Ken Lolla accepts job at Louisville

[a-zip]

A-zip, unless you are also QuickZip as an alias and are double posting

I do not have a "Dissociative Identity Disorder" I don't claim to be right. I give my opinions and don't feel compelled to support them under an alias....that would be redundant.

Nice lack of gratitude to a guy that took our alma mater to a number one ranking, the NCAA's, and several MAC championships.

I thanked Ken with my support over the years. I also praised UofA for giving him an extension and in a post I made months ago. My quote is below....

Now that is what I am talking about! Keeping great coaches around! Low and behold, a top recruit follows! GREAT MOVE!  Coach Lolla Extension

New Recruit

I just think people calling him out here are ridiculous and make Akron look ridiculous. Every good soccer coach who would be looking at this job as a step up are probably reading these boards, and those who personally attack Coach Lolla, a fine individual, for making what is surely a decision based on ALL the facts (not just those a bunch of fans can dream up) make all of us look pretty unappealing and idiotic.

But hey, keep it up. Maybe we can get a DIII assistant to apply for the job.

I hope prospective coaches look at the posts and say "this is a passionate fan base and institution that is hungry for a champion"

I have one overlying message in most posts I have made. WE NEED TO KEEP GOOD PEOPLE AROUND. I said it about Brookhart, Dambrot, Lolla and Thomas. If it is money, PAY EM', build smaller stadiums with room for expansion, when they are consistently filled, expand them. If a 40,000 seat stadium costs $60 mill and a 30,000 seat stadium costs $45 mill, take the $15 mill saved and lock up these great coaches. It appears as though that is what the school tried to do with Coach Lolla.

Call me foolish, but I sincerely believe Akron can consistently compete in post season in all sports.

[zipper]

Well I agree with much of what you say. I also believe Akron can compete on the field nationally, but economics is the only thing that gets in the way, especially with sports like football and men's basketball. The jump in pay goes from around 100-200K to MILLIONS. Most MAC budgets cannot absorb that, I would guess.

And I don't know if potential coach candidates reading this think, "Hey, fuck Lolla," is a passionate fan or an asshole fan, though

[zipsfan38]

maybe Lolla left because he did not know who his next boss was going to be and if they would be supportive of men's soccer the same way Thomas was. Even thouh UAM is interim AD any promise he makes to KL would only hold up if the new AD agrees to it.

It is hard to keep a great coach if there is not a great permanent leader in place.

I wish only the best to Ken and his family. They are truly good people.

GO Zips Soccer. The longest tradition of success at The University of Akron.

[a-zip]

Nice talking with you Zipper.

Keep one thing in mind...Coach Lolla will be using his success and experience at Akron to recruit against us and beat us. So for me to wish him well would be hypocritical.

LETS GET SHAUN DOCKING NOW, finish and lock up our recruits so we don't miss a beat!

Shaun Docking Bio

[Zipsrifle]

For whatever reason Lolla decided to move on, it was the best move for him and his family. In the end, it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks, it was his decision and he made it. I myself am in a similar situation right now. I have a killer job, but am moving on to a new one. Everyone looks at me if I'm crazy, but it is the best decision for my family and I and it doesn't matter what anyone thinks. He has his own life, he can do what he wants with it, your input means nothing!

I feel very blessed that Coach Lolla had the opporuntity to bring Akron into the national spotlight. We will be able to grab the top coaching talent in the nation due to this departure. Looks like we've got a loaded team, so we should be in good shape for a while.

Thanks Coach! You will be missed!

[zipalong]

All of you making negative comments about Ken Lolla probably never attended a soccer match or even heard Lolla give a speech. He was the top of the coaches at UofA. The Big East is a BIG difference than the MAC. They received SEVEN bids to the Party, we recevied ONE, The NCAA sees the Big East and its members as better caliber. It was a slap in the face that we received a #9 seeding. Ken thought it would be a 4 or 5 because of our one month at the top of the rankings before the seedings were announced. He thought think because he knew how the MAC was perceived. He was right the MAC hurts us. IPFW was added this year to the conference which makes the MAC have six members. At five with Kentucky withdrawing, we were on the edge of being dropped form an automatic bid. Do your research, when Steve Parker was here, we had good soccer, but how many times were we left out of the Party regardless of the total number of games we won.

