Fanhouse/McManamon with Ianello, Wistrcill

[JoeT]

Article on Fanhouse by McManamon on the football team.

Do we agree with what they're saying?

http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2010/11/0...nd-build-progr/

[Zips fan]

No! I don't agree. I think Ianello is not a good fit here and has taken a team with some potential to have a decent season to the bottom of I-A football in one year. I don't think things are going in a good direction and hope that The University of Akron will take the steps necessary to put us on a path toward another MAC Championship. I think that Ianello is a flop as a head coach and the sooner we can fix this error the better.

[you am i]

TW's statement that what is happening this season has "strengthened" his belief that RI is the right man for the job is ridiculous. He must really believe that people are stupid.

I still have some small bit of hope left that RI's hiring will somehow work out OK in the end, but absolutely nothing that has happened this year has "strengthened" my belief that it will.

TW, if you read this, you sound like a moron when you say that stuff. Don't patronize your fan base. You just p*** people off even more than they are already.

[RootforRoo44]

This whole piece is a slap in the face to anyone who roots for akron football.

TW is obviously insane.

[zen]

this is simple.... because of the absolutely ridiculous performance this season, RI's term has shortened to just two years.

So........... one year from now, if he has 3 or 4 wins, this article prophesies a turn.

If a year form now, things look just as dismal, it prophesies not only the investment in the coach as a faulty hope, but also the fall of an AD.

Good luck TW. You just got RI one more year.

Hope he saves it for you.

[akron football]

Ask PN7 how he feels about this year, look at that picture and tell me how you would feel getting piledrived over 30 times so far this season.

[ZipRoo]

Ianello displays his award from Tom Wistrcill for Strengthening the Akron Football Program by going 0-10, while alienating players, fans and colleagues. A rare feat, made possible only in Zip Bizarro Land.

[Buckzip]

How is it we only have 58 players on the travel squad?

[GoZips88]

How is it we only have 58 players on the travel squad?

'cause iCoach only needs 11 on the field at any given time to look totally inept?

[ZachTheZip]

How is it we only have 58 players on the travel squad?

There are only 84 players on the roster at this point. Redshirts and walk-ons don't usually travel. Plus any player in the doghouse , which there seems to be a lot of.

[xu9697]

I wonder what we would have seen on fan boards from Temple and Miami (if they exist!) when those teams were at their depths. I have mentioned it before...Miami was 1-11 last year with a 1st year coach. They now stand at 5-4 in year 2. Temple was horrible for so long before Golden.

I have seen what you have seen= team looks bad, unmotivated at times, QB situation remains a mystery (not even 1 shot for Rodgers), etc. But, maybe it is true...maybe our WR do lack talent, OLine is incredibly untalented/lacking in depth, defensive backfield is just bad, etc.

Even if you look at the Browns/Mangini...and I know NFL and FBS are not the same...Mangini started 1-11 here, and is since 7-5.

If Ianallo continues to suck it up into the middle of next year, I will be all aboard the kick this guy as far as possible. But considering where we are, where we have been and the reality of the situation, I am not going to say there is NO CHANCE this guy cannot succeed here.

[johnnyzip84]

I wonder what we would have seen on fan boards from Temple and Miami (if they exist!) when those teams were at their depths. I have mentioned it before...Miami was 1-11 last year with a 1st year coach. They now stand at 5-4 in year 2. Temple was horrible for so long before Golden.

I have seen what you have seen= team looks bad, unmotivated at times, QB situation remains a mystery (not even 1 shot for Rodgers), etc. But, maybe it is true...maybe our WR do lack talent, OLine is incredibly untalented/lacking in depth, defensive backfield is just bad, etc.

Even if you look at the Browns/Mangini...and I know NFL and FBS are not the same...Mangini started 1-11 here, and is since 7-5.

If Ianallo continues to suck it up into the middle of next year, I will be all aboard the kick this guy as far as possible. But considering where we are, where we have been and the reality of the situation, I am not going to say there is NO CHANCE this guy cannot succeed here.

