D DAY

[ZipperRoo44]

After reading what I can find on the web about our search I am more convinced than ever that Paul Winters will not be our coach. I think that the damage done by the 2009 search has left Paul with some great fears about the program and the direction that the University has gone. The tone in the Detroit News article http://www.detnews.com/article/20111219/SP...ext%7CFRONTPAGE does not sound like someone who believes that he would A: take the job if offered or more likely B: ever be offered the job to begin with. I am disappointed that PW would air his issues in a public forum. If you really want the job you bury that and work it out internally.

I believe Scott Loeffler is the guy that we will choose http://www.owlsports.com/staff.aspx?staff=334 and with that will come some on the job training as a head coach. The good thing about this choice is that the guy was a quarterback, so he knows how to manage the game. Let's hope he can manage the team/program as a whole. He has been at a lot of great places and has been associated with winning programs.

Akron Football has a lot going for it and we need to make the right hire on this one.

I do think that we all need to cut LP/TW some slack - one bad decision should not define a career.

[johnnyzip84]

While it's stories like THIS which reaffirm, in my mind, that Rob needed to go, I do wonder how much hesitation his firing (after only 2 years) is causing among all head coaches UA is courting.

[Captain Kangaroo]

I do think that we all need to cut LP/TW some slack - one bad decision should not define a career.

"Hey, Jim walked into a school and shot 45 kids. But he's really a good guy...never even had so much as a speeding ticket before the shooting. One bad decision shouldn't define him."

No one is saying anything about Proenza, so you're plea to have the Zips faithful cut him some slack is really puzzling.

TW f'd up his first, and only major hire. Big time. He hired arguably the worst-prepared head coach in the history of Division 1 football. He took a stadium that was packed on his first football game day, and grew that to a friends-and-family crowd of about 700 on his last home game.

TW got a mulligan. Some how, some way he got the blessing to axe his hand-picked coach after two seasons and try again. As I read Winters comments, it deeply concerns me that Winters had "serious concerns" about his potential new boss.

If Winters does turn down his alma mater...with the best facilities in the MAC...a brand new $70million dollar stadium...a $400k/yr contract...who would be to blame?

I saw Twitter Tom's 1st hire. What was seen cannot be unseen.

The only way he should get any slack is to hit this drive 285 down the middle. Another shank essentially kills our football program.

[g-mann17]

"Hey, Jim walked into a school and shot 45 kids. But he's really a good guy...never even had so much as a speeding ticket before the shooting. One bad decision shouldn't define him."

Cap, that example is 45 bad decisions.

[Big Zip]

Cap'n I honestly don't want TW to be able to make this decision, becaus I simply don't trust his decision making ability. I can't name a single person on this board who was excited or even a little excited about the iCoach hire. IMHO fans could see from the word "go" he wasn't the righ guy yet this guy who is paid handsomely to make that decision couldnt' see it at all. Now we are going to give him another chance?

I too am rather concerned about PW's comments which lead me to believe he trusts Rob Fournier and he doesn't trust TW. I suspect if he is hired it is going to take a lot of convincing to PW that this is the right decision. I also suspect if he gets the job we'll be in a better place in four years.

If the guy from Temple gets the job we are looking at another potential failure. A MAC assistant coach is not going to excite Akron fans and is not going to get as long a leash as a PW hire would get. The fans will turn on the Temple guy quicker than PW or many others.

Hoping this search concludes this week so we can all quit speculating.

[Captain Kangaroo]

While it's stories like THIS which reaffirm, in my mind, that Rob needed to go, I do wonder how much hesitation his firing (after only 2 years) is causing among all head coaches UA is courting.

Sure it's a concern. This job will require 3+ years to see real results. Years #1 and #2 will be ug-LEE. Twitter Tom has a reputation for firing football coaches after 2 seasons.

Jesus could coach the Zips next year, and the whole water-into-wine trick he pulled would pale in comparison to winning 3 games in 2012.

Don't you think, after Jesus goes 2-10 next season, that the other MAC coaches are going to tell 2013 Akron recruits "You know, Jesus probably isn't even going to be at Akron by the time your redshirt is done. He'll get canned."

Only in Akron can a $70million dollar stadium and a $10million training facility be negligible.

[Captain Kangaroo]

"Hey, Jim walked into a school and shot 45 kids. But he's really a good guy...never even had so much as a speeding ticket before the shooting. One bad decision shouldn't define him."

Cap, that example is 45 bad decisions.

Ok. Jim shot one kid.

[K92]

I hope today is d-day. I hope we have a coach by tonight. I hope Loefler is legitimately interested in the job and that PW is willing to come here as well. It is my suspicion that everyone Akron has been in contact with up until this late hour has said "thanks, but no thanks". We will never know but that would be my bet.

