Possible Candidates

[kreed5120]

8 minutes ago, LZIp said:

Not that I'm in favor of Polian based on the very limited knowledge I have of him, but using that as a disqualifer is pretty lazy.

I was mostly joking. My real reason for not liking him is he already had his shot at a G5 program and I wasn't impressed.

[NWAkron]

A friend of a friend of mine's wife is friends with a friend of Urban Meyer's wife.   She said they were looking at houses in Richfield.

[zvillezip]

I see that.  I thought he had more success at Nevada than that.  

[clarkwgriswold]

15 minutes ago, NWAkron said:

A friend of a friend of mine's wife is friends with a friend of Urban Meyer's wife.   She said they were looking at houses in Richfield.

 

Right next to the one Bill Cowher is buying.

[Captain Kangaroo]

2 hours ago, zvillezip said:

He has been a successful head coach at Nevada, has great connections, and has been Notre Dame's recruiting coordinator.  

A recruiting coordinator from Notre Dame...how could that possibly go wrong?

 

Are calls in to Charlie Weis and Ty Willingham?

[scottditzen]

On 12/3/2018 at 12:37 PM, Captain Kangaroo said:

"InfoCision Stadium might be an albatross"

 

Had she ever been to the Rubber Bowl?

 

I would love to see her write a column on why such a nice stadium is an "albatross." Who's fault is it?

 

Scarborough said "I wouldn't have built that stadium." Seems like everyone is keen to blame Mike Thomas for giving UA a beautiful on-campus stadium for a paltry 61.5 million dollars (it would cost double that to build it today).

 

Different topic for a different thread, but it just bugs me that no one since Mike Waddell has busted his butt to fill UA's football stadium. 

"Scarborough" and "Ianello."

 

Two names I wish could be struck from Zip history. 

[ewbrooman1]

8 hours ago, zvillezip said:

I am not big on Notre Dame, especially based on past experience with a former Akron head coach who shall not be named (Faust Excluded).  It would surprise me that Brian Polian would be interested in Akron.  If he is, he would be a huge get for Akron.  He has been a successful head coach at Nevada, has great connections, and has been Notre Dame's recruiting coordinator.  Recruiting is the life blood of college football and those connections can prove very valuable.  I think a lot of the names that have been floated have potential.  Polian seems to be a premier candidate IMO.

No reason to exclude Faust from ND/UA futility list IMO. I am wary of our AD being enamored with guys from his alma mater, but I guess at least Polian comes from a successful ND program. He was 23-27 in 4 years at Nevada, not what I'd call very successful.

Edited December 4, 2018 by ewbrooman1

[Section210Zip]

8 hours ago, clarkwgriswold said:

I think we're waaaaaay behind in making the obligatory reference to Wayne State's Paul Winters as a candidate.  He's been mentioned in every other Zips football coaching search for the last 20 years.  I'd hate to see him left out now.  LOL.

that is a name I was hoping to never see again.

[NWAkron]

Who is this Paul Winters person?

 

And I agree...no more Notre Dame!

[clarkwgriswold]

1 hour ago, NWAkron said:

Who is this Paul Winters person?

 

And I agree...no more Notre Dame!

 

Akron born and raised.  Played at St. V in the early/mid 70's then was on successful UA teams in the late 70's.  As I recall, he was on the UA staff twice and was at also at Wisconsin at some point.  He has been Head Coach at Wayne State for 10 or 15 years.  I think he's a great guy and a good coach, but he has to be 60 at this point.  

 

Edit:  I just read his Wikipedia and it says he declined the UA job in 2011.  I don't recall anything other than his name being mentioned then.

Edited December 5, 2018 by clarkwgriswold

[ZachTheZip]

Medium.com - Tom Arth the leading candidate for Akron football head coach position

 

Now this is interesting.

Edited December 5, 2018 by ZachTheZip

[LZIp]

16 minutes ago, ZachTheZip said:

Medium.com - Tom Arth the leading candidate for Akron football head coach position

 

Now this is interesting.

Thanks for sharing, Zach. I've been jonesing for some news.

 

I just realized I've met Tom Arth at a Pro Football HOF event that was actually honoring Brad Dickerson, CFO of Under Armour at the time (and UA business school grad). Arth also played for legendary Coach Kyle at St. Ignatius. Obviously winning the OAC at JCU over Mount Union is a great accomplishment. I don't know enough about UT-Chatanooga, but looking at records, there has been a noticeable drop off in his two seasons there.

[NWAkron]

14 minutes ago, LZIp said:

Thanks for sharing, Zach. I've been jonesing for some news.

 

I just realized I've met Tom Arth at a Pro Football HOF event that was actually honoring Brad Dickerson, CFO of Under Armour at the time (and UA business school grad). Arth also played for legendary Coach Kyle at St. Ignatius. Obviously winning the OAC at JCU over Mount Union is a great accomplishment. I don't know enough about UT-Chatanooga, but looking at records, there has been a noticeable drop off in his two seasons there.

Looks like they improved from 3-8 to 6-5 with big loss to South Carolina this year

[clarkwgriswold]

I suspect that a lot of the rumor mill of what coaches are front runners for certain jobs is driven in large part by agents for the "hot" candidates.

[LZIp]

4 minutes ago, NWAkron said:

Looks like they improved from 3-8 to 6-5 with big loss to South Carolina this year

I guess I should have clarified better. Before him, the previous coach won at least 9 games in their last 2 seasons, where Arth won 3 games and then 6 games. Going from 3 to 6 is obviously a good sign, but I wonder where there was such a drop off in his first year taking over.

 

Many members of the board will like this - when first hired at UT-C, he had only 2 months to put together a recruiting class. It ended up being one of the top in the FCS and the highest rated in the Southern conference.