+1

I didn't like the hire, but I'm also willing to admit that I'm just a clueless fan for the most part. If you recall, Syracuse ran into a severe numbers problem not long after Marrone arrived as well. Let's see what happens over the last two games and heading into next year. I'll say this. For the most part, the freshmen he has brought in (Holmes, Russell, Hall, Sconiers, Bailey) have all shown SOME promise over the course of the year. I just wish Georgio had decided to stick around.

[ZipRoo]

"Seriously? You guys are willing to gamble with me another year? Heh, heh....wellllll, there's one born every minute."

[Wally B]

I wonder what we would have seen on fan boards from Temple and Miami (if they exist!) when those teams were at their depths. I have mentioned it before...Miami was 1-11 last year with a 1st year coach. They now stand at 5-4 in year 2. Temple was horrible for so long before Golden.

I have seen what you have seen= team looks bad, unmotivated at times, QB situation remains a mystery (not even 1 shot for Rodgers), etc. But, maybe it is true...maybe our WR do lack talent, OLine is incredibly untalented/lacking in depth, defensive backfield is just bad, etc.

Even if you look at the Browns/Mangini...and I know NFL and FBS are not the same...Mangini started 1-11 here, and is since 7-5.

If Ianallo continues to suck it up into the middle of next year, I will be all aboard the kick this guy as far as possible. But considering where we are, where we have been and the reality of the situation, I am not going to say there is NO CHANCE this guy cannot succeed here.

+1

I didn't like the hire, but I'm also willing to admit that I'm just a clueless fan for the most part. If you recall, Syracuse ran into a severe numbers problem not long after Marrone arrived as well. Let's see what happens over the last two games and heading into next year. I'll say this. For the most part, the freshmen he has brought in (Holmes, Russell, Hall, Sconiers, Bailey) have all shown SOME promise over the course of the year. I just wish Georgio had decided to stick around.

I too am reserving my final judgement... for now. I'm really interested in what comes out of the off-season and how players develop in the first half of 2011. That said a win this year would go a long way!

[Hilltopper]

I wonder what we would have seen on fan boards from Temple and Miami (if they exist!) when those teams were at their depths.

Here you go, you can look for your self.

Miami

Temple

[Dr Z]

I Dissagree:

"The adversity we are facing now will only make us better in the future," Ianello said. "It should make us more appreciative of things in the future. It would also, I would think, make us strongly not want us to be here again."

I Agree:

"Fans of our program, the strong supporters of Zips football, understand that it wasn't working before," Ianello said. "How do you grow the program? Well you make changes to grow the program and you have to work those changes. I think the supporters of our program, the fans of Zips football, understand it's a process that you have to go through to play championship football."

I Dissagree:

Ianello understands fans will not see the improvements that he's seeing

I Agree:

He maintains that he will be able to recruit well no matter the record this season, and he understands that Akron has a lot to sell for its size. Its facilities and stadium are among the best in the MAC.

Bottom Line:

He is not concerned about his job security, and Wistrcill made it clear he does not need to be worried.

File It Away:

He tells fans their patience will be rewarded.

[GP1]

I Dissagree:

"The adversity we are facing now will only make us better in the future," Ianello said. "It should make us more appreciative of things in the future. It would also, I would think, make us strongly not want us to be here again."

I Agree:

"Fans of our program, the strong supporters of Zips football, understand that it wasn't working before," Ianello said. "How do you grow the program? Well you make changes to grow the program and you have to work those changes. I think the supporters of our program, the fans of Zips football, understand it's a process that you have to go through to play championship football."

I Dissagree:

Ianello understands fans will not see the improvements that he's seeing

I Agree:

He maintains that he will be able to recruit well no matter the record this season, and he understands that Akron has a lot to sell for its size. Its facilities and stadium are among the best in the MAC.

I generally agree with your review DrZ.

Adversity makes you stronger if you prevail against the adversity. Right now, the players are just learning a great Zips tradition, which is finding ever more creative ways of losing. We are extremely good at finding unusual ways to lose. We are the Charlie Browniest of all D-1A schools.

