Hire Paul Winters Now.

[g-mann17]

I'm guessing that there has to be a some reason why Kelly has spent the last couple of decades moving from GVSU to CMU to Cincinnati to Notre Dame. And during that same general time frame, Winters has been an OC at his alma mater, and has been at a D-II school in urban Detroit ever since.

Skip, I never like to bring this thing up, but if Winters is qualifed like ITZ says, there is one distinct difference between the two of them.

Now it is sad that it has to be that way, but when there are a whopping 3 (maybe 5 now, I don't remember, in 2009 it was 3) African American coaches in the FBS, that can explain why Winters hasn't really gotten much opportunity.

To me race should never be a factor, but when the vast majority of schools are run by old white people, what do you expect.

There are some things I've been reading about Winters, and that is why I am not a staunch no against him. I just need more and more information. I was concerned about recruiting, but since he is in Michigan with 5 FBS school, and two right in his own backyard, for him to be able to recruit enough talent to his school to compete is a big deal. Also I believe he had to spend the first few years fixing facilities there. (Hence the lag).

He should be one of the final 3, but not because he's an alum, or has Akron ties, but because he has some serious qualifications. If the final 3 are all equal, then you take into account the other stuff and Winters wins out. If he isn't as qualified as the other 2, then Coach Winters, we need the most qualified candidate not the most loyal. (this all comes down to who actually moves along.) Between Him, Campbell, and say Wolford, I'd take Winters. Between Martin, Winters, and say Fritz (that I mentioned before) I think I take Martin.

*edit - This last paragraph is exactly why he should have been hired last time over Ianello.

[hiroad1]

Brian Kelly inherited a much better situation at GVSU, and still did not win a playoff game for over a decade there. Winters inherited one of the worst college football programs in the country, and in seven years is competing for a national championship. I'm more impressed with the latter.

Knowing that you are not impressed with Kelly's 118-35 record tells me how much you support Winters. And that's fine. I can see what an emotional choice this is for some people who have a history with him. And I'm sure his mediocre record would be defended by someone who played for him. I'd probably try to do the same thing.

To the poster who implied that I KNOW that he's never even gotten 1-AA interest, that's not true. I don't know that. But, if someone could tell me the schools that have shown interest in his services, since his accomplishments are more impressive than Kelly's, I'd like to know.

I'm guessing that there has to be a some reason why Kelly has spent the last couple of decades moving from GVSU to CMU to Cincinnati to Notre Dame. And during that same general time frame, Winters has been an OC at his alma mater, and has been at a D-II school in urban Detroit ever since.

Some have different ambitions. During that same time Larry Kehres has been the coach at Mount Union. He has been approached any times but decided he likes it where he is. I think ITZ and JZ84 and others like myself want someone who will be like Kehres or Winters at Wayne State or Dambrot. How long was Kelly at one school?? I think it would be far better to have a successful coach here for 8-10 years. I was hoping JT would bring that as this would have been his last job. But I will take my chances with Winters....and UofA Alum, raised in Akron and loves the area. He is one of our own...that should count for something. We are taking a chance with any coach coming here...time to give one of own a chance.

Personally, I truly do not care if we get a coach who moves up from Akron in 3-5 years. If they move up on their merit, it will mean Akron is winning and on the right track. The program will then be more attractive to subsequent coaches too.

IMO, whether or not someone wants to stay in Akron for a decade should be low on our list of priorities. I want a winner. I want the coach who will take the fastest and most energetic approach to establishing a winning program.

We've got some real challenges, and we need the BEST person we can sign to turn it around for us. If they stay in Akron a long time great, but I'm not worried about that.

[bobbyake]

Brian Kelly inherited a much better situation at GVSU, and still did not win a playoff game for over a decade there. Winters inherited one of the worst college football programs in the country, and in seven years is competing for a national championship. I'm more impressed with the latter.

Knowing that you are not impressed with Kelly's 118-35 record tells me how much you support Winters. And that's fine. I can see what an emotional choice this is for some people who have a history with him. And I'm sure his mediocre record would be defended by someone who played for him. I'd probably try to do the same thing.

