More JD to Colorado State SPECULATION

[you am i]

The mention of MAC coaches who moved up makes me think of Nick Saban, who had his first college head coaching job at The University of Toledo. His successor was Gary Pinkel, who was born and raised in Akron, graduating from Kenmore HS in 1973. Unfortunately, Pinkel attended and played football at Can't State University.

[Lee Adams]

I am also tired of the negative comments on this board. I come to this board to talk to Zips fans not hear the team, coaches, and program be constantly put down. It's like I'm talking to our worst enemies! I'm a Zips fan through good and bad. Maybe some of you need to try supporting your team and not being so critical. Go Zips!!!!!

Negative talk on this board? You make it sound like it is a crime for wanting more.......no expecting more, because that is what we should be doing. Sounds like you want us to sugar coat things. We both want success but you can't get there unless you acknowledge your weaknesses and mistakes. We wanna be big time you gotta act big time, expect big time, but at the very least you should minimize mistake, no holdings, dropped passes, redundant screens, etc. These are all easy fixes!!!!!I remember when Bill Snyder Kansas State's head coach at the time, came into our locker room after we just got our heads kicked in by his team, said that they were once where we are, and to stick to doing the right things,work hard, and not just believe but know you are better than your opponent, don't EVER settle for less.If you are used to a Faust 1-11 season a L.O. 2-10 season saying 7-5 is great is settling, it's settling for good when you should strive to be great. Saying stuff like *in a mopey voice* "Well we were 3-2 at half with OSU and barely lost to Temple, Buffalo, Miami, and Central. We could be 8-4!!Could be 8-4 don't sell tickets, get better recruits, or go to bowl games!!! The teams 8-4 or better like OSU, Indiana, UConn, Central ya know the teams we lost to?!! Go to bowl games, get better recruits, and don't have to fudge ticket sale numbers to keep D1 status. Teams like Louisville, Kansas St. Boise St., Hawaii, stop settling. Like we should too.

Actually at many of the major schools, if a coach has too many 8-4 or 9-3 seasons he will be fired.I don't think anyone is asking for a NC or even a top 20 team. We are merely asking for a respectable and entertaining team to watch. We are aksing for a team that consistently beats the teams they should beat. Yes, there are upsets. However, there isn't usually 4-5 the same season. Once that happens, they aren't upsets.Here at Akron most of us would be happy with 8-4 and crazy about 9-3. I don't think that being negative because we aren't even a 500 team is a bad thing unless you are used to losing and accept it.We finished 2005 at 7-6 after the bowl game. Everyone called that a great year for Akron.........Talk aboiut being happy with mediocrity.If any national powers had consecutive 7-6 seasons, the coach would be gone in a heartbeat. Here at Akron we are happy about it.7-6 should be a down year/rebuilding year at UA. Not a good year. I couldn't believe early in the year when people called this a rebuilding year. What?????????????????????????????????? Did we go 8-4 or better last year? Did we win the MAC?How can you have a rebuilding year after a year that you were not very good? That is a losers mentality.We really need to change that. I am not calling for JD's head. He is a young coach that I think is learning on the job. Many great coaches took more than 5 years before they started winning. To call out posters and say they are being negative is absurd.If you want to see negative, go to other teams boards that are whining because they only beat a team by 21 points when they think it should have been more. Or they lose one game and are calling for a coordinators head. Not all negative talk is bad. Some of it is reality.

THANK YOU!

[Lee Adams]

It is interesting to see the spin on what JD has done here when he may get a look at CSU.http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar...360/1006/SPORTS

some idiot on the CSU website says Brookhart has lifted Akron 'to unprecedented heights'...!!!!!????talk about no expectataions...

No. The unprecendented heights was referring to our MACC in 2005 and our first bowl bid. I do not recall LO doing this!

Comparing Brookhart to Owens means you have NO expectations of better performance...

[Zip_ME87]

I am also tired of the negative comments on this board. I come to this board to talk to Zips fans not hear the team, coaches, and program be constantly put down. It's like I'm talking to our worst enemies! I'm a Zips fan through good and bad. Maybe some of you need to try supporting your team and not being so critical. Go Zips!!!!!