Akron played Lousiville two years ago, and I went to that match. They have a GREAT stadium, indoor restrooms, and a real concession building! Akron offered the money, but Ken wants to win a College Cup and at the present MAC standing that makes it very difficult.

We have a GREAT team and I KNOW the University wants to keep the Assistant Coach and is working on it, regardless of what you see on the Zips web page.

Whoever the next coach may be, IF all the present players stay, he can reaaly jump on and do really great! Look back and see how long it took Lolla to bring the soccer team back up.

Many of you are worried if J. D. will be lured away and he's only been hee TWO years, Ken has been hee THIRTEEN (13) years and has had MANY, MANY offers in the past but stayed because of his wife's ties to the area. But it's time for a new challenge and a move ito a more promient soccer world for him. Wish he well and welcome the next coach and pray he stays for 13 years (regardless of the sport!) (How long will we keep Keith???)

[a-zip]

There are NO negative comments about Ken Lolla as a person. We gave him our support and I wish he and his family well. He made a decision he feels is best. I don't believe anyone questions his integrity, leadership or ability. It is futile for us to compare our own situations or speculate on his decisions. It's done.

NOW now he is a competitor. Thats all.

Akron played 4 MAC teams in soccer during the regular season, the rest was filled with ranked teams(SMU, Maryland, Penn St, St Johns, Indiana),historically good teams(Princeton, Evansville) and big schools(Kentucky, Ohio St, Michigan, etc).

The MAC affiliation means nothing, unlike football and bball. This program is solid enough and if we post the same results next year - the appropriate seeding will follow. Keep in mind we were unranked before the season started. We won't be next year.

[AkronURocks]

Mario Sanchez WILL NOT be the next head coach at Akron. He will likely follow Ken to Louisville unless he gets a head coaching job on the west coast.

Grad Assistant Jeremy Proud is also off to Louisville.

We are starting over from scratch. I agree docking deserves a good, long look.

[zipboy]

I was shocked to see Lolla go. I admit that I never paid much attention to soccer other then checking scores on gozips.com until this year and never attended a match until this year. So a lot of you guys know more than I do.

I am not going to be surprised if JD leaves in the next year or 2. He doesn't have strong roots in the area. The monetary difference for JD will be overwhelming. Lolla has been here 13 years and is loaded for next year. If he was going to leave, I figured that he would go to a better program than Louisville or wait one more year. He was the dean in the athletic dept. During the biggest week in Zip history a few weeks ago, Dambrot on Zipslive wished football and soccer well. He said, "And I wish my guy Kenny Lolla luck in bringing back a national championship." I consider Dambrot to be Mr Akron. You could tell that he was ingrained with everyone. To me this is like CK leaving to become a U Conn fan. Blindsided.

Whether it was money, winning a championship or whatever, I wish him well. I wish that he would have stayed. Another 2 or 3 years like this past one and we really would have something special. Zip soccer has been good for a long time well before Lolla. We should get a good coach. Looks like Sanchez is a no? He seemed to be a good recruiter.

ZIP, any inside scoop?

[a-zip]

We have beaten this in to the ground, but I have 1 more question for Zipper and Zipalong since you seem somewhat defensive of Coach Lolla.

What is your take on Coach Lolla accepting a 5 year contract, and backing out 1 month later.

"I would like to thank the University for the opportunity over the last 13 years to do a job I love with a program I am proud to be a part of," Lolla said. "I appreciate the commitment to me, my staff and the program in extending my contract for the next five years. I look forward to continuing the success of the program beyond where we are now."

The simple answer is family, goals, bla bla bla. But, why accept it?

[zipper]

As I understand it, no contract was signed yet. It also was not going to be put into effect until March. Someone could ask UAM about this. Also, you asked why accept a new contract if you're going to change your mind? How many of us have crystal balls? In my mind at the time the new contract agreement came up, he could have had no intention of leaving, but then he didn't know this was coming his way, either. Even if he thought he'd consider leaving if the right offer came down the pike, he had no way of knowing one was coming. Are you saying you wouldn't hedge your bets and agree to a new, more profitable contract if you didn't know the future?

Also, I reserve the right to change my mind about anything concerning my career as new information becomes available. So do you. So does Ken Lolla.

Second, sometimes I wonder about those contracts because no school is going to force a coach to stay if they want to leave. I don't know why that is that way, but it's the way the big time schools do it. My hunch is the contracts protect the coach, but also trade the ability to get rid of the coach, and that is what's in it for the university.