Is Our Head Coach "Search" a Sham?

[Captain Kangaroo]

A 440V line dropping into my bathtub would shock me less than Paul Winters NOT being named the next Zips head coach.

Do we really need to wait until December 19th for the ceremony (as speculated by footballscoop.com)?

I think this will go down as the most lengthy delay between identifying a new head coach, and announcing a new head coach, in the history of college athletics.

[InTheZone]

A 440V line dropping into my bathtub would shock me less than Paul Winters NOT being named the next Zips head coach.

Do we really need to wait until December 19th for the ceremony (as speculated by footballscoop.com)?

I think this will go down as the most lengthy delay between identifying a new head coach, and announcing a new head coach, in the history of college athletics.

Do you really expect Coach Winters to allow his name to be announced for another job when he's playing for a national championship this week? C'mon Cap, you're better than that. IF Coach Winters is the guy, then TW is doing the right thing by allowing him to finish his national championship run.

[Dr Z]

BEFORE Rob was fired, I would have put Winters at even odds as the next Akron HC. The "Search" was lip service?!? Unfortunately this "search" is comparable to the last one. This is what disappoints me most. It HAS to be better than the last debacle...but is it the best we can do? Stay tuned...

[Captain Kangaroo]

IF Coach Winters is the guy, then TW is doing the right thing by allowing him to finish his national championship run.

As long as no one is trying to sell me that this exhaustive delay is due to being thorough, and admits Winters was the guy all along and UA just had to wait until the D-2 playoffs were complete, I'm ok with it.

[ZachTheZip]

We're being lied to about the coaching search. Again.

Last time the AD told us we wouldn't be rebuilding, and then turns around and hires someone who's plan was to blow everything up and start from scratch. This time we're being told a "national search" is taking place and then only look at a few guys who all have ties to past coaching regimes.

The AD is just telling us what he thinks we want to hear. All I want is to hear the truth. How is the search going? What are you really looking for in a candidate? Don't tell me one thing and make it extremely obvious that you're doing the opposite.

[InTheZone]

If the choice has been made that its Winters, that doesn't mean there wasn't a search, that doesn't mean there wasn't a process. The process led to Winters, and the announcement has to be delayed for obvious reasons. I don't know of anyone in the athletic department coming out in the last week saying, "The process is ongoing." Most people who look at our situation and objectively look at the candidates will come to the same conclusion that the search committee has PERHAPS come to.

[ZachTheZip]

We're just sitting on our hands and waiting for the one guy we want to finally be available. There was no process, there was no search. Just come out and say it, TW.

And, ITZ, just because your thought process leads to you wanting Winters doesn't mean that the athletic department came to the same conclusion as you in a proper manner.

[InTheZone]

We're just sitting on our hands and waiting for the one guy we want to finally be available. There was no process, there was no search. Just come out and say it, TW.

And, ITZ, just because your thought process leads to you wanting Winters doesn't mean that the athletic department came to the same conclusion as you in a proper manner.

And you don't know that they didn't, so what's your point Zach? All I'm saying is, IF we're waiting on Winters, that in no way proves that there wasn't a process. Does Akron still offer courses in logic? If so, sign up for it and get back to me.

[GP1]

Sham? Depends on who got interviewed.

IF it is Winters, I'm OK with waiting until after his season is complete. I don't see any downfall in waiting.

[Zipgrad01]

Sham? Depends on who got interviewed.

IF it is Winters, I'm OK with waiting until after his season is complete. I don't see any downfall in waiting.

Recruiting is an obvious downfall. Recruiting season is almost over and we will have spent over a month doing nothing when we should be rounding out a class. We can't afford to just let this class be half assed. That will be 2 out of 3 years of filling out a recruiting class with a bunch of no namers that had no other options than us.

[Zipsrifle]

Though I am pulling for PW, I really want us to hire the best coach for the job. Now, as I've said before, I don't have the skill set to do this, so I hope there is an objective search committee out there looking for the best coach for us. WE MUST GET THIS RIGHT, LET THE EXPERTS DECIDE!

TW is NOT an expert.

