Is it time yet?

[zip37]

For JD to go back to the business world? My opinion is a resounding YES!!!!4th year and no w/l improvement with marginally better talent.

[Big Zip]

JD isn't going anywhere. You're entitled to be disappointed in his team this year, but outside of the Cap'n I'm not sure there were too many of us expecting much from this team this year.

[RACER]

i think the admin will give jd until next year.if we have three losing seasons in a row then he will be gone.

[zen]

like everyone else I LOVE a winner.unlike half of everyone else (or more) I do not quit on my team. If you believed in this team when the season started and you're calling for heads now, then you are a quitter. Go root for the usual suspects among the 'safe bets' like all the other front runners (like OSU) and leave the loyalty to the real fans. Some people would be happy if we constructed a bunch of cyborgs with beyond-human abilities to win games. They wouldn't care as long as our logo is on the helmet and the score is in the win column.Me, personally, even though I haven't met these people (players & coaches).... I can't just throw them out like the trash because I don't like the news.All I am saying is, please, lets just be fans until the season is over, and then we can talk about this extra crap.

[LosAngelesZipFan]

I think there is going to be some serious discussion about JD's future-- his contract is not that expensive to buy out and he could always be re-assigned (which is what they did to Faust) and wait for him to leave.The issue, as I argued in another post, is trajectory. The U is about to make a huge investment in this team, solely for this team. If we make that investment and end up with the same performance as we currently have, then that investment will look to have been a waste of money. Further to the point, there is still a good bit of fund-raising left to go to fully cover the cost of the stadium-- the U needs momentum in this program to get the dollars to flow. This is one of the key reasons Lee Owens got bounced-- because the administration didn't want to "waste" the momentum the field house would give to the program-- they had lost confidence that he could leverage that investment and make a solid return on it. The stadium investment is so much more significant--particularly given the merger and consolidation talk-- that they can't hope that things will work out if there is clear evidence that it won't. There are alot of things to like about JD, but his negatives are now the bigger pile. If he goes ofer the rest of the way, I think they will have to give serious thought to a change because making that change now will at least give us a shot of having a new coach re-ignite the program. I personally hate the thought of starting over and am bitterly disappointed that we are in this position--mostly because he seemed to be generating real progress in the program. But in hindsight, the progress was illusory, based more on luck (winning the MAC east through a fortunate tie-breaker, getting an amazing series of breaks against Northern) and good PR (top rated recruiting classes that produce no qualitative impact versus other schools). I really want to be supportive of JD-- but something is off. The enterprise clearly isn't gelling. The whole is not equal to the sum of the parts. Everyone on this board feels it and knows it-- and it's not just the disappointment of this loss or even dropping 2 in a row or the fact this year is clearly a re-building year (which in and of itself is a warning sign given that this is the exact moment-- 4 seasons in-- when the team and program is entirely a coach's creation). The vision, if there is one, should be coming together now. We should see something on the field that is clear evidence of real progress. I think most people on this board would be willing for that evidence to not solely be wins in any given season-- if we were seeing things that said "this team will be INCREDIBLE in 2 years" because the talent is evident, the system is working, the program is starting to fire on all cylinders. What we are facing right now is another "rebuilding year" in 2008 after a few coaching changes and JD wading in to fix this or that aspect of the game. What SHOULD season 5 look like--with a still new and fantastic field house, an actual campus, and shovels turning on a incredible new stadium. Please, someone tell me if we have a large group of incredibly game-changing red-shirt talent or recruits that come in and transform this program. And even if we did, does anyone think that the current play calling, game management, and preparation will let that talent produce 7 or 8 wins next season? Again, sorry to be a butt monkey. But things don't look promising at all and I don't think any of us wants a program that just occasionally has a shot.

[RACER]

zen what about the loyalty to the zips fans who spend money for season tickets only to have losing season after losing season.you do not have the right to tell each zips fan how the should feel.just because you expect losing year after year does not mean all zips fans have to.

[zipper]

You know, I would make that decision based on the potential of improvement. This is JD's first head coaching job, and as he's admitted already he is going to have to adapt and learn. With Owens I felt he was languishing, not just unhappy in not taking it to the next level, but seriously treading water because he didn't know what else to do.IF, and it's a big "if," JD makes the changes in staffing and coaching assignments that obviously need to be made, and is open to trying things differently, I'm open to his development even if it takes a couple more years to show itself. We expect instant gratification in college athletics these days, and I'm just not sure it's valid or fair. You can look around the country at several BCS programs that took longer than five years to get it going. I'm just not sure, which is why I say I'd need to see willingness to adapt and make changes on his part. Just wipe the slate clean if you need to.

