Week 4: Miami RedHawks

[Zippyroo]

2 minutes ago, Zippy1986 said:

This is on Coach Gasser not Coach Z

Coach Z has to shoulder some of the blame too.  For god sake he is the OC/OLC regardless of who is actually calling the plays. Plus, I have got to think coach Z is in control of the bad coaching/personnel decisions of the O-Line. 

[Zippy1986]

2 minutes ago, Zippyroo said:

Coach Z has to shoulder some of the blame too.  For god sake he is the OC/OLC regardless of who is actually calling the plays. Plus, I have got to think coach Z is in control of the bad coaching/personnel decisions of the O-Line. 

Yes my bad. Coach Z is responsible for O line, Arth QBs & Gasser has skill players. Yeah those guys get tired could use a guy or two in the mix to push them for playing time and help prevent complacency 

[ZIPFAN21]

Offensively:  OL was awful today.  Our QB NEVER has time to throw.  When he does he executes pretty well.  When he doesn't is when his mistakes happen.  OL missed all blitz pickups.  Center got replaced because of all of the missed middle blitz pickups.  4 yds rushing will get you beat every game.  

[ZIPFAN21]

Another point of interest.   Our DL made FOUR tackles on the day.  Yes that is 4 tackles not sacks.  By contrast Miami had 7 sacks 6 by the DL.  The offense will only go as far as the OL period.  They played 4 RS Freshman who have played 3 games together.   That is where it starts, oh with no spring practice OR summer workouts.  So let's understand that this is going to take time.  Gibson is a gunslinger, Dollard is a stud, and the WRs can play in the MAC. (By far our best position group).

 

So we have to fix the DL and OL needs to mature. Simple as that

[Blue & Gold]

1 hour ago, Zippyroo said:

...the strongest kid on the team...

Just curious whom this might be?

[bigjim]

11 hours ago, ewbrooman1 said:

One of my main complaints about Arth was he brought a bunch of his former assistants for his staff instead of hiring a bunch of guys with DI experience. That may be coming back to bite him now.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EfLv1jQX0AMXMm1?format=jpg&name=large

 

Past posts show that several of Arth's assistants have moved on to bigger and better roles.  Maybe the follow up hires have not been successful.  

[Zipmeister]

16 hours ago, clarkwgriswold said:

 

I think you're going to need more than that.

 

Change the name of the school to University of Alabama - Akron

[Zipmeister]

16 hours ago, monrowe said:

As bad as it looks it really doesn’t count?all freshmen will be fresh again?& the whole team is yong?

 

If yong is Chinese for bad you are right on

[Lee Adams]

! step forward 2 steps back. The Defense is a broken record week after week. Can't stop the run or pass. They constantly look lost. One would expect even with an undermanned squad there would be some improvement at this point. Coaches aren't coaching them up or making adjustments. That might normally call for some changes on the defensive side of the ball in the off season. But...what competent D coach would want to walk in to the mess That is the Akron D and possibly ruin a career. Not much light at the end of that tunnel. Surprised Miami didn't hang 'half a hundred' on them.

Still think the offense can be competent with improvement in the O line and at QB. However its obvious unless Akron can run and run and run the passing game can not carry the offense.

Other than Gibson's sack yardage they only ran the ball 15 times for 25 yards? They were down 24-0 at half and only threw the ball 27 times for 141? Can't play catch up that way. Miami knew Gibson couldn't carry the offense and planned to take Dollard out of the game. They did. No adjustments from the coaches apparently. Arth is going to stay with Gibson for now. But, if he doesn't improve they are going to be breaking in a new QB next year. Again, changing the offensive staff isn't likely to bring in high quality coaches. Who would come.

Where is Jim Dennison when you need him?

 

 

[clarkwgriswold]

Some troubling quotes from the Beacon article today-

 

“We did not do a great job getting in and out of the huddle," Arth said. "For whatever reason, we were moving in a little bit of slow motion ... We had to take a couple of timeouts to avoid delay of game or take a couple of timeouts because we were in the incorrect formation.”

 

What the hell?  You're 4 games in.

 

“[That’s] really how we see them play every week,” Zips coach Tom Arth said when asked about the Miami defense. “They’re a team that wants to get an extra guy in the box and ... they’re going to outnumber you in the run game and they’re going to rely on their pass rush to affect your quarterback and affect the passing game. They did that.”

 

So, to be clear, you knew what they were going to do and couldn't do anything about it. 

 

“I think this is the first time they’re going to walk off the field feeling down about how they played,” he said. “It’ll be a great test of their resilience and great test of their character to see how strongly we can come back and how much we can improve from a game like today.”

