Time to shut down Football -- experiment over?

[K-Roo]

An emberassment to the school... better to concentrate on soccer and basketball..... save the money.... shut it down now...

[UAZipster0305]

If we were still in the Rubber Bowl, I might agree. With the new stadium, football isn't going anywhere.

[Zips fan]

We can't shut football down. There is no reason we should not be successful. We have the best facilities in the conference. We have a budget that is competitive with the top of the conference. We have a university surrounded by a large population base that is dying for a winner. Akron should be a contender every year. When Mike Thomas was here, I felt that Akron was on the verge of being a powerhouse within the MAC. Mack arrived and things did slow a little but were ok. The new era has me not believing at all. Icoach needs to do the honorable thing, realize this is a distaster and resign. Akron can't afford the buyout and icoach can't afford to continue this mistake. He will struggle to get another coaching job if this continues. Icoach, please resign! Let our team have a chance and start the process over again!

[Zipmeister]

Things could be worse. The team has not yet been required to play with ten pound lead weights tied to each team member's scrotum (it just looks like it).

[Zip_ME87]

We can't shut football down. There is no reason we should not be successful. We have the best facilities in the conference. We have a budget that is competitive with the top of the conference. We have a university surrounded by a large population base that is dying for a winner. Akron should be a contender every year. When Mike Thomas was here, I felt that Akron was on the verge of being a powerhouse within the MAC. Mack arrived and things did slow a little but were ok. The new era has me not believing at all. Icoach needs to do the honorable thing, realize this is a distaster and resign. Akron can't afford the buyout and icoach can't afford to continue this mistake. He will struggle to get another coaching job if this continues. Icoach, please resign! Let our team have a chance and start the process over again!

Dreamworld. No way that anyone just walks away from a $350,000/year contract with $1,050,000 still on the table after this season.

[akronzips71]

The real question is when will the administration finally get fed up with being a laughingstock.Not for anything, but football has to do with STUDENT recruiting. People want to attend a lot of schools because they saw their football teams playing on Sat mornings and on New Years Day.This disaster hurts the University. They need to bite the bullet and fire him. Let him sue for the rest of the money. I suspect many alums and students would kick in out of their own pockets to buy this guy out.They need to find a REAL college coach, who can devise offenses and defenses that our players can actually play, not keep trying to pound square pegs into round holes.

[ZippyforPresident]

I wonder if it would be possible to put a roof on the stadium and convert it to a first class arena?

[Zip_ME87]

I wonder if it would be possible to put a roof on the stadium and convert it to a first class arena?

Good "out of the box" thinking.If UA is stuck with the Head Coach because we can't afford to buy him out, what can be done? Can UA get rid of assistant coaches and bring in new ones? And, in doing so, can the Athletic Director force changes to the game plans...i.e., run some other offense rather than a pro-style offense? Could the AD bring in a different assistant to be in charge of recruiting? Although not ideal, is it possible to make changes to the Football Program without changing the Head Coach?

[lance99]

This disaster hurts the University. They need to bite the bullet and fire him. Let him sue for the rest of the money. I suspect many alums and students would kick in out of their own pockets to buy this guy out.They need to find a REAL college coach, who can devise offenses and defenses that our players can actually play, not keep trying to pound square pegs into round holes.

A REAL coach? we actually had one on the campus property. His name was Walt Harris

[Big Zip]

There has to be a buyout in his contract. These contracts can't be guaranteed.

[bobbyake]

It cost more to keep iknowNilO than to fire him. Loss of ticket, concession, and merchandise sales is being felt very hard right now. Soccer is bringing more money in all 3 departments.

[Spin]

I wonder if it would be possible to put a roof on the stadium and convert it to a first class arena?

Heck plant sod and convert it to soccer. We've already outgrown the soccer stadium.And the soccer stadium is plenty big enough for the people who still want to watch this bad idea of a football team.

[Zipsrifle]

I will start freaking out if we lose next week OR if we get blown out by EMU. Am I very disappointed, YES! Do I think we are at about the same point we were last year against GW, YES. There is a lot of football to play. We have our toughest 3 games behind us, lets get a W next week and start working. Everyone is worried about buying out RI's contract. What, you don't think UA has the money to buy it out? They brought close to $50 million last year in fund raising. What is our endowment up to? They've got plenty of money. Finally, the sad part about this thread is that this thought crossed my mind today at one point......