To the poster who implied that I KNOW that he's never even gotten 1-AA interest, that's not true. I don't know that. But, if someone could tell me the schools that have shown interest in his services, since his accomplishments are more impressive than Kelly's, I'd like to know.

I'm guessing that there has to be a some reason why Kelly has spent the last couple of decades moving from GVSU to CMU to Cincinnati to Notre Dame. And during that same general time frame, Winters has been an OC at his alma mater, and has been at a D-II school in urban Detroit ever since.

Some have different ambitions. During that same time Larry Kehres has been the coach at Mount Union. He has been approached any times but decided he likes it where he is. I think ITZ and JZ84 and others like myself want someone who will be like Kehres or Winters at Wayne State or Dambrot. How long was Kelly at one school?? I think it would be far better to have a successful coach here for 8-10 years. I was hoping JT would bring that as this would have been his last job. But I will take my chances with Winters....and UofA Alum, raised in Akron and loves the area. He is one of our own...that should count for something. We are taking a chance with any coach coming here...time to give one of own a chance.

Personally, I truly do not care if we get a coach who moves up from Akron in 3-5 years. If they move up on their merit, it will mean Akron is winning and on the right track. The program will then be more attractive to subsequent coaches too.

IMO, whether or not someone wants to stay in Akron for a decade should be low on our list of priorities. I want a winner. I want the coach who will take the fastest and most energetic approach to establishing a winning program.

We've got some real challenges, and we need the BEST person we can sign to turn it around for us. If they stay in Akron a long time great, but I'm not worried about that.

totally against this. We get 2-3 good years from someone and then take the risk of hiring another Ianello?

Caleb Porter is one of the highest paid soccer coaches because Akron can afford it based on the success he's brought. IF we get a good coach that fills the Info, we need to pay that coach enough so they don't leave.

[hiroad1]

Brian Kelly inherited a much better situation at GVSU, and still did not win a playoff game for over a decade there. Winters inherited one of the worst college football programs in the country, and in seven years is competing for a national championship. I'm more impressed with the latter.

Knowing that you are not impressed with Kelly's 118-35 record tells me how much you support Winters. And that's fine. I can see what an emotional choice this is for some people who have a history with him. And I'm sure his mediocre record would be defended by someone who played for him. I'd probably try to do the same thing.

To the poster who implied that I KNOW that he's never even gotten 1-AA interest, that's not true. I don't know that. But, if someone could tell me the schools that have shown interest in his services, since his accomplishments are more impressive than Kelly's, I'd like to know.

I'm guessing that there has to be a some reason why Kelly has spent the last couple of decades moving from GVSU to CMU to Cincinnati to Notre Dame. And during that same general time frame, Winters has been an OC at his alma mater, and has been at a D-II school in urban Detroit ever since.

Some have different ambitions. During that same time Larry Kehres has been the coach at Mount Union. He has been approached any times but decided he likes it where he is. I think ITZ and JZ84 and others like myself want someone who will be like Kehres or Winters at Wayne State or Dambrot. How long was Kelly at one school?? I think it would be far better to have a successful coach here for 8-10 years. I was hoping JT would bring that as this would have been his last job. But I will take my chances with Winters....and UofA Alum, raised in Akron and loves the area. He is one of our own...that should count for something. We are taking a chance with any coach coming here...time to give one of own a chance.

Personally, I truly do not care if we get a coach who moves up from Akron in 3-5 years. If they move up on their merit, it will mean Akron is winning and on the right track. The program will then be more attractive to subsequent coaches too.

IMO, whether or not someone wants to stay in Akron for a decade should be low on our list of priorities. I want a winner. I want the coach who will take the fastest and most energetic approach to establishing a winning program.

We've got some real challenges, and we need the BEST person we can sign to turn it around for us. If they stay in Akron a long time great, but I'm not worried about that.

totally against this. We get 2-3 good years from someone and then take the risk of hiring another Ianello?

Caleb Porter is one of the highest paid soccer coaches because Akron can afford it based on the success he's brought. IF we get a good coach that fills the Info, we need to pay that coach enough so they don't leave.

[hiroad1]

Brian Kelly inherited a much better situation at GVSU, and still did not win a playoff game for over a decade there. Winters inherited one of the worst college football programs in the country, and in seven years is competing for a national championship. I'm more impressed with the latter.