Negative talk on this board? You make it sound like it is a crime for wanting more.......no expecting more, because that is what we should be doing. Sounds like you want us to sugar coat things. We both want success but you can't get there unless you acknowledge your weaknesses and mistakes. We wanna be big time you gotta act big time, expect big time, but at the very least you should minimize mistake, no holdings, dropped passes, redundant screens, etc. These are all easy fixes!!!!!I remember when Bill Snyder Kansas State's head coach at the time, came into our locker room after we just got our heads kicked in by his team, said that they were once where we are, and to stick to doing the right things,work hard, and not just believe but know you are better than your opponent, don't EVER settle for less.If you are used to a Faust 1-11 season a L.O. 2-10 season saying 7-5 is great is settling, it's settling for good when you should strive to be great. Saying stuff like *in a mopey voice* "Well we were 3-2 at half with OSU and barely lost to Temple, Buffalo, Miami, and Central. We could be 8-4!!Could be 8-4 don't sell tickets, get better recruits, or go to bowl games!!! The teams 8-4 or better like OSU, Indiana, UConn, Central ya know the teams we lost to?!! Go to bowl games, get better recruits, and don't have to fudge ticket sale numbers to keep D1 status. Teams like Louisville, Kansas St. Boise St., Hawaii, stop settling. Like we should too.

Actually at many of the major schools, if a coach has too many 8-4 or 9-3 seasons he will be fired.I don't think anyone is asking for a NC or even a top 20 team. We are merely asking for a respectable and entertaining team to watch. We are aksing for a team that consistently beats the teams they should beat. Yes, there are upsets. However, there isn't usually 4-5 the same season. Once that happens, they aren't upsets.Here at Akron most of us would be happy with 8-4 and crazy about 9-3. I don't think that being negative because we aren't even a 500 team is a bad thing unless you are used to losing and accept it.We finished 2005 at 7-6 after the bowl game. Everyone called that a great year for Akron.........Talk aboiut being happy with mediocrity.If any national powers had consecutive 7-6 seasons, the coach would be gone in a heartbeat. Here at Akron we are happy about it.7-6 should be a down year/rebuilding year at UA. Not a good year. I couldn't believe early in the year when people called this a rebuilding year. What?????????????????????????????????? Did we go 8-4 or better last year? Did we win the MAC?How can you have a rebuilding year after a year that you were not very good? That is a losers mentality.We really need to change that. I am not calling for JD's head. He is a young coach that I think is learning on the job. Many great coaches took more than 5 years before they started winning. To call out posters and say they are being negative is absurd.If you want to see negative, go to other teams boards that are whining because they only beat a team by 21 points when they think it should have been more. Or they lose one game and are calling for a coordinators head. Not all negative talk is bad. Some of it is reality.

THANK YOU "Ryno aka Menace" and "Buckzip". It is not negative talk to want and expect more...especially more than finishing 3rd from last in the MAC. (Where does that put us nationally?...below 100, I'm sure.)

[Big Zip]

Actually 108 according to Foxsports -- man that's impressive 108 out of 119. Only Northern Illinois and Can't State are listed below us. Highest ranked MAC team was Ball State at 83.

[ziptrumpet87]

and NIU's coach resigned or retired (I forget which).

[ZachTheZip]

and NIU's coach resigned or retired (I forget which).

Both. Technically he retired after his 16 years of coaching, but after this year's horrible season I have no doubt he was pressured into the decision. He "retired" so that he wouldn't get fired.

[RACER]

zips win is correct.our schedule is set up for failure,and our biggest problem.we usually only have 5 home games every year.we alwasy go on the road to play big ten teams and lose.right now this program needs wins.they need to start with the kd strategy of only playing a team if they give a return trip.we will probably see kentucky in the new stadium.indi,cuse will never play us here.they will buy out of it.we also need to schedule one 1-aa team.there is always the chance you could lose,but we have almost no shot at a bcs team on the road.i know we beat nc state, but lost eveything after that.next year looks like we go 1-3.if cinnci does not want to play here let them go.we need to find a sun belt,or 1-aa team to replace them.

