Assessing Coach Arth (and his staff)

[ZippyRulz]

1 hour ago, dre22era said:

If we drop to DII the football program will NEVER get another dime from me 

 

I'm guessing we could be in the top half of the GLIAC regularly -

 

https://gliac.prestosports.com/sports/fball/2019-20/standings1

 

[NWAkron]

My negative post for the week: I want to know the names of all those involved in this hiring decision.  Who interviewed and who were the other candidates.  Clearly, they were swayed by something other than coaching ability.

Edited November 2, 2019 by NWAkron

[ZippyRulz]

37 minutes ago, NWAkron said:

My negative post for the week: I want to know the names of all those involved in this hiring decision.  Who interviewed and who were the other candidates.  Clearly, they were swayed by something other than coaching ability.

 

Ultimately, it was these folks: https://www.uakron.edu/bot/members.dot

 

Most of whom were appointed by Gov. John Kasich

[clarkwgriswold]

I thought that much of Zips Nation was overly optimistic in the preseason with their estimates of wins.  My thought was that they could win as few as two and as many as four.  Even my pessimism could not match this ugliness.  

 

They're not firing Arth.  As such, the keys in the off-season need to be:  1) work their @$$e$ off in recruiting, including jucos; 2)  upgrade the staff.  All of these connections Arth purportedly has better pay off in the off-season.   They need kids that can play NOW.

[clarkwgriswold]

2 hours ago, NWAkron said:

My negative post for the week: I want to know the names of all those involved in this hiring decision.  Who interviewed and who were the other candidates.  Clearly, they were swayed by something other than coaching ability.

 

They faced a guy today who should have been high on their list but he was hired a full two weeks before Arth.

 

The radio broadcast mentioned that he lost 15 players to transfer making it tough to fill out his team.  He's apparently ahead of the Zips pace.

[ewbrooman1]

Neither Arth or the Zips have won since Oct 27 of last year. ?

[akronzips71]

It hurts to watch

How can we be this bad?

[zipsoutsider]

16 minutes ago, akronzips71 said:

It hurts to watch

How can we be this bad?

Wofford put up 14 on Clemson and we have not had a touchdown in 5 weeks. This is about as bad as it gets 

[John Ward]

1 hour ago, akronzips71 said:

It hurts to watch

How can we be this bad?

I think your witnessing players in wrong positions, ones that don't belong on the field and players who could contribute standing around.As Clark mentioned they need to recruit the JUCOs heavy for capable O line and D line and a few DBs.I do feel we have good skill positions  but doesn't matter because without a line you have nothing.

[dre22era]

After today I am convinced that if you handed Arth Ohio State he would find a way to uck it up. 

Like Freddie Kitchens Arth is not a Head Coach. Not on the D1 Level.

His overall D1 record is 9-22 (9–13 at Chattanooga)

[AkronAlumnus]

Just face it guys.. Akron football flat out stinks. I wouldn't be surprised if local powerhouses i.e. Massillon Washington and Akron Hoban could upend this zips squad, however, there is a bright side, basketball season is right around the corner. 

[dre22era]

Gets even more hilarious and sad each time I read it 

The University of Akron football team is 0-6 in 2019. Coach Tom Arth is reportedly making about $500,000 this year.

UA owes Terry Bowden, who was fired with two years left on his contract, about $630,000. UA also paid about $370,000 to Chattanooga so Arth could leave there.

— JEROME LANE (@INTHELANE_7) October 13, 2019

[Zip-Grad '13]

2 hours ago, dre22era said:

Gets even more hilarious and sad each time I read it 

 

It is.  It really is.  

[Cykron]

On 11/2/2019 at 2:04 AM, bigjim said:

 

I was a Bowden fan, but wanted him to fire the OC.  However, the expectations were higher his last couple of years and he did not produce.  I, like most fans, agreed with his dismissal at the time it happened.  Now, there is back pedaling across the board.  He is gone now so he is not an option, and we need to focus on the current situation and move on.  

 

I would have liked Getsy as the head coach, but that did not happen.  The statement above that 'Getsy has D1 playing and coaching experience. Arth has neither' is correct.  However, Arth played in the NFL.  He was not a star, but he made an NFL team.  That is much so better than D1.  He was also endorsed by Bernie Kosar and Peyton Manning, two of the smartest NFL players ever.  These facts make it evident that Arth has very high football smarts.  Now, that does not prove that he can recruit or coach.  He has to prove that he can.

 

Also, the talent level that Bowden left was pretty low.  Pre-season analytics had the Zips losing each game, but they were predicted at a 1-2 win level based on statistics that they could have pulled off a couple of wins.  Based on these facts, Arth is meeting expectations.  Also, Arth's recruiting ratings last year were good considering the fact that he had a late start.  In fact, many on this nation said it was better than any recruiting class in the Bowden era.  Also, in 247 recruiting, he has all 3 star prospects to date this year.  So, I have faith that he is brining in talent.  With most of Bowden's classes, the recruits had only one offer, that from Akron.  That appears to be improving as many of last year's recruits and this year's commits have more than one offer.  

