Akron the Lead Story on Grantland

[scottditzen]

What, Exactly, Is Akron Up To?

The plight of the mid-major college football program

By Michael Weinreb on April 20, 2012

On Terry Bowden's desk, lost amid two unopened bottles of Diet Mountain Dew, a jar of antacids, and a precarious stack of legal pads, is a book called The Greatest Salesman in the World. I have no idea if Bowden has read it multiple times or if someone sent it to him on a lark; at one point, I begin to broach the subject, but Bowden has a genial way of filibustering that makes it easy to lose the thread of the conversation. Given the task he faces, the book's presence is so overt that it's probably better left unaddressed.

It is April in Akron, Ohio, which means, as it does at college campuses across America, that the peculiar ritual of spring football is nearing its culmination. As far as I can tell, there is no real purpose for spring football other than to traffic in blind optimism about the season to come, and nowhere has blind optimism been in shorter supply than in Akron, where the hometown college football team — reflecting the ongoing struggles of its city since the rubber industry imploded — has foundered about for decades in search of an identity. This, Bowden knows, is the primary reason why he's been hired; his name, passed down by a father who won more games than any major-college coach other than Joe Paterno,1 brings a cachet that his predecessors did not have. At this point, the Akron job is as much an executive sales position as it is a coaching position, a reframing of a long-ignored commodity, of a football team that is better known for its snappy nickname and its adorable mascot than for any game it has ever won. The Zips have been victorious two times in the past two seasons; the brand-new 30,000-seat on-campus stadium they moved to in 2009 was barely filled to half its capacity.

"After a while, it becomes a vicious cycle," Bowden says. "But we've got a fresh start. We're selling a dream. There's nothing inherent here that suggests we can't be successful."

Bowden is considerably rounder now than in his late 30s, when he was hired at Auburn just as the Tigers fell into the limbo of NCAA probation (he led them to an undefeated season, then got forced out despite a six-year record of 47-16-1). He has admitted in the past that he is a notorious stress eater, and when he greeted me in the hallway after lunch, he extracted a piece of electric-green candy from a bowl on the front desk and slipped it into his cheek. "Are you taping me?" he said. Then he directly addressed my iPhone, as if a recruit might somehow get ahold of this recording: If I don't sound proper, I got a piece of candy in my mouth.

Continued:

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/783406...ootball-program

[MDZip]

That may be one of the most honest, best written articles I have ever seen on Akron football. Brutally honest about the past but with a bit of hope for the future. This exchange between Terry Bowden and an executive search firm recruiter summed it all up for me.

"So the guy says, 'I'm calling on behalf of the University of Akron. Would you be interested in the job?'"

Bowden leans back in his chair. He told me he'd had his eye on the Akron job for several years, though it is an odd job for anyone to covet: Before the school chased Bowden, they went after a former Zips player and assistant coach named Paul Winters, who led Wayne State to the Division II national championship game last season. And Winters chose to stay at Wayne State instead.

Only then, Bowden says, did he get the phone call from the search firm.

"So I tell him, 'Yes, I'm interested,'" he says. "And the guy goes, 'Really?'"

The fact that the Zips are getting so much notice after two consecutive 1-11 seasons in the MAC continues to astound me. God bless the Bowdens.

[GP1]

Best line in the article..."Regardless, they handled the transition so badly that the program has yet to recover."

At first, I was a little upset about the last paragraph. After putting some thought into it, I don't blame the old guy for thinking that way on some level. Thus far, the stadium has been a complete waste of money. That is going to turn around, but probably a true statement depending how you look at it and the time you put around it.

Lastly, Jim "The Victim" Dennison always likes to get a word in framed as if nothing was his fault. He was just the poor football coach who got the boot from a horrible system....complete bull-youknowwhat. The guy was AD for seven years (28% of the time) we were in D1 and showed absolutely nothing while doing the job. One might even say hiring Dennison as the AD was the worst mistake Akron made during the D1 Era. His small Terry Plutolike thinking kept us back for years and his hiring MAY even be worse than the TW hiring. He really has no room to comment and I wish a better researched reporter would follow up with him about that in stories around this topic.