[ziptrumpet87]

I like the idea of applying the KD scheduling theory to football. Our OOC schedule really doesn't mean anything with the MAC having 3 bowl affiliations, so getting a 1-AA or very low 1-A "warm-up" to start off and then playing some beatable but similar strength teams (on the 1-for-1 deal) to "tune up" for the conference. Hopefully that generates wins, which generates excitement and attendance which will generate the $$$ and hopefully move us forward to playing better 1-for-1's eventually.

[Valpo Zip]

That is not going to happen.Football is a high maintenance sport. It costs a lot of $$$ much more than basketball.We need the paycheck games to cut the lo$$

[ZachTheZip]

We seem to have football scheduling and basketball scheduling backwards. Of course with Rick Chryst at the helm of the MAC, we're stuck playing 3 BCS teams a year, with little to no hope for any return home games. That's the sign of someone lookig to bolt on the first chance, hoping that we pull off a few upsets as a conference in the same year so he can say that the conference is improving and get a better job. Record is far more important than strength of schedule in football. Getting at least 8 wins every season looks good no matter who you play. With the new stadium, we might have a bit more leverage to get some return home games from BCS schools, but we should still play one 1-AA team and one non-BCS team every year.

[HulaZip]

We seem to have football scheduling and basketball scheduling backwards. Of course with Rick Chryst at the helm of the MAC, we're stuck playing 3 BCS teams a year, with little to no hope for any return home games. That's the sign of someone lookig to bolt on the first chance, hoping that we pull off a few upsets as a conference in the same year so he can say that the conference is improving and get a better job. Record is far more important than strength of schedule in football. Getting at least 8 wins every season looks good no matter who you play. With the new stadium, we might have a bit more leverage to get some return home games from BCS schools, but we should still play one 1-AA team and one non-BCS team every year.

uakronkid....it was noted before in this conversation, the MAC has nothing to do with our OOC schedule. Also, if Chryst wanted to bolt after some impressive football between the MAC and BCS schools he could have done so a few years ago when Toledo, Marshall and others were making a name for the MAC. On another topic...I have heard that Brian Kelly from Cinci will be getting the Michigan job. I also was told that Mike Waddell was in town checking out JD at practice last week. Could mean absolutely nothing, but thought I would put that out there.

[ZachTheZip]

We seem to have football scheduling and basketball scheduling backwards. Of course with Rick Chryst at the helm of the MAC, we're stuck playing 3 BCS teams a year, with little to no hope for any return home games. That's the sign of someone lookig to bolt on the first chance, hoping that we pull off a few upsets as a conference in the same year so he can say that the conference is improving and get a better job. Record is far more important than strength of schedule in football. Getting at least 8 wins every season looks good no matter who you play. With the new stadium, we might have a bit more leverage to get some return home games from BCS schools, but we should still play one 1-AA team and one non-BCS team every year.

uakronkid....it was noted before in this conversation, the MAC has nothing to do with our OOC schedule. Also, if Chryst wanted to bolt after some impressive football between the MAC and BCS schools he could have done so a few years ago when Toledo, Marshall and others were making a name for the MAC. On another topic...I have heard that Brian Kelly from Cinci will be getting the Michigan job. I also was told that Mike Waddell was in town checking out JD at practice last week. Could mean absolutely nothing, but thought I would put that out there.

The MAC has everything to do with our OOC scheduling in football. Why do you think the MAC teams are playing more and more Big 10 teams every year, despite it completely destroying our records? It's because the MAC office is encouraging it. They encourage those "money" games over scheduling home-and-home series against teams from the C-USA or the Sun Belt more often because it's a quick-fix for the pathetic money situation the MAC is in. They figure getting blown out on national TV looks better than having a winning record with no TV games. The TV deal causes our in-conference schedule to be horribly screwed up by playing half the games on weekdays, limiting attendance and therefore limiting profits, forcing teams to schedule more money games.If Brian Kelly bolts after just one year at Cinci, I hope he fails miserably. Maybe he will accept the Michigan job because that would mean that he wouldn't have to play at MAC stadiums ever again.