[Lee Adams]

The real question is when will the administration finally get fed up with being a laughingstock.Not for anything, but football has to do with STUDENT recruiting. People want to attend a lot of schools because they saw their football teams playing on Sat mornings and on New Years Day.This disaster hurts the University. They need to bite the bullet and fire him. Let him sue for the rest of the money. I suspect many alums and students would kick in out of their own pockets to buy this guy out.They need to find a REAL college coach, who can devise offenses and defenses that our players can actually play, not keep trying to pound square pegs into round holes.

THANKYOU!

[Quickzips]

Football isn't going anywhere with a three and a half year old stadium sitting there. The more likely scenario (but still probably not that likely) has us, and the MAC in general dropping this delusional expectation that we are an FBS conference and dropping down to FCS. It is time to face some hard truths here. Anyone who expects the Zips, NIU, Toledo, Temple, CMU, etc., etc. to ever be in the national championship conversation is kidding themselves. We simply don't have the conditions in this area of hte country to duplicate the success that a program like Boise is having, and we likely never will. There are plenty of programs at the FCS level that play an exciting brand of football that attract fans, despite being in other hotbed for FBS/BCS programs. Quite frankly, a good number of those schools are exhibiting more success (success defined by winning and drawing fans to the stadium) than most of the MAC is right now. The MAC really is an FBS conference in name only, and it is time to stop kidding ourselves.As for the Zips. The conversation has to start and end with firing Rob Ianello. It is pretty rare that you can effectively evaluate a coaching staff after just over a year, but I think Ianello is the exception. This guy is in so far over his head it borders on comical. We aren't seeing progress in any facet of the game right now, and the blame for that has to fall squarely on his shoulders. About the only thing he could say to justify "progress" is that he at least hasn't screwed up the coin toss thus far this season. Personally, if I am LP I have to start swinging for the fences. Ianello's gone (if it was me I wouldn't have let him back out of the halftime locker room yesterday). If there is one move that could potentially energize "fans" in the region, and give us a bit of an edge in recruiting it would be to throw a blank check at Jim Tressel and cross your fingers that you can get him through a show cause hearing. It is a big risk, but with where the Zips are right now, I think it is the kind of risk that is worth it. Even if it doesn't work out, how much worse can things really get?

[ZachTheZip]

There is no point to football outside of the FBS. It has no meaning. If we are excluded from some new top division, we should simply end football and sell the stadium to the city to host high school games.

[Quickzips]

There is no point to football outside of the FBS. It has no meaning. If we are excluded from some new top division, we should simply end football and sell the stadium to the city to host high school games.

The city doesn't have the financial ability to buy the stadium. Not even close.

[ZachTheZip]

There is no point to football outside of the FBS. It has no meaning. If we are excluded from some new top division, we should simply end football and sell the stadium to the city to host high school games.

The city doesn't have the financial ability to buy the stadium. Not even close.

We bought the Rubber Bowl from the city for $1. I'm sure we could work out some kind of deal with them. The price could be pretty cheap if we maintain rights to use it for events.

[GP1]

how much worse can things really get?

It can always get worse. Remember, the guy who hired the coach would still be in place.Just a few points...1. For those of you who think Tressel would come to Akron, dream on. Let's pretend for a minute though. He wouldn't come to UofA unless he was made AD in addition to football coach. If you are interested in the overall health of the University, does that sound like a good idea to anyone? The guy is a cancer.2. For those of you who think we should discontinue the football program. You are shotsighted people and don't pay attention to what is going on in college athletics. Schools like UNCC are starting football programs because there is no way to survive without one. Please stop the stupidity by calling for the end of the football program.3. Turn the football stadium into a basketballl arena? My God is this a stupid idea. I won't even explain why. 4. Force the coach to hire new assistants? Why not just fire the coach? He wouldn't know what to do with the assistants.The answer to the current problem is for Dr. P to swallow his pride, or have the Board of Trustees jam it down his throat, and do what other schools do. Find someone to donate the money to buy out the AD and the coach. Until that happens, we are stuck with what we have.

[Quickzips]

how much worse can things really get?