Knowing that you are not impressed with Kelly's 118-35 record tells me how much you support Winters. And that's fine. I can see what an emotional choice this is for some people who have a history with him. And I'm sure his mediocre record would be defended by someone who played for him. I'd probably try to do the same thing.

To the poster who implied that I KNOW that he's never even gotten 1-AA interest, that's not true. I don't know that. But, if someone could tell me the schools that have shown interest in his services, since his accomplishments are more impressive than Kelly's, I'd like to know.

I'm guessing that there has to be a some reason why Kelly has spent the last couple of decades moving from GVSU to CMU to Cincinnati to Notre Dame. And during that same general time frame, Winters has been an OC at his alma mater, and has been at a D-II school in urban Detroit ever since.

Some have different ambitions. During that same time Larry Kehres has been the coach at Mount Union. He has been approached any times but decided he likes it where he is. I think ITZ and JZ84 and others like myself want someone who will be like Kehres or Winters at Wayne State or Dambrot. How long was Kelly at one school?? I think it would be far better to have a successful coach here for 8-10 years. I was hoping JT would bring that as this would have been his last job. But I will take my chances with Winters....and UofA Alum, raised in Akron and loves the area. He is one of our own...that should count for something. We are taking a chance with any coach coming here...time to give one of own a chance.

Personally, I truly do not care if we get a coach who moves up from Akron in 3-5 years. If they move up on their merit, it will mean Akron is winning and on the right track. The program will then be more attractive to subsequent coaches too.

IMO, whether or not someone wants to stay in Akron for a decade should be low on our list of priorities. I want a winner. I want the coach who will take the fastest and most energetic approach to establishing a winning program.

We've got some real challenges, and we need the BEST person we can sign to turn it around for us. If they stay in Akron a long time great, but I'm not worried about that.

totally against this. We get 2-3 good years from someone and then take the risk of hiring another Ianello?

Caleb Porter is one of the highest paid soccer coaches because Akron can afford it based on the success he's brought. IF we get a good coach that fills the Info, we need to pay that coach enough so they don't leave.

I respect your opinion, and everyone's. That what fan forums are about.

However, soccer is in a far different category than football. How much does Caleb make? Not that much compared to top football coaches.

Look at the link to college football coaches total compensation below. If my quick count was right, 47 schools are already paying their coach more than $1,500,000 per year. We paid Ianello $375,000.

We don't have 1) a 100,000 seat stadium, 2) a lucrative league television contract, or 3) major finacial donors like so many other schools do. Sorry, but we can't pay what other schools can, will and do.

We have to accept that a hot coach is likely to leave Akron for greener pastures, and who could blame them?

I want a hot coach and I am willing to see the turnover. Other schools manage. Look at Cincinnati. WVU figured it was likely Holgerson would move on qucikly when they hired him this year. Look at others shools in the MAC. It happens a lot where they have winning programs.

I want a winning program here. The rest is the responsibilty of the Athletic Driector to manage the department like a business and be prepared to replace coaches as needed. If we are consistently playing in December or January, I think they should be happy to deal with that problem.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/foo...rise/51242232/1

[Doug Snyder]

Brian Kelly inherited a much better situation at GVSU, and still did not win a playoff game for over a decade there. Winters inherited one of the worst college football programs in the country, and in seven years is competing for a national championship. I'm more impressed with the latter.

Knowing that you are not impressed with Kelly's 118-35 record tells me how much you support Winters. And that's fine. I can see what an emotional choice this is for some people who have a history with him. And I'm sure his mediocre record would be defended by someone who played for him. I'd probably try to do the same thing.

To the poster who implied that I KNOW that he's never even gotten 1-AA interest, that's not true. I don't know that. But, if someone could tell me the schools that have shown interest in his services, since his accomplishments are more impressive than Kelly's, I'd like to know.

I'm guessing that there has to be a some reason why Kelly has spent the last couple of decades moving from GVSU to CMU to Cincinnati to Notre Dame. And during that same general time frame, Winters has been an OC at his alma mater, and has been at a D-II school in urban Detroit ever since.