[RACER]

i don't understand why almost all zip fans are in agreement that the way we schedule are occ games is a mess.yet it's the same every year.five home games,and two-three bcs teams every year on the road.i do not want to hear that we are playing bcs teams for the money.we spent millions on new indoor facility,and millions now on a new stadium.how much money does the team lose by playing in front of 7k at the end of the year? winning builds a fan base which means more people in the stands, buying gear,concessions ect,and not losing on the road to osu.i just think most mac schools are taking the easy way out by taking the big pay checks from the bcs schools,and not thinking long term to build a fan base.

[ZachTheZip]

The real way to make money is from merchandise. Not attendance or whoring out your team's schedule for money. People only buy merchandise if they like the product that it is promoting. One way to get people to like Akron athletics is to win. Another way is through marketing. Unfortunately we do neither. The marketing should be easier than winning in theory beacuse in order to win you need to recruit better players, schedule better, coach better, and improve everything including attendance to create a home-field advantage, while in marketing all you need is some money and a few creative minds. It takes money to make money, and UA would seem to have money to spend. We can't just slap up a few billboards or paint the side of a bus, though. There needs to be advertisements in radio and TV, and they have to be much better quality than they currently are. 1350 AM runs the same five commercials during every single Zips game in both football and basketball. UA could and probably should come up with several different commercials promoting the university and have them be played during Zips games. They need more than that one TV commercial, and it has to play on many channels during many different hours. You would be amazed at how much a good quality marketing blitz would do for not only attendance at games, but also the perception of the university in general. It would help in recruiting the local talent. Cleveland may be a Pro town, but it is still a large market that lacks its own major university to cheer for. We could fill that void.

[GP1]

The real way to make money is from merchandise. Not attendance or whoring out your team's schedule for money. People only buy merchandise if they like the product that it is promoting. One way to get people to like Akron athletics is to win. Another way is through marketing. Unfortunately we do neither. The marketing should be easier than winning in theory beacuse in order to win you need to recruit better players, schedule better, coach better, and improve everything including attendance to create a home-field advantage, while in marketing all you need is some money and a few creative minds. It takes money to make money, and UA would seem to have money to spend. We can't just slap up a few billboards or paint the side of a bus, though. There needs to be advertisements in radio and TV, and they have to be much better quality than they currently are. 1350 AM runs the same five commercials during every single Zips game in both football and basketball. UA could and probably should come up with several different commercials promoting the university and have them be played during Zips games. They need more than that one TV commercial, and it has to play on many channels during many different hours. You would be amazed at how much a good quality marketing blitz would do for not only attendance at games, but also the perception of the university in general. It would help in recruiting the local talent. Cleveland may be a Pro town, but it is still a large market that lacks its own major university to cheer for. We could fill that void.

While I appreciate your enthusiasm, I have to respectfully disagree.The problem isn't just the marketing department or the record or the AD or just about anything else. The problem is the product (the MAC) and it's not just Akron. Look around at the other MAC games on TV. They are crap. I still can't figure out why I watch them.Last weekend I watched the OU vs. Miami game in the Winking Lizard. As we all know, many other D-1A games were in progress. The Miami/OU game was the most difficult to watch. Compared to the other games, the quality of player, execution, crowd and athletic level was much higher in every other game. The people of NE Ohio are not stupid, with the exception of YSU fans. Maybe someone could dupe them into going to a MAC game once, but developing repeat customers is difficult.Zips Win! made a good point about supporting the team a couple of weeks ago. He said that people should support the Z Fund. For those alumni who believe the MAC is bad entertainment and don't want to attend games, tax free donations are an easy way to support the school. I don't go to games anymore (I don't miss the Rubber Bowl, bad weather, etc. for one second), but I still support the foundation at the same level. The nice thing about it is it is only money. I can earn more money, but I can't ever get back the wasted hours at the RB or easily get over the depressing feeling the RB gives off. Football games are an all day affair. Most games last 3.25 hours with long halftimes. That's brutal. The best ticket value at UofA is the MBB team. While MAC BB is crap as well (that's why the UofA games don't sell out), the time spent watching it is only two hours.As long as the MAC remains as bad as it is, IMHO the best bet is to grow the Z-Fund donations. Selling tickets should come second as bringing people to the product the MAC is selling will result in an unhappy customer and no repeat business.

