Rob Ianello's Initial Time Spent at UA

[johnnyzip84]

Tom Gaffney has a nice, pretty in-depth, article about Rob's initial dealings as head coach of the Zips. GP1, hopefully you can look past the use of the "R" word just this once.BJ Linky

[Captain Kangaroo]

Tom Gaffney has a nice, pretty in-depth, article about Rob's initial dealings as head coach of the Zips. GP1, hopefully you can look past the use of the "R" word just this once.BJ Linky

Great story.

[Dr Z]

In-depth, informative and enjoyable, thanks Tom!

[MaxZIP]

RI seems like a good man with a plan. I hope his plan is as good as the man (seems to be). Go zips!

[GoZips]

Agreed. An excellent all round article.One thing sits well with me. No Florida kids. Don't take that wrong. Florida produces great football players. Kids who have neverplayed in cold weather. All these northern kids are experienced with cold. This willbenefit the Zips in the late season games. I like it.Sounds like coach Ron is doing an excellent job.See you all at the Spring game.Go Zips...!!!!

[MaxZIP]

Agreed. An excellent all round article.One thing sits well with me. No Florida kids. Don't take that wrong. Florida produces great football players. Kids who have neverplayed in cold weather. All these northern kids are experienced with cold. This willbenefit the Zips in the late season games. I like it.Go Zips...!!!!

That is especially true considering that we will probably never be in a bowl game that is played in warm weather

[MDZip]

I think we have to give the Beacon Journal, that's right, I said it, BEACON JOURNAL, some credit because their coverage of the Zips has seen an uptick in recent years. There are a lot more stories about the Zips than I ever remember before. I know there is some ways to go yet, but gove them credit, there have been a lot of stories lately that weren't directly about games being played.

[Dave in Green]

Outstanding in-depth feature. I can say from personal experience that a huge amount of time and research goes into writing a story with this level of detail. The fact-checking alone can be overwhelming.It's funny, but I've been through this so many times over the years. I've adopted many teams across the country in the different areas where I've lived, and been through so many coaching changes. I've been optimistic so many times, and let down so many times. I know exactly why many longtime Zips fans are so reluctant to get excited that this coaching change will be any different from all the previous changes.Well, maybe it won't. There are no guarantees in life, especially when it comes to turning a losing football program into a winner. But with each additional chapter I read on RI, my optimism rises another degree. I just really like the combination of a smart, youthful, energetic, organized, methodical, people-oriented family man as a head coach. When I read RI's rationale for doing various things, I don't immediately think of ways that would be obvious to me to have done it better.What results do I expect from the new head coach and the new staff he has assembled? I expect an immediate change in player attitude. I expect the players to be better prepared, more disciplined and more enthusiastic. I expect they will mesh better as a team, and be more competitive in every game. I expect a better record this season than last.But I don't expect a dramatic and turnaround in the win-loss column. I expect the Zips to win 2 or 3 more games this season. That would make them 5-7 or 6-6. Anything better than 6-6 would exceed my expectations for RI's first season. The following seasons, as he has more time to put his mark on the program, my expectations will be higher.

[Captain Kangaroo]

I think we have to give the Beacon Journal, that's right, I said it, BEACON JOURNAL, some credit because their coverage of the Zips has seen an uptick in recent years. There are a lot more stories about the Zips than I ever remember before. I know there is some ways to go yet, but gove them credit, there have been a lot of stories lately that weren't directly about games being played.

I think we did give them credit?

[johnnyzip84]

Outstanding in-depth feature. I can say from personal experience that a huge amount of time and research goes into writing a story with this level of detail. The fact-checking alone can be overwhelming.

Who knew the coach of the Steubenville Big Red was a UA grad??? We need to start tapping into that pipeline (and obviously RI agrees).

[zff]

Who knew the coach of the Steubenville Big Red was a UA grad??? We need to start tapping into that pipeline (and obviously RI agrees).

This was the best part of the article for me. I have always wondered why no kids from Steubenville come to Akron. Nate Johnson, from the Owens era, was last one I can think of.

[ZachTheZip]

Who knew the coach of the Steubenville Big Red was a UA grad??? We need to start tapping into that pipeline (and obviously RI agrees).