 

They certainly did not look like they were feeling down.

[zipsoutsider]

20 hours ago, a-zip said:

 

0-16

Pretty much what we should expect.  

Defense improved by holding the RedHawks to 1 pt less than the Arth average.  

Unfortunately the offense regressed -5  ?

Epic. Disaster. Larry Williams will be responsible for the end of Akron D1 football.

[Blue & Gold]

Arth postgame presser

 

Once again GT asks some good Q's.

[Zip_ME87]

6 hours ago, zipsoutsider said:

Epic. Disaster. Larry Williams will be responsible for the end of Akron D1 football.

Larry Williams and George Van Horne. 

[Zip_ME87]

11 hours ago, Zip_ME87 said:

Larry Williams and George Van Horne. 

 
Not sure what’s funny about my post. Good people lost their jobs while these guys keep making stupid, wasteful decisions with regard Zips Football with little personal repercussions. UA is a mess. 

[UAZipster0305]

On 11/30/2020 at 7:50 AM, Zip_ME87 said:

 
Not sure what’s funny about my post. Good people lost their jobs while these guys keep making stupid, wasteful decisions with regard Zips Football with little personal repercussions. UA is a mess. 

 

You nailed it! This is an epic and tragic disaster. Arth isn't going anywhere until his contract is up. If only we had that same desperation to keep Bowden around until his was finished.

[Palmyra19]

On 11/28/2020 at 6:20 PM, ewbrooman1 said:

One of my main complaints about Arth was he brought a bunch of his former assistants for his staff instead of hiring a bunch of guys with DI experience. That may be coming back to bite him now.

Hey guys - new poster here.  Great forum.  My son is showing interest in playing at the next level and Akron is on his interest list. I have been watching the forum from a distance but thought I would jump in on this one. 

 

I'm going to push back a little as a former DIII coach myself.  My first job in DIII, I worked for guys who were all successful DI coaches (Coordinators) in the 70's and 80's. Our program was set up just like the program there in terms of the entire operation, minus awarding scholarships.  Each guy brought their offensive and defensive schemes in and they were the same schemes they used to stop Herschel at UGA, or protections to handle Bruce Smith at VT, etc.  My last job in DIII we were running the "Marshall Spread" to the T.  Exact carbon copy of what Marshall was doing minus Randy Moss and Chad Pennington.  In fact, when we would visit some of the FCS schools in our area (mainly Lafayette, Bucknell, Towson and Lehigh), they would incorporate our stuff and pick our brains on how we did things. The guy I used to spend a bunch of time with at Lafayette, left Lafayette to take the OC job at UVA. He used to say there are only so many ways you can line up 11 guys and he is 100% correct. 

 

If anything, I think you have to be a better coach at DIII.  In some cases, you take what you can get for talent.  I was fortunate to coach some super talented D-IIA bounce backs and that helped me look smarter, but in many cases we were trying to out scheme teams because we didn't have talent to match up.  Or maybe we were limited a bit because we could not recruit to our needs like DI guys can.  In many cases we tweaked the system to match our talent and that isn't an easy chore.  DI guys have lots of advantages (and pressures), but I challenge the notion they are considerably better X and O's guys.  Also, I get red in the face when I hear folks talk down about DIII players.  I coached some outstanding football players in DIII that just happened to be off the radar for various reasons (size, speed, exposure), but outstanding players just the same.  Don't knock DIII guys.  

 

I don't think this is going to be a quick fix and the short season this year didn't help at all.  As many have pointed out here, you can measure improvement by running a clean operation and it was anything but last Saturday.  That's on the coaches.  The question is can they get it fixed?  I think so, but not overnight.  I will say the one thing offensively I like is building from the inside out.  The dividends up front will pay off, these kids need time to grow into their shoes a bit. The freshman have a grand total of 4 college games under their belts.  That's nothing.

 

Anyway, best chance for a win is coming up.  Get it.

[LZIp]

11 minutes ago, Palmyra19 said:

Hey guys - new poster here.  Great forum.  My son is showing interest in playing at the next level and Akron is on his interest list. I have been watching the forum from a distance but thought I would jump in on this one. 

 

I'm going to push back a little as a former DIII coach myself.  My first job in DIII, I worked for guys who were all successful DI coaches (Coordinators) in the 70's and 80's. Our program was set up just like the program there in terms of the entire operation, minus awarding scholarships.  Each guy brought their offensive and defensive schemes in and they were the same schemes they used to stop Herschel at UGA, or protections to handle Bruce Smith at VT, etc.  My last job in DIII we were running the "Marshall Spread" to the T.  Exact carbon copy of what Marshall was doing minus Randy Moss and Chad Pennington.  In fact, when we would visit some of the FCS schools in our area (mainly Lafayette, Bucknell, Towson and Lehigh), they would incorporate our stuff and pick our brains on how we did things. The guy I used to spend a bunch of time with at Lafayette, left Lafayette to take the OC job at UVA. He used to say there are only so many ways you can line up 11 guys and he is 100% correct. 