[ZachTheZip]

GP1, I see your point, and it is a good one. The MAC is a poor quality conference. There is a bad perception about teams affiliated with it, and it is almost totally justified. But Akron is stuck in it until they can prove that they belong somewhere better, and then you would have to find another conference actually willing to take them in. Growing the Z-Fund would be great, but there is a problem: there is no true alumni base. The people here, the season ticket holders, and a few successful businessmen are all we have. Hardly anybody is proud of their University of Akron degree. Most people forget that they ever came here. There are too many causes to list for that, not the least of which is that UA was not always the university it is now. The campus was just a cluster of tan buildings seperated by busy streets, it was a commutter college in the truest sense of the word. That's where marketing comes in. It needs to remind our alumni base that they are UA alumni. Get them on campus to show how far things have come. Make up fake achievement awards to get them here if you have to. They might find something to actually be proud of. Send out letters with updates of how our sports teams are doing. I am willing to bet that 99% of UA alumni have no idea that our Mens Soccer team is in the NCAA tourney and I bet most of them have no idea that our b-ball team had 26 wins last season. Apathy can be cured through education, and its up the marketing people to be the educators because the alumni won't do it themselves.

[ziptrumpet87]

GP1, I see your point, and it is a good one. The MAC is a poor quality conference. There is a bad perception about teams affiliated with it, and it is almost totally justified. But Akron is stuck in it until they can prove that they belong somewhere better, and then you would have to find another conference actually willing to take them in. Growing the Z-Fund would be great, but there is a problem: there is no true alumni base. The people here, the season ticket holders, and a few successful businessmen are all we have. Hardly anybody is proud of their University of Akron degree. Most people forget that they ever came here. There are too many causes to list for that, not the least of which is that UA was not always the university it is now. The campus was just a cluster of tan buildings seperated by busy streets, it was a commutter college in the truest sense of the word. That's where marketing comes in. It needs to remind our alumni base that they are UA alumni. Get them on campus to show how far things have come. Make up fake achievement awards to get them here if you have to. They might find something to actually be proud of. Send out letters with updates of how our sports teams are doing. I am willing to bet that 99% of UA alumni have no idea that our Mens Soccer team is in the NCAA tourney and I bet most of them have no idea that our b-ball team had 26 wins last season. Apathy can be cured through education, and its up the marketing people to be the educators because the alumni won't do it themselves.

If UA has your current address and you are an alum, you should be receiving the "Akron" magazine which has lots of stories about the academic and sports achievements and the new campus upgrades, stories about UA alumni, as well as current staff and faculty.

[Buckzip]

GP1, I see your point, and it is a good one. The MAC is a poor quality conference. There is a bad perception about teams affiliated with it, and it is almost totally justified. But Akron is stuck in it until they can prove that they belong somewhere better, and then you would have to find another conference actually willing to take them in. Growing the Z-Fund would be great, but there is a problem: there is no true alumni base. The people here, the season ticket holders, and a few successful businessmen are all we have. Hardly anybody is proud of their University of Akron degree. Most people forget that they ever came here. There are too many causes to list for that, not the least of which is that UA was not always the university it is now. The campus was just a cluster of tan buildings seperated by busy streets, it was a commutter college in the truest sense of the word. That's where marketing comes in. It needs to remind our alumni base that they are UA alumni. Get them on campus to show how far things have come. Make up fake achievement awards to get them here if you have to. They might find something to actually be proud of. Send out letters with updates of how our sports teams are doing. I am willing to bet that 99% of UA alumni have no idea that our Mens Soccer team is in the NCAA tourney and I bet most of them have no idea that our b-ball team had 26 wins last season. Apathy can be cured through education, and its up the marketing people to be the educators because the alumni won't do it themselves.

If UA has your current address and you are an alum, you should be receiving the "Akron" magazine which has lots of stories about the academic and sports achievements and the new campus upgrades, stories about UA alumni, as well as current staff and faculty.

I get that maybe once a year.

