Speaking of Faust

[Captain Kangaroo]

Click to see what he's up to...A bad guy to have on your team's sideline on Saturdays, but by every other measure of a man, a pretty great one.

[skip-zip]

Interesting. I just got involved in a conversation about Faust in another thread. And he certainly comes up in other conversations on here from time to time. Thanks for providing us with this update.I'll have to agree that he won't ever be regarded as one of college football's best tactical coaches. But he did bring in some great recruits to help us grow our fledgling 1-A program. In fact, I personally know some good Akron players from that era that say they would have never even had Akron on their radar if it wasn't for Faust. Beyond that, there's so many other intangible that he brought with him. His contacts at the major college level got us some games against teams we would have never been able to schedule otherwise, and some great position coaches. Plus, he was a great PR man who was able to get us some good exposure, and some increased attention from the community. It was an exciting time for those of us that were around when we made this historic transition. Based on the facts that have shown just how difficult it is was in 1985 (and today, for that matter) to successfully make the jump to 1-A from 1-AA, I'm not sure where we'd be today if Faust had never come to Akron.

[RACER]

in defense of faust he did have one pretty decent year. i think we went 7-3-1 that year which % wise is one of akron's better years.things seem to go out of control after that year.people also forget that jason taylor was his recruit.i think some of is players let him down to by getting in trouble. the last year though he coached was a total mess.

[skip-zip]

The 7-3-1 year is not ONE of the better years we've had...it still stand as THE BEST record we've had since we turned 1-A.I think some of the other impressive things that happened were that we had a winning record in only our 3rd year in 1-A. And Faust did have 4 winning seasons as our coach, while battling with the slow progress of the new facilities he desperately needed, and the ongoing battles with the NCAA to allow us to have an equal number of scholarships as the other 1-A teams, which was a significant disadvantage in terms of depth. And I'll still argue that it was a bad idea to fire Faust when we did, because we had no plan in place to bring in someone who could provide us with some of the advantages that we lost when he exited.I wouldn't trade those days for anything (well, a few more wins would have been nice). It was exciting to be around campus and see the press people from all over the country, and think that we were the first school in the country to be doing what we were doing. This also was the beginning of us getting games on ESPN. And all of this was happening at the same time that our basketball program was earning our first birth in the NCAA tournament.Great memories.

[ZipAlumn]

The 7-3-1 year is not ONE of the better years we've had...it still stand as THE BEST record we've had since we turned 1-A.Great memories.

In 1987 (the 1st year of the Faust reign) we went 7-4, with Jim Dennison's returning players. we opened with that football powerhouse Salem College that now and then causes Mount Union some concern. 1990 was the year we went 7-3-1. I agree Faust was a better than average PR guy, and probably a fine gentleman, but as a football coach (the reason he was hired) he was obviously no Joe Paterno, Bear Bryant, Jim Tressell, and so on and so on .......As for great memories, well we all remember things differently. I remember 1987 as the year I quit buying season tickets.

[skip-zip]

ZipAlumn...the 7-3-1 record was in 1992. Some of the old Dennison loyalists (it sounds like you might have been one) surely might still feel bitter about the entire thing. And I kind of understand. But this football program needed to grow. And even though you stopped buying your season tickets, sales of season tickets increased dramatically when Faust was hired.I'd sure rather be where we are now, with a chance to compete on a D-1 level, and the chance to play in bowl games, rather than getting no recognition at all playing the Murray States and Tennessee Techs of the world.

[Captain Kangaroo]

In 1987 (the 1st year of the Faust reign) we went 7-4, with Jim Dennison's returning players. we opened with that football powerhouse Salem College that now and then causes Mount Union some concern.

If I recall correctly, the first year of the "Faust Reign" we were still 1-AA. So the 7-4 is a bit relative.

[skip-zip]

Captain. That's correct. 1987 was our "lame duck" final year in the OVC, and in D1-AA. And Faust had already taken over as coach that year.One of the interesting things that happened that year was that Faust and Frank Beamer became friends. They were sort of the two outcasts among the OVC coaches since we were moving to 1-A the following year, and Beamer was leaving Murray State to take the job at his alma mater, Virginia Tech. This relationship that formed between them that year was the reason why we were able to get several future games scheduled with V-Tech. Does anyone remember our game against Murray State (with Frank Beamer still their coach) at the Rubber Bowl on ESPN Thursday Night Football in 1987? What a wild night.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Does anyone remember our game against Murray State (with Frank Beamer still their coach) at the Rubber Bowl on ESPN Thursday Night Football in 1987? What a wild night.

