InTheZone's Pick for Head Coach

[InTheZone]

Mike Leach

He's still available, was wildly successful at a place where it's difficult to be successful due to bigger name programs within the state, was a great recruiter and developer of talent, and ran an offense that gets the most out of that talent and allows his teams to compete with more talented teams. Yes, he may not have a recruiting base in the Midwest, but he can fill his staff with assistants who do (assistants are more vital to recruiting than the head coach, contrary to popular belief). He's a big name who would be a big splash hire and get the ball rolling where it needs to go in terms of putting Akron football on the map. GO GET HIM.

My other candidates, in no particular order.....

Paul Winters, Jim Tressel, Terry Bowden, Turner Gill, Houston Nutt, Ron Zook

HELL-NO Candidates:

Luke Fickell, Chuck Martin, ANY ASSISTANT COACH WITH NO HEAD COACHING EXPERIENCE, ESPECIALLY FROM THE BIG 10

[Buckzip]

Mike Leach

He's still available, was wildly successful at a place where it's difficult to be successful due to bigger name programs within the state, was a great recruiter and developer of talent, and ran an offense that gets the most out of that talent and allows his teams to compete with more talented teams. Yes, he may not have a recruiting base in the Midwest, but he can fill his staff with assistants who do (assistants are more vital to recruiting than the head coach, contrary to popular belief). He's a big name who would be a big splash hire and get the ball rolling where it needs to go in terms of putting Akron football on the map. GO GET HIM.

My other candidates, in no particular order.....

Paul Winters, Jim Tressel, Terry Bowden, Turner Gill, Houston Nutt, Ron Zook

HELL-NO Candidates:

Luke Fickell, Chuck Martin, ANY ASSISTANT COACH WITH NO HEAD COACHING EXPERIENCE, ESPECIALLY FROM THE BIG 10

I agree with this except for Winters. An inconsistent coach in D37 or whatever low level league he plays in isn't what I want.

[Lee Adams]

Mike Leach

He's still available, was wildly successful at a place where it's difficult to be successful due to bigger name programs within the state, was a great recruiter and developer of talent, and ran an offense that gets the most out of that talent and allows his teams to compete with more talented teams. Yes, he may not have a recruiting base in the Midwest, but he can fill his staff with assistants who do (assistants are more vital to recruiting than the head coach, contrary to popular belief). He's a big name who would be a big splash hire and get the ball rolling where it needs to go in terms of putting Akron football on the map. GO GET HIM.

My other candidates, in no particular order.....

Paul Winters, Jim Tressel, Terry Bowden, Turner Gill, Houston Nutt, Ron Zook

HELL-NO Candidates:

Luke Fickell, Chuck Martin, ANY ASSISTANT COACH WITH NO HEAD COACHING EXPERIENCE, ESPECIALLY FROM THE BIG 10

I agree with this except for Winters. An inconsistent coach in D37 or whatever low level league he plays in isn't what I want.

Leach is rumored once again for the Wash State job. Please,not Turner Gill. He fell flat when he tried to move up. Probably wasn't ready. Don't need a guy on the way back down. Right now there are all kinds of guys out there with successful head coaching experience. Do you want a Solich type,an older guy who has coached at the highest levels and had some success? Do you want a younger guy(HC) from a lower level who is on the way up? Or do you want another coordinator with no HC experience? I want someone who has successfully run a program at some level and has dealt with the responsibilities of being in charge.

[Dr Z]

Mike Leach

Writer makes a point

[Buckzip]

Mike Leach

He's still available, was wildly successful at a place where it's difficult to be successful due to bigger name programs within the state, was a great recruiter and developer of talent, and ran an offense that gets the most out of that talent and allows his teams to compete with more talented teams. Yes, he may not have a recruiting base in the Midwest, but he can fill his staff with assistants who do (assistants are more vital to recruiting than the head coach, contrary to popular belief). He's a big name who would be a big splash hire and get the ball rolling where it needs to go in terms of putting Akron football on the map. GO GET HIM.

My other candidates, in no particular order.....

Paul Winters, Jim Tressel, Terry Bowden, Turner Gill, Houston Nutt, Ron Zook

HELL-NO Candidates:

Luke Fickell, Chuck Martin, ANY ASSISTANT COACH WITH NO HEAD COACHING EXPERIENCE, ESPECIALLY FROM THE BIG 10

I agree with this except for Winters. An inconsistent coach in D37 or whatever low level league he plays in isn't what I want.

