Fire Tom Wistrcill?

[The Hip Zip]

I like Tom and I think he's getting better and better at his job as time goes by.

A solid no vote for me

[Dr Z]

Does the U actually have to "fire" YouTube? Isn't his contract up soon? They would simple not extend his contract? Somebody that cares/knows more can correct me if I'm wrong.

[Z.I.P.]

Does the U actually have to "fire" YouTube? Isn't his contract up soon? They would simple not extend his contract? Somebody that cares/knows more can correct me if I'm wrong.

At this point I would expect Tommy Dub to receive the vote of confidence every coach needs to convince recruits about the trajectory of the program. i.e., I expect him to receive a contract extension if his current deal is running out. What other Akron AD has won a national championship and solidified (even if belatedly) every major sport, especially soccer?

[Captain Kangaroo]

Does the U actually have to "fire" YouTube? Isn't his contract up soon? They would simple not extend his contract? Somebody that cares/knows more can correct me if I'm wrong.

At this point I would expect Tommy Dub to receive the vote of confidence every coach needs to convince recruits about the trajectory of the program. i.e., I expect him to receive a contract extension if his current deal is running out. What other Akron AD has won a national championship and solidified (even if belatedly) every major sport, especially soccer?

There's a difference between being born on 3rd base, and hitting a triple.

[ZipRoo]

The computer / tech era exploded while Clinton just happened to live in the White House. Should we also give him the credit for the way it affected the economy? Of course not. People on here are so quick to give TW a free pass, and it's mystifying.

[LosAngelesZipFan]

What has average BB attendance done under TW? My sense is that it has gone down even as the program has become truly elite (in the MAC). This is a key indicator to me of whether TW should be renewed.

What has happened to student support since TW? I don't see alot of super creative, fun, and exciting AkRowdies things happening lately. My sense is that student support has cratered under TW even as we've won a national championship and now make NCAA tourneys regularly.

Lastly, how has the most expensive program-- football-- been handled? Unmitigated disaster seems to be the best description of that. If there is one thing TW needed to get right, it was this. His choice of coach was horrible. His handling of the termination of that coach was about the worst possible (how could you possibly let the story be that he was notified on the way to his mother's funeral) and the search was equally bad-- uncertain, embarrassing, poorly executed, and salvaged only by the next coach contacting us.

Securing Porter and KD is great-- but that's just covering the basics. Signing a good baseball coach, ditto. That's what he's supposed to do, a minimum level of competence and effectiveness. But don't we want more than that? Don't we want the KD and Porter equivalent of an AD? If we had that, we would never have hit this nadir in football in the midst of the opening of a brand new stadium.

A few years back, pre-TW, there seemed to be a great sense of momentum for Zips athletics. Students seemed excited and involved. The possibility of a new stadium to go along with a completely transformed campus seemed real. Basketball appeared to be moving to a place of challenging Can't as the premiere program in the MAC. Soccer seemed poised to challenge for national championships. A few years later, all that great stuff has actually happened, but the level of involvement and enthusiasm, that sense of momentum, seems to have diminished.

[Dr Z]

LA Zips Fan, making some nice points.

I am dreaming of an athletic program (basketball & football) that grows bigger by the year. I don't think we have achieved that in recent years. Our student athletes deserve better. Our alumni deserve better. Our students deserve better. Our boosters deserve better. We need somebody with a plan that can execute.

[zipboy]

What has average BB attendance done under TW? My sense is that it has gone down even as the program has become truly elite (in the MAC). This is a key indicator to me of whether TW should be renewed.

What has happened to student support since TW? I don't see alot of super creative, fun, and exciting AkRowdies things happening lately. My sense is that student support has cratered under TW even as we've won a national championship and now make NCAA tourneys regularly.

Lastly, how has the most expensive program-- football-- been handled? Unmitigated disaster seems to be the best description of that. If there is one thing TW needed to get right, it was this. His choice of coach was horrible. His handling of the termination of that coach was about the worst possible (how could you possibly let the story be that he was notified on the way to his mother's funeral) and the search was equally bad-- uncertain, embarrassing, poorly executed, and salvaged only by the next coach contacting us.