I really think this program is on life support right now and NOT getting the best coach we can get our hands on, I fear, is going to put it into a long term coma. There better be a committee with qualified people searching for our next coach. No way should someone in our current Administration get their favorite guy as our HC. They had their chance and they blew it, ROYAL!

[mes102]

Interesting article on Narduzzi

[Dave in Green]

And an interesting comment in that article, if true:

His next stop may be at Akron, where he’s one of four finalists for the Zips’ head coaching job.

[Dave in Green]

And here's a late update from Elton that mentions a short list of 3 -- Winters, Johnson and Narduzzi:

Wayne State coach Paul Winters interests Akron Zips

[mes102]

this mystery candidate is still getting to me...who is it? GP1? if so, can I be the TE coach, GP1?

[Dave in Green]

Really, it appears that all the stories are drawing on the following FootballScoop item:

Akron: Sources close to the program tell us the finalists include Paul Winters, Mike Johnson, Pat Narduzzi and one other person we have not confirmed.

The reporters who aren't comfortable mentioning the "unconfirmed" candidate are only mentioning the 3 who have been named.

[Zipsrifle]

In the brief research on the three "finalists", frankly, all 3 have solid resumes. I love great defense in any sport and wiu all else equal, I would take a defensive guy (Narduzzi). I like the connection to Akron and the NFL experience and possibly the connections for additional quality coaches (Johnson).

Still, to me PW is the man. He has Already done what we need to do here at Akron, BUILD! We have tried the highly regarded assistant the last 3 times and it failed! He could have been a star assistant at a Big 10 school if he wanted, but he chose to finish what he started at WSU! He knows the MAC, coached the MAC. I agree with others, he will get other D1 offers, I hope he gets our offer and I hope he wants to see Akron be successful as much as the other alumni here!

[Captain Kangaroo]

Interesting article on Narduzzi

Who was the only one to mention Narduzzi in the Wheel of Fortune thread?

[Captain Kangaroo]

IF Coach Winters is the guy, then TW is doing the right thing by allowing him to finish his national championship run.

What if Winters says "I ain't working for that guy", and stays are Wayne State?

Still happy with TW?

I could see Winters staying in Detroit. If he keeps winning, better offers will likely come. Maybe even this year? His $275,000 2012 salary buys you a really sweet house in Detroit now-a-days. Way better than what you can get in Fairlawn. And it might give him some personal satifaction to say "no" to the guy that spurned him for i-Legend 3 years ago.

"I ain't saving that dude's bacon" is a quote I could imagine being attributed to Winters in an upcoming Elton Alexander column.

I guess, since YouTube Tom has shut off all discussions with the media on this topic (per today's PD), we'll just have to wait and see what transpires. And speculate.

[johnnyzip84]

IF Coach Winters is the guy, then TW is doing the right thing by allowing him to finish his national championship run.

What if Winters says "I ain't working for that guy", and stays are Wayne State?

Still happy with TW?

I could see Winters staying in Detroit. If he keeps winning, better offers will likely come. Maybe even this year? His $275,000 2012 salary buys you a really sweet house in Detroit now-a-days. Way better than what you can get in Fairlawn. And it might give him some personal satifaction to say "no" to the guy that spurned him for i-Legend 3 years ago.

"I ain't saving that dude's bacon" is a quote I could imagine being attributed to Winters in an upcoming Elton Alexander column.

I guess, since YouTube Tom has shut off all discussions with the media on this topic (per today's PD), we'll just have to wait and see what transpires. And speculate.

I thought that came off as a somewhat awkwardly worded myself. I think you can make yourself unavailable without announcing to the world that you're unavailable

[Big Zip]

From CollegeFootballTalk.com

As far as the Akron job is concerned, the only other names we’ve heard attached to the opening are Florida State defensive coordinator and Ohio native Mark Stoops — also of interest to Auburn, reportedly — and Wayne State’s Paul Winters.

[Blue & Gold]

From CollegeFootballTalk.com

As far as the Akron job is concerned, the only other names we've heard attached to the opening are Florida State defensive coordinator and Ohio native Mark Stoops — also of interest to Auburn, reportedly — and Wayne State's Paul Winters.