[RACER]

this is his fourth year.somehow buffalo and temple are finding ways to win with programs that were not very good when there coaches took over.can you honestly say that golden,and gill had more talent than jd did when he took over.our program is in a downward spiral.the good news we can not get much worse than we are now.akron is one of the worst teams in the worst d-1 conferences.as long as jd will not change we are going to at a standstill.

[InTheZone]

Alright, I wanted to give JD more time, I really did, but I am GODDAMN SICK OF THIS SHIT. I am sick and tired of watching pathetic football week in and week out. I love a lot of the guys on this team but JD has them playing with no heart at all.... and I don't care what the hell rivals and scout.com say JD's recruiting as been AWFUL. There's no way in hell you can tell me that this team full of JD's recuits has more talent than the '03 team. Wasn't that the big disclaimer at the beginning.... "OH MAN!!! JD's winning now with LO's recruits, wait till the team is full of his own!!" Well now this team is full of his own and this team blows. I can't take it anymore. I know a lot of people within the athletic department and I'm going to start voicing my opinion that its time for JD to get out of here and Mack to bring in his own guy.

[GP1]

and I don't care what the hell rivals and scout.com say JD's recruiting as been AWFUL.

I'm serious when I ask this. I really find the whole recruiting thing borring so I really don't follow it....What makes those web pages experts? There are hundreds of potential players out there. How do they know who is good or not? How does a player get on their page? Who decides who is good or not? What do the different "star" levels mean?

[GoZips88]

and I don't care what the hell rivals and scout.com say JD's recruiting as been AWFUL.

I'm serious when I ask this. I really find the whole recruiting thing borring so I really don't follow it....What makes those web pages experts? There are hundreds of potential players out there. How do they know who is good or not? How does a player get on their page? Who decides who is good or not? What do the different "star" levels mean?

A-M-E-N GP1!

[johnnyzip84]

his contract is not that expensive to buy out and he could always be re-assigned (which is what they did to Faust) and wait for him to leave.The issue, as I argued in another post, is trajectory.

These are very valid points. I've been "on the fence" regarding JD, but I'm having a really hard time not slipping into the "let him go" camp. The way I see it, Proenza cannot be pleased at all with the recent results, and the prospect of heading into a brand new facility on the heals of three losing seasons (if improvement next year isn't swift and dramatic) has to put a serious crimp into the financial models that are being assumed for construction and operation of the new stadium. Here's something to consider. The U of A has never been in, what I would call a "position of strength" when looking for a new head football coach. Today is different What bright, young aspiring coach would NOT be intrigued by the possibilties that will soon be available here? If JD were to be fired, I believe the quality on the list of potential succesors would be a quantum leap ahead of anything we have ever seen here in past searches.

[UADavid]

his contract is not that expensive to buy out and he could always be re-assigned (which is what they did to Faust) and wait for him to leave.The issue, as I argued in another post, is trajectory.

These are very valid points. I've been "on the fence" regarding JD, but I'm having a really hard time not slipping into the "let him go" camp. The way I see it, Proenza cannot be pleased at all with the recent resuts, and the prospect of heading into a brand new facility on the heals of three losing seasons (if improvement next year isn't swift and dramatic) has to put a serious crimp into the financial models that are being assumed for construction an operation of the new stadium. Here's somethng to consider. The U of A has never been in, what I would call a "position of strength" when looking for a new head football coach. Today is different What bright, young aspiring coach would NOT be intrigued by the possibilties that will soon be available here? If JD were to be fired, I believe the quality on the list of potential succesors would be a quantum leap ahead of anything we have ever seen here in past searches.

Great post. The package available to show prospective coaches would go from lower to top of the conference. The tricky part is picking the right one.