[ZachTheZip]

GP1, I see your point, and it is a good one. The MAC is a poor quality conference. There is a bad perception about teams affiliated with it, and it is almost totally justified. But Akron is stuck in it until they can prove that they belong somewhere better, and then you would have to find another conference actually willing to take them in. Growing the Z-Fund would be great, but there is a problem: there is no true alumni base. The people here, the season ticket holders, and a few successful businessmen are all we have. Hardly anybody is proud of their University of Akron degree. Most people forget that they ever came here. There are too many causes to list for that, not the least of which is that UA was not always the university it is now. The campus was just a cluster of tan buildings seperated by busy streets, it was a commutter college in the truest sense of the word. That's where marketing comes in. It needs to remind our alumni base that they are UA alumni. Get them on campus to show how far things have come. Make up fake achievement awards to get them here if you have to. They might find something to actually be proud of. Send out letters with updates of how our sports teams are doing. I am willing to bet that 99% of UA alumni have no idea that our Mens Soccer team is in the NCAA tourney and I bet most of them have no idea that our b-ball team had 26 wins last season. Apathy can be cured through education, and its up the marketing people to be the educators because the alumni won't do it themselves.

If UA has your current address and you are an alum, you should be receiving the "Akron" magazine which has lots of stories about the academic and sports achievements and the new campus upgrades, stories about UA alumni, as well as current staff and faculty.

I'm still a student, so I wasn't aware that they sent anything out at all. I hear no mention of it from the Alumni I do know, and they seem to be intent on keeping themselves out of the loop at UA. They don't want to be associated with their alma matar. This is the biggest problem conscerning UA athletics and the Z-fund: they don't WANT to be a part of it, or they don't know. You'll never convert the ones that don't wnat to be a part of it, but the university can definetely do a better job of getting the apathetic portion of the alumni involved. The AK-Oldies are doing a great job, but I have to ask: why didn't the university, themselves, start something like that a long time ago? Same with the AK-Rowdies: Why wasn't it the university that filled what to us seems like an obvious need? You can't be successful without an active and involved fan base. Up until a few years ago, UA had a passive fan base. Most of the attendance was from the "casual" crowd who came for entertainment. Now the hard-core crowd is growing a bit. Most big-name schools have a significant hard-core crowd that stays around even when the team is doing bad. They donate money every year, and make their oppinions heard. The casual crowd simply dissappears when the team does bad, and then we get trapped in this cycle of apathy. Nobody goes to the games because nobody goes to the games.The thing that sets big-name schools apart from us is that their alumni stay involved and donate far more as a result. We're just now becoming the type of school that is capable of building a faithful donation base with active groups of athletic fans. We're about 50 years behind most major schools in that regard.

[a-zip]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com:80/sports/o...0,1229076.storyBack to defending J.D.for me. One thing I do not understand is how so many of the Zip fans are down on J.D. when everyone else feels he could be the next great thing. The one quote that keeps resounding is how he has done good things without much to work with (I agree). It is nice to expect and want more but you have got to understand where we are coming from. The football program has a lot of building to do before we are consistent, before we can bring in the ideal recruits, before we get respect. We do not have a winning tradition, we do not play in a high profile conference, our fan base sucks, our stadium sucks. What did you all expect............J.D. to come in, wave a magic wand and play in bowl games for ever and ever? If he gets a higher paying/profile job and we will take steps back.

[zen]

while in marketing all you need is some money and a few creative minds. It takes money to make money, and UA would seem to have money to spend. We can't just slap up a few billboards or paint the side of a bus, though. There needs to be advertisements in radio and TV, and they have to be much better quality than they currently are.

I know this is an apples & oranges comparison, but just about everyone I know who spent money to advertise their new websites.... in the end the websites ended up failing. On the other hand, I have never spend a dime to advertise a website, and have had significant successes. The point is the product. Sometimes it doesn't matter how much you spend on marketing, the message is lost, along with the money you spent, if you don't get the desired effect.Some companies spend a lot more money on figuring out market for audience and demographics than they do on the ads themselves. Simply plastering the papers and the airwaves with your message is a waste if 99% of those people wouldn't come to your game if you put a gun to their head. Why drop $50,000 on radio ads all across the dial when the net result if 27 more tickets got sold???