Some have different ambitions. During that same time Larry Kehres has been the coach at Mount Union. He has been approached any times but decided he likes it where he is. I think ITZ and JZ84 and others like myself want someone who will be like Kehres or Winters at Wayne State or Dambrot. How long was Kelly at one school?? I think it would be far better to have a successful coach here for 8-10 years. I was hoping JT would bring that as this would have been his last job. But I will take my chances with Winters....and UofA Alum, raised in Akron and loves the area. He is one of our own...that should count for something. We are taking a chance with any coach coming here...time to give one of own a chance.

Personally, I truly do not care if we get a coach who moves up from Akron in 3-5 years. If they move up on their merit, it will mean Akron is winning and on the right track. The program will then be more attractive to subsequent coaches too.

IMO, whether or not someone wants to stay in Akron for a decade should be low on our list of priorities. I want a winner. I want the coach who will take the fastest and most energetic approach to establishing a winning program.

We've got some real challenges, and we need the BEST person we can sign to turn it around for us. If they stay in Akron a long time great, but I'm not worried about that.

totally against this. We get 2-3 good years from someone and then take the risk of hiring another Ianello?

Caleb Porter is one of the highest paid soccer coaches because Akron can afford it based on the success he's brought. IF we get a good coach that fills the Info, we need to pay that coach enough so they don't leave.

If we could get 2-3 good years I would be more for it. But Haywood left Miami after 2 years....1-11 in year one. So Miami got ONE good year. Give me someone with potential that may want to stay a few years. Will be interesting to see what the coach at EMU does. 2 terrible years and one above average (for a MAC school).

[Dr Z]

If we could get 2-3 good years I would be more for it.

The next coach to leave Akron by choice, will be the first (in my life).

[Hilltopper]

If we could get 2-3 good years I would be more for it.

The next coach to leave Akron by choice, will be the first (in my life).

Last time it happened was Gordon Larson, 1972. He stayed on as AD for a few more years.

[Blue & Gold]

If we could get 2-3 good years I would be more for it.

The next coach to leave Akron by choice, will be the first (in my life).

Last time it happened was Gordon Larson, 1972. He stayed on as AD for a few more years.

Bob Huggins?

[Dr Z]

Bob Huggins?

Let's assume since this is in the football forum, and the subject of the thread is about the next football coach, we are speaking of football.

[Doug Snyder]

If we could get 2-3 good years I would be more for it.

The next coach to leave Akron by choice, will be the first (in my life).

Last time it happened was Gordon Larson, 1972. He stayed on as AD for a few more years.

Bob Huggins?

Ken Lolla.

But I think he was referring to the football team. And the point is worth noting. We really have never had sustained success at the D1 level. But I am optimistic that things will change. But if we are changing coaches every 3-4 years we will have some hits and misses. Would be nice to have a coach here for a while and develop his replacement.

[bobbyake]

Ticket Revenues:

Losing - Akron's getting around 5,000 now? at possibly $16 per game? which is $80,000 per game or $480,000 per year.

Winning - 27,000 people per game with the average person generating revenue of $20 per game would be $540,000 per game, $3,240,000 per year from home ticket sales.

Merchandise Revenue:

Losing - I was at the team shop 2 weeks ago and noticed all the football merchandise was on the clearance rack. Also noticed that soccer merchandise was in the prime locations. Can't imagine they're generating a lot from football merchandise sales right now, possibly $100,000 from football specific items?

Winning - Merchandise sales would be a lot stronger as more stores will carry more products. Merchandise sales could easily surpass $1,000,000 with a winning program, especially if there's MAC Championship and Bowl shirts on sale.

Bowl Game Revenue:

Little Caesars Pizza Bowl pays $750,000 per team.

Enrollment Increase:

Winning - There are very strong arguments out there that suggest Akron's enrollment would increase if Akron's football team was successful. "This study supports previous findings that a significant positive relationship exists between college football success and applications for undergraduate enrollment at NCAA Division I-A universities." Hard to put a $ value to an enrollment increase, but let's say Akron gained 300 students because of Akron's football team's success. Using the Ohio resident academic year number, $9,244, that's an additional $2,773,200 in revenue because of a successful football team.