[jjackson123]

Would have liked a mention of KD and the basketball teams moderate success... Other than that good article. My only other gripe was how he mentioned Akron as a town crippled when the rubber industry fell apart. Didn't mention how the rubber industry is still thriving and how we the city is making strides forward. The way he worded it makes me think of Youngstown.

[Class of 82]

Lastly, Jim "The Victim" Dennison always likes to get a word in framed as if nothing was his fault. He was just the poor football coach who got the boot from a horrible system....complete bull-youknowwhat. The guy was AD for seven years (28% of the time) we were in D1 and showed absolutely nothing while doing the job. One might even say hiring Dennison as the AD was the worst mistake Akron made during the D1 Era. His small Terry Plutolike thinking kept us back for years and his hiring MAY even be worse than the TW hiring. He really has no room to comment and I wish a better researched reporter would follow up with him about that in stories around this topic.

With lots of respect sent your way, I think you have a rather distorted view of history here, GP.

While Dennison was given the title and salary of AD, he was never really in charge of athletics. Our carpet-bagger president at the time, Bill Muse, and his office were running the whole athletics show. Dennison being given the AD title and salary was simply a way for Muse to get what he wanted and look a little less cruel than he would have by kicking Jim to the curb entirely. But Dennison was no more "directing" athletics at the university than you or I were. I don't blame Jim for keeping the title and salary and credits toward his STRS retirement before gracefully bowing out and getting back into coaching at Walsh. And I certainly don't blame Jim for the shambles left in Bill Muse's wake.

I don't see how anyone can argue that the way we jumped out of the OVC served us well in the short OR long term. Bill Muse's self-serving desire to be big-time so he could land a bigger job for himself cost us the continued services one of the best young coaches in college basketball, AND we replaced a proven winner as our football coach with a guy who...nice and personable as he was... had already shown that he was clearly ill-suited to be a college football coach. The time to go D-1 was when we received the MAC invitation that was pretty much inevitable down the road. And we still have not fully recovered from that bone-headed decision. I see that as the context for Jim Dennison's comments, and in my opinion he is dead-center, right on the money.

[GP1]

With lots of respect sent your way, I think you have a rather distorted view of history here, GP.

While Dennison was given the title and salary of AD, he was never really in charge of athletics. Our carpet-bagger president at the time, Bill Muse, and his office were running the whole athletics show. Dennison being given the AD title and salary was simply a way for Muse to get what he wanted and look a little less cruel than he would have by kicking Jim to the curb entirely. But Dennison was no more "directing" athletics at the university than you or I were. I don't blame Jim for keeping the title and salary and credits toward his STRS retirement before gracefully bowing out and getting back into coaching at Walsh. And I certainly don't blame Jim for the shambles left in Bill Muse's wake.

I don't see how anyone can argue that the way we jumped out of the OVC served us well in the short OR long term. Bill Muse's self-serving desire to be big-time so he could land a bigger job for himself cost us the continued services one of the best young coaches in college basketball, AND we replaced a proven winner as our football coach with a guy who...nice and personable as he was... had already shown that he was clearly ill-suited to be a college football coach. The time to go D-1 was when we received the MAC invitation that was pretty much inevitable down the road. And we still have not fully recovered from that bone-headed decision. I see that as the context for Jim Dennison's comments, and in my opinion he is dead-center, right on the money.

I don't know if I buy your whole story either. Some of your story makes Dennison look even worse than I described.

If Dennison took the AD job, the money and the retirement without doing anything, I think even less of him. Basically, anyone who would do that has no character and isn't the person people describe. I believe Dennison was part of a larger group of people who didn't really know what to do so they all floundered together. To pretend Dennison had NOTHING to do with any of the problems in those years is not being open minded about how bad it was and how many people were really at fault. In fact, the worst thing the school did was keep him around to be the boss of the guy he was fired to hire. If he was sitting on his butt while the football program floundered, shame on him and shame on the administration for not showing him the door years before.

This link will take anyone to the Jim Dennison Wiki page. I don't see the magic of a "proven winner". Certainly not the guy to take Akron from I-AA to D1A. In six years, he never won the OVC and made the playoffs once. He was dismissed from the playoffs after one game. He had a career as a high school coach before being an assistant at Akron during the DII Era and then became head coach. There is no way on God's green Earth he should have been the guy to lead Akron into D1A. Faust had more experience at a real D1A school than Dennison, which is why he got the job. Faust was a good hire at the time...the problem was the rest, and the rest includes a lot of people including Dennison.

