Talking Tressel

[Doug Snyder]

"People spend to much time thinking about the past. Whatever else it is...it is gone. The best is yet to come, do it well."

Time to move on. We have a great future ahead of us....let's get behind the new coach (whomever is chosen) in a BIG way. No one is perfect and they will make some mistakes or make decisions that do not fit what everyone wants or expects. We need to get past that and look at the positives. No more "can't support this guy" even before he hires one coach. No matter if he is your first choice or someone you are against...we need everyone’s support. Ask CP...he will tell you that student/fan support is felt by the team. We will know soon enough if he fails and we can discuss that after next season. No one thinks "the cupboard is not bare" this time. Give the new guy a little time. We should see improvement by the end of next year. But we have to rebuild both lines and that will be very difficult in one year. 10 players are graduating from the lines...IMO that should be the next coaches highest priority.

Go Zips!!!

[bobbyake]

from what I heard, the offer Akron made was in the 7 digits.

Does knowing Tom Wistrcill strongly went after Jim Tressel save him from his very poor decision hiring Ianello?

[ksu sucks]

Simply put, Tressel won't lose a dime in pension money by choosing Akron over an out of state school.

We will concede the dime. But what about a penny? Or a nickel? Damn it Indians06, the man's pension is at stake!

[Blue & Gold]

Am I the only one amazed by the buzz kill of one article by the Canton Repository?

I'm not on the Tressel bandwagon, but it is kind of funny that everyone assumes it's not happening because of this article. Ian owned up to making up the "Tressel is on campus today" rumor. Just because he wasn't here today now there's suddenly no way he would be hired as coach. The writer obviously doesn't know that much about UA if he wonders why they would host it in the meeting rooms at the stadium. I also love how everyone assumes he's right since he quoted "an unnamed source close to Tressel" as his information. Do I think Tressel is a realistic option... eh, not really. Is it impossible because of the info in that article? No.

I think a lot of people felt good going into today. I woke up to the Sentinel article and started believing even more. Then came the "Tressel is on campus" stuff, and it got very real. When the "on campus" story turned out to be a lie, and was immediately followed by the Repository article, it was a bit of a buzzkill.

Honestly, I'm where I was when this all started - I still believe there's a chance but won't get my hopes up either. It will be interesting to see what tomorrow brings.

God bless Ian, a truly loyal and passionate Zips fan, but that false rumor about Tressel being on campus was a HUGE mistake. The Suppository article simply disproved the "Tressel on campus" rumor, but then quickly and eagerly made an illogical leap to the conclusion that the entire "Tressel as a possible Akron candidate" is fasle and laughable.

I don't know if many of you are familiar with the style of the Canton Suppository, but in general, they love to paint Akron as small time, just like the Cleveland media (and, sadly, just like the ABJ ). If Tressel did become head coach @ UA, nobody would be as disappointed as Suppository writers.

If Tressel is a somewhat serious candidate, that speaks well of the University of Akron and our football program.

[Blue & Gold]

I think the more telling thing is the Repository TOOK THE ARTICLE DOWN. Why do media outlets take stories down? Because it came to their attention that something in the article wasn't accurate and they don't want egg on their face. The question becomes, what did they get wrong?

If you do a search on "tressel" you will find it. I'm not sure where it was headlined earlier in the day, but it was not removed from the site as of 15 minutes ago.

It's still up. It may have been taken down temporarily. My father emailed me a link to the story. When I clicked the link, it had been taken down (actually, I believe the page said it no longer existed.) However, it's back up again.

[Blue & Gold]

..... That being said, this was a blog, not an article put out officially by the Repository, and was written by some jerk-off nobody who I guarantee has no "inside source" close to Tressel. Just a guy giving his opinion, like everyone else. Wouldn't put much stock in it.

Sorry, but I happen to have an inside source on this one. The journalist has a good record and his sources were also good. It's just that they were not infallible. No need to trash someone just because we don't agree with their conclusion.

Todd Porter's been around a long time. I do trust what he says. However, knowing the Suppository and their slant, I also know Porter would be salivating at the chance to prove Tressel is not coming to UA. The Suppository, for some reason, has a serious hatred of all things Akron.

[FearTheRoo]

..... That being said, this was a blog, not an article put out officially by the Repository, and was written by some jerk-off nobody who I guarantee has no "inside source" close to Tressel. Just a guy giving his opinion, like everyone else. Wouldn't put much stock in it.

Sorry, but I happen to have an inside source on this one. The journalist has a good record and his sources were also good. It's just that they were not infallible. No need to trash someone just because we don't agree with their conclusion.

Todd Porter's been around a long time. I do trust what he says. However, knowing the Suppository and their slant, I also know Porter would be salivating at the chance to prove Tressel is not coming to UA. The Suppository, for some reason, has a serious hatred of all things Akron.

If you lived in Canton you would too.....out of jealousy!

[Blue & Gold]

Okay, finally caught up to the end of the thread. I see the Ohio.com story.

Oh well, that was fun.

As bobbyake said, it felt like Christmas Eve. It really did. I haven't been that excited over something in years.

Now we'll get into another interesting coaching search & get behind our new HC!

Go Zips!

[bobbyake]

It looks like Tressel did decline the offer, the University made a very strong attempt for him.

Tressel not interested in coaching job at Akron

By Tom Gaffney

Beacon Journal sports writer

Published: November 29, 2011 - 11:34 PM

Despite rumors to the contrary, Jim Tressel will not be the new football coach at the University of Akron.

Tressel holds a graduate degree from UA, but he will not be a candidate to replace Rob Ianello, who was fired Saturday night after two seasons that produced identical 1-11 records.

“While Coach Tressel has shared with us that he is not interested in coaching at Akron, he has graciously volunteered to help his alma mater however he can during the search for our next football coach,” Director of Athletics Tom Wistrcill said in a statement released late Tuesday night.

Radio and Internet sources said Tressel, a former coach at Ohio State and Youngstown State, was on campus Tuesday.

Many of those same reports said Tressel was at Rhodes Arena on Saturday night for the basketball game between the Zips and the University of Detroit.

Several university officials who attended the game said Tressel was never there.

“He is going to draw a crowd anywhere he goes and nothing like that happened,” said an official who did not want to be named.

Rhodes Arena has approximately 5,500 seats and none offer any privacy, so Tressel would have been easy to spot.

Those same officials said that Tressel definitely was not on campus on Tuesday.

At the news conference to announce the firing of Ianello on Saturday night, the media was told that Wistrcill would not field any questions about candidates until the hiring process was complete.

He issued the Tuesday statement in response to the rumors that had taken on a life of their own.

Tressel, 58, was an assistant coach with the Zips from 1975 to 1978 under former Zips coach Jim Dennison, and received a master’s degree in education from UA.

He coached at YSU from 1986 to 2000 and at Ohio State from 2001 to 2010.

Tressel resigned his position at Ohio State on May 30 after failing to report NCAA violations by his players.

The Zips have instituted a national search to replace Ianello. No timetable has been set to name his successor.

http://www.ohio.com/sports/tressel-not-int...-akron-1.248012

Whether you want to believe there was a real offer or not, all this hype about a possibility of him coming here wouldn't have started without hearing about the offer. At least we tried. BTW the article doesn't do a good job denying Tressel was on campus Saturday. Of course he was not at the basketball game. He was around Tommy Evans Lounge an hr before the game though.

[g-mann17]

The irony is that Tressel tried to help his Alma Mater 2 years ago. So now Wistrcill has to listen.

[ZipRoo]

Todd Porter's been around a long time. I do trust what he says. However, knowing the Suppository and their slant, I also know Porter would be salivating at the chance to prove Tressel is not coming to UA. The Suppository, for some reason, has a serious hatred of all things Akron.

I'm sure there are a lot of lingering hard feelings about the Aeros moving to Akron from Canton. That had to hurt, especially a sportswriter. That said, I also trust Porter's reporting. He's usually on the money.

Also like g-mann's comment. Yes, Tressel did recommend Fickell to UA 2 years ago around the time he also made a sizable donation to UA. Call it an 'attention-getter.' The fact that TW ignored JT's input shows just how ignorant he was about how things operate here in Ohio. Surely there are people in the athletic dept. and administration who are better equipped to recommend the next coach than an outsider like TW. That's why I really dislike these "nationwide searches." They often lead to men who have no connection to NE Ohio, and that puts them behind the 8-ball with a target on their back before Day 1.

[ZachTheZip]

Coach Tressel, we offered you a chance at redemption. A chance to move beyond your past mistakes and to build something special. We went to extraordinary lengths to prove how much we thought of you, offering you triple what any MAC school has ever paid a coach before. We were willing to eat your sanctions without a second's hesitation. And you still turned us down. I hope you rot away, as a bitter man who is only known for bringing scandal and ruin to your old teams.

[Blue & Gold]

Todd Porter's been around a long time. I do trust what he says. However, knowing the Suppository and their slant, I also know Porter would be salivating at the chance to prove Tressel is not coming to UA. The Suppository, for some reason, has a serious hatred of all things Akron.

I'm sure there are a lot of lingering hard feelings about the Aeros moving to Akron from Canton. That had to hurt, especially a sportswriter. That said, I also trust Porter's reporting. He's usually on the money.

I believe you are absolutely spot on. The Canton/Akron Indians move is precisely my theory over all the hating. I remember Steve Doershuk (sp?), another Rep sports columnist, writing for the Rep after Canal Park opened, about how Canal Park wasn't all that nice and how our downtown was ugly.

Listen, Canton. Thurmun Munson Stadium was a disgrace & the AA ball club was going to relocate back toward the east coast. This was a while ago now, and I don't remember the details, but there were a handful of east coast cities that were going to build a new ballpark for the club. At least Akron got them. Canton was going to lose the club either way.

[hiroad1]

Coach Tressel, we offered you a chance at redemption. A chance to move beyond your past mistakes and to build something special. We went to extraordinary lengths to prove how much we thought of you, offering you triple what any MAC school has ever paid a coach before. We were willing to eat your sanctions without a second's hesitation. And you still turned us down. I hope you rot away, as a bitter man who is only known for bringing scandal and ruin to your old teams.

Wow. You really let your hopes get too high regarding Tressel.

Landing him was a HUGE stretch at best for Akron.

This kind of attack on Tressel is silly, and pointless.

Please everyone, let's get on with the search.

[ZachTheZip]

Coach Tressel, we offered you a chance at redemption. A chance to move beyond your past mistakes and to build something special. We went to extraordinary lengths to prove how much we thought of you, offering you triple what any MAC school has ever paid a coach before. We were willing to eat your sanctions without a second's hesitation. And you still turned us down. I hope you rot away, as a bitter man who is only known for bringing scandal and ruin to your old teams.

Wow. You really let your hopes get too high regarding Tressel.

Landing him was a HUGE stretch at best for Akron.

This kind of attack on Tressel is silly, and pointless.

Please everyone, let's get on with the search.

My hopes are for the survival of the football program. It's more than about wins and losses, it's about the community and their support for the program. Can you name another candidate what would be able to garner instant support from the people and businesses of Akron? Nobody outside the old hardcore fans know who Paul Winters is, let alone Toledo's OC. Go around town and ask people if they know who Paul Winters is and if they would be excited if he were to come here. All you'll get is blank stares.

Tressel was it. Our only shot at seeing the community rally. Anybody else, and you'll have to wait years to get even a third of the support.

[ZipRoo]

ZachTheZip makes very valid points.

[hiroad1]

Coach Tressel, we offered you a chance at redemption. A chance to move beyond your past mistakes and to build something special. We went to extraordinary lengths to prove how much we thought of you, offering you triple what any MAC school has ever paid a coach before. We were willing to eat your sanctions without a second's hesitation. And you still turned us down. I hope you rot away, as a bitter man who is only known for bringing scandal and ruin to your old teams.

Wow. You really let your hopes get too high regarding Tressel.

Landing him was a HUGE stretch at best for Akron.

This kind of attack on Tressel is silly, and pointless.

Please everyone, let's get on with the search.

My hopes are for the survival of the football program. It's more than about wins and losses, it's about the community and their support for the program. Can you name another candidate what would be able to garner instant support from the people and businesses of Akron? Nobody outside the old hardcore fans know who Paul Winters is, let alone Toledo's OC. Go around town and ask people if they know who Paul Winters is and if they would be excited if he were to come here. All you'll get is blank stares.

Tressel was it. Our only shot at seeing the community rally. Anybody else, and you'll have to wait years to get even a third of the support.

My point was not to dispute what Tressel could have meant to the Akron program. That would have been huge.

I just thought the personal attack on JT for not coming to Akron was over the top.

[g-mann17]

ZachTheZip makes very valid points.

Here's a valid point. Tressel cares about the program, he wants to help, heck he is helping. You ever think he turned it down because he was afraid the NCAA sanctions would be too detrimental to the school and program?

Zach still acts like a kid, mad because things don't work out so he has to be venomous toward the person who hurt him.

[mes102]

this is what I'm more upset over:

Just about all of us got caught up in the Tressel hoopla. However, there was a lot of people out there that wanted to start a rumor, just to see how many people would say "I have a source that said... .... ..." , and then laugh about it with their other buddies that did it as well.

Well, I hope those people are happy. Because that could of potentially scarred this football program even more by doing something like that. You now basically have people saying this when we get our new head coach, whoever it is: "It's not Jim Tressel, so why should I go to the game? We're still terrible..."

I'm going to be behind our new head coach 100%, and I'm also going to feel sorry for him. He's going to have to deal with these shenanigans as well. Will not surprise me if attendance numbers were about the same from Ianello's first year...because this got too out of hand, and WILL have consequences...

[zippy5]

this is what I'm more upset over:

Just about all of us got caught up in the Tressel hoopla. However, there was a lot of people out there that wanted to start a rumor, just to see how many people would say "I have a source that said... .... ..." , and then laugh about it with their other buddies that did it as well.

Well, I hope those people are happy. Because that could of potentially scarred this football program even more by doing something like that. You now basically have people saying this when we get our new head coach, whoever it is: "It's not Jim Tressel, so why should I go to the game? We're still terrible..."

I'm going to be behind our new head coach 100%, and I'm also going to feel sorry for him. He's going to have to deal with these shenanigans as well. Will not surprise me if attendance numbers were about the same from Ianello's first year...because this got too out of hand, and WILL have consequences...

Weren't you one with a "source in the athletic dept?"

[Zipmeister]

Coach Tressel, we offered you a chance at redemption. A chance to move beyond your past mistakes and to build something special. We went to extraordinary lengths to prove how much we thought of you, offering you triple what any MAC school has ever paid a coach before. We were willing to eat your sanctions without a second's hesitation. And you still turned us down. I hope you rot away, as a bitter man who is only known for bringing scandal and ruin to your old teams.

+1

Finally, Zach with a well thought out post.

You have come a long way from the old days UAkronkid.

[johnnyzip84]

Coach Tressel, we offered you a chance at redemption. A chance to move beyond your past mistakes and to build something special. We went to extraordinary lengths to prove how much we thought of you, offering you triple what any MAC school has ever paid a coach before. We were willing to eat your sanctions without a second's hesitation. And you still turned us down. I hope you rot away, as a bitter man who is only known for bringing scandal and ruin to your old teams.

+1

Finally, Zach with a well thought out post.

You have come a long way from the old days UAkronkid.

Are you a little verklempt, 'Meister?

[mes102]

this is what I'm more upset over:

Just about all of us got caught up in the Tressel hoopla. However, there was a lot of people out there that wanted to start a rumor, just to see how many people would say "I have a source that said... .... ..." , and then laugh about it with their other buddies that did it as well.

Well, I hope those people are happy. Because that could of potentially scarred this football program even more by doing something like that. You now basically have people saying this when we get our new head coach, whoever it is: "It's not Jim Tressel, so why should I go to the game? We're still terrible..."

I'm going to be behind our new head coach 100%, and I'm also going to feel sorry for him. He's going to have to deal with these shenanigans as well. Will not surprise me if attendance numbers were about the same from Ianello's first year...because this got too out of hand, and WILL have consequences...

Weren't you one with a "source in the athletic dept?"

yeah...he seemed to be right most of the time. Sometimes the information is just wrong. He's not one of the higher ups in the department, he's one of those people that have to go get coffee for the "go get me coffee" type of people in the athletic department. So, I figured it wasn't just one of those things that someone higher than him made a joke of it...but apparently that happened, he fell for it, told me...OR he told me just to mess with me...not sure which one though....

Don't understand why people do this. You gain their trust, and when they tell you something and try to explain it, and then they joke about it, I seriously don't know how I can trust them again. Heck, I don't even know who on this board can trust ME anymore after I thought my friend was being serious...sorry to everyone about it...won't happen again...I'll just ignore him, and let everything happen when it happens...

[Dr Z]

... all of us got caught up in the Tressel hoopla.

I always believed that there were too many things working against the situation for both parties to agree. I believe I wrote "I would be SHOCKED" if it was able to be worked out.

[mes102]

... all of us got caught up in the Tressel hoopla.

I always believed that there were too many things working against the situation for both parties to agree. I believe I wrote "I would be SHOCKED" if it was able to be worked out.

okay..."the MAJORITY of us got caught in the hoopla"...Better?