Endowment Increase:

Winning - There are multiple arguments that suggest there's a relationship between endowment's increasing when football programs are successful. Example Hard to do an estimate on this one, but some could argue $1,000,000 increase is very realistic if Akron's football team was successful.

Sponsorships:

Winning - Sponsorships draw big $$'s from corporations looking to advertise, which we've seen with the soccer team winning the National Championship (Field naming rights).

You could easily argue that Akron could gain $1,000,000 or more per year if the football team was successful.

Total Increase of Revenue generated from Akron having a winning football program:

Game Attendance: $3,240,000 vs $540,000 = $2,700,000 increase

Football Merchandise Sales: $1,000,000 vs $100,000 = $900,000 Increase

Bowl Game Increase: $750,000

Enrollment Increase: $2,773,200

Endowment Fund Increase: $1,000,000

Sponsorship Increase: $1,000,000

Total Increase: $9,123,200

This number is gross revenue. If you took the net, the increase from a winning program would net you at least $2,000,000 in additional revenue.

So we should pay a coach $300,000 per year when they could generate an additional $9,123,200 per year in gross revenue and $2,000,000 net, for the university? I know you could argue that some of the numbers above could be off and not possible even if Akron was a winning program, I agree. But there's a strong case that a coach that operates a winning football program is worth the cost to keep him there. If the cost is paying a coach $1,000,000 a year, wouldn't it seem worth it to keep them if they're a proven winner?

[ZachTheZip]

The average MAC coach now makes $375k per year. The average BCS coach makes $1.4 million. Thanks to some major donors stepping up, we offered Tressel $1.5 million per year. They won't commit that kind of money to another candidate.

If we can't pay at least $500k per year, we will not be able to get anybody at all to coach for us.

[Dr Z]

Conference splits bowl money, not team. It actually cost us to go to a bowl. Many other mistakes too long to list.

[hiroad1]

Ticket Revenues:

Losing - Akron's getting around 5,000 now? at possibly $16 per game? which is $80,000 per game or $480,000 per year.

Winning - 27,000 people per game with the average person generating revenue of $20 per game would be $540,000 per game, $3,240,000 per year from home ticket sales.

Merchandise Revenue:

Losing - I was at the team shop 2 weeks ago and noticed all the football merchandise was on the clearance rack. Also noticed that soccer merchandise was in the prime locations. Can't imagine they're generating a lot from football merchandise sales right now, possibly $100,000 from football specific items?

Winning - Merchandise sales would be a lot stronger as more stores will carry more products. Merchandise sales could easily surpass $1,000,000 with a winning program, especially if there's MAC Championship and Bowl shirts on sale.

Bowl Game Revenue:

Little Caesars Pizza Bowl pays $750,000 per team.

Enrollment Increase:

Winning - There are very strong arguments out there that suggest Akron's enrollment would increase if Akron's football team was successful. "This study supports previous findings that a significant positive relationship exists between college football success and applications for undergraduate enrollment at NCAA Division I-A universities." Hard to put a $ value to an enrollment increase, but let's say Akron gained 300 students because of Akron's football team's success. Using the Ohio resident academic year number, $9,244, that's an additional $2,773,200 in revenue because of a successful football team.

Endowment Increase:

Winning - There are multiple arguments that suggest there's a relationship between endowment's increasing when football programs are successful. Example Hard to do an estimate on this one, but some could argue $1,000,000 increase is very realistic if Akron's football team was successful.

Sponsorships:

Winning - Sponsorships draw big $$'s from corporations looking to advertise, which we've seen with the soccer team winning the National Championship (Field naming rights).

You could easily argue that Akron could gain $1,000,000 or more per year if the football team was successful.

Total Increase of Revenue generated from Akron having a winning football program:

Game Attendance: $3,240,000 vs $540,000 = $2,700,000 increase

Football Merchandise Sales: $1,000,000 vs $100,000 = $900,000 Increase

Bowl Game Increase: $750,000

Enrollment Increase: $2,773,200

Endowment Fund Increase: $1,000,000

Sponsorship Increase: $1,000,000

Total Increase: $9,123,200

This number is gross revenue. If you took the net, the increase from a winning program would net you at least $2,000,000 in additional revenue.