It can always get worse. Remember, the guy who hired the coach would still be in place.Just a few points...1. For those of you who think Tressel would come to Akron, dream on. Let's pretend for a minute though. He wouldn't come to UofA unless he was made AD in addition to football coach. If you are interested in the overall health of the University, does that sound like a good idea to anyone? The guy is a cancer.2. For those of you who think we should discontinue the football program. You are shotsighted people and don't pay attention to what is going on in college athletics. Schools like UNCC are starting football programs because there is no way to survive without one. Please stop the stupidity by calling for the end of the football program.3. Turn the football stadium into a basketballl arena? My God is this a stupid idea. I won't even explain why. 4. Force the coach to hire new assistants? Why not just fire the coach? He wouldn't know what to do with the assistants.The answer to the current problem is for Dr. P to swallow his pride, or have the Board of Trustees jam it down his throat, and do what other schools do. Find someone to donate the money to buy out the AD and the coach. Until that happens, we are stuck with what we have.

First off, how can it get worse than being down 49-0 at halftime? At a certain point you become so bad that even if you theoretically get "worse" it doesn't matter. Bad it just bad. IMO we've hit that point. To point 1., you are probably right, and in no way would I allow him to be AD. If that is the bargaining chip on his end then I am fine with walking away. But I think you at least have to open the checkbook up and try to bring him in. I know some may look at it as a quick fix at the expense of long term success, but at this point we aren't getting anything that looks like short term or long term success. You have to try something and it is time to go big or go home. To point 2., I don't think we can discontinue football, but like I stated earlier, it is time to stop kidding ourselves as a school and as a conference. This conference is basically an FCS conference that calls itself FBS. We are FBS in name only. Our stadiums are high-FCS caliber, we draw FCS caliber crowds and we get FCS caliber results. And with all of the other big schools in our footprint (OSU, Michigan, Penn State, Notre Dame, Michigan State, etc., etc., etc.) that just isn't going to change any time soon. It is time to stop fighting it, drop the conference down to FCS and be done with it.To point 3., I have no hard evidence on this, but I suspect that the amount of money that it would cost to convert the Info into an indoor basketball arena would be comparable to what it would cost to just go ahead and build a brand new arena and be done with it. I agree, stupid idea.To point 4, I have no idea what new assistants are supposed to accomplish.

[Zipsrifle]

I don't buy into the idea that there are too many big schools in the area for us to find a niche. I look at the fact that NE Ohio is DYING for a winner and that that population is roughly 3 million people. I think we are in a great spot. Now, our problem is that the area is so starved for a winner that the will latch onto any team that is winning (Steelers, OSU). Now I'm not saying it will be easy to do, but if we don't try, we'll never get there.

[Quickzips]

I don't buy into the idea that there are too many big schools in the area for us to find a niche. I look at the fact that NE Ohio is DYING for a winner and that that population is roughly 3 million people. I think we are in a great spot. Now, our problem is that the area is so starved for a winner that the will latch onto any team that is winning (Steelers, OSU). Now I'm not saying it will be easy to do, but if we don't try, we'll never get there.

Let's talk about the Steelers for a bit here, because to me they serve as something of an example.You talk of NE Ohio dying for a winner, and that is why you are starting to (sadly IMO) grasp on to Pittsburgh. Now I am still a relative youngin, but I don't ever remember hearing about a time when there were as many Pittsburgh fans in NEO as there are right now. Why? Because the Browns we're out of football for a number of years, and have been pretty terrible in the 12 seasons since they returned. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh has won Superbowls and been a staple in the playoffs. People get tired of rooting for the team that consistently looses, so they decide to adopt the team that consistently wins. Classic bandwagon.Now lets revert back to OSU. The Buckeyes have consistently been a top-25 program for a number of years (if I read correctly this week is the first time in like 7 years that they aren't in the top-25). They have been regular national title contenders, and they regularly win big games. People in NE Ohio have already bandwagoned on to them as winners. It doesn't take a genius to see that. To the general population in NE Ohio college football begins and ends with the Buckeyes. Sad, but true. Now the only way that is going to change, and in turn the only way that the Zips are going to make in roads with those bandwagoner fans who are "dying for a winner" is if OSU goes through a sustained dry spell, while the Zips get hot. Let's just say, I'm not holding my breath on either of those things happening any time soon.I guess the point I am trying to make here is that while NE Ohioans are desperate for a winner, they have already found their winner when it comes to college football, and I just don't see a set of circumstances under which they are going to let go of that and meander over to the Zips. That being said, I do agree that the Zips can find their niche. I just feel that said niche is most likely as an FCS team where we can theoretically be more competitive.