Please don't take this as criticism of your post Class of 82. A lot of people have been told of the greatness of Dennison AND have been told to believe it without even doing any research to find out if everything everyone is saying is true. I've never really talked to the guy and I played football when he was the AD. All I know is what he did as a coach, which is overblown, and what he did as an AD, which resulted in seven lost years for the University. My guess is everyone else in college football thought the same way about him as I do as he never sniffed even a I-AA job again.

[Class of 82]

Please don't take this as criticism of your post Class of 82. A lot of people have been told of the greatness of Dennison AND have been told to believe it without even doing any research to find out if everything everyone is saying is true. I've never really talked to the guy and I played football when he was the AD. All I know is what he did as a coach, which is overblown, and what he did as an AD, which resulted in seven lost years for the University. My guess is everyone else in college football thought the same way about him as I do as he never sniffed even a I-AA job again.

No probs on this end, man. I try never to confuse disagreement with disrespect.

My point has far less to do with Jim Dennison's greatness (or lack thereof) or even his character than it does with the validity of his overall point, which is that Muse's decision to take UA to D-1 as an independent was entirely reckless and counter-productive to the long-term benefit of UA's athletic programs. It certainly cost us the continued services of Bob Huggins, and it was bad for our football program, too, imo.

At any rate, say what you will about Dennison, but when I studied and worked at the university in the Dennison years you'd have had a hard time finding anyone on campus or in the community who did not hold him in the highest regard. Shock and disbelief was the general reaction to the whole process when he got "promoted." And no small amount of anger, too. Jim took us to a Div-II championship game in 1976, and despite what you say had Akron competing very well after we made the jump to I-AA in the OVC. His last year was one of his best (8-4, 5-2), and many of those same senior players who Jim had recruited and coached played a large role in giving Gerry his only winning season at Akron. Jim's summary "promotion" turned off a good many loyal Akron boosters, fans and supporters, a number of whom remain bitter and angry to this very day.

There were indeed many lost years after the bump to D-1. I guess you and I just disagree on why those years were lost and who is ultimately responsible. From what I know, I lay the blame squarely with Bill Muse and the Board of Trustees he was able to bamboozle.

Peace. Out.

[K92]

"WE'VE GOT TO BUY TICKETS AND INVITE 10 OF OUR FRIENDS! FOOTBALL'S SUCH AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE MISSION OF THE UNIVERSITY … WE'RE THE WINDOW THROUGH WHICH PEOPLE VIEW THE GREAT THINGS THAT GO ON HERE."

I love you, Coach Bowden.

[johnnyzip84]

I think GP1 makes some pretty good points regarding Dennison. In the OVC years, he was simply HANDLED by the likes of Boots Donnelly (MTSU) and Roy Kidd (EKU) in EVERY significant encounter. And I share in GP1's disgust if Dennison was indeed simply collecting a paycheck as AD. After all this is a coach whose mantra has always been MTXE (mental toughness extra effort).

I'm also not buying that the MAC would have eventally come calling without some initiative (i.e. move to 1-A) on the part of UA. Let's ask YSU how the "waiting around for a phone call" strategy has worked for them. I'm not saying that mistakes weren't made during that time (Adams was a financially irresponsible AD for one). I just don't think the decision to go 1-A was one of them.

BTW, Faust had THREE winning seasons at UA, including (as skip-zip fondly recalls from time to time) the finest Zips football season record at 7-3-1 in the inaugural MAC season in 1992).

[Zipmeister]

I think GP1 makes some pretty good points regarding Dennison. In the OVC years, he was simply HANDLED by the likes of Boots Donnelly (MTSU) and Roy Kidd (EKU) in EVERY significant encounter. And I share in GP1's disgust if Dennison was indeed simply collecting a paycheck as AD. After all this is a coach whose mantra has always been MTXE (mental toughness extra effort).