 

I am disappointed and frustrated about the Zips season.  However, Arth should never be compared to Ianello regarding football knowledge, who did not play college ball (I could not find any stats that he played).  Arth has a high football IQ as evident by his experience.  Now, he needs some time to get the right staff and players and make a push toward having a successful season.  I will be at the next two home games, and I will try to follow today's game if I can find it on air.  I will always remain a faithful Zip with expectations of a much better 20 season and a good 21 season.  Go Zips!!!

 

 

"Pre-season analytics had the Zips losing each game, but they were predicted at a 1-2 win level based on statistics that they could have pulled off a couple of wins.  Based on these facts, Arth is meeting expectations. "

 

Arth "meeting expectations" is an interesting way to say it!  

[Mocs123]

Chattanooga Mocs fan here.  Reading this thread reminds me of our conversations on our message board the past two years.  Arth's teams struggled to run the football, had terrible play on the offensive line, and an overall terrible offense.  When Arth was hired in Chattanooga we had just come off of three top 10 seasons (and the one before in the top 25)  Arth's hire certainly came out of left field for us, as he was a D3 head coach and some of the finalists were seemingly much more qualified, or at least experienced at the D1 FCS Level - One had built a meddling Big South team into a perennial top 25 program and his wife was from the Chattanooga area so they had ties here.  All I can say is Arth must give one heck of an interview.  

 

While Arth was not an expected hire, or the one most Moc fans would have picked, I got behind his hire noting his record at John Carroll and that the X's and O's would largely be the same.  My concerns were if he could recruit well and how he would adjust to the D1 game.  We started the 2017 ranked in top 15 and things tanked from there giving us our worst season since 2009 finishing 3-8.  We did finish the season strong beating #9 Samford, then losing to #8 Wofford in double OT, and finishing up the season with a win over in state rival ETSU.  Success continued in early 2018 starting off 4-0 before collapsing and finishing 6-5.  Poor clock management by the staff lost some of those games.  

 

Arth's tenure was plagued by a complete lack of a running game, terrible offensive line play, and an overall inept offense.  Defense, which was a Chattanooga trademark under previous HC Russ Huessman, remained very good under Arth, particularly with the inability of our offense to sustain drives and give the defense a rest.  One thing Chattanooga fans never could quite understand is that we had been running a spread run/pass option offense and a solid 4-3 defense and Arth changed us to a pro style offense and a 3-4 defense.  You wouldn't think you would change things up that much taking over an already successful team.

 

Arth did seem to recruit fairly well so there may be hope for the Zips, the biggest problem is that his most prized recruits never saw the field and most are no longer with the program.  Arth did fire his OC and Offensive Line coach after the 2018 season so the OC you have there is not the same one we had in Chattanooga, but it looks like you're seeing the same results.  I hope Arth is successful as he seems like a nice guy.  We didn't have the cash to buy him out and were shocked that someone hired him away.  We had been hoping that an NFL team would hire him away for something as he seems to have connections there.  Good luck Zips fans,  Chattanooga fans feel your pain.   

[zipsoutsider]

2 hours ago, Cykron said:

Arth "meeting expectations" is an interesting way to say it!  

Maybe we were too used to Bowden winning games he wasn't expected to win. Evidently, bot every coach can do that.

[akronzips71]

OK, so here is a plan:

Call Bowden and tell him to report Monday to work out the remainder of his contract (if he refuses, stop paying).

Name Arth as ASSISTANT HC. If he refuses, stop paying him.

Since we are paying BOTH this year and next, we are entitled to make both of them work.

Maybe Arth could learn enough to get a D2 job someplace.

[Lee Adams]

On 10/30/2019 at 8:58 AM, kreed5120 said:

The football program bleeds money because of the football stadium. A cost that doesn't go away regardless if we drop down or eliminate football entirely. I've made more detailed posts in the past on the matter, but a quick rundown the football program costs ~$10 million to run. $4 million of that is tied to the stadium debt payments. This means the operating costs are $6 million. We get ~$1.5 million per body bag game, which we have been scheduling 2 per year so that's $3 million in revenue right there. Next we get ~$1 million for the MAC tv deal. The college football playoff distributions pays something in the neighborhood of $500k-$800k. Just between those three revenue sources we're looking at $4.5 million in revenue. This doesn't even include ticket sales, parking, concessions, advertisements, etc.

 

  

Football gets $1.5 million for EACH sacrifice game? Ummm. What did it get for the South Carolina game? Not sure.

[UAZipster0305]

9 hours ago, Mocs123 said:

Chattanooga Mocs fan here.  Reading this thread reminds me of our conversations on our message board the past two years.  Arth's teams struggled to run the football, had terrible play on the offensive line, and an overall terrible offense.  When Arth was hired in Chattanooga we had just come off of three top 10 seasons (and the one before in the top 25)  Arth's hire certainly came out of left field for us, as he was a D3 head coach and some of the finalists were seemingly much more qualified, or at least experienced at the D1 FCS Level - One had built a meddling Big South team into a perennial top 25 program and his wife was from the Chattanooga area so they had ties here.  All I can say is Arth must give one heck of an interview.  

