Goodbye JD

[uafan]

Those of you who think changing coaches is going to change the program are mistaken. JD has his problems, but the University's approach to athletics is years behind what it needs to be for UofA to have a winning program. It isn't the coaches who have turned Akron into "The Graveyard of Coaches", it is the University that does it.Talk like this, maybe it's time to drop back a division or 2, or drop football altogether! If the school won't give us a chance to win, why bother? And don't jump on me for saying this. But if the school is that much against building a winning program, well. Honestly, who is happy with this program right now?

[ZippyRulz]

Under "normal" circumstances, I would tend to agree that you give JD another year to pull it together-- but these are not "normal" circumstances. UA is about to make a huge investment in this program--HUGE. The stadium project is the culmination of 20+ years of discussion and planning. I remember talking to Bill Muse about it, and the hope was that Faust could put together a few winning seasons to give the admin air cover to make the investment.Well, here we are. Dr. P, who has been an incredible and truly transformational leader for UA, is now taking this on-- but the dynamic of the quality of the team justifying this huge investment is still incredibly important.It still comes down to this-- based on what we are seeing now, do we have reason to believe that JD can have this program going in the right direction when the ribbon is cut on the stadium? If you don't feel like you have the stud coach you need, the one that can make that investment pay off, you are far better ripping the band-aid off now, rather than waiting another season. I have been a JD supporter in the past-- but the mission control board is blinking red right now. The team is clearly not fighting for him anymore-- and worse, there appears to be a growing discipline issue. This is more than a "oh man, they just threw another stupid screen pass" discussion. This is a "do I entrust the huge investment being made in the stadium to this coaching staff based on what has been demonstrated through 4 seasons, because if I believe there to be a significant possibility that I will need to make change, it is better to make it now so the new coach as a couple of seasons to right the ship before the stadium opens" discussion.Assuming he goes ofer the rest of the way, firing him needs to be seriously considered. If the stadium is getting delayed until 2010, you can maybe afford to give him another season that is truly make or break.My gut tells me you pull the plug now, unless the team shows something in the next 2 games-- not necessarily wins, but real competitive fire and a solid plan of attack. If these last 2 games play out on a linear projection from where we are now, I think you have to make the change, IMHO.

I think we're putting the cart before the horse here. We're not building a stadium for JD or because of JD. The stadium was needed / desired before JD arrived and will be here long after JD is gone. Mack reiterated on the broadcast last night that the design & engineering are on track to break ground in 2 months and have the construction done for Sep. 09. A few of the players being recruited this fall will be on the field for the opening. Most all of the players recruited next year by whomever will not. That doesn't give a new coach "a couple of seasons to right the ship before the stadium opens". IMO, nothing will be decided before we see how this recruiting class turns out now that we have a firm stadium plan with renderings to show off. If we keep JD, the program will get better because of the new facilities. If we replace JD we may get even better with a new coach but not in 1 year and therefore I don't see the athl. dept. eating his remaining contract. Unfortunately for JD, his future as a 1a HC anywhere else may be running into the ground.

[Lee Adams]

Under "normal" circumstances, I would tend to agree that you give JD another year to pull it together-- but these are not "normal" circumstances. UA is about to make a huge investment in this program--HUGE. The stadium project is the culmination of 20+ years of discussion and planning. I remember talking to Bill Muse about it, and the hope was that Faust could put together a few winning seasons to give the admin air cover to make the investment.Well, here we are. Dr. P, who has been an incredible and truly transformational leader for UA, is now taking this on-- but the dynamic of the quality of the team justifying this huge investment is still incredibly important.It still comes down to this-- based on what we are seeing now, do we have reason to believe that JD can have this program going in the right direction when the ribbon is cut on the stadium? If you don't feel like you have the stud coach you need, the one that can make that investment pay off, you are far better ripping the band-aid off now, rather than waiting another season. I have been a JD supporter in the past-- but the mission control board is blinking red right now. The team is clearly not fighting for him anymore-- and worse, there appears to be a growing discipline issue. This is more than a "oh man, they just threw another stupid screen pass" discussion. This is a "do I entrust the huge investment being made in the stadium to this coaching staff based on what has been demonstrated through 4 seasons, because if I believe there to be a significant possibility that I will need to make change, it is better to make it now so the new coach as a couple of seasons to right the ship before the stadium opens" discussion.Assuming he goes ofer the rest of the way, firing him needs to be seriously considered. If the stadium is getting delayed until 2010, you can maybe afford to give him another season that is truly make or break.My gut tells me you pull the plug now, unless the team shows something in the next 2 games-- not necessarily wins, but real competitive fire and a solid plan of attack. If these last 2 games play out on a linear projection from where we are now, I think you have to make the change, IMHO.

I think we're putting the cart before the horse here. We're not building a stadium for JD or because of JD. The stadium was needed / desired before JD arrived and will be here long after JD is gone. Mack reiterated on the broadcast last night that the design & engineering are on track to break ground in 2 months and have the construction done for Sep. 09. A few of the players being recruited this fall will be on the field for the opening. Most all of the players recruited next year by whomever will not. That doesn't give a new coach "a couple of seasons to right the ship before the stadium opens". IMO, nothing will be decided before we see how this recruiting class turns out now that we have a firm stadium plan with renderings to show off. If we keep JD, the program will get better because of the new facilities. If we replace JD we may get even better with a new coach but not in 1 year and therefore I don't see the athl. dept. eating his remaining contract. Unfortunately for JD, his future as a 1a HC anywhere else may be running into the ground.

USE THE STADIUM TO RECRUIT A COACH! ...not just players!

[Zips Win!]