I'm also not buying that the MAC would have eventally come calling without some initiative (i.e. move to 1-A) on the part of UA. Let's ask YSU how the "waiting around for a phone call" strategy has worked for them. I'm not saying that mistakes weren't made during that time (Adams was a financially irresponsible AD for one). I just don't think the decision to go 1-A was one of them.

BTW, Faust had THREE winning seasons at UA, including (as skip-zip fondly recalls from time to time) the finest Zips football season record at 7-3-1 in the inaugural MAC season in 1992).

Good nonpurchase 84. The MAC made it very clear they weren't going to take the Zips in direct from IAA.

[Hilltopper]

Dennison's "Mantra" was PMA. Positive Mental Attitude. All Jim Dennison ever wanted was to be a football coach. at the time I don't feel he had aspirations to be the AD, but out of loyalty he stayed on as Associate AD. After the Adams fiasco he was asked to step in and try to make some one else's bad decisions work. The Meister is quite right that the MAC was going to ever let UA make the jump directly from l-AA, so we had to prove our intentions as an independent first. YMMV

[johnnyzip84]

Dennison's "Mantra" was PMA. Positive Mental Attitude. All Jim Dennison ever wanted was to be a football coach. at the time I don't feel he had aspirations to be the AD, but out of loyalty he stayed on as Associate AD. After the Adams fiasco he was asked to step in and try to make some one else's bad decisions work. The Meister is quite right that the MAC was going to ever let UA make the jump directly from l-AA, so we had to prove our intentions as an independent first. YMMV

You're right, I had momentarily forgotten about PMA (was always a little too close to PMS, IMHO ). IIRC (trying to set a jz84 record for most acronyms in a single post), PMA was the more public or general "mantra" for Dennison. I was pretty close to a few players in the early 80's and MTXE was definitely a buzz phrase of those teams. TTYL

[Class of 82]

I think GP1 makes some pretty good points regarding Dennison. In the OVC years, he was simply HANDLED by the likes of Boots Donnelly (MTSU) and Roy Kidd (EKU) in EVERY significant encounter. And I share in GP1's disgust if Dennison was indeed simply collecting a paycheck as AD. After all this is a coach whose mantra has always been MTXE (mental toughness extra effort).

I'm also not buying that the MAC would have eventally come calling without some initiative (i.e. move to 1-A) on the part of UA. Let's ask YSU how the "waiting around for a phone call" strategy has worked for them. I'm not saying that mistakes weren't made during that time (Adams was a financially irresponsible AD for one). I just don't think the decision to go 1-A was one of them.

BTW, Faust had THREE winning seasons at UA, including (as skip-zip fondly recalls from time to time) the finest Zips football season record at 7-3-1 in the inaugural MAC season in 1992).

Okay. So Gerry had three winning seasons... out of nine. His record at Akron was a sorry 43-53-3. Gerry is a really nice and likeable guy, but he couldn't carry Jim Dennison's jock strap as a college coach, imo.

Dennison was 80-62-2 in his 13 years as Zips head coach. He had only two losing seasons. His teams were 30-22-1 in the OVC, finishing second in the conference three out of six seasons. His last season, the Zips went 8-4 (5-2) and made the I-AA playoffs. People can diss him all they like, but Dennison's record speaks for itself. He was a fine coach, and he was well-liked and well-respected by virtually everyone who knew him. The treatment he received from Bill Muse and the Board was an unconscionable and damned-near career-destroying kick in the nuts to a loyal, long-serving and high-performing employee. And whether anyone wants to acknowledge it or not, Akron paid a pretty steep price for that mistreatment. Jim had, and still has, a lot of very close friends in this area. Any way you slice it, the way that whole affair went down was shameful and an absolute embarassment. Treating people the way he was treated ain't good karma. We can only hope Akron's done paying for that bad karma.

So, I guess I cut Dennison a good bit of slack, far more perhaps than some are willing to cut him. I don't think his public comments have ever been particularly mean-spirited, and I think he has generally dealt with his shabby treatment with class and dignity, far more than I would be able to muster had I been in his shoes.

Anyhow, that's how I see things. My feelings aren't hurt if I am a minority of one.

[GP1]

Okay. So Gerry had three winning seasons... out of nine. His record at Akron was a sorry 43-53-3. Gerry is a really nice and likeable guy, but he couldn't carry Jim Dennison's jock strap as a college coach, imo.