Leach is rumored once again for the Wash State job. Please,not Turner Gill. He fell flat when he tried to move up. Probably wasn't ready. Don't need a guy on the way back down. Right now there are all kinds of guys out there with successful head coaching experience. Do you want a Solich type,an older guy who has coached at the highest levels and had some success? Do you want a younger guy(HC) from a lower level who is on the way up? Or do you want another coordinator with no HC experience? I want someone who has successfully run a program at some level and has dealt with the responsibilities of being in charge.

No coordiantors please.

I agree about a lower level guy, but I would want a D1AA guy that has consistently been in the top 10 of that division.

I don't want a guy like Winters that is slightly above average at an even lower division.

[GP1]

Mike Leach

He's still available, was wildly successful at a place where it's difficult to be successful due to bigger name programs within the state, was a great recruiter and developer of talent, and ran an offense that gets the most out of that talent and allows his teams to compete with more talented teams. Yes, he may not have a recruiting base in the Midwest, but he can fill his staff with assistants who do (assistants are more vital to recruiting than the head coach, contrary to popular belief). He's a big name who would be a big splash hire and get the ball rolling where it needs to go in terms of putting Akron football on the map. GO GET HIM.

All good points. The law suit stuff doesn't bother me. It's not like he is his own lawyer or something and spends hours putting together his own cases. Bigger schools have to worry about the potential hit from ESPN if they hire him (ESPN will run negative stories about him), but Akron doesn't because nobody is paying attention.

[morris buttermaker]

Brent Pease-- Boise

[Zipsrifle]

Personally, I just don't see how we are going to land one of these "Big Name" coaches being we are so horrible and in the MAC. I haven't really done a lot of research on the other coaches (which is why they pay a search committee) but I do like Paul Winters. IMO, he hasn't been slightly above average, rather, he has taken a team that was below .500 for almost a decade and has them in the quarterfinals right now. He's an Akron guy and man, did we have some fun games when he was around. We could put points on ANYBODY!! I put together a plot showing how WSU has fared over the years and it's pretty clear to me that he has turned their program around.

Paul_Winters_at_WSU.doc

[Buckzip]

Personally, I just don't see how we are going to land one of these "Big Name" coaches being we are so horrible and in the MAC. I haven't really done a lot of research on the other coaches (which is why they pay a search committee) but I do like Paul Winters. IMO, he hasn't been slightly above average, rather, he has taken a team that was below .500 for almost a decade and has them in the quarterfinals right now. He's an Akron guy and man, did we have some fun games when he was around. We could put points on ANYBODY!! I put together a plot showing how WSU has fared over the years and it's pretty clear to me that he has turned their program around.

Paul_Winters_at_WSU.doc

This thinking is wrong.

I am a premium member on another site and a gentleman that writes and reports on Ohio recruiting has said Akron is the bext job in the MAC and the 2nd best in Ohio.

The facilites, stadium and local talent pool would make any good coach a winner almost immediately. Then give him a few years to get his players in and recruit even better after having a winner and Akron could move out of the MAC.

This is a very respected neutral football guy saying this. FWIW

[Lee Adams]

Mike Leach

He's still available, was wildly successful at a place where it's difficult to be successful due to bigger name programs within the state, was a great recruiter and developer of talent, and ran an offense that gets the most out of that talent and allows his teams to compete with more talented teams. Yes, he may not have a recruiting base in the Midwest, but he can fill his staff with assistants who do (assistants are more vital to recruiting than the head coach, contrary to popular belief). He's a big name who would be a big splash hire and get the ball rolling where it needs to go in terms of putting Akron football on the map. GO GET HIM.

All good points. The law suit stuff doesn't bother me. It's not like he is his own lawyer or something and spends hours putting together his own cases. Bigger schools have to worry about the potential hit from ESPN if they hire him (ESPN will run negative stories about him), but Akron doesn't because nobody is paying attention.

Only way Leach would drop to this level is if he felt he had absolutely no hope of getting into a bigger program. But his first choice if he does drop will be south or west not north. He can hang on doing the radio show with Jack Arute from his house in the Keys. Only other place he said he would consider living is Clorado.