I understand everyone's frustration...I made the road trip to both Buffalo and BG. Last night's performance was awful. Yes, JD need to be held accountable, but no way the University fires him this year. He gets at least one more year, if not two.OF course we need better players and to find a way to keep them eligible. But who will pay for this? The Z fund needs to raise over 6 mil just to cover scholarships.....and we are about 6 million short as of now...Above all else, JD needs to find a quarterback. With even a mediocre qb this year, we are above .500...

[Z-P]

GP..............you make some very good points, no argument.Know where the suggestions should be directed? Know whose ass you should be kicking? It's not all on the FB staff, it's on the a.d. dept.PS...............anyone notice what is happening these days at The University of Cincinnati?DAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[Quickzips]

Akron needs to continue to recruit the kids they currently are.

Isn't it one definition of insanity to continue doing the same thing over and over again and expect different results???

[ZippyAlum]

If we recruit a bunch of top athlete "dummies" don't we lose scholarships when they don't qualify or if they become ineligible? I thought that was part of the new rules. And how can a coach develop any consistency when each week different players become ineligible because they're not going to class or because they fail a drug test? Isn't it difficult for that caliber of student to learn the plays? How many of the problems that our team has are because of play calling or is it just poor execution? What kind of leaders do these guys make? I remember what happened to Cooper at OSU when he recruited a bunch of thugs. You can't have it both ways. If you take chances on guys there are going to be disappointments.

[zipsbandman]

I think that Proenza needs to look at the entire athletic department or assemble committee together to do so and figure out how athletic departments are run. He wants to make us a great academic institution, and athletics should not be excluded from this vision especially if these students are representing our school. Part of me thinks that the department needs to be overhauled as our new stadium is built. This is absolutely embarrassing. We are losing to every garbage team in this garbage of a conference. :mad_flame:

[GP1]

GP..............you make some very good points, no argument.Know where the suggestions should be directed? Know whose ass you should be kicking? It's not all on the FB staff, it's on the a.d. dept.PS...............anyone notice what is happening these days at The University of Cincinnati?DAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Thank you.It goes beyond the AD right up to Dr. P. It is also bigger than that (the alumni and NE Ohio community), but I could write a book.When those guys from Cincinnati were here, they did nothing to retain better athletes by improving academic support. We are largely in the position we are BECAUSE of them. JD's first two recruiting classes happened under their watch and they knew we were bringing in at risk students and put nothing in place to support them. Doesn't seem very foresightful to me. It didn't happen the day they walked out the door. Their hands are not clean on this matter. Their answer was to improve academics by bringing in "better students" which resulted in the disaster that was the final three-four years of the Owens years.Cincinnati is doing well this year. Although, we could get 22 guys off this board and beat USF when they turn the ball over 7 times. We'll see if Thomas can keep it up or if he will do the smart thing and move to an even bigger school with more money. Those guys only had one really good sporting year at Akron. We'll see if that continues at Cincinnati. The trick they all seem to play is to move before they get discovered. There is a lot of smoke and mirrors in college athletics. You guys need to be much more cynical about what goes on in the offices than you all are.

[GP1]

Akron needs to continue to recruit the kids they currently are.

Isn't it one definition of insanity to continue doing the same thing over and over again and expect different results???

Where is the rest of the post?

[GP1]

If we recruit a bunch of top athlete "dummies" don't we lose scholarships when they don't qualify or if they become ineligible?

We do lose scholarships. The trick is to make certain they don't become ineligible, not to recruit better students.

[Zipmeister]

If we recruit a bunch of top athlete "dummies" don't we lose scholarships when they don't qualify or if they become ineligible?We do lose scholarships. The trick is to make certain they don't become ineligible, not to recruit better students.

If they never become eligible in the first place, then they cannot become ineligible! This is part of JD's recruiting genious that most of you are failing to appreciate. I've said it before, I'll say it again....one of the most fun things about being a college coach must be convincing kids who don't belong in school to come to yours.

[ZippyRulz]

GP..............you make some very good points, no argument.Know where the suggestions should be directed? Know whose ass you should be kicking? It's not all on the FB staff, it's on the a.d. dept.PS...............anyone notice what is happening these days at The University of Cincinnati?DAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Thank you.It goes beyond the AD right up to Dr. P. It is also bigger than that (the alumni and NE Ohio community), but I could write a book.When those guys from Cincinnati were here, they did nothing to retain better athletes by improving academic support. We are largely in the position we are BECAUSE of them. JD's first two recruiting classes happened under their watch and they knew we were bringing in at risk students and put nothing in place to support them. Doesn't seem very foresightful to me. It didn't happen the day they walked out the door. Their hands are not clean on this matter. Their answer was to improve academics by bringing in "better students" which resulted in the disaster that was the final three-four years of the Owens years.Cincinnati is doing well this year. Although, we could get 22 guys off this board and beat USF when they turn the ball over 7 times. We'll see if Thomas can keep it up or if he will do the smart thing and move to an even bigger school with more money. Those guys only had one really good sporting year at Akron. We'll see if that continues at Cincinnati. The trick they all seem to play is to move before they get discovered. There is a lot of smoke and mirrors in college athletics. You guys need to be much more cynical about what goes on in the offices than you all are.

That's very interesting and makes sense. How do you think the other MAC schools stack up in regard to their athlete support systems? If this is the key to success it should be common knowledge around all of college FB...why haven't UA's coaches, AD's and president figured it out? Or is it just a matter of (lack of) budget?

[RACER]

if it's lack of support by the AU admin,and athletic dept. then how do we have a b-ball team that wins 20 games every year,and a top 20 soccer team.jd was given a new indoor facilty that was better than most big ten schools have.we are getting a new stadium.the reason we are bad starts with the coaching staff.could the au do some things better for marketing schedules? probably.losing to bad teams like bg,temple,and buffalo has nothing to with that.