Dennison was 80-62-2 in his 13 years as Zips head coach. He had only two losing seasons. His teams were 30-22-1 in the OVC, finishing second in the conference three out of six seasons. His last season, the Zips went 8-4 (5-2) and made the I-AA playoffs. People can diss him all they like, but Dennison's record speaks for itself. He was a fine coach, and he was well-liked and well-respected by virtually everyone who knew him. The treatment he received from Bill Muse and the Board was an unconscionable and damned-near career-destroying kick in the nuts to a loyal, long-serving and high-performing employee. And whether anyone wants to acknowledge it or not, Akron paid a pretty steep price for that mistreatment. Jim had, and still has, a lot of very close friends in this area. Any way you slice it, the way that whole affair went down was shameful and an absolute embarassment. Treating people the way he was treated ain't good karma. We can only hope Akron's done paying for that bad karma.

Dennison frequently came a game away from finishing under .500. He was a fine enough coach, but not a guy to be a D1A coach. His promotion would have been exactly the small time thinking that has given us losing season, one after another, for many years.

I'm not sure what the people who defend Dennison want. He was a DII coach with DII ideas. He had zero experience coaching D1A football and was not the guy for the job so he was promoted into a position he was also not suited for for SEVEN YEARS (only in the government). Is that being poorly treated?

The knock on Faust is he was a terrible coach because he finished at Akron with a losing record. Fair enough. Given the circumstances, who could have done better? The weight room Faust's first two years was two combined classrooms in the JAR. Faust coached at a school that didn't have a President, anyone on the Board of Trustees or an AD who knew how to support what he was trying to do. Faust knew what to do and there wasn't anyone else at the University who could support him. Faust winning as many games as he did was almost a miracle. He did pray a lot....

There is no doubt Akron has paid a price over the past 20+ years. We live in an "either/or" world so the discussion comes down to Dennison vs. Faust. That was never the contest and it is a childish argument to make. If it has to be either/or, I would argue the biggest problem we have had over the past 20+ years has been the "Building Process" vs. the "Winning Process". We've spent too much time building and not enough time winning because the University had almost nobody, until Mike Thomas came along, who had a clue as to what to do so they tried to mask their cluelessness in the "building process". They were nothing but a bunch of tricksters. The feelings people have about Dennison getting fired are an extremely small portion of the price. Our endless losing has been FAR worse for this program than Dennison getting passed over. 15,000 people went to Detroit for a bowl game and I doubt many of them mentioned the word Dennison while there.

My guess is anyone harboring resentment about this issue to this day are the same people who have a thousand reasons not to go to Akron games in order to stay at home and watch Ohio State play.

[Class of 82]

Dennison frequently came a game away from finishing under .500. He was a fine enough coach, but not a guy to be a D1A coach. His promotion would have been exactly the small time thinking that has given us losing season, one after another, for many years.

I'm not sure what the people who defend Dennison want. He was a DII coach with DII ideas. He had zero experience coaching D1A football and was not the guy for the job so he was promoted into a position he was also not suited for for SEVEN YEARS (only in the government). Is that being poorly treated?

The knock on Faust is he was a terrible coach because he finished at Akron with a losing record. Fair enough. Given the circumstances, who could have done better? The weight room Faust's first two years was two combined classrooms in the JAR. Faust coached at a school that didn't have a President, anyone on the Board of Trustees or an AD who knew how to support what he was trying to do. Faust knew what to do and there wasn't anyone else at the University who could support him. Faust winning as many games as he did was almost a miracle. He did pray a lot....

There is no doubt Akron has paid a price over the past 20+ years. We live in an "either/or" world so the discussion comes down to Dennison vs. Faust. That was never the contest and it is a childish argument to make. If it has to be either/or, I would argue the biggest problem we have had over the past 20+ years has been the "Building Process" vs. the "Winning Process". We've spent too much time building and not enough time winning because the University had almost nobody, until Mike Thomas came along, who had a clue as to what to do so they tried to mask their cluelessness in the "building process". They were nothing but a bunch of tricksters. The feelings people have about Dennison getting fired are an extremely small portion of the price. Our endless losing has been FAR worse for this program than Dennison getting passed over. 15,000 people went to Detroit for a bowl game and I doubt many of them mentioned the word Dennison while there.