[LosAngelesZipFan]

This is an excellent point-- and I think argues for making a change sooner rather than later. You want that stadium to open with a program that is in a position to WIN, and you would want to give the next coach at least 2 season to get it going (particularly if it appears that the program is in total meltdown). And, to your point, right now is the absolute most attractive moment ever for Akron football given the stadium, the field house, and the campus improvements--it's actually a very good situation for a hot young coach.I am NOT totally throwing in the towel here on JD, just saying that that he needs to show he can turn this thing around NOW, give real reasons to believe that the ship can be righted, or the looming reality of a new stadium may force the admin to make a decision now that would usually take another season of losing to make. And if we go ofer the rest of the way, it would be the right decision to make now rather than wait another year and hope things get better. There's just too much at stake given the investment being made...

[UADavid]

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/news;_ylt=Aq...e&type=lgnsA bit off topic but toledo put up 70 (812 yards offense) on niu and the local paper was calling for Novak's head two weeks prior to this thrashing. It's a brutal article but still a good read with a mention of Akron. He's been there 11 years with a mediocre 61-66 record. Sound familiar?

[UADavid]

It's not just a lack of on-field talent that's plaguing the Huskies. Novak's inability to make the necessary halftime adjustments have proved to be quite possibly the most lethal poison for the Huskies this season.

[UADavid]

Will the beacon plagiarize the article and change a few words here and there.

[zff]

Here is the scoring breakdown for the 2nd 3rd and 4th quarters under Coach Brookhart: 2nd 3rd 4thZips 276 202 261Oppts 370 245 331I think these are very telling stats.

[skip-zip]

My thoughts....1) First of all, let's take a look at our ever-so-slim chances. The BG loss helps. But we still need to win road games at Miami and BG, and hope for a Buffalo collapse. Not likely, but it happened to Can't last year.2) This team losses games because of execution problems in critical situations. You decide who to blame, but those things happen to a young offensive unit.3) I was clearly expecting this to be a rebuilding year. But the early wins against Can't and WMU showed that maybe we could win the East this year. It didn't happen. And other than the huge post by Captain Kangaroo before the season, did anyone really think we had a MAC Championship caliber team going into the season?4) It does indeed look like JD will stick with CJ11, for at least this season. So, he does have a few more games to see if he is developing. My concern is that he is making mistakes, and we were told that he was playing because he does not make mistakes. So, now what?5) Hopefully, these last few games will be used to solidify some question marks for next year.6) I'm still happy for one thing. After Can't State's early success last year, they've really nosedived. It's funny to see Can't back where they belong. And hopefully our win against them at the Rubber Bowl earlier this year contributed to their downslide. 7) I want to know if ONE person, when looking at our schedule at the beginning of the year, would have quessed that we would have beaten WMU and Can't, and lost to Temple and Buffalo.8) And....is there any one person on here who would have guessed that Akron's defense would be the defense that gave Ohio State's offense their lowest point output of the season.

[bigzipguy]

Consider this: Next week, if Akron beats BG and Buffalo beats Miami, Buffalo CLINCHES THE EAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes you heard me!!!! If the above scenario takes place, then no team in the east could finish ahead of Buffalo and all teams that could finish the season in a tie with them, would have lost to them!!!!

[skip-zip]

bigzipguy...your scenario sounds correct. Those critical head-to-head tiebreakers essentially give you a TWO GAME advantage against everyone you beat in the division.So let's look at this.....how can we beat Buffalo?We're 1-2, and they are 3-0, with a tiebreaker advantage.It's pretty simple. We need to win our last 3, and they need to lose their last 3.

[bigzipguy]

WE need to win our last three, they must lose at least 2. There may be a way to win it with a triangle tie, where each team is 1-1 against the other two.

[skip-zip]

Good point. I guess there is a scenario where just matching Buffalo's record would throw out their head-to-head advantage if there is another team involved in the tie.

[Lee Adams]

JD isn't going anywhere. You're entitled to be disappointed in his team this year, but outside of the Cap'n I'm not sure there were too many of us expecting much from this team this year.[/quoteMaybe some folks are conditioned to low expectations for whatever reason...its one thing to 'not expect much', its another to be legitimately critical when when people getting paid lots of money to do their jobs are not dong their jobs...most fans WERE expecting more than this sorry exhibition by the coaching staff and some players...and into the fourth year we had EVERY reason to have expectations beyond 5-7or 4-8...these gave have played poorly since the 2nd half of last season with no end in sight..

[Lee Adams]

WE need to win our last three, they must lose at least 2. There may be a way to win it with a triangle tie, where each team is 1-1 against the other two.

get real...these guys are circling the drain on their way down..