"[O]ther names,"? Besides Mike Johnson & Narduzzi? If that's the case, then we know who the mysterious 4th candidate is.

[Zip Watcher]

I think the idea that the search is a "sham" is laughable.

- Do you ever hear about the details of one of these searches fully in public when they're happening? All parties involved have a vested interest to maintain discretion until it gets close to the point where they become the coach. The amount of information we're getting is on par with what we should get. Much more, and it could compromise the ability of a coach or coaches to speak freely w/ UA and maintain stability in their current position if it doesn't work out.

- There are 3 - 4 names linked to the search: These are likely the "finalists." Winters (former player & coach), Johnson (former player, longtime coach at higher levels), Narduzzi (no UA ties .. DC @ MSU) .. and depending what you believe, Campbell and Stoops may be in the mix (neither has UA ties).

- Overtures of some sort were made to Tressel .. certainly there seems to have been some smoke there.

- For each of the 4 guys we are told (by the media) that are interviewing, there's probably a dozen more who had preliminary conversations and either didn't make the cut, or declined further discussions.

What about this isn't a national search? One guy hasn't been @ UA in almost 20 years, and coaches on the West coast, 2 guys are HIGHLY thought of DC's at upper level BCS schools, and another guy is a head coach at a lower level showing an aptitude for improving a program in a difficult situation (and UA grad).

If it lands on Winters, so be it .. it's not like they're pulling a guy who's the special teams coordinator at Uniontown Lake who happened to play for Faust, the guy has worked his craft here and elsewhere getting ready to be a D1-A coach.

But to start labeling the search as a "sham" smacks to me as laying the groundwork for having displeasure with the result or the parties responsible, no matter what the result is.

Last time the coach was named quickly, and many people were skeptical before the presser was even held. This time, the net (it appears) is being cast wider, and the search is taking more time .. and people don't like the process being followed.

Which way do you want it?

If Winters is in the mix with one or 10 other guys, and the committee is intent on having him be considered .. then it HAS to wait until he's done with games @ Wayne State. They're not just waiting on him .. press reports indicate others like Johnson are interviewing currently .. the timing of the hire is affected by Winters' team still playing. It doesn't mean this is a rubberstamp hire with no search. If the guy's a candidate, it has to wait.

That's how searches work. It's not a recruitment, it's a search.

Go Zips!

[Dr Z]

From CollegeFootballTalk.com As far as the Akron job is concerned, the only other names we’ve heard attached to the opening are Florida State defensive coordinator and Ohio native Mark Stoops — also of interest to Auburn, reportedly — and Wayne State’s Paul Winters.

Stoops to Auburn?

[Dave in Green]

The issue of whether or not Winters would accept the UA job if offered has already been addressed in another thread by the only person in this ZN.o discussion who appears to still have an active relationship with Winters. Unless someone else has a better source who contradicts this, I'm inclined to believe the following:

I still have an active relationship with Coach Winters, and I can say this with certainty: Coach Winters absolutely positively 100 percent wants this job. After Owens was fired in '03 he campaigned HARD for it, interviewed, but Mike Thomas was set on going outside the program (which set the program back in my opinion, as we would've had MAC titles in '04 and '05 with Winters at the helm, and would've avoided the recruiting diasters of a man who didn't know how to recruit for this level, but that's a topic for another day). He went hard after it again in '09 when Ianello was hired. Some of you may think that maybe after two rejections he became bitter and doesn't want the job anymore, but that's just not the case. He understood that though he had started from scratch with one of the worst programs in America, he was still coming off a 6-5 record at a D2 school and hadn't accomplished what he wanted to accomplish at WSU. He's obviously in a much better position this year to be a much more attractive candidate. Coach Winters loves Akron, wants this program to be elite, and, even with the state of the program now, there is no job in the country he would rather have. There is no other candidate in this process that we could say that about. This guy bleeds Blue and Gold, and it came across every single day in practice when he was my OC.

Others have adequately explained his recent denial that he's coming here.. He wants the job, but he also wants a National Championship, and he has to kill any speculation that distracts his team from that goal until it is achieved. TW is waiting on him to finish out his season, and he will then be our next head football coach. Take it to the bank.