Assessing Coach Arth (and his staff)

[akronzips71]

I am not going to comment because  will be accused of being negative.

[94zipgrad]

31 minutes ago, akronzips71 said:

I am not going to comment because  will be accused of being negative.

You couldn’t possibly say anything positive other than there is only 2 weeks left & with Thanksgiving being late this year the players will get to spend it with their families.  Which they will need because only family can tell them how great they are with an honest face

[Zip-Grad '13]

11 hours ago, DannyHoke said:

 

It got old listening to the whining from people about me posting actual FACTS.  A lot of people on this board are apologists at best, or just simply losers at worst who are conditioned to being doormats.

 

On to tonight's 10th loss of the season in front of 43 people on national television.  

 

Okay that's good.  I was worried that you may have been banned for speaking facts about Arth by a itchy trigger finger.  Though you can be very direct and a bit abrasive, nothing you have said is belligerent nor wrong.  

 

8 hours ago, akronzips71 said:

I am not going to comment because  will be accused of being negative.

 

That's probably good.  People have been banned for speaking "negative" while its the only obvious thing that can be said about Arth and the Zips right now.

 

7 hours ago, 94zipgrad said:

You couldn’t possibly say anything positive other than there is only 2 weeks left & with Thanksgiving being late this year the players will get to spend it with their families.  Which they will need because only family can tell them how great they are with an honest face

 

This is so true, though members have been banned for not saying anything positive about Arth.

[LZIp]

12 hours ago, Blue & Gold said:

Right around the 7:55 mark of the 3rd Quarter of the EMU game, the ESPN color man noted something above my pay grade and light years beyond George Thomas' competence.  He said that the Zips don't block the defense's linebackers?  And that he had asked Arth about this perplexing strategy earlier in the week and Arth had said they prefer not to do that as it has something to do with the RPO they run and they like their OL to focus on blocking the DL and, I think he said, "keeping their hands down."  I have no idea what that means, but neither did the ESPN color man.  I wish I knew who the commentator was, but I believe he is a former player and has seen more than his fair share of football.  Anyhow, he went on to say, "I'd love to play linebacker against these guys [Akron].  Last week they put a Bowling Green linebacker in the hall of fame off just one game."

 

This actually sounds like it could be, unlike much of this thread, an insightful criticism and point of discussion.

The RPO makes it difficult for lineman to get downfield, because well, you never know if the play is truly going to end up being a run or pass, as the QB has the option to hand it off or pass..hence "Run-Pass Option (RPO)". If he passes and the lineman get to the 2nd level and block the LBs, that is illegal man downfield.

 

Am I missing something with the other responses? Strategy seems pretty clear cut to me. Outside of Akron games, it does get called, though seems refs miss it plenty as well.

Edited November 13, 2019 by LZIp

[clarkwgriswold]

11 hours ago, akronzips71 said:

I am not going to comment because  will be accused of being negative.

 

Why risk losing your reputation for positivity?

[Blue & Gold]

47 minutes ago, LZIp said:

The RPO makes it difficult for lineman to get downfield, because well, you never know if the play is truly going to end up being a run or pass, as the QB has the option to hand it off or pass..hence "Run-Pass Option (RPO)". If he passes and the lineman get to the 2nd level and block the LBs, that is illegal man downfield.

 

Am I missing something with the other responses? Strategy seems pretty clear cut to me. Outside of Akron games, it does get called, though seems refs miss it plenty as well.

Thanks.  Seems simple enough and makes sense.  I wonder why 7-year-NFL-vet Ray Bentley (thank you, @ewbrooman1) was so obviously surprised by it?

[kreed5120]

38 minutes ago, Blue & Gold said:

Thanks.  Seems simple enough and makes sense.  I wonder why 7-year-NFL-vet Ray Bentley (thank you, @ewbrooman1) was so obviously surprised by it?