 

If anything, I think you have to be a better coach at DIII.  In some cases, you take what you can get for talent.  I was fortunate to coach some super talented D-IIA bounce backs and that helped me look smarter, but in many cases we were trying to out scheme teams because we didn't have talent to match up.  Or maybe we were limited a bit because we could not recruit to our needs like DI guys can.  In many cases we tweaked the system to match our talent and that isn't an easy chore.  DI guys have lots of advantages (and pressures), but I challenge the notion they are considerably better X and O's guys.  Also, I get red in the face when I hear folks talk down about DIII players.  I coached some outstanding football players in DIII that just happened to be off the radar for various reasons (size, speed, exposure), but outstanding players just the same.  Don't knock DIII guys.  

 

I don't think this is going to be a quick fix and the short season this year didn't help at all.  As many have pointed out here, you can measure improvement by running a clean operation and it was anything but last Saturday.  That's on the coaches.  The question is can they get it fixed?  I think so, but not overnight.  I will say the one thing offensively I like is building from the inside out.  The dividends up front will pay off, these kids need time to grow into their shoes a bit. The freshman have a grand total of 4 college games under their belts.  That's nothing.

 

Anyway, best chance for a win is coming up.  Get it.

I, and I imagine others, appreciate your insight. Are you able to share how Arth & Co are selling Akron to your son? I haven't seen him make any excuses yet, but the reality is he does have a lot going against him, though some is his doing. I think he's playing the long game in his strategy where Terry Bowden went for the immediate fix. I would personally take the approach somewhere in the middle (more transfers, less high schools kids than he has done historically).  Its easy for an ignorant observer to put down the program, but most don't realize how short-handed we are scholarship wise, as one example. Just curious what the other side looks like.

[Palmyra19]

3 minutes ago, LZIp said:

I, and I imagine others, appreciate your insight. Are you able to share how Arth & Co are selling Akron to your son? I haven't seen him make any excuses yet, but the reality is he does have a lot going against him, though some is his doing. I think he's playing the long game in his strategy where Terry Bowden went for the immediate fix. I would personally take the approach somewhere in the middle (more transfers, less high schools kids than he has done historically).  Its easy for an ignorant observer to put down the program, but most don't realize how short-handed we are scholarship wise, as one example. Just curious what the other side looks like.

Well in fairness, they aren't selling to him yet.  He put Akron on his list and we are going to get some film out to the Zips, but he's not on Akron's list yet.  He's a sophomore so it's more about us starting to look for a good fit and generating some interest.  He started all 8 games this season at ILB (PA 5A school) and will be our QB next year and the following (no injuries!).  I see his college future on defense (perimeter player), would project him as the all encompassing "athlete" for recruiting purposes.  He's also a basketball guy and coaches love that.

 

I think Dollard shows the JUCO route can be a quick fix, so I think to your point it's a combination.  I'm a firm believer is working the local talent provided it's there (and it is in Akron) and recruiting to needs not necessarily stars/ratings.  I don't think there is such a thing as a quick fix as usually those come back to earth.  

 

That probably wasn't helpful at all!

[Blue & Gold]

1 hour ago, Palmyra19 said:

Hey guys - new poster here.  Great forum.  My son is showing interest in playing at the next level and Akron is on his interest list. I have been watching the forum from a distance but thought I would jump in on this one. 

 

Excellent post!  Thanks so much for posting!

 

I agree with the X's & O's.  We live near one of the top D-III schools in the country - Mount Union.  Their offense is as intricate as anything run in college on any level.  But, IMHO, the reason they're so successful is because of their recruiting.  If not for an injury, I would have been able to play D-III ball, and probably D-II, say on the level of Walsh University.  But when I watch Mount Union play I know that at Mount I would have been riding the pine.  They just have athletes that are bigger/faster/stronger than your typical D-III athlete.  Makes the coaches look brilliant. Lol.

 

This is one reason I'm a big Zips fan.  As a high school athlete we'd sometimes go to Zips games and we were always blown away with how big and fast the athletes were at this level.  I would have been absolutely DESTROYED if I had set foot on a D-1 football field!  Lol.  It's a lot of fun to watch.

