RatFink Posted December 12, 2004 Report Share Posted December 12, 2004 So, what did JD Brookhart really accomplish? Six wins, one against hated Marshall was no great feat. Lee Owens probably would have given Akron the same with the added bonus of kicking the crap out of a sorry Middle Tennessee. Thus a probable 7-4 record and a slightly better chance at a bowl bid. The out come there would have been the same. No one fore saw the strange bowl eligibility scene. Thus, no credit to Brookhart is due. What JD gave Akron was a renewed spirit. A spirit long over due. A good feeling about being a Zip whether a fan or a player. This is the real accomplishment. Forget the 6-5 record. It was nice. Lee would have given Akron at least that. But, Lee could not instill a warm feeling that the future will be better. JD's defense still sucks. It smells of Lee's defense. What improvement was there? Really? Losing to Miami 37-27 when the offense tied the score 27 all proves just how far the defense is from being able to deliver. The defense still sucks. That said, the future is the real promise that excites Zips fans. First order of business: fix the defense. Thus far the recruiting both last year and the coming year bode well for the Zips. The verbals and transfers point to having the best recruiting class in the MAC. The system is in place. The kids are learning it. They are learning to believe in themselves. The future holds a lot of promise. The administration seems to understand that winning big games puts fans in the stands. This is crucial to future success. Second order of business: build a new stadium. Its hard to imagine a 20,000 seat hole in the ground being much of an attraction. A 45,000 seat concrete structure is far more appealing. But, when you are the lame step child of a mid-major conference, you take what you can get. The one caveat is that the new stadium must have expandability built in. The hole in the ground better be able to expand to 30,000 and even 45,000. With some effort, the Zips will need it. Some one wrote about the possibility of Brookhart leaving Akron and becoming the head coach at Pitt. What I have been reading lately does not give me a good feeling about keeping JD at Akron. Walt Harris seems bound for Stanford. The Pitt job is open. A nice pay raise to JD and his staff is in order. Do it or their gone. Do the deal Charlie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zipboy Posted December 12, 2004 Report Share Posted December 12, 2004 I have to disagree somewhat with you RatFink. No way this team goes 6-5 with the old regime. Week in and week out, the staff put together some good game plans. In the past, I doubt we would have beaten OU, I doubt we would have beaten FUC, and I don't know if we would have beaten Can't. As for as the spirit and belief that the ship is righted, I fully agree with you. But I also see a serious improvement in game day coaching and making adjustments along the way. As far as JD staying, I don't know what happens. I doubt that he moves anywhere after a 6-5 season in his first year of coaching. Heck for how hot Urban Myers was, he was at BG for 2 years, beat 5 BCS schools, and won 8 and 9 games if I remember correctly. Hopefully Akron keeps putting money in the program, the community embraces the team, and he thinks twice about leaving. But I still think he needs 2 more very good years before he steps up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1 Posted December 13, 2004 Report Share Posted December 13, 2004 You could easily argue that the team would have gone 3-8 with the old coaching staff. Loss at Can't would have happened. Loss at OU could have easily happened. They would have easily blown the Marshall game with the old staff. What makes you think the old staff would have beaten MTSU? Trust in the new staff. These guys are professional college coaches. Not high school coaches who want to become college coaches like the old staff was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted December 13, 2004 Report Share Posted December 13, 2004 I can't believe that over a year after LO's firing, a year in which we had a winning season, beat Marshall, a shot at an outright MAC East Championship, and JD got COY someone still has to bring up his name. GET OVER IT. NOBODY WILL KNOW WHAT LO WOULD HAVE DONE, THIS IS USELESS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zipper Posted December 13, 2004 Report Share Posted December 13, 2004 Gracias. I was thinking the same thing. Who cares? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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