.

[Dave in Green]

Zeke has already been quoted about what attracted him to UA. He said he wasn't just interested in basketball, but also wanted to get a good education from a school with a nice campus. He said he liked that KD and the coaching staff didn't cuss all the time, and they were like family.

[MaxZIP]

Zeke has already been quoted about what attracted him to UA. He said he wasn't just interested in basketball, but also wanted to get a good education from a school with a nice campus. He said he liked that KD and the coaching staff didn't cuss all the time, and they were like family.

That is what he is quoted as saying he wanted. What did KD say to make him believe that he could get that here. The actual selling points that brought him in.

[ZachTheZip]

Terry Pluto wanted Paul Winters

I ran into this article today again, more than a year later. Re-reading it, this quotes stood out.

It's easier to receive attention from recruits and coaches when you are calling from Notre Dame or Arizona than Akron. Those are the negatives, and most revolve around a lack of experience. That doesn't doom anyone to failure, it just means he's going to have a learning curve that hopefully won't lead to any dead ends.

It seems obvious now, and it was to some of us from the beginning. He was supposed to be one of the best recruiters in the country, but now his recruiting classes are about average for a MAC school. The learning curve almost did lead to a dead end, but he pulled a win out of his @$$ at the last second to save the slightest bit of face.

[Zipgrad01]

Terry Pluto wanted Paul Winters

I ran into this article today again, more than a year later. Re-reading it, this quotes stood out.

It's easier to receive attention from recruits and coaches when you are calling from Notre Dame or Arizona than Akron. Those are the negatives, and most revolve around a lack of experience. That doesn't doom anyone to failure, it just means he's going to have a learning curve that hopefully won't lead to any dead ends.

It seems obvious now, and it was to some of us from the beginning. He was supposed to be one of the best recruiters in the country, but now his recruiting classes are about average for a MAC school. The learning curve almost did lead to a dead end, but he pulled a win out of his @$$ at the last second to save the slightest bit of face.

How do you know that his recruiting classes are average, because Rivals says so? If you look at last years class, most of the guys that were Brookhart verbals did nothing. In the short time that he had to recruit he brought in some young guys that show promise. I think we need to see his classes on the field before we make comments like this.

[a-zip]

Zeke has already been quoted about what attracted him to UA. He said he wasn't just interested in basketball, but also wanted to get a good education from a school with a nice campus. He said he liked that KD and the coaching staff didn't cuss all the time, and they were like family.

That is what he is quoted as saying he wanted. What did KD say to make him believe that he could get that here. The actual selling points that brought him in.

Better yet. Why not ask Caleb what he had done to attract the top recuiting CLASSES in the country.