 

The RPO offense has kind of only recently made its way into the NFL. No teams were running it 10+ years ago except for the rare game here or there. It has been in the college game for decades so I'm surprised he wasn't aware of it from then, especially since now he is a commentator. Nebraska won multiple national championships utilizing it.

Edited November 13, 2019 by kreed5120

[ZipsVoice]

two quick notes....the ESPN "talent" - Bentley and the play-by-play actually were not at the game, but ensconced in another city and just got the satellite feed and  did their schtick from there.  Not that it changes Bentley's comments or observations, sometimes it's easier to do watching the monitor than in the booth.  Don't know if it was weather relate or budget related.  Second, the Beacon did NOT even send Thomas to the game, or he decided not to come, leaving it to an independent "stringer" to write an article.  5 freakin' city blocks, free food, and you get to stay warm in the pressbox George, WTF?  

[Cykron]

2 hours ago, LZIp said:

The RPO makes it difficult for lineman to get downfield, because well, you never know if the play is truly going to end up being a run or pass, as the QB has the option to hand it off or pass..hence "Run-Pass Option (RPO)". If he passes and the lineman get to the 2nd level and block the LBs, that is illegal man downfield.

 

Am I missing something with the other responses? Strategy seems pretty clear cut to me. Outside of Akron games, it does get called, though seems refs miss it plenty as well.

 

 

Illegal "receiver" downfield is the worst rule in football.  If a blocker runs over his guy (or misses his guy) and then looks for someone else to block, he is at risk of getting a penalty.  They need to increase the number of yards in which blockers can block.  Calling them a "receiver" because they are blocking a few yards downfield is so dumb.  

[Ham]

Are you guys looking at our commit list?  We have a few weeks to go, but if we keep what we have, and add a few more, this could be the best class we have ever had!  Remember, it took Jimmies & Joes to row the boat.

[clarkwgriswold]

On 11/13/2019 at 9:51 AM, ZipsVoice said:

two quick notes....the ESPN "talent" - Bentley and the play-by-play actually were not at the game, but ensconced in another city and just got the satellite feed and  did their schtick from there.  Not that it changes Bentley's comments or observations, sometimes it's easier to do watching the monitor than in the booth.  Don't know if it was weather relate or budget related.  Second, the Beacon did NOT even send Thomas to the game, or he decided not to come, leaving it to an independent "stringer" to write an article.  5 freakin' city blocks, free food, and you get to stay warm in the pressbox George, WTF?  

 

Ryan Lewis, the ABJ Indians beat writer, wrote the article.  I wonder if GT was out reviewing a new Star Wars movie.

[ewbrooman1]

This may be old news, but it certainly seems pertinent considering this horrible season and the title of this thread. When Arth was named coach I hoped/expected he would bring some D1 coaching experience in with him. He failed miserably on that note. I reviewed the coaching staff bios today and found of the top 11 coaches named (including Arth) there is only a combined total (unofficial) of 16 years experience at the D1 (not FCS) level. And at best only 2 or 3 even played at the FBS level. No wonder they are struggling. Where are the at least 3 or 4 veteran guys that should have been hired? The AD should have insisted on a staff with more experience. Arth may very well turn this thing around, but all we know now for sure is we have a bunch of coaches whose only real success was at the D3 level with most of it at John Carroll and the Zips are in line to have their first winless season since 1942. Ugh.

[Cykron]

2 hours ago, Ham said:

Are you guys looking at our commit list?  We have a few weeks to go, but if we keep what we have, and add a few more, this could be the best class we have ever had!  Remember, it took Jimmies & Joes to row the boat.

 

 

Really?  This should bring some hope to this gloomy fan site!  ?

[kreed5120]

We're currently 8th in the MAC, which is certainly better than what Bowden's classes were rated, however, 8th best still isn't something to be excited over. Also, those ratings are highly subjective so we really won't know how good these guys are for another 3 years. By then Arth might not even be the coach if he can't find ways to win games in the interim.