This is the worst FBS coaching job in America. Everyone on this board should be happy if either of these guys says yes. If they say no, we are toast.

[johnnyzip84]

Any chance Paul can bring Rob (Fournier) along?

[g-mann17]

Ok, based off the recent articles posted on this site we know that Winters hasn't actually interviewed with Akron yet (may not?)

So we know that today would be the first day he could interview in person. We know that Loeffler has impressed the administration. So a decision could be made tomorrow and an announcement later the same day.

However, if Winters is the hire, I would not expect an announcement on that until December 22, which would be Thursday. Why? Because as we all know, December 22 is the first day of winter.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Any chance Paul can bring Rob (Fournier) along?

[g-mann17]

This is the worst FBS coaching job in America. Everyone on this board should be happy if either of these guys says yes. If they say no, we are toast.

It's the worst team, its not the worst job. You don't have to fundraise for facilities. You have great connections for apparel changes. You have huge interest from big dollar donors.

What Ianello messed up on was taking the "no fundraising necessary" idea and applying it to building a fan base. His lack of connecting with people his first year here (by the second its too late) killed him while recruiting because the rumor had filtered out that he was not a people person.

That is why they already have the "meet and great" set up and you will likely see this coach tweeting more and having more fan events during the year.

[ZipRoo]

I guess the big question is, why should these football coaches HAVE to be wary of Tom Freakin Wistrcill? Why does the man who virtually destroyed UA football still have a job here...much less, a say in who the next (botched?) hire will be??

At the D-1 level, TW, you don't get "do overs"...not with fans, not with coaching candidates, and if there's any justice, not with the brass at Buchtel Hall, either.

Imagine the Zips having to "settle" for desperate leftovers, all because no one wants to be associated with the stench of the AD office at UA.

Rob Fournier was a well-respected class act here at Akron. I would bring him back in a heartbeat.

I enjoy seeing the pros and cons regarding Winters. I suppose I could be sold either way. However, if Winters is NOT hired here, the coaching choice better just blow us away--in a good way. Otherwise, pitchforks will surround the JAR.

[jdurbinakron]

How about an announcement of a new head coach and the resignation of TW . . . That would be a great gift for all zips fans for Christmas. We all know this is unlikely, but it is much needed.

[Jalapeño Zippy]

Any chance Paul can bring Rob (Fournier) along?

agreed.

[zen]

"Hey, Jim walked into a school and shot 45 kids. But he's really a good guy...never even had so much as a speeding ticket before the shooting. One bad decision shouldn't define him."

Cap, that example is 45 bad decisions.

Ok. Jim shot one kid.

maybe he only fired one shot?

[hiroad1]

I do not know Paul Winters or how he thinks, but I find it hard to imagine he is not going to take a serious look at the Akron job.

Anyone who has spent the past season as he has, immersed in a championship run with his players and their families, and getting lots of love from the Detroit media, would be sentimental about it in the moment.

Last night or today, he and his agent will surely talk about the benefits and risk of staying at Wayne, versus the benefits and risks about coming to Akron. Other than staying in a situation that has become comforatable for him at Wayne, I still see most of the advantage weighted toward Akron.

If Paul wants to take a risk averse approach to that decision and stay at Wayne, that is a legitimate choice. If that is his mind set, he will be doing himself and Akron a favor because the Akron job is going to require some serious energy and will bring plenty of frustration in the first two years.

Again, I don't know Paul, but that seems unlikely. I think he will want the Akron job now that he has time to focus on it.

However, it is possible that he was so offended by the way he was treated in the last coaching search that he has truly put Akron behind him. But to me, that would seem to be the only reason he doesn't end up in serious discussions with Akron.

[K92]

G-mann, despite the positives you mention, the Akron job is indeed the worst job in FBS. The proof of this is that no coach wants to touch the job with a 39 and a half foot pole. The good aspects of the job don't outweigh working for an AD that has exhibited complete incompetence with the football program.

Hopefully PW will take the job in spite of its grim reality.

[mes102]

With what I heard (don't put too much into what im going to say), it's looking more and more like Winters is NOT coming here. I wonder if ZachTheZip bribed him away from here... ... ... ...

[g-mann17]

G-mann, despite the positives you mention, the Akron job is indeed the worst job in FBS. The proof of this is that no coach wants to touch the job with a 39 and a half foot pole. The good aspects of the job don't outweigh working for an AD that has exhibited complete incompetence with the football program.

Hopefully PW will take the job in spite of its grim reality.

