cleveland
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About those Zips ...
Did I miss something? Bowden certainly had his issues, primarily on the coaching side. But can't recall an issue with talent, or talk of the new regime come into a short-handed situation.
So the ??? is: did Bowden really get the boot because the cupboard was bare ... or is the new regime going through on-the-job training.
Thoughts
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10-19-2019 05:34 PM |
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uakronkid
Heisman
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RE: About those Zips ...
Bowden got the boot so our AD could mark "hiring a football coach" off his ladder-climbing resume checklist. Same reason he created a hostile work environment for Dambrot on the basketball side of things.
Maybe Tom Arth and his staff weren't ready for the FBS. Maybe Bowden's players are protesting the loss of the old coaching staff. Maybe the talent wasn't as great as the old position coaches made them look. It's probably all three of those things.
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10-19-2019 06:11 PM |
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IWokeUpLikeThis
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RE: About those Zips ...
(10-19-2019 06:11 PM)uakronkid Wrote: Bowden got the boot so our AD could mark "hiring a football coach" off his ladder-climbing resume checklist. Same reason he created a hostile work environment for Dambrot on the basketball side of things.
X
In a good year, Bowden had the Zips in the MAC title game.
In a bad year, Bowden beat the B1G West champs for the school’s first B1G victory since 1894.
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10-20-2019 12:43 PM |
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kreed5120
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RE: About those Zips ...
(10-19-2019 05:34 PM)cleveland Wrote: Did I miss something? Bowden certainly had his issues, primarily on the coaching side. But can't recall an issue with talent, or talk of the new regime come into a short-handed situation.
So the ??? is: did Bowden really get the boot because the cupboard was bare ... or is the new regime going through on-the-job training.
Thoughts
I'd say it's a little of both. The strength of Akron's team last year was on the defensive side of the ball and we lost 8 of those starters so our defense wasn't going to be as good this year. Offensively our o-line was a disaster last season, which was a big reason why our offense was at or near the bottom of the MAC. It stinks again this season and would have stunk regardless of who the coach was as nothing was done to improve the line.
Arth is going to have to go out and find some JUCO or immediately eligible transfers that he can plug in to fill holes that way the new recruits actually can have time to develop. Arth did himself no favors by bringing in his equally inexperienced cronies instead of adding some people to his staff that could have eased his transition.
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10-20-2019 03:19 PM |
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Bronco'14
WMU
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RE: About those Zips ...
Zips have been shut-out 2 games in a row. Haven't scored a TD since September vs UMASS.
In addition to the shutouts, have 2 games where they scored just a FG.
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10-26-2019 10:01 PM |
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epasnoopy
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RE: About those Zips ...
(10-26-2019 10:01 PM)Bronco14 Wrote: Zips have been shut-out 2 games in a row. Haven't scored a TD since September vs UMASS.
In addition to the shutouts, have 2 games where they scored just a FG.
I knew they were bad, but I didn't think we would beat them by so much and shut them out with our injury-depleted defense.
It was also a crummy game that downpoured the whole time too.
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10-27-2019 08:26 AM |
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Love and Honor
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RE: About those Zips ...
(10-26-2019 10:01 PM)Bronco14 Wrote: Zips have been shut-out 2 games in a row. Haven't scored a TD since September vs UMASS.
In addition to the shutouts, have 2 games where they scored just a FG.
It's too early to call the Tom Arth regime a failure by any means, but it's not exactly off to a great start. The guy won a bit at John Carroll but it looks like he's in over his head so far. Doesn't help that Terry Bowden relied heavily on transfers, so when he was let go I imagine the pipeline dried up right away.
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10-27-2019 12:07 PM |
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ColinApocalypse
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RE: About those Zips ...
Honestly, Tom Arth and his staff didn't have the most impressive resumes. Arth was only HC for 2 years at a DI school (Chattanooga, FCS, 9-13 record). He spent 4 years at John Carroll and had a good record (40-8), but how much of that is because of a mismatch in facilities, resources, recruiting? DIII football is a crapshoot. Arth never even had a winning conference record at Chattanooga. This was a questionable hire at best.
I know Akron graduated a lot of experience, but a team should never be completely noncompetitive. So far Akron is being outscored 86-286. They even lost to UMass by 2 scores. UMass is 1-7, lost to FCS Southern Illinois by 25 points, and is giving up 50+ points per game.
I'd be very worried if I were an Akron fan.
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10-27-2019 12:23 PM |
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Bronco'14
WMU
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RE: About those Zips ...
I like that DIII record, but think more experience at the DI level (FBS or FCS) was needed. Should've had to prove himself more at Chattanooga.
Unfortunately, I guess Akron's AD views the athletic program as no different then an average Chattanooga.
(This post was last modified: 10-27-2019 05:46 PM by Bronco'14.)
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10-27-2019 05:45 PM |
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Love and Honor
Skipper
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RE: About those Zips ...
(10-27-2019 05:45 PM)Bronco14 Wrote: I like that DIII record, but think more experience at the DI level (FBS or FCS) was needed. Should've had to prove himself more at Chattanooga.
Unfortunately, I guess Akron's AD views the athletic program as no different then an average Chattanooga.
I think the logic behind it was that he'd be Lance Leipold 2.0 given his DIII winning. Difference of course is that he won six championships and had assistant experience at Nebraska and Wisconsin, while Arth was twelve years younger with no FBS track record and not that long of a run at John Carroll.
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10-27-2019 07:28 PM |
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GFlash68
All American
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RE: About those Zips ...
Akron should not have fired Terry Bowdan. Given the circumstances, he did a good job for Akron. Akron could not have done better.
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10-27-2019 09:19 PM |
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MaddDawgz02
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RE: About those Zips ...
I have never seen this board so light on basketball! Given how abysmal the MAC is, I would have expected more basketball talk by this point. The Zips could be decent this year!
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10-28-2019 08:36 AM |
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NIU007
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RE: About those Zips ...
(10-27-2019 09:19 PM)GFlash68 Wrote: Akron should not have fired Terry Bowdan. Given the circumstances, he did a good job for Akron. Akron could not have done better.
Yea, Akron didn't win that many games but they were competitive even if they didn't win, with Bowden.
I'd prefer a guy that you already know can win at, say, the FCS level as a head coach. We got Kill from there. Doeren was a coordinator at a P5 school so that could have gone good or bad for us. Coach Kill won at SIU and his previous stints also.
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10-28-2019 10:10 AM |
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Love and Honor
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RE: About those Zips ...
(10-28-2019 10:10 AM)NIU007 Wrote: (10-27-2019 09:19 PM)GFlash68 Wrote: Akron should not have fired Terry Bowdan. Given the circumstances, he did a good job for Akron. Akron could not have done better.
Yea, Akron didn't win that many games but they were competitive even if they didn't win, with Bowden.
I'd prefer a guy that you already know can win at, say, the FCS level as a head coach. We got Kill from there. Doeren was a coordinator at a P5 school so that could have gone good or bad for us. Coach Kill won at SIU and his previous stints also.