[Zipsrifle]

Personally, I just don't see how we are going to land one of these "Big Name" coaches being we are so horrible and in the MAC. I haven't really done a lot of research on the other coaches (which is why they pay a search committee) but I do like Paul Winters. IMO, he hasn't been slightly above average, rather, he has taken a team that was below .500 for almost a decade and has them in the quarterfinals right now. He's an Akron guy and man, did we have some fun games when he was around. We could put points on ANYBODY!! I put together a plot showing how WSU has fared over the years and it's pretty clear to me that he has turned their program around.

Paul_Winters_at_WSU.doc

This thinking is wrong.

I am a premium member on another site and a gentleman that writes and reports on Ohio recruiting has said Akron is the bext job in the MAC and the 2nd best in Ohio.

The facilites, stadium and local talent pool would make any good coach a winner almost immediately. Then give him a few years to get his players in and recruit even better after having a winner and Akron could move out of the MAC.

This is a very respected neutral football guy saying this. FWIW

So if it's so easy to win here, why can't we seem to do it?

Why are we talking about leaving the MAC? We haven't even won our division in FB in a convincing manner, EVER!

[you am i]

Leach's name is being thrown around for just about every vacant coaching position, mainly Washington State, but also Mississippi, and Kansas. Memphis and Tulane are also being mentioned, but they probably are not in the mix due to his salary requirements. Florida Atlantic is a longshot possibility just because he lives in the Keys. I don't see Akron as even a blip on the radar for this guy.

[Buckzip]

Personally, I just don't see how we are going to land one of these "Big Name" coaches being we are so horrible and in the MAC. I haven't really done a lot of research on the other coaches (which is why they pay a search committee) but I do like Paul Winters. IMO, he hasn't been slightly above average, rather, he has taken a team that was below .500 for almost a decade and has them in the quarterfinals right now. He's an Akron guy and man, did we have some fun games when he was around. We could put points on ANYBODY!! I put together a plot showing how WSU has fared over the years and it's pretty clear to me that he has turned their program around.

Paul_Winters_at_WSU.doc

This thinking is wrong.

I am a premium member on another site and a gentleman that writes and reports on Ohio recruiting has said Akron is the bext job in the MAC and the 2nd best in Ohio.

The facilites, stadium and local talent pool would make any good coach a winner almost immediately. Then give him a few years to get his players in and recruit even better after having a winner and Akron could move out of the MAC.

This is a very respected neutral football guy saying this. FWIW

So if it's so easy to win here, why can't we seem to do it?

Why are we talking about leaving the MAC? We haven't even won our division in FB in a convincing manner, EVER!

I never said it was easy. I said it's the best job in the MAC.

We just got our new stadium a couple years ago and hired a moron as coach.

The right coach will be able to turn this thing around.

If I am a high school player and I look at 2 straight 1-11 seasons and then I visit and see 1000 people in the stands, I am not going to Akron.

However, if the program starts winning, then we will look better to recruits and there will be more people in the stands and we won't be the laughing stock of CFB.

We need the right coach to get it started.

Miami was nothing before Schnellenberger got there.

Florida was nothing before Spurrier got there.

The list is long and endless.

If you remember, Cincy was nothing until Dantonio got there and got them turned around. Then they got Kelly and continued it. Once the winning started it kept going. They are usually close to if not a top 25 team.

We have better facilites, stadium and talent area than Cincy.

Being a good team is like getting rich. You have to spend money to make money.

You also have to have a good coach to get the train rolling. Once the train is rolling it keeps picking up speed and nothing can stop it.

If there is a good young proven coach that really wants a stepping stone to prove his worth, Akron is the perfect place for him. He can take the worst program in America and turn it around. Once the turn around is complete then we can continue to bring in better coaching talent.

Akron is a sleeping giant for football. There are so many positives that we have going for us.

We know this team sucks so we can't picture it not sucking. But get the right coach and all that would change.

I don't know who that coach is. That's above my paygrade.

Imagine a winning Akron team with a good coach, the facilites, stadium and beautiful campus recruiting against any other MAC team. It would be no contest. We would also get our share from the Big East, Conf USA and middle to lower B10.

Everybody here knows I am not a sunshine pumping homer, but this really is a good job for a good coach to prove himself at.