Your perception of interest from other coaches is mostly based on what rumors we have heard. Narduzzi backing off is more likely due to Akron saying "hey we are looking at a lower pay scale then what you are wanting, so go ahead and pull yourself out".

There has been a lot of interest, most of you seem to dream too big. I don't know what coaches you were expecting to come here.

The interest is there, the price range for the work required is probably too low for some these coaches.

[mes102]

This is getting interesting real quick....

However, whoever is our coach, whether it's Jon Gruden or Joe Shmoe, I'll give them time to see what they can do. This is what i need to see:

Year 1: The first 6 games, I need to see progress from game to game. Doesn't have to be enormous progress, but at least getting better each and every day and game. The second half of the season, at least get 1-2 MAC wins.

Year 2: Win a couple OOC games and be competitive for all four quarters in the other OOC games. Then, I expect 3-5 wins in the MAC.

Year 3: I expect to finish in the top 5 or 6 of the MAC, and contend for a MAC East title possibly.

Year 4: Contend for MAC Championship.

This may be a little far fetched, but I feel that if we see the improvement in year 1 and year 2, I could care less what the coach's name or pedigree is...

[Doug Snyder]

This is getting interesting real quick....

However, whoever is our coach, whether it's Jon Gruden or Joe Shmoe, I'll give them time to see what they can do. This is what i need to see:

Year 1: The first 6 games, I need to see progress from game to game. Doesn't have to be enormous progress, but at least getting better each and every day and game. The second half of the season, at least get 1-2 MAC wins.

Year 2: Win a couple OOC games and be competitive for all four quarters in the other OOC games. Then, I expect 3-5 wins in the MAC.

Year 3: I expect to finish in the top 5 or 6 of the MAC, and contend for a MAC East title possibly.

Year 4: Contend for MAC Championship.

This may be a little far fetched, but I feel that if we see the improvement in year 1 and year 2, I could care less what the coach's name or pedigree is...

LOL You want them to be competitive for all 4 quarters at Michigan in 2013?? We are talking American football and not Futbol right???

Other than that...it is a reasonable expectation

[mes102]

LOL You want them to be competitive for all 4 quarters at Michigan in 2013?? We are talking American football and not Futbol right???

Other than that...it is a reasonable expectation

just a little wishful thinking on my part

[xu9697]

Obviously, Winters comments could be spun MANY ways. But certainly, there is the chance that he is one of those guys that is comfortable in what he has built and wants to continue to see it through. 2 local examples are Larry Kehres at Mount Union and Chuck Kyle at Saint Ignatius. Those are guys that had MANY opportunities to leave and got to higher profile, higher paying jobs. But they love where they are, the situation they are in, etc.

I hope TW sits down with him and says early in the interview, "Paul= I f'd up. You should have been our coach 2 years ago and I screwed it up. Luckily, my boss is giving me a 2nd chance."

[ZipperRoo44]

As CK stated if Jesus Christ comes in as head coach there will be issues. First and foremost there is no talent on this roster.

We lost the February 2010 signing class with the changeover from Brookhart.

We lost the February 2011 signing class because no one wanted to play for iCoach.

The February 2012 signing class will be cobbled together by a staff that will hardly be together enough to recognize each other, yet alone sign a strong class less than 5 weeks after being hired.

This represents 60% of your team. The other 40% are holdovers from the Brookhart era, if there are that many. Most likely this will be a team of at least 40% newcomers via late takes after the signing day and JUCO transfers & late qualifiers academically.

For those of you who remember the Gerry Faust years I can give that as exhibit A as to how not to build a program.

Year #1 will be setting the bar for expectations internally - establishing a code of what Akron football will be defined as. I could really care less about wins and losses at this point in the first year - it has to be a foundational year. There is a lot of housecleaning that needs to be done and that will be messy.

Year #2 is when you start to get some tangible results, but football is not a quick turnaround sport when you do not have a base of talent on the roster and especially in the key skill positions.

Year #3 is a time when you can expect 3-5 wins if things are going well.

If you think we are going to go .500 in the MAC with a coaching staff change leading the way you are not dealing with reality. Reality is that Can't State won games through adding a decent coach to decent talent. They have been on the edge of a bowl game for 4 years. Martin was a bad coach. Their new guy is way better and brings some edge in.

The rest of the MAC is not going to sit around and wait for Akron to improve. Ohio is strong, Toledo is strong, Temple is impressive, and other programs are on the rise as well. Only Buffalo in our division is a bad team, and they kicked our ass this year. Hard.

This is a long rebuilding year and whomever is hired should have a 6-year deal minimum to clean this up the right way. We do not need a quick fix, we need a program built from the foundation up.