We know it wasn't working and we understand we are behind the 8-ball. We also understand we have been in a constant "building process" for 20+ years and want winning sooner rather than later. I personally don't want to be reading the "building process" crap three years from now. A team can turn things around quickly in the mac. We need a fast "building process" with results at the end of the process. Results as in winning more than losing.

Fans may not know exactly how a team got better, but they know crap when they see it. When we no longer see crap, we will know the team is getting better.

If they do lose 12, they will have trouble recruiting and they will just have to work harder at it. They will just need to work harder at selling the program.

[Lee Adams]

I wonder what we would have seen on fan boards from Temple and Miami (if they exist!) when those teams were at their depths. I have mentioned it before...Miami was 1-11 last year with a 1st year coach. They now stand at 5-4 in year 2. Temple was horrible for so long before Golden.

I have seen what you have seen= team looks bad, unmotivated at times, QB situation remains a mystery (not even 1 shot for Rodgers), etc. But, maybe it is true...maybe our WR do lack talent, OLine is incredibly untalented/lacking in depth, defensive backfield is just bad, etc.

Even if you look at the Browns/Mangini...and I know NFL and FBS are not the same...Mangini started 1-11 here, and is since 7-5.

If Ianallo continues to suck it up into the middle of next year, I will be all aboard the kick this guy as far as possible. But considering where we are, where we have been and the reality of the situation, I am not going to say there is NO CHANCE this guy cannot succeed here.

It doesn't matter if there is 'no chance next year'. Ianello will be here. It doesn't matter whether he can 'coach' or not. He will be here. The AD who hired him is not going to fire him now unless god(LP) tells him to do so. There will not be a winning season at Akron(unless the waters part or there is some other divine intervention) for at least 2 more years. The coach knows it and the AD knows it.

[Lee Adams]

I Dissagree:

"The adversity we are facing now will only make us better in the future," Ianello said. "It should make us more appreciative of things in the future. It would also, I would think, make us strongly not want us to be here again."

I Agree:

"Fans of our program, the strong supporters of Zips football, understand that it wasn't working before," Ianello said. "How do you grow the program? Well you make changes to grow the program and you have to work those changes. I think the supporters of our program, the fans of Zips football, understand it's a process that you have to go through to play championship football."

I Dissagree:

Ianello understands fans will not see the improvements that he's seeing

I Agree:

He maintains that he will be able to recruit well no matter the record this season, and he understands that Akron has a lot to sell for its size. Its facilities and stadium are among the best in the MAC.

I generally agree with your review DrZ.

Adversity makes you stronger if you prevail against the adversity. Right now, the players are just learning a great Zips tradition, which is finding ever more creative ways of losing. We are extremely good at finding unusual ways to lose. We are the Charlie Browniest of all D-1A schools.

We know it wasn't working and we understand we are behind the 8-ball. We also understand we have been in a constant "building process" for 20+ years and want winning sooner rather than later. I personally don't want to be reading the "building process" crap three years from now. A team can turn things around quickly in the mac. We need a fast "building process" with results at the end of the process. Results as in winning more than losing.

Fans may not know exactly how a team got better, but they know crap when they see it. When we no longer see crap, we will know the team is getting better.

If they do lose 12, they will have trouble recruiting and they will just have to work harder at it. They will just need to work harder at selling the program.

[zipseuph]

again, name something that has improved over the year? (and no capt, punting doesn't count )

[ZipGrad93]

again, name something that has improved over the year? (and no capt, punting doesn't count )

We'll have a windfall in the athletic budget from all of the scholarship players that have left the team?

[ZippyforPresident]

I know that I've been as critical of Ianello as anyone, but I actually think I've come full circle at this point and after some observations I'm in the camp that Ianello needs more than one season to prove himself.

Here's why:

After ten weeks into the season, observing everything that has gone on, including Ianello's reactions to the losses, the numbers of players either quitting or being removed from the team and if there is even the slightest shred of truth to the content of both his and AD Wistrcill's interviews with the media, it leads me to believe one thing:

I believe that they absolutely expected the season we're having. I think probably starting with Rob's interview for the coaching position he had it outlined in his "master plan" of building/re-building Akron football that he was just going to have to implode the entire thing and start from scratch. Sure, I bet Rob thought it probably would have been great if we could have won 3 or 4 games along the way, but this season is a result of the radical changes (both off the field and schematically on the field) and weeding out of whatever undesirable aspects Ianelllo felt still remained as part of the program. (just look at some of the talent in key positions that has vacated).