So we should pay a coach $300,000 per year when they could generate an additional $9,123,200 per year in gross revenue and $2,000,000 net, for the university? I know you could argue that some of the numbers above could be off and not possible even if Akron was a winning program, I agree. But there's a strong case that a coach that operates a winning football program is worth the cost to keep him there. If the cost is paying a coach $1,000,000 a year, wouldn't it seem worth it to keep them if they're a proven winner?

Sure, we should pay as much as we are able - measured against the return we get.

This jumps out at me though. 70 of the 120 of the FBS division school already pay over $1,000,000, and nobody in the MAC pays even $500,000. There has to be a reason.

The ROI just doesn't seem to be there for MAC schools. With stadiums of 30,000 (and even smaller actual crowds), limited television revenue, low donor revenue, it must tough to justify a $1,000,000 coach for a MAC school. They are public universities and the financial info is probably available if we wanted to really get into it, but the high level view seems to suggest that MAC schools can't generate enough money from their football operations to pay million dollar salaries.

Hey, I'm a big advocate of capitalism and free agency. If we could afford it and if it would make us successful, I'd be all for shelling out some serious money for a serious coach. How did Boise get to the point where they generated enough revenue to do what they have done? They seem to be a rare case though.

These are reasons I've said I don't care if we get hot young caoch willing to make $400,000 here until the can earn their million dollar salary elsewhere. I'd rather have a hot coach for a few years than have a decent coach for ten if we can only pay $400,000.

[Doug Snyder]

@Hiroad1

I am thinking of a coach in the mold of Solich at Ohio. A very good coach that has his team prepared to play, recruits well in the MAC and is still innovative. Ohio is always in the running for the MAC east title. For me...that would be a better path. If you are changing out every 2-4 years (because if we are very successful the duration will much shorter) there will be hits and misses. If we had Solich....lot 9 would be rocking and I think many more students would be going to the games. Game day experience would be great. That is what we need...someone who can make game day experience great.

Any coach will be a risk. My gut tell me that Matt Campbell will be a great coach some day. Can we take the chance and give up a year while he makes adjustments while he learns?? What about a retread?? Lots of failures there. At what level will Zook be a successful HC??? And if he fails...can we say there were no "red flags"?? Unless there is a guy that is a sure fire winner...I will throw my support behind Paul Winters. He was fun to watch, was a good coach, has been successful as a HC, his prior team mates and those that played for him support him. It is Paul Winters time.

I do believe that we should go through a thorough search and vet each candidate. I have a philosophy that I live by: "You get the facts...or...the facts get you"

Go Zips!!!

[hiroad1]

@Hiroad1

I am thinking of a coach in the mold of Solich at Ohio. A very good coach that has his team prepared to play, recruits well in the MAC and is still innovative. Ohio is always in the running for the MAC east title. For me...that would be a better path. If you are changing out every 2-4 years (because if we are very successful the duration will much shorter) there will be hits and misses. If we had Solich....lot 9 would be rocking and I think many more students would be going to the games. Game day experience would be great. That is what we need...someone who can make game day experience great.

Any coach will be a risk. My gut tell me that Matt Campbell will be a great coach some day. Can we take the chance and give up a year while he makes adjustments while he learns?? What about a retread?? Lots of failures there. At what level will Zook be a successful HC??? And if he fails...can we say there were no "red flags"?? Unless there is a guy that is a sure fire winner...I will throw my support behind Paul Winters. He was fun to watch, was a good coach, has been successful as a HC, his prior team mates and those that played for him support him. It is Paul Winters time.

I do believe that we should go through a thorough search and vet each candidate. I have a philosophy that I live by: "You get the facts...or...the facts get you"

Go Zips!!!

If we could get another Solich-like coach I would be really excited. Though we might have a lot of fans with some reservations on the day of the announcment. Who? Why?

I could also get behind Paul Winters if the process proves he's the best avaialbe guy.

I'm not trying to be a downer on enthusiasm. It just seems we need to accept the realities of being a lower rung MAC school right now. Our odds of landing a big name coach that most would be excited about are pretty low. Finding the upcoming hot shot I fantisize about is a risk too, but I don't want settle for good enough. I desperately want to see Akron in the FB limelight.