 

While Arth was not an expected hire, or the one most Moc fans would have picked, I got behind his hire noting his record at John Carroll and that the X's and O's would largely be the same.  My concerns were if he could recruit well and how he would adjust to the D1 game.  We started the 2017 ranked in top 15 and things tanked from there giving us our worst season since 2009 finishing 3-8.  We did finish the season strong beating #9 Samford, then losing to #8 Wofford in double OT, and finishing up the season with a win over in state rival ETSU.  Success continued in early 2018 starting off 4-0 before collapsing and finishing 6-5.  Poor clock management by the staff lost some of those games.  

 

Arth's tenure was plagued by a complete lack of a running game, terrible offensive line play, and an overall inept offense.  Defense, which was a Chattanooga trademark under previous HC Russ Huessman, remained very good under Arth, particularly with the inability of our offense to sustain drives and give the defense a rest.  One thing Chattanooga fans never could quite understand is that we had been running a spread run/pass option offense and a solid 4-3 defense and Arth changed us to a pro style offense and a 3-4 defense.  You wouldn't think you would change things up that much taking over an already successful team.

 

Arth did seem to recruit fairly well so there may be hope for the Zips, the biggest problem is that his most prized recruits never saw the field and most are no longer with the program.  Arth did fire his OC and Offensive Line coach after the 2018 season so the OC you have there is not the same one we had in Chattanooga, but it looks like you're seeing the same results.  I hope Arth is successful as he seems like a nice guy.  We didn't have the cash to buy him out and were shocked that someone hired him away.  We had been hoping that an NFL team would hire him away for something as he seems to have connections there.  Good luck Zips fans,  Chattanooga fans feel your pain.   

Thanks for your contribution. Really unique insight.

[UAZipster0305]

6 hours ago, akronzips71 said:

OK, so here is a plan:

Call Bowden and tell him to report Monday to work out the remainder of his contract (if he refuses, stop paying).

Name Arth as ASSISTANT HC. If he refuses, stop paying him.

Since we are paying BOTH this year and next, we are entitled to make both of them work.

Maybe Arth could learn enough to get a D2 job someplace.

Great idea! This needs to happen. Worst case scenario is that we have two highly paid coaches. Best case scenario is that we are off the hook for one of the contracts, and if Arth leaves and the team does not improve under Bowden, we can restart the coaching search.

 

Message the BoT and AD about this. Seriously!

[akronzips71]

29 minutes ago, UAZipster0305 said:

Great idea! This needs to happen. Worst case scenario is that we have two highly paid coaches. Best case scenario is that we are off the hook for one of the contracts, and if Arth leaves and the team does not improve under Bowden, we can restart the coaching search.

 

Message the BoT and AD about this. Seriously!

I don't know the legality and I have no idea where or how to reach anyone at the U. But feel free to pass it along.

[dre22era]

7 hours ago, Lee Adams said:

Football gets $1.5 million for EACH sacrifice game? Ummm. What did it get for the South Carolina game? Not sure.

Akron is getting a pretty generous deal out of the canceled game with #Huskers : they’re pocketing $1.95 million this year, between the settlement w/Nebraska & their game at South Carolina, & the makeup game. Feel like both sides did OK here

— Derek Johnson (@DerekJohnson05) December 18, 2018

[72 Roo]

3 hours ago, UAZipster0305 said:

 

"Arth's tenure was plagued by a complete lack of a running game, terrible offensive line play, and an overall inept offense.  Defense, which was a Chattanooga trademark under previous HC Russ Huessman, remained very good under Arth, particularly with the inability of our offense to sustain drives and give the defense a rest.  One thing Chattanooga fans never could quite understand is that we had been running a spread run/pass option offense and a solid 4-3 defense and Arth changed us to a pro style offense and a 3-4 defense.  You wouldn't think you would change things up that much taking over an already successful team.

 

Arth did seem to recruit fairly well so there may be hope for the Zips, the biggest problem is that his most prized recruits never saw the field and most are no longer with the program.  Arth did fire his OC and Offensive Line coach after the 2018 season so the OC you have there is not the same one we had in Chattanooga, but it looks like you're seeing the same results. "

 

Mocs fan, thanks for your post, but it does not give me much comfort. Good football all starts with the line and our OLine is the worst it has been in years. BTW, we are known for bad OLines. They have been bad for the three years prior to coach Arth getting here. What bothers me is that they are getting worse, not better, as the season rolls on. Coach Z, who is responsible for their play, seems way lost on how to solve it. I do not believe he deserves to be on this staff. This is a results business and the results he is giving us are horrible. Of course Arth is where the buck stops. If he can't lead us to results he needs to go too.

[zipsoutsider]

2 hours ago, akronzips71 said:

I don't know the legality and I have no idea where or how to reach anyone at the U. But feel free to pass it along.

Agreed. Bring him back. Beg for forgiveness.

[akronzips71]

14 minutes ago, zipsoutsider said:

Agreed. Bring him back. Beg for forgiveness.

Missing the point. We are still paying him, we should be able to demand he work for us in the position we are paying him for.