AD Larry Williams will NOT seek Extension

[GP1]

5 hours ago, zipsoutsider said:

It's only going to get worse if they don't expand the playoffs. 

More of what is becoming obviously bad for college football, the annual invitational tournament (it isn't a playoff), is the last thing college football needs. 

[Blue & Gold]

13 hours ago, clarkwgriswold said:

 

It doesn't get unappealing for the average area fan until an unwatchable product is put on display in it.  Once that's fixed, the rest will become appealing as it will no longer be "lipstick on a pig."

Agreed.  If the RubberDucks can average >5,000 fans per game for ~70 home games per year, there is no reason we shouldn't be averaging 10k-15k for 6 home games per season.  But the product has to be decent.  

 

(Of course the 300 fans we get at our November Tuesday night games will certainly drive down any average.)

[Zip_ME87]

19 hours ago, 72 Roo said:

George has been an Akron guy from the moment he was a student athlete here. Unfortunately he has not developed a track record of success to indicate he could manage an athletic dept and lead us out of the problems we now have. 

 

George Van Horne only knows the Akron way because he has only been an Akron guy. I love his loyalty, but as many have pointed out, the Akron way has most often been the wrong way.  

 

I agree with CK...

On 3/3/2021 at 1:09 PM, Captain Kangaroo said:

We need an up-and-comer from a successful upper-G5 or scrappy P5 school. Someone that won't screw up basketball and soccer, and will elevate football. Someone with fresh ideas and a plan to get football on track that can be directly attributable to his/her work in a similar previous situation.

 

[fknbuflobo]

On 3/3/2021 at 10:55 AM, NWAkron said:

Hopefully, they will look to Van Horn to take over the department.  He knows the donors, the fanbase, the community, and certainly knows what changes need to be made.  He would be a solid choice.

?!?

Surely you jest!

[Spin]

On 3/3/2021 at 10:44 AM, RowdyZip said:

"However, it is clear that college athletics is shifting and may, in fact, be on the verge of significant change. I would like to be at a different vantage point in my personal and professional life as that change occurs."

 

A "significant change" meaning being a mid-major with a division 3 budget?

Edited March 11, 2021 by Spin

[Spin]

On 3/4/2021 at 7:37 AM, Blue & Gold said:

Agreed.  If the RubberDucks can average >5,000 fans per game for ~70 home games per year, there is no reason we shouldn't be averaging 10k-15k for 6 home games per season.  But the product has to be decent.  

 

(Of course the 300 fans we get at our November Tuesday night games will certainly drive down any average.)

 

That's priority #1.

 

Priority #2 is a serious marketing campaign. You can go 12-0 and win a MAC championship and a bowl game, but if nobody knows, they won't come. They won't watch on TV. This market put 20,000 people in the Coliseum in a blizzard to watch freakin' indoor soccer (I bought in too). Canton had a team for 12 years. Then an arena football team Northeast Ohioans will support non-major league sports if you get them excited about them. 

Edited March 6, 2021 by Spin

[GP1]

14 hours ago, Spin said:

Northeast Ohioans will support non-major league sports if you get them excited about them. 

Agree.  NE Ohioans love group behaviors more than other parts of the country. People are closely tied together. They love football. It's cultural. People are looking for things to do and things to do together. Put a decent product on the field and capitalize on this cultural behavior. Start with Summit Co. and work out from there. There are four groups of people UofA should be attracting to games: students, alumni, fans and the general community (people who are not one of the first 3).

 

The football is never going to be perfect. It never is in the MAC. The experience is what people want and that is what will attract the lost fans and community. There is no reason for a fan to go to a poopy Tuesday night game and if that person isn't going to go, the person from the general community sure as poop isn't going to go. The MAC is committing suicide with these games and for the life of me I can't figure out why....OK, that's not true. It's because ADs are padding their resumes with this stupidity.  IT NEEDS TO STOP!!!!!.  The money simply isn't worth it and if that means G5 schools have to move to some other type of division, then so be it.

[Spin]

1 hour ago, GP1 said:

There is no reason for a fan to go to a poopy Tuesday night game and if that person isn't going to go, the person from the general community sure as poop isn't going to go. The MAC is committing suicide with these games and for the life of me I can't figure out why....OK, that's not true. It's because ADs are padding their resumes with this stupidity.  IT NEEDS TO STOP!!!!!.  The money simply isn't worth it and if that means G5 schools have to move to some other type of division, then so be it.

 

IMO they're trying to offset their lack of ticket sales with easy ESPN-LMNOP money. It's not just AK it's the whole conference. JHC if you can't sell football in northeast Ohio, you suck at life. They can't blame the Rubber Bowl anymore.

[GP1]

7 hours ago, Spin said:

 

IMO they're trying to offset their lack of ticket sales with easy ESPN-LMNOP money. It's not just AK it's the whole conference. JHC if you can't sell football in northeast Ohio, you suck at life. They can't blame the Rubber Bowl anymore.

I understand it's the conference. The conference is wrong. It isn't easy money. It's destructive money that is destroying the league and the member schools. It's an extremely small amount of money compared to what the taxpayers could pay for. 

 

The espn deal amounts to approximately $833,000 per school. There are 8.4 mill people in ohio of taxpaying age. An extra $10 per person would be the cost to taxpayers to make up the difference. It's not like it would be impossible to watch a Zips game. Almost every college football game is on line. Espn viewership is actually in steep decline. This contract is not as valuable as it may appear. The value is actually in decline for the schools in many ways. 

 

Make the taxpayers pay for Mac athletics and give out free tickets to taxpayers for one Mac athletics event a year. The budget of Ohio is roughly $64 BILLION per year. The Mac athletics budgets are a drop in the bucket. The espn revenues are even less. It should be treated as a service provided by the state because that's what it actually is. Give the citizens what they are already paying for. 

Edited March 8, 2021 by GP1

[Let'sGoZips94]

On 3/7/2021 at 11:30 AM, Spin said:

 

IMO they're trying to offset their lack of ticket sales with easy ESPN-LMNOP money. It's not just AK it's the whole conference. JHC if you can't sell football in northeast Ohio, you suck at life. They can't blame the Rubber Bowl anymore.

 

Eloquently put. Haha!

 

I really like Larry Williams. He is one of the nicest, most genuine "big wigs" I've come across. I think he's making both the right decision for himself and the University. College athletics are in a horrible, HORRIBLE spot right now. The way the NCAA allowed the conferences to handle their own football seasons set the sport way back and killed a lot of interest with the casual fan. It was the perfect year to test an expansion of the Playoff, and they dropped the ball big time. Embarrassing. I would not want to be a G5 AD. 

 

Larry didn't always make the best decisions in terms of the University, but he did bring us Groce, and for that I'm forever grateful. I agree with all previous posters who have stated that we need a scrappy up-and-coming person to really elevate the football program. They also need the right mix below them to market the hell out of Akron athletics. Our marketing B.L.O.W.S. Even our basketball Instagram page looks like the videos were taken with a 1st Generation iPhone, then uploaded using dial-up. Pathetic. 

[dre22era]

 Larry Williams was a Waste of Time and Money

Yeah I said it 

Good Riddance