[Zipsrifle]

Understanding that if we get a coach that wins, they will likely leave, I think it is beneficial to get a coach that develops not only kids, but other coaches. Personally, I don't see much opportunity to hold onto a winning coach for an extended period of time (even if we get Winters). If this coach also develops the coaches under him, then, we promote from within. The program has continuity and with any luck, we continue to win. I think THAT is the scenario we will have to stumble into in order for us to move from bottom feeders in the MAC to a consistent MAC Champion that can take down BCS schools in Bowl games.

The problem with all this is that we need to get the ideal candidate. Put me in the camp that thinks we won't be able to hire an adequate "Name" coach because of the cost. So we are left with picking a relative unknown, unfortunately. Considering how complicated and lucky we would have to be, "Just Win" is what we need to focus on for the next few seasons. Start the coaching search when the "Winning" coach leaves and start over again......

Personally, I've only really looked at PW and reviewed Matt Campbell's biography on the Toledo Website. I don't know much about Campbell, but one down side to me is how short his coaching experience has been to date. I mean, it looks like he started in 2003 as a GA. is the guy capable of putting a staff around him? I am one who looks at a head coach like the CEO of a company, they don't do the work, they get the right people in place below them to do the work. I'm not ruling the guy out and if anything will take any information anyone can provide.

I like Winters because of what he has done at WSU and, if he is successful at UofA, then maybe he will stay here because of his Roots like KD. He has shown me that he can turn a program around (which is exactly what we need) and man, I loved watching the Zips play when he was OC! I want those times BACK!

[Zipsrifle]

Found this article on Paul Winters. Good example of how quickly things can change in your life:

http://detnews.com/article/20111119/SPORTS...ootball-revival

[BirdZip]

The average MAC coach now makes $375k per year. The average BCS coach makes $1.4 million. Thanks to some major donors stepping up, we offered Tressel $1.5 million per year. They won't commit that kind of money to another candidate.

If we can't pay at least $500k per year, we will not be able to get anybody at all to coach for us.

Source? hopefully not the same one that told you the football team would be told who the new coach is last week. Facts without sources are just loud opinions...

[Lee Adams]

Paul Winters coached Jason Taylor & Dwight Smith correct?? Wouldn't those connections be great to utilize??

Jason Taylor was recruited by Faust. Both Taylor and Smith were defensive guys. Winters was Offensive Coordinator.

Smith was the best college player I saw playing at Akron. He could have palyed either side of the ball. I think he returned kicks and played every once in awhile on offense if I am not mistaken.

[Blue & Gold]

Paul Winters coached Jason Taylor & Dwight Smith correct?? Wouldn't those connections be great to utilize??

Jason Taylor was recruited by Faust. Both Taylor and Smith were defensive guys. Winters was Offensive Coordinator.

Smith was the best college player I saw playing at Akron. He could have palyed either side of the ball. I think he returned kicks and played every once in awhile on offense if I am not mistaken.

I think he played a little WR for the Zips.

And I believe he also played RB in high school & so IIRC, Lee-O didn't know exactly where he was going to play Dwight. I definitely remember Lee-O being really excited about signing him. I don't believe Dwight was a qualifier, so he was a bit of a risk. They hit a homerun with that one. Consensus All-American. He single-handedly beat K ent during his senior year.

To this day he's the most muscular cornerback I've ever seen. Actually, he looked too muscular to play the corner. There comes a point where you lose mobility due to too much muscularity. Well, Dwight looked like that, but he could still move like the proverbial waterbug. Crazy.

[johnnyzip84]

So is there any chance the great GP1 might do some in-person, head coach scouting this Saturday in Winston-Salem?

[ZipperRoo44]

No way Akron pays anything close to 500K a year. Where is the money coming from? Buyout of iCoach, no ticket sales? You cannot write checks that are going to bounce.

[Doug Snyder]

No way Akron pays anything close to 500K a year. Where is the money coming from? Buyout of iCoach, no ticket sales? You cannot write checks that are going to bounce.

Same place that all those who believe in entitlements.... OTHER PEOPLE