Edited December 5, 2018 by LZIp

[NWAkron]

5 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said:

I suspect that a lot of the rumor mill of what coaches are front runners for certain jobs is driven in large part by agents for the "hot" candidates.

Oh.

[GoZips88]

7 hours ago, scottditzen said:

"Scarborough" and "Ianello."

 

Two names I wish could be struck from Zip history. 

 

University of Akron Hall of Shame  

• Ianello 
• Scarborough 
• Milwee  

Edited December 5, 2018 by GoZips88

[zippy5]

45 minutes ago, LZIp said:

Thanks for sharing, Zach. I've been jonesing for some news.

 

I just realized I've met Tom Arth at a Pro Football HOF event that was actually honoring Brad Dickerson, CFO of Under Armour at the time (and UA business school grad). Arth also played for legendary Coach Kyle at St. Ignatius. Obviously winning the OAC at JCU over Mount Union is a great accomplishment. I don't know enough about UT-Chatanooga, but looking at records, there has been a noticeable drop off in his two seasons there.

I'll never hear UT Chattanooga and not think of this

 

 

[NWAkron]

3 minutes ago, GoZips88 said:

 

University of Akron Hall of Shame

• Ianello
• Scarborough
• Milwee

I would throw in the Hipsher family for good measure.  (But this is football thread).

[GoZips88]

1 minute ago, NWAkron said:

I would throw in the Hipsher family for good measure.  (But this is football thread).

"Hall of Shame" probably deserves it's own thread so Hipsher and Crawford are fair game.

[72 Roo]

Art looks like an up and comer, but I'd like to see more wins under his belt before he takes us on. Winning 3 games in his first year and 6 in his second does not demonstrate excellence.

[ZachTheZip]

https://theathletic.com/693573/2018/12/04/akron-zips-head-coach-job-opening-profile-football/

 

Anybody have a subscription to The Athletic?

[Hilltopper]

Nothing in that article that hasn't already been brought to light already on Zipsnation.

Edited December 5, 2018 by Hilltopper

[Hugo42]

35 minutes ago, Hilltopper said:

A third Mid-American Conference job has opened, as Akron dismissed Terry Bowden after seven seasons.

On the surface, it was a little surprising, given that Bowden and the Zips won a division championship last year. Bowden went 35-52, finishing with one winning season and two bowl bids.

When Bowden arrived, Akron was one of the worst programs in the FBS. He departs after a 4-8 season, his worst since a 1-11 debut. He was the second-longest-tenured coach in the MAC, behind Ohio’s Frank Solich. There is potential at Akron, but success has rarely come.

So how good is the Akron job? What kind of names can the Zips land? Here are some factors to keep in mind.

What are the expectations?

As mentioned, Bowden was one year removed from a division championship. His 8-5 season in 2015 set a program record for wins since the move up to the FBS in 1987. From 2010-12, Akron won a total of three games in three seasons. Bowden’s program had slowly been improving until this year, and he’s made two of the three bowls in school history. Akron did win the MAC in 2005, but does it expect to compete for the title annually? Akron is historically in the easier MAC division, paired with teams like Ohio and Buffalo instead of Northern Illinois, Toledo and Western Michigan.

Will ties to Ohio or the Midwest be a requirement?

Outside of one season as an Akron assistant in 1986, Bowden had spent all of his career in the South. MAC East rival Bowling Green replaced Mike Jinks and his Texas ties with Scot Loeffler, who was born near Akron and coached at Michigan.

Less than half of Akron’s current roster is from Ohio. There are 44 players from Ohio and 32 from Florida. Akron’s recruiting classes were typically in the bottom quarter of the MAC, rankings only as high as No. 8 in Bowden’s tenure. Does the school want a greater emphasis on local players? Recruiting should be better than it is.

The facilities are pretty good, especially for the MAC

InfoCision Stadium, which opened in 2009, is perhaps the nicest home field in the MAC. In 2004, the Stile Athletics Field House opened. It’s a vast indoor facility for all of Akron’s teams, and it includes a full-length football field. There are also outdoor practice fields, including one full-length turf field. Based on the standards of the MAC, the next coach will already have the facilities he needs.

So what names could get in the mix?

Akron could have candidates similar to those mentioned for the Bowling Green job. Notre Dame special teams coordinator Brian Polian and Irish defensive line coach Mike Elston were candidates for the Falcons. Polian, who was a finalist, has head coaching experience at Nevada and played at John Carroll in Ohio. Ohio State running backs coach Tony Alford also could get in the mix in this one.

If Akron looks at a sitting head coach, Mount Union’s Vince Kehres is 82-4 at the Division III Ohio school and was part of a long rivalry with current Buffalo head coach Lance Leipold, when he was at Wisconsin-Whitewater. Leipold’s success could make lower-level head coaches more appealing. Tom Arth went 40-8 leading John Carroll from 2013-16, but he’s 9-11 in the past two years at Chattanooga.

Mississippi State offensive coordinator Luke Getsy was the quarterback on that 2005 MAC championship Akron team, and he spent 2007-08 as a graduate assistant on the staff. Michigan offensive line coach Ed Warinner has deep ties as an Ohio native and former Ohio State assistant, and he coached at Akron in 1984.

Other names to watch could include Northwestern defensive backs coach Matt MacPherson, who was a finalist for the Western Michigan job last year. Oklahoma State offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich interviewed for the Kent State job last year.

The Akron job is an intriguing one, but can the potential become a reality?

Hey they work hard for that subscription and I accidentally paid. For a full year I would

of been happy to

summarize it.  Hope

zipsnation is well.  

[Balsy]

10 hours ago, ZachTheZip said:

Medium.com - Tom Arth the leading candidate for Akron football head coach position

 

Now this is interesting.

 

Why is this particularly interesting?  9-13 record at UT Chattanooga...