My guess is anyone harboring resentment about this issue to this day are the same people who have a thousand reasons not to go to Akron games in order to stay at home and watch Ohio State play.

I'll just comment on two of your points, and you can have the last word if you want.

1) For a new president to roll into town and sh*tcan a well-liked, successful and universally respected 20+ year employee was just, well, wrong. It's water long over the dam, but it is what it is. I know quite a few people in town who've neither forgotten nor forgiven. I am not and never have been one of them, since the University is and will always be far bigger to me than any one person, whether I view them positively or negatively. And I do agree with you that it's petty... and idiotic... to use a 20-year-old grudge as some lame excuse to stay away from Zips football.

2) We'll never know how Jim would have done when Akron went D-1, because he was never given the opportunity. But if you have to make excuses for Gerry's failure... facilities, administration, etc... you merely reinforce the general point Jim made that you took exception too... that Akron jumped to the next level well before they were institutionally ready. Again, that's water long ago over the dam, but it's a valid opinion with a solid basis in fact.

At any rate, however we feel about the past, I know you and I can agree that the future... finally... looks a heckuva lot brighter. And it's a lot more fun (and fruitful) to consider. I sure liked a lot of what I saw in that Spring Game!

Peace, brother!

[zipboy]

A few other thoughts after reading this article.

1. This is as much a sales job as coaching job right now. Why did no one raise a red flag with Ianello? I could see if he had a Bowden like personality and could not coach why they might have hired Rob (which still would have been bad). I will scratch my head forever with that hiring. Even if he is friends with TW, a guy isn't going to commit career suicide to hire a friend.

2. As bad as Ianello was, Bowden will be even better. He may be the only guy to bring us out of this. I have no doubt that he will win and hope he stays until he retires. There will be enough improvement over the next 10 years, respectable in the MAC, winning the MAC, moving to another conference, and winning there for him to be loved the rest of his career here. I know it is a longshot but there is a chance.

3. A better slant would have been "how the heck did Akron only spend $60 million and get a stadium as good as this?" I read an article in the Wall Street Journal last week about Cal, looking to do $300M in renovations to their current stadium which is built on an earthquake fault. They were confident of raising that in donations. They raised 30M over the last 5 years, blamed the economy and will be raising student fees. My first thought was how dumb is their administration? I could see coming in 10-20% short due to the economy but not 90%. How do you expect to raise 300M just to renovate? The article also quoted Michigan as spending 148M to renovate and add loges. Minnesota (I think it was them) spent 220M.

4. If we build a new arena that is mostly to move to a new league. KD commented a new arena will help marginally in the MAC. We are already a top 3 team in the league year in and year out with the JAR. I understand a comment from some old guy about a waste of money for a new arena. But in football the Rubber Bowl was dead. Even if we moved to 1-AA and built a 20K stadium, it would have been 30-40M. I don't understand the negative comments about what was built for the price it was built at.

5. 5 years ago I thought Akron was never in a better place to advance and move up if the time were right down the road. A year ago at this time was the low point as the direction of football was horrible. I was a naive person a few years ago thinking build it and everything else will fall into place. What I learned which several of you have pointed out is the right people in place is by and away #1. With the right facilities we have a better chance of keeping the right people in place longer but we need the right leadership. We have the right leadership in the flagship sports with KD, Bowden, Porter. I hope Proenza has 5 good years left to see this through and I expect big things from Tressell. A 40,000 student, research powerhouse university makes Northeast Ohio much stronger and a better place to live. As a fan I want to see good entertainment but there is a much bigger prize if Akron can execute.

[GP1]

Why did no one raise a red flag with Ianello?

The Great GP1 did when I saw the words "pro style offense".

[ZachTheZip]

Why did no one raise a red flag with Ianello?

Hi there.

[zipboy]

My bad, I should have said anyone on the search committee.

[GP1]

My bad, I should have said anyone on the search committee.

Because they didn't know any better.

Who has sat on the last two football coaching hiring committees?

[Zipmeister]

Because they didn't know any better.

Who has sat on the last two football coaching hiring committees?

I has not.