[flipthezip]

Yes, the University and campus are different today than it was even 5 years ago. Jeff Boals made note of that in the post game radio show Monday regarding comments made by coaches coming to campus for the Nike and Lebron camps about their surprise regarding how nice it is.So one key should be on getting alumni back to the campus. The new stadium should help draw some out of 1. curiosity, 2. novelty, and 3. to see a local high school game. Oh yeah, and maybe 4. to support their alma mater.Also, maybe some focus should be made on improving the Greek housing. Each Fraternity and Sorority yearly sponsor some type of alumni event with ranging degress of success. New housing would be a boost to these organizations and events in drawing alumni back to campus.How about May Day? I think we are over the parties and/or riots that once were. But why can't we get back to what it was pre-1987 when it was a day of celebration on campus. I know the street festival was tried with little success but something different could work. Maybe similar to a First Night idea - open up the campus, bring in bands and vendors, show off the student successes at the end of the school year.Bring back a parade through campus for Homecoming.Lot's of ideas and probably rambling to long on the wrong thread but something to get kick around.And based on the discussions taking place here, this may be where the impetus for increased alumni involvement comes from.

[ZachTheZip]

while in marketing all you need is some money and a few creative minds. It takes money to make money, and UA would seem to have money to spend. We can't just slap up a few billboards or paint the side of a bus, though. There needs to be advertisements in radio and TV, and they have to be much better quality than they currently are.

I know this is an apples & oranges comparison, but just about everyone I know who spent money to advertise their new websites.... in the end the websites ended up failing. On the other hand, I have never spend a dime to advertise a website, and have had significant successes. The point is the product. Sometimes it doesn't matter how much you spend on marketing, the message is lost, along with the money you spent, if you don't get the desired effect.Some companies spend a lot more money on figuring out market for audience and demographics than they do on the ads themselves. Simply plastering the papers and the airwaves with your message is a waste if 99% of those people wouldn't come to your game if you put a gun to their head. Why drop $50,000 on radio ads all across the dial when the net result if 27 more tickets got sold???

If people don't like your product, you need to change what you're selling. It is clear that they don't like our football team partly because it is a losing team, and partly because they play in a crumbling concrete hole in the ground. Have you noticed that whenever the Zips are mentioned in the ABJ, they always throw in that Bryan Williams went to Buchtel? It's in every single article they write about the football team. More local kids means more local interest, but only if they are the talented local kids. Or you can advertise an alternative product. If nobody wants to care about the football team, advertise the Mens Soccer team or the basketball teams more. It's all baout word association, and if they associate one good product with UA, they'll tend to associate other good things with them as well.Also, we already have a target demographic: The UA students and alumni. They are everywhere around here if you know where to find them. Attendance at home games is primarily generated through word-of-mouth. That generally isnt enough on its own.

[Buckzip]

while in marketing all you need is some money and a few creative minds. It takes money to make money, and UA would seem to have money to spend. We can't just slap up a few billboards or paint the side of a bus, though. There needs to be advertisements in radio and TV, and they have to be much better quality than they currently are.

I know this is an apples & oranges comparison, but just about everyone I know who spent money to advertise their new websites.... in the end the websites ended up failing. On the other hand, I have never spend a dime to advertise a website, and have had significant successes. The point is the product. Sometimes it doesn't matter how much you spend on marketing, the message is lost, along with the money you spent, if you don't get the desired effect.Some companies spend a lot more money on figuring out market for audience and demographics than they do on the ads themselves. Simply plastering the papers and the airwaves with your message is a waste if 99% of those people wouldn't come to your game if you put a gun to their head. Why drop $50,000 on radio ads all across the dial when the net result if 27 more tickets got sold???

Marketing is a little more than money and creative minds. That is absurd.Let's take the I-phone. It was advertised and marketed very heavily. Now let's say when the product came out it was garbage. Sure they had some great initial sales. However, after that everyone knows the product is crap and no one buys it anymore.People know that UA has a football team. However, people also know that UA is is near the bottom in one of the worst, if not worst, conferences in all of college football.If Akron started winning, everything else takes care of itself. Do you think the big guys sell out 90-100,000 seat stadiums because they have a beter marketing department? No, it's because they put a good product on the field.The big guys don't even needs marketed. Their products sells itself.