[Blue & Gold]

10 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

We're currently 8th in the MAC, which is certainly better than what Bowden's classes were rated, however, 8th best still isn't something to be excited over. Also, those ratings are highly subjective so we really won't know how good these guys are for another 3 years. By then Arth might not even be the coach if he can't find ways to win games in the interim.

True, but I believe you pointed this out, Kreed, that our cumulative total is 8th in the MAC, but our average recruit ranking puts us 2nd in the MAC, presently, just behind Toledo (IIRC). So that’s a drastic improvement over a typical Bowden recruiting class. 

[Ham]

I don't know how many recruits  we can sign for this class, but based on the results this staff had last year, I look for  good things ahead (class full of quality).  We should have a good read next month.

[kreed5120]

I know the NCAA has a 25 player cap on recruiting classes. Do Juco and transfers factor into that number?

[Zippyroo]

11 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

I know the NCAA has a 25 player cap on recruiting classes. Do Juco and transfers factor into that number?

85 total scholarships per team in any given year and up to 25 per recruiting class. 

 

As far as do Juco or transfers count toward the 25, depends, after 2 years of playing, they would not count toward the 25 per year limit but would count toward the 85 total. That is why you often see walkons that get a scholarship not get one until they are starting their 3rd year on the team. 

[LZIp]

On 11/14/2019 at 4:04 PM, Zippyroo said:

85 total scholarships per team in any given year and up to 25 per recruiting class. 

 

As far as do Juco or transfers count toward the 25, depends, after 2 years of playing, they would not count toward the 25 per year limit but would count toward the 85 total. That is why you often see walkons that get a scholarship not get one until they are starting their 3rd year on the team. 

Do you have a source for this? Did some digging this morning and I can't find mention of this anywhere.

Relevant article on Kansas and the limit: https://www.si.com/college-football/2019/05/06/jeff-long-big-12-ncaa-recruiting-rules-scholarship-limit 

And another re: the transfer portal: https://www.si.com/college-football/2019/02/18/transfer-portal-scholarship-limits-initial-counter-rule 

[Zippyroo]

On 11/16/2019 at 10:18 AM, LZIp said:

Do you have a source for this? Did some digging this morning and I can't find mention of this anywhere.

Relevant article on Kansas and the limit: https://www.si.com/college-football/2019/05/06/jeff-long-big-12-ncaa-recruiting-rules-scholarship-limit 

And another re: the transfer portal: https://www.si.com/college-football/2019/02/18/transfer-portal-scholarship-limits-initial-counter-rule 

 

Here is a reference for the walk-on not counting towards the 25 per recruiting class after two years on a team (so basically with 3 years of eligibility left assuming a redshirt):

https://www.athleticscholarships.net/2012/07/25/schools-flexible-scholarship-limits-athletes-aid.htm.

 

I cannot find the reference that I had that indicated that transfers with with only two years of eligibility left did not count as an initial Scholly.  Your SI article indicates that any transfer counts as a initial scholarship so maybe that is the case?

[a-zip]

We are all fans of Akron now  What are the odds of the last sentence coming true ?

 

[Cykron]

On 11/20/2019 at 4:59 AM, a-zip said:

We are all fans of Akron now  What are the odds of the last sentence coming true ?

 

 

You've got me cheering for you.  This is the best college logo image ever.  Seriously.  I love it.  

 

Edited November 22, 2019 by Cykron

[zipsoutsider]

0-11...

[zipsoutsider]

Congrats, Coach Arth, first 0-12 team in Zips history.

 

Congrats, Larry William's, you fired a guy who pulled us out of the sewer and replaced him with a guy who sent us straight back to the sewer.

 

I feel bad for the few talented kids we have, that have to live through this nightmare.

[akronzips71]

I hope next year we are 12-0

BUT the real question is, how many games do we lose next year before someone finally dumps this guy?