I think he absolutely saw this coming and from what I've observed as far as his expectations of the players, their conduct, their academics, their respect for the community and the resulting mass exodus of players from the team, I think that goes a long way in supporting this hypothesis. The guy just isn't going to tolerate players that are unwilling to respect his rules and maybe those guys just couldn't hack it as far as what his demands are. Maybe that's a good thing?

Take Senior Linebacker Mike Thomas's comments from the Fanhouse article (link posted in thread previous).

- Mike said players had to adjust, but he said he respects Ianello's approach because it will help in the long run:

"Having a strict system that we have to abide by every day," Thomas said "That's going to help out a lot. That's something that we kind of didn't have before. ... (Is he) tougher? Yes. Demanding? Yes. That's just his style. I respect him. I respect that."

I also think that Ianello is really looking toward Al Golden as far as what he is trying to "build" here.

After 10 weeks of suffering through this garbage I'll leave you all with this: "Well, you know what my dad always said, having dreams is what makes life tolerable."

Ten "scene/fan" points to whoever knows what that quote came from. Hint: I'll be taking a road trip to that college town for a football game this weekend while the zips are on their 11 day "bye week" or whatever. I'm actually pretty stoked, as the Zips have never given me occasion to travel to this historic stadium.

See y'all at the Basketball home opener on Friday!

[Zipmeister]

I know that I've been as critical of Ianello as anyone, but I actually think I've come full circle at this point and after some observations I'm in the camp that Ianello needs more than one season to prove himself.

Here's why:

After ten weeks into the season, observing everything that has gone on, including Ianello's reactions to the losses, the numbers of players either quitting or being removed from the team and if there is even the slightest shred of truth to the content of both his and AD Wistrcill's interviews with the media, it leads me to believe one thing:

I believe that they absolutely expected the season we're having. I think probably starting with Rob's interview for the coaching position he had it outlined in his "master plan" of building/re-building Akron football that he was just going to have to implode the entire thing and start from scratch. Sure, I bet Rob thought it probably would have been great if we could have won 3 or 4 games along the way, but this season is a result of the radical changes (both off the field and schematically on the field) and weeding out of whatever undesirable aspects Ianelllo felt still remained as part of the program. (just look at some of the talent in key positions that has vacated).

I think he absolutely saw this coming and from what I've observed as far as his expectations of the players, their conduct, their academics, their respect for the community and the resulting mass exodus of players from the team, I think that goes a long way in supporting this hypothesis. The guy just isn't going to tolerate players that are unwilling to respect his rules and maybe those guys just couldn't hack it as far as what his demands are. Maybe that's a good thing?

Take Senior Linebacker Mike Thomas's comments from the Fanhouse article (link posted in thread previous).

- Mike said players had to adjust, but he said he respects Ianello's approach because it will help in the long run:

"Having a strict system that we have to abide by every day," Thomas said "That's going to help out a lot. That's something that we kind of didn't have before. ... (Is he) tougher? Yes. Demanding? Yes. That's just his style. I respect him. I respect that."

I also think that Ianello is really looking toward Al Golden as far as what he is trying to "build" here.

After 10 weeks of suffering through this garbage I'll leave you all with this: "Well, you know what my dad always said, having dreams is what makes life tolerable."

Ten "scene/fan" points to whoever knows what that quote came from. Hint: I'll be taking a road trip to that college town for a football game this weekend while the zips are on their 11 day "bye week" or whatever. I'm actually pretty stoked, as the Zips have never given me occasion to travel to this historic stadium.

See y'all at the Basketball home opener on Friday!

I believe your Dad used to say that.

[ZippyforPresident]

Ummmm. . . Yeah, totally. . . That was really perceptive?

That makes sense given your emboldened words. . .

Hint: "whoever knows WHAT that quote came from."

[Dave in Green]

Finding out where quotes came from is no longer the challenge it used to be before internet search engines.