Maybe it worked against us in the past. Being a UA grad meant seeing the Rubber Bowl, the lack of practice fields, the derelict academic buildings, and the lack of community interest. Most of those things are changed.

[MDZip]

I think we have to give the Beacon Journal, that's right, I said it, BEACON JOURNAL, some credit because their coverage of the Zips has seen an uptick in recent years. There are a lot more stories about the Zips than I ever remember before. I know there is some ways to go yet, but gove them credit, there have been a lot of stories lately that weren't directly about games being played.

I think we did give them credit?

You're very literal (or my English classes at UA didn't prepare me as well as I thought they did) . I didn't mean for this specific article, I meant it more as general reference for posters I've seen who seem to dump all over the BJ at every chance where they perceive an "injustice" has been done. I think the BJ has done a pretty good job lately of covering Zips sports (and UA in general) despite what to me seems to be a prevailing sentiment. I just thought we ought to give some kudos for the overall job they've been doing.

[ZachTheZip]

I can't remember specifically the last time there wasn't a Zips-related article somewhere on the front page of the sports section. It's been at least a few months. People need to stop crapping all over the Beacon Journal. This was a good, in depth article.

[zip37]

Seems like RI has a well developed plan, seems to be time efficient [a lot of people aren't] that's impressive.

[Z.I.P.]

"Tom, have you met my wife, Dove?" She's looking for a job, too! http://www.pac-10.org/sports/w-baskbl/spec.../041403aaa.html-edit- Notice the website? When did Wisconsin join the Pac-10?

[MaxZIP]

"Tom, have you met my wife, Dove?" She's looking for a job, too! http://www.pac-10.org/sports/w-baskbl/spec.../041403aaa.html-edit- Notice the website? When did Wisconsin join the Pac-10?

Sign her up and make Akron and Ianello family affair! The Lady Zips are having one hell of a season. I am sure she could help.

[Captain Kangaroo]

People need to stop crapping all over the Beacon Journal. This was a good, in depth article.

Again...they aren't. People are actually praising the writer.That's the reason I pushed the positive thread "tone." I too hate the people who pile on a coach/team after a loss. But, are no where to be seen after a win. Ditto the Beacon bashing.The ABJ treated fans of Zips' athletics like dogs for many years. That's a big reason why ZipsNation arose...a bunch of us were tired of sitting on our thumbs waiting for the Beacon to acknowledge our programs. If they didn't want to write about the Zips, then we would.The ABJ has changed. The past two-or-so years we've been given a pretty fair shake. Hopefully it continues.

[GP1]

Tom Gaffney has a nice, pretty in-depth, article about Rob's initial dealings as head coach of the Zips. GP1, hopefully you can look past the use of the "R" word just this once.BJ Linky

I'll let is slide this once. After all, the coach did not make the comment, the writer did.

[mes102]

RI's wife is a better recruit than RI according to RI? Wow!!!!!!!!! I hope Coach Kest reads the football posts on here...

[johnnyzip84]

RI continuing to foster the good relationships with certain HS coaches.Link

[tbozeglav]

RI continuing to foster the good relationships with certain HS coaches.Link

I would like to have a word with the person who designed that pamphlet they made for the event...

[MDZip]

RI continuing to foster the good relationships with certain HS coaches.Link

I would like to have a word with the person who designed that pamphlet they made for the event...

What didn't you like about it? Didn't look that bad to me.

[tbozeglav]

What didn't you like about it? Didn't look that bad to me.

Quite honestly looks like it was thrown together in 20 minutes time. With a little more effort, you could have it look 100x better. Throw in the school's colors as a background using the UA shapes (that arch thing... for lack of a better word) and use some UA fonts. It just looks unprofessional to me. I know my opinion means nothing, I just wish the athletic department would make that extra effort to make the little things look better. To me, its the little things that matter most.

[zippy_ua_00]

"Tom, have you met my wife, Dove?" She's looking for a job, too! http://www.pac-10.org/sports/w-baskbl/spec.../041403aaa.html-edit- Notice the website? When did Wisconsin join the Pac-10?

Im taking a guess at this but the reason they are posting wisconsin signing a coach is because that coach was formally a coach at arizona. arizona is a pac-10 team.