Hire Paul Winters Now.

[ZipperRoo44]

Paul Winters is an Akron native. He bleeds Blue & Gold. He is a proven head coach who knows how to lead young men. He has played at Akron and been an Assistant at Akron. His brand of football is exciting and his kids love playing for him. What more do you need than what Paul brings to the table?

This time the selection of a new football coach will truly define the legacy of Luis Proenza as far as athletics goes at UA. He has championed the spending of almost $80,000,000 on a new football stadium and has now bought out his 3rd head football coach since 2003. Football has been the achilles heel for Proenza and this is his last chance to get it right. It's time to turn the program over to someone who will appreciate the history as well as the potential. It's time to bring Paul Winters home.

Winning will fill the seats and winning will come with Paul Winters.

[hiroad1]

Paul Winters is an Akron native. He bleeds Blue & Gold. He is a proven head coach who knows how to lead young men. He has played at Akron and been an Assistant at Akron. His brand of football is exciting and his kids love playing for him. What more do you need than what Paul brings to the table?

This time the selection of a new football coach will truly define the legacy of Luis Proenza as far as athletics goes at UA. He has championed the spending of almost $80,000,000 on a new football stadium and has now bought out his 3rd head football coach since 2003. Football has been the achilles heel for Proenza and this is his last chance to get it right. It's time to turn the program over to someone who will appreciate the history as well as the potential. It's time to bring Paul Winters home.

Winning will fill the seats and winning will come with Paul Winters.

Perhaps Winters would be a good choice.

UA needs to conduct a true search before reaching that conclusion.

We need to make the BEST choice, not an emotional choice.

[Lee Adams]

Paul Winters is an Akron native. He bleeds Blue & Gold. He is a proven head coach who knows how to lead young men. He has played at Akron and been an Assistant at Akron. His brand of football is exciting and his kids love playing for him. What more do you need than what Paul brings to the table?

This time the selection of a new football coach will truly define the legacy of Luis Proenza as far as athletics goes at UA. He has championed the spending of almost $80,000,000 on a new football stadium and has now bought out his 3rd head football coach since 2003. Football has been the achilles heel for Proenza and this is his last chance to get it right. It's time to turn the program over to someone who will appreciate the history as well as the potential. It's time to bring Paul Winters home.

Winning will fill the seats and winning will come with Paul Winters.

Perhaps Winters would be a good choice.

UA needs to conduct a true search before reaching that conclusion.

We need to make the BEST choice, not an emotional choice.

I would be interested in knowing what other names were recommended when Ianello was hired.

[g-mann17]

Fickell, Winters, Chryst, Wolford, and Stoops. Money was an issue with Stoops and Chryst. It came down to Wistrcill and whether he was going to listen to his mentor Alvarez and take Ianello or listen to Tressel and take Fickell.

[you am i]

Paul Winters would be to Akron football what Keith Dambrot is to Akron basketball.

An Akron guy who is a quality coach who wants to be here.

[g-mann17]

Paul Winters would be to Akron football what Keith Dambrot is to Akron basketball.

An Akron guy who is a quality coach who wants to be here.

Dambrot had D-1 coaching experience, and success before getting boned for being a players coach. Winters is not comparable, sorry.

[hiroad1]

Paul Winters would be to Akron football what Keith Dambrot is to Akron basketball.

An Akron guy who is a quality coach who wants to be here.

That is good, very good, but not necessarily the best strategic decision.

This needs to be a great decision. This university owes it to itself not to simply make an easy or emotional choice.

I'm not looking for "good enough". I'm looking for movement to the "next level".

[Zipsrifle]

I probably posted something similar two years ago.... Anyway, I think someone with Head Coaching success in the FCS is my preference. Of course, my ideal situation is to get a guy who would want to stay at Akron, but right now, I will just be happy if we start winning again....

Winters may be the guy, hell if I know....how far from the MAC is the GLIAC?

[you am i]

Paul Winters would be to Akron football what Keith Dambrot is to Akron basketball.