[Lee Adams]

With all the realignment of the big schools/conferences teams like Akron,Can't,EMU,most of the rest of the MAC and most schools in the Sunbelt will find themselves on the outside by default. It may pull some of the bottom feeders from coferences like the WAC,C-USA,MWC. And, these schools and others could in essence if not name find themselves playing in a lower level division by default. It could be an entirely 'new' division that is not 'attached' to the really big conferences anymore. Maybe its a division one cut above 1-AA. Maybe it has its own playoff and or bowl system. Get away from the thinking that you want to try to constatnly play with the the big boys. Who knows?

[Zipmeister]

There is no point to football outside of the FBS. It has no meaning. If we are excluded from some new top division, we should simply end football and sell the stadium to the city to host high school games.

The city doesn't have the financial ability to buy the stadium. Not even close.

We bought the Rubber Bowl from the city for $1. I'm sure we could work out some kind of deal with them. The price could be pretty cheap if we maintain rights to use it for events.

Now this post is a top candidate for the Zach post of the month award.

[Buckzip]

I don't buy into the idea that there are too many big schools in the area for us to find a niche. I look at the fact that NE Ohio is DYING for a winner and that that population is roughly 3 million people. I think we are in a great spot. Now, our problem is that the area is so starved for a winner that the will latch onto any team that is winning (Steelers, OSU). Now I'm not saying it will be easy to do, but if we don't try, we'll never get there.

Let's talk about the Steelers for a bit here, because to me they serve as something of an example.You talk of NE Ohio dying for a winner, and that is why you are starting to (sadly IMO) grasp on to Pittsburgh. Now I am still a relative youngin, but I don't ever remember hearing about a time when there were as many Pittsburgh fans in NEO as there are right now. Why? Because the Browns we're out of football for a number of years, and have been pretty terrible in the 12 seasons since they returned. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh has won Superbowls and been a staple in the playoffs. People get tired of rooting for the team that consistently looses, so they decide to adopt the team that consistently wins. Classic bandwagon.Now lets revert back to OSU. The Buckeyes have consistently been a top-25 program for a number of years (if I read correctly this week is the first time in like 7 years that they aren't in the top-25). They have been regular national title contenders, and they regularly win big games. People in NE Ohio have already bandwagoned on to them as winners. It doesn't take a genius to see that. To the general population in NE Ohio college football begins and ends with the Buckeyes. Sad, but true. Now the only way that is going to change, and in turn the only way that the Zips are going to make in roads with those bandwagoner fans who are "dying for a winner" is if OSU goes through a sustained dry spell, while the Zips get hot. Let's just say, I'm not holding my breath on either of those things happening any time soon.I guess the point I am trying to make here is that while NE Ohioans are desperate for a winner, they have already found their winner when it comes to college football, and I just don't see a set of circumstances under which they are going to let go of that and meander over to the Zips. That being said, I do agree that the Zips can find their niche. I just feel that said niche is most likely as an FCS team where we can theoretically be more competitive.

Your point is proven with the soccer team. Our soccer team fills the stadium and soccer isn't even close to the popularity as football. If UA ever started to consistently win the fans would flock to see this team. If we could start winning the MAC and being competitive with top 20 teams, we would start hearing the Info needs expanded. The OSU excuse is old. Many other states have multiple schools that are supported. Ohio could certainly support another winner. Especially NE Ohio. This is a hotbed for talent and for football in general. People in NE Ohio are starving for a winner.If this school ever gets it's proverbial head out of it's butt, we could be a real player in getting people to fill the Info. WE have invested in facilities, stadium and the campus. It's time to invest in the right coach and staff.Enough of these position coaches of other schools. We either need a consistent, proven winner from a smaller division or a good coordinator from a winning major program. Not a position coach. Come on Dr P get us the right coach and let's start winning.