My room mates and I sat in the endzone seats with a cooler full of beer. We had a really tall Beeramid constructed by the time the 4th quarter rolled around. Keystone Dry. Is the stuff even made any longer?

[mrelegazna]

Sorry to say say something potentially inflammatory without any details, but I did want to throw this out there.I was a still a kid (born 1976) during the Faust reign, and my stepdad worked at the University of Akron in what was then known (and may be still known) asthe Physical Plant. Basically, he was something of a high-level custodian/handyman.So we would go to Akron football and basketball games, but one time, Faust was a part of some sort of meet-and-greet function that he was going to take me to. In the end, he decided not to, because he didn't think highly of Faust, and didn't feel right about taking his son to get an autograph of someone he does not respect.This is where my story gets frustrating, sorry...I don't know what his problem was with Faust, but it didn't have anything to do with football, it had something to do with (my stepdad's) work. My stepdad was a real stand-up guy, integrity up to here, so I trust he had a good reason to dislike Faust. Knowing my stepdad, Faust probably said or did something that he interpreted disrespectful/unappreciative of my stepdad's department's work. My stepdad was not ashamed of his blue-collar working class status and wouldn't let anyone look down on him. He was also, if I recall correctly (he passed away in 1991, which is why I can't just ask him), pretty active in his union, so I don't know if it was something political perhaps.

[a-zip]

I was recruited and played for coach Dennison. I was there during the transition and I can tell you that much of the resentment towards Faust was surrounded more by how the administration handled everything. It has taken a long time to recover from the moves that were made back then. Here are a few of the lowlights;We just finished one of the best seasons in school history making the 1-AA playoffs under Coach Dennison and then he was fired (Mark Dantonio left for Youngstown). Attendance was probably as good as it ever was that year.Gerry was given a blank check to start up the program and had an all-star coaching staff come in that included Foge Fazio and Terry Bowden to name a few. Bob Huggins was our basketball coach. We won the OVC and almost beat Michigan in the NCAAs(the Fab 4). He was making great strides. When the $$ went to Gerry, Huggins went to Cincy.Soccer went to the National Championship and barely lost to Duke.First year football attendance was good but declined after mediocre seasons.From that point on - Football floundered, Basketball floundered, and attendance went down.Personally, I think we would have made it in to the MAC without Faust and would have loved to see Coach D be the man to do it.It has taken nearly 20 years(man am I old) to recover from those decisions.Was it Gerry's fault? Not neccessarily, but he was the man we mortgaged all our sports programs on.

[skip-zip]

a-zip...I certainly respect your opinion as someone who was a player during that transition. And I'm sure most of what you are saying is exactly as you saw it. Yes, I think Gerry took alot of heat for what amounted to administrative decisions. But, I disagree with you that we would be where we are today if coach D had remained as coach. We needed a high-profile guy, who could recruit on a high enough level to get better players in here FAST, and could get us better scheduling and TV appearance. With all due respect to a great guy, and a loyal Zip, Coach D probably didn't have the skills, or the name, to make those things happen for us. I would like to add to one thing you said. Yes, our attendance was really good during the 1985 season, but much of that had to do with the huge push in the community to sell tickets to get our 17,000 average that we needed to move up to division 1-A. However, being a student that year, I acknowledge that you guys had a good team, and more people should have been there to support you, regardless of whether there was a big marketing push or not.

[skip-zip]

Captain..I can't believe to this day that they let us load onto the busses, and into the Rubber Bowl, with large quantities of beer in our hands. It was quite a night. However, my companions and I decided on Schafer instead of Keystone. For those of you who weren't around at the time, that Murray State game on ESPN is also the reason why the center light stand at the 50 yard line is painted green (as if that was going to make much difference). They thought that it would make it blend in more with the green color of the field. I recall people throwing seat cushions at the high school bands at halftime. And Beer Balls rolling around on the field from time to time. a-zip...we made a huge "human tunnel" for you guys that night. And another player I know from that era has since told me "all I could smell as we ran through that tunnel was alcohol".