[hiroad1]

Personally, I just don't see how we are going to land one of these "Big Name" coaches being we are so horrible and in the MAC. I haven't really done a lot of research on the other coaches (which is why they pay a search committee) but I do like Paul Winters. IMO, he hasn't been slightly above average, rather, he has taken a team that was below .500 for almost a decade and has them in the quarterfinals right now. He's an Akron guy and man, did we have some fun games when he was around. We could put points on ANYBODY!! I put together a plot showing how WSU has fared over the years and it's pretty clear to me that he has turned their program around.

Paul_Winters_at_WSU.doc

This thinking is wrong.

I am a premium member on another site and a gentleman that writes and reports on Ohio recruiting has said Akron is the bext job in the MAC and the 2nd best in Ohio.

The facilites, stadium and local talent pool would make any good coach a winner almost immediately. Then give him a few years to get his players in and recruit even better after having a winner and Akron could move out of the MAC.

This is a very respected neutral football guy saying this. FWIW

So if it's so easy to win here, why can't we seem to do it?

Why are we talking about leaving the MAC? We haven't even won our division in FB in a convincing manner, EVER!

I never said it was easy. I said it's the best job in the MAC.

We just got our new stadium a couple years ago and hired a moron as coach.

The right coach will be able to turn this thing around.

If I am a high school player and I look at 2 straight 1-11 seasons and then I visit and see 1000 people in the stands, I am not going to Akron.

However, if the program starts winning, then we will look better to recruits and there will be more people in the stands and we won't be the laughing stock of CFB.

We need the right coach to get it started.

Miami was nothing before Schnellenberger got there.

Florida was nothing before Spurrier got there.

The list is long and endless.

If you remember, Cincy was nothing until Dantonio got there and got them turned around. Then they got Kelly and continued it. Once the winning started it kept going. They are usually close to if not a top 25 team.

We have better facilites, stadium and talent area than Cincy.

Being a good team is like getting rich. You have to spend money to make money.

You also have to have a good coach to get the train rolling. Once the train is rolling it keeps picking up speed and nothing can stop it.

If there is a good young proven coach that really wants a stepping stone to prove his worth, Akron is the perfect place for him. He can take the worst program in America and turn it around. Once the turn around is complete then we can continue to bring in better coaching talent.

Akron is a sleeping giant for football. There are so many positives that we have going for us.

We know this team sucks so we can't picture it not sucking. But get the right coach and all that would change.

I don't know who that coach is. That's above my paygrade.

Imagine a winning Akron team with a good coach, the facilites, stadium and beautiful campus recruiting against any other MAC team. It would be no contest. We would also get our share from the Big East, Conf USA and middle to lower B10.

Everybody here knows I am not a sunshine pumping homer, but this really is a good job for a good coach to prove himself at.

I agree 100% that the situation at Akron is primed for an up and coming coach to come in and make an impact that gets attention in a big way. It may not be where a big name comes to "get well", but an ambitious young coach has the table set to be able to make major gains for Akron and set themselves up for the next step in their career.

This would be good for us. If they get the opportunity to move up, it would mean Akron has done well.

[Zipsrifle]

Personally, I just don't see how we are going to land one of these "Big Name" coaches being we are so horrible and in the MAC. I haven't really done a lot of research on the other coaches (which is why they pay a search committee) but I do like Paul Winters. IMO, he hasn't been slightly above average, rather, he has taken a team that was below .500 for almost a decade and has them in the quarterfinals right now. He's an Akron guy and man, did we have some fun games when he was around. We could put points on ANYBODY!! I put together a plot showing how WSU has fared over the years and it's pretty clear to me that he has turned their program around.

Paul_Winters_at_WSU.doc

This thinking is wrong.

I am a premium member on another site and a gentleman that writes and reports on Ohio recruiting has said Akron is the bext job in the MAC and the 2nd best in Ohio.

The facilites, stadium and local talent pool would make any good coach a winner almost immediately. Then give him a few years to get his players in and recruit even better after having a winner and Akron could move out of the MAC.

This is a very respected neutral football guy saying this. FWIW

So if it's so easy to win here, why can't we seem to do it?

Why are we talking about leaving the MAC? We haven't even won our division in FB in a convincing manner, EVER!

I never said it was easy. I said it's the best job in the MAC.

We just got our new stadium a couple years ago and hired a moron as coach.