Securing Porter and KD is great-- but that's just covering the basics. Signing a good baseball coach, ditto. That's what he's supposed to do, a minimum level of competence and effectiveness. But don't we want more than that? Don't we want the KD and Porter equivalent of an AD? If we had that, we would never have hit this nadir in football in the midst of the opening of a brand new stadium.

A few years back, pre-TW, there seemed to be a great sense of momentum for Zips athletics. Students seemed excited and involved. The possibility of a new stadium to go along with a completely transformed campus seemed real. Basketball appeared to be moving to a place of challenging Can't as the premiere program in the MAC. Soccer seemed poised to challenge for national championships. A few years later, all that great stuff has actually happened, but the level of involvement and enthusiasm, that sense of momentum, seems to have diminished.

Good post

[ZipRoo]

+100. Well said.

[Dave in Green]

Concerning the report that Bowden "reached out" to Akron:

In his press conference Bowden said the first contact between him and UA came when Todd Turner with the search committee called him and told him that UA was interested in him. Bowden said that even before Turner called that UA was one of three or four opportunities that he was interested in. Bowden said Turner invited him up for an interview, and that he was offered the job the day after the interview. So, at least by Bowden's own description, it sounds as if UA reached out and contacted him first.

I have also heard that some people in the athletic department are crediting Wistrcill with "working his butt off" to get the Bowden deal done.

As with any other situation where we're trying to understand something in which we ourselves were not directly involved, we have to try to make our best guess based on all the data we can find from as many good sources as possible. What I've cited above is certainly not the whole story. But it's what I've seen and heard to date.

I'd be interested in learning what others have seen and heard.

[ZipRoo]

If that's true and Wistrcill had a big hand in making this happen, I'm more than willing to eat crow and give credit where it's due.

[Lee Adams]

What has average BB attendance done under TW? My sense is that it has gone down even as the program has become truly elite (in the MAC). This is a key indicator to me of whether TW should be renewed.

What has happened to student support since TW? I don't see alot of super creative, fun, and exciting AkRowdies things happening lately. My sense is that student support has cratered under TW even as we've won a national championship and now make NCAA tourneys regularly.

Lastly, how has the most expensive program-- football-- been handled? Unmitigated disaster seems to be the best description of that. If there is one thing TW needed to get right, it was this. His choice of coach was horrible. His handling of the termination of that coach was about the worst possible (how could you possibly let the story be that he was notified on the way to his mother's funeral) and the search was equally bad-- uncertain, embarrassing, poorly executed, and salvaged only by the next coach contacting us.

Securing Porter and KD is great-- but that's just covering the basics. Signing a good baseball coach, ditto. That's what he's supposed to do, a minimum level of competence and effectiveness. But don't we want more than that? Don't we want the KD and Porter equivalent of an AD? If we had that, we would never have hit this nadir in football in the midst of the opening of a brand new stadium.

A few years back, pre-TW, there seemed to be a great sense of momentum for Zips athletics. Students seemed excited and involved. The possibility of a new stadium to go along with a completely transformed campus seemed real. Basketball appeared to be moving to a place of challenging Can't as the premiere program in the MAC. Soccer seemed poised to challenge for national championships. A few years later, all that great stuff has actually happened, but the level of involvement and enthusiasm, that sense of momentum, seems to have diminished.

Don't we get presumptuous here calling for this person to be fired/hired/retained etc,etc? I have done it. I guess if you assume TW was actually responsible for hiring TB(oops),then you pretty much have to keep him around. If you don't believe TW was actually responsible for the hiring but just happened to be in the right place at the right time,then you might not look as favorably upon him staying around. Just to point out,the fact that Porter and KD were 'secured' didn't seem to make a lot of difference to people before TB was hired. The majority on this board wanted to show TW the door. The fact that community/student interest hasn't really been generated since TW came here isn't new. There never has consistently been a lot of community/student interest anyway. Oh well. Enjoy the possibility of better things in August 2012!