 

I'm so glad your son is considering Akron.  I LOVE Coach Arth and his entire staff!  I wish I could have played for men like Coach Arth & Co.  If I had a son they're the kind of men I would want my son to learn from and be mentored by - both on and off the field.  This is going to take a little longer than an average rebuild because of the kind of players Coach Arth is seeking.  The guys coming in really seem like Ivy League type guys; guys the university will be sincerely proud of both on and off the field.  I do think after a few years of Arth changing the culture we're going to have a football team we can really be proud of as football players and as good, intelligent young men who are leaders in their respective communities.

 

Again, thank you for your perspective and please don't be a stranger!

 

Go Zips!

Edited December 1, 2020 by Blue & Gold

[Blue & Gold]

1 hour ago, LZIp said:

Are you able to share how Arth & Co are selling Akron to your son? 

Great question, LZip!  I look forward to @Palmyra19's reply.

[Palmyra19]

58 minutes ago, Blue & Gold said:

 

Excellent post!  Thanks so much for posting!

 

I agree with the X's & O's.  We live near one of the top D-III schools in the country - Mount Union.  Their offense is as intricate as anything run in college on any level.  But, IMHO, the reason they're so successful is because of their recruiting.  If not for an injury, I would have been able to play D-III ball, and probably D-II, say on the level of Walsh University.  But when I watch Mount Union play I know that at Mount I would have been riding the pine.  They just have athletes that are bigger/faster/stronger than your typical D-III athlete.  Makes the coaches look brilliant. Lol.

 

This is one reason I'm a big Zips fan.  As a high school athlete we'd sometimes go to Zips games and we were always blown away with how big and fast the athletes were at this level.  I would have been absolutely DESTROYED if I had set foot on a D-1 football field!  Lol.  It's a lot of fun to watch.

 

I'm so glad your son is considering Akron.  I LOVE Coach Arth and his entire staff!  I wish I could have played for men like Coach Arth & Co.  If I had a son they're the kind of men I would want my son to learn from and be mentored by - both on and off the field.  This is going to take a little longer than an average rebuild because of they kind of players Coach Arth is seeking.  They guys coming in really seem like Ivy League type guys; guys the university will be sincerely proud of both on and off the field.  I do think after a few years of Arth changing the culture we're going to have a football team we can really be proud of as football players and as good, intelligent young men who are leaders in their respective communities.

 

Again, thank you for your perspective and please don't be a stranger!

 

Go Zips!

Really good take Sir. That’s another thing my kid is banking on. Academics. Some schools will pull the trigger on a kid who may be in between an FCS/FBS if they know he can make it academically. That’s why grades ultimately drive the ship in my opinion. 
 

Yes Mount Union is a machine. My Alma mater Bridgewater (and one of my coaching stops) fell victim to them 20 years ago in the national championship game. They had so much talent. Lots of bounce back talent and were very well coached. Have to tip the cap!

 

 

[TennZip]

On 11/30/2020 at 7:50 AM, Zip_ME87 said:

 
Not sure what’s funny about my post. Good people lost their jobs while these guys keep making stupid, wasteful decisions with regard Zips Football with little personal repercussions. UA is a mess. 

$650,000 to buy out Bowden.   $350,000 to buy out Arth's previous contract.  So many bad decisions by the top 2 guys in the athletic department.   There are great sports at Akron that are being badly hurt by the top 2 guys continuing to flush money down the toilet for Akron gridiron.

[dre22era]

Wish I could make $500K base 

Produce 0 Wins and still get defended by Homers ALWAYS waiting on next year who have no sense of financials thinking $$$ grows on trees. 

Edited December 2, 2020 by dre22era

[Spin]

45 minutes ago, dre22era said:

Wish I could make $500K base 

Produce 0 Wins and still get defended by Homers ALWAYS waiting on next year who have no sense of financials thinking $$$ grows on trees. 

 

So, who would you have hired at, whatever your acceptable salary is, who would come in and start winning multiple FBS games with a depleted roster, in just a few months?

 

This should be interesting...

[dre22era]

13 minutes ago, Spin said:

 

So, who would you have hired at, whatever your acceptable salary is, who would come in and start winning multiple FBS games with a depleted roster, in just a few months?

 

This should be interesting...

Been said on here multiple times I would hire that HS coach down the street who established a Dynasty at Hoban. 

A HS coach is all we can basically afford right now anyway 

And spare me the depleted roster bullshit. When will yall hold a coach accountable for the players they put on the field. 

Yall act like the MAC is the Big Ten conference and we are out of our element blessed to play in it. 

We should be able to compete with MAC teams vs getting our ass kicked every game. We are literally a DII team out there and its sad that many of you are basically perfectly fine with being an embarrassment. 

Edited December 2, 2020 by dre22era