An Akron guy who is a quality coach who wants to be here.

Dambrot had D-1 coaching experience, and success before getting boned for being a players coach. Winters is not comparable, sorry.

I'm not saying its a perfect analogy. I'm just saying that this is an opportunity to get a hometown guy who happens to be a heck of a coach. This would not be "just another coaching job" to Paul Winters. It would have special meaning to him. Just like the Akron basketball job is not "just another coaching job" to KD. He wants to be here.

[ZachTheZip]

Fickell, Winters, Chryst, Wolford, and Stoops. Money was an issue with Stoops and Chryst. It came down to Wistrcill and whether he was going to listen to his mentor Alvarez and take Ianello or listen to Tressel and take Fickell.

Barry Alvarez is a senile jackass.

[ctmjbowes@sbcglobal.net]

I like the idea of Winters. He has somehow recruited at an urban school in Detroit. He has found a way to win games at a school that hasn't won in football before. I certainly don't know, but guess he would recruit as well here as he did there, which would be a huge step up for the program. A big part of what turned me off regarding Ianello (aside from his horrible public demeanor and apparently dour personality) was that his recruiting sucked, even though he was reputed to be a recruiter. As s side note, can we now cast aside the notion that Ianello was a great recruiter? He was the Grim Reaper. He could recruit at football factories because those schools sell themselves. Look at his recruiting for next year. It's essentially non-existent. Thanks Rob, for nothing. One would think Winters can do better. I also like the comparison to Dambrot. Local guy who might think of Akron as more than a stepping stone. That's not nothing.

[johnnyzip84]

Paul Winters would be to Akron football what Keith Dambrot is to Akron basketball.

An Akron guy who is a quality coach who wants to be here.

Dambrot had D-1 coaching experience, and success before getting boned for being a players coach. Winters is not comparable, sorry.

Keep in mind KD was only 20-34 at Central before they let him go. I'm not saying Paul has had exactly the same kind of experience KD had before taking over at UA, but it's not quite the apples and oranges scenario your painting either.

Although I've been a Winters supporter for some time, I'm certainly willing to consider Fickell and other possibilities as well.

[Quickzips]

Nothing can be pre-determined this time around. We can't do this based on past relationships and back-room advice. The University cannot afford another screw up. We can't keep paying coaches 5 years of salary for 2 or 3 crummy years on the sidelines. It's fiscal suicide for the football program. There is literally no room for error. Take your time, conduct a thorough, nationwide search. Turn over every rock, interview every qualified candidate you can get your hands on and make the best decision for the University. If that ends up being Winters, or Fickell, so be it, but let's not go into this with blinders on.

[Zipsrifle]

Nothing can be pre-determined this time around. We can't do this based on past relationships and back-room advice. The University cannot afford another screw up. We can't keep paying coaches 5 years of salary for 2 or 3 crummy years on the sidelines. It's fiscal suicide for the football program. There is literally no room for error. Take your time, conduct a thorough, nationwide search. Turn over every rock, interview every qualified candidate you can get your hands on and make the best decision for the University. If that ends up being Winters, or Fickell, so be it, but let's not go into this with blinders on.

+1

[hiroad1]

Nothing can be pre-determined this time around. We can't do this based on past relationships and back-room advice. The University cannot afford another screw up. We can't keep paying coaches 5 years of salary for 2 or 3 crummy years on the sidelines. It's fiscal suicide for the football program. There is literally no room for error. Take your time, conduct a thorough, nationwide search. Turn over every rock, interview every qualified candidate you can get your hands on and make the best decision for the University. If that ends up being Winters, or Fickell, so be it, but let's not go into this with blinders on.

Agree.

Winters may be the guy, but a rush to Winters is a mistake.

This university owes it to itself to conduct a thorough search and not make an emotional hire.

[you am i]

From a Terry Pluto column shortly after RI's hiring:

"I would have taken a safer path and hired Paul Winters, the former Akron star running back who later was the Zips offensive coordinator. He has a done a solid job as the head coach of Wayne State, a very difficult place to attract recruits in the heart of Detroit. Winters would have felt as if he died and and awoke in football heaven with the new fieldhouse and stadium at his old school. ***

But new athletic director Tom Wistricill selected Ianello, who he knew from Wisconsin. *** This appears to be a quick decision by Wistricill."

Of course, Winters' credentials are even stronger now.

Fickell would also be a good choice, but I'm not sure he wants the job right now. A few years learning on Meyers' staff at OSU might do him good.

In any event, the less input TW has on this decision, the better.

[johnnyzip84]

Detroit News article with the expected "focus on the next game" quotes.

[GoZips]

Best of success to the classy, talented Paul Winters.

[InTheZone]

Would it change some of your minds who are against Winters if he won the D2 national championship this year? For those of you ignorant of D2, that would mean what he has essentially accomplished at Wayne State was the D2 equivalent of taking over at Indiana and turning them into a Big 10 power and National Champion within 7 seasons. Wayne State was an absolute bottom feeder joke in a D2 power conference who had no history of winning whatsoever, and Winters now has them competing for the national championship.

For those of you who are quick to dismess D2 football, yes some D2 football is way below any kind of FBS level. That is not the case in the GLIAC. As someone who played in the MAC and has been to a few Ashland and Wayne State games through the years, A great GLIAC team has essentially the same talent level as a mid to bad MAC team in their starting lineup. They don't have nearly the depth due to the scholarship restrictions (36), but the level of football with the starters on the field is very similar.

Paul knows how to turn an absolutely destitute program into a winner, he's an alum who loves Akron, he's an offensive genius, and he's a coach players love to play for. He's not a guy who's going to come in here and thumb his nose at everyone the way Ianello did, he's a humble guy who will unite this community. What more do we want in a head coach?

if it's not going to be a big name like Tressel, Leach, Bowden, etc, then Paul is the ONLY acceptable choice, and in the long run, probably a better choice than any of those guys anyways.

[Blue & Gold]

...he's an offensive genius...

+1.

[ZipRoo]

If it's not going to be a big name like Tressel, Leach, Bowden, etc, then Paul is the ONLY acceptable choice, and in the long run, probably a better choice than any of those guys anyways.

I might tend to agree.

[hiroad1]

Paul may be the right guy.

But, come on. To say he is the only guy? Geez man, we need to look at everybody.

If Paul Winters filters up as the choice, great. But not by default!

[Dave in Green]

That's extremely limiting to say either one of a handful of big-name coaches or one relative unknown. No need for a search committee, then. Just run a poll on ZN.o, hire the winner, and all ZN.o forum members cross their hearts and hope to die that they will never ever criticize the decision, no matter what results the coach produces.

[InTheZone]

That's extremely limiting to say either one of a handful of big-name coaches or one relative unknown. No need for a search committee, then. Just run a poll on ZN.o, hire the winner, and all ZN.o forum members cross their hearts and hope to die that they will never ever criticize the decision, no matter what results the coach produces.

Of course there should still be a process. But if it's an honest process, it'll lead to Paul Winters. He's everything we want and need in a head coach, we're just not going to do better in my opinion. My mind could be changed if I see the right candidate with the right qualifications. But if I see another another BCS assistant coach come out of this process I'm literally going to go insane.

[you am i]

That's extremely limiting to say either one of a handful of big-name coaches or one relative unknown. No need for a search committee, then. Just run a poll on ZN.o, hire the winner, and all ZN.o forum members cross their hearts and hope to die that they will never ever criticize the decision, no matter what results the coach produces.

Of course there should still be a process. But if it's an honest process, it'll lead to Paul Winters. He's everything we want and need in a head coach, we're just not going to do better in my opinion. My mind could be changed if I see the right candidate with the right qualifications. But if I see another another BCS assistant coach come out of this process I'm literally going to go insane.

When Tim Beckman was hired by Toledo he had only been a BCS assistant. I would love to see Akron end up with a guy like that.