The right coach will be able to turn this thing around.

If I am a high school player and I look at 2 straight 1-11 seasons and then I visit and see 1000 people in the stands, I am not going to Akron.

However, if the program starts winning, then we will look better to recruits and there will be more people in the stands and we won't be the laughing stock of CFB.

We need the right coach to get it started.

Miami was nothing before Schnellenberger got there.

Florida was nothing before Spurrier got there.

The list is long and endless.

If you remember, Cincy was nothing until Dantonio got there and got them turned around. Then they got Kelly and continued it. Once the winning started it kept going. They are usually close to if not a top 25 team.

We have better facilites, stadium and talent area than Cincy.

Being a good team is like getting rich. You have to spend money to make money.

You also have to have a good coach to get the train rolling. Once the train is rolling it keeps picking up speed and nothing can stop it.

If there is a good young proven coach that really wants a stepping stone to prove his worth, Akron is the perfect place for him. He can take the worst program in America and turn it around. Once the turn around is complete then we can continue to bring in better coaching talent.

Akron is a sleeping giant for football. There are so many positives that we have going for us.

We know this team sucks so we can't picture it not sucking. But get the right coach and all that would change.

I don't know who that coach is. That's above my paygrade.

Imagine a winning Akron team with a good coach, the facilites, stadium and beautiful campus recruiting against any other MAC team. It would be no contest. We would also get our share from the Big East, Conf USA and middle to lower B10.

Everybody here knows I am not a sunshine pumping homer, but this really is a good job for a good coach to prove himself at.

I also believe that Akron is a sleeping Giant. But the key here is getting "The Right Coach".

Every school is looking for "The Right Coach" and people with the qualities of "The Right Coach" are few and far between. By the time it is recognized someone is "The Right Coach" they aren't looking for a job in the MAC. We need to find "The Right Coach" but how do we do that? We can pay out the nose for what we think is "The Right Coach", but only if we have the money and even then it is a gamble. If we don't have the money (most of the time, we don't) then we have to guess on who will be "The Right Coach" and that is the trick. It's one thing to talk about "The Right Coach" and another to actually get "The Right Coach".

We had a coach that many people wanted to sign to a big, fat long term contract. He was "The Right Coach" and his name was JD Brookhart. He had an amazing field house, a MAC Championship and stadium so new, it wasn't even built yet. We canned him after a 3-9 season, he wasn't "The Right Coach". Our most recent, generally acknowledged "Recruiting Guru" completely tanked with the shiny new facilities.

I don't believe this is a simple fix, that a "Good" coach can come in here and win immediately. I don't care how nice the facilities are, we are fighting every other MAC school just to stay relevant in the FBS and we are quickly losing our facilities advantage. Before we start talking about moving conferences, we need to be dominant in FB in our own conference all the while keeping our dominance in Soccer and Basketball. It's going to take us some time to become dominant in football.

[hiroad1]

Agree.

We aren't going to win the MAC East next year, or get to the Little Ceasar's Bowl the year after that. Not even if Jim Tressel is the coach.

Plus, I'm glad I don't have to be held accountable for selecting the next coach. Not an easy task, as you correctly describe above.

Still, I do think "The Right Coach" could turn things quickly. I hope the selection committee pulls a rabbit out of the hat.

[lance99]

You want a coach? How about this guy:

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/th...del-rio-fired/1

[johnnyzip84]

You want a coach? How about this guy:

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/th...del-rio-fired/1

He's never coached in any capacity in college. He seems unlikely to be interested in UA as well IMO.

[johnnyzip84]

Disclaimer: I stole the following idea from Zips_Win!

Neuheisel is available. But I'd be more interested in his OC, former Zip QB Mike Johnson. He will be the interim head coach for the Bruins in a bowl game if they get invited.

[Dr Z]

... former Zip QB Mike Johnson. He will be the interim head coach for the Bruins in a bowl game if they get invited.

I think it's a great idea to interview him. Do you think the AD or anybody that is on the search committee even knows that Mike played at Akron? I would hope Gerry would recall.

[johnnyzip84]

... former Zip QB Mike Johnson. He will be the interim head coach for the Bruins in a bowl game if they get invited.

I think it's a great idea to interview him. Do you think the AD or anybody that is on the search committee even knows that Mike played at Akron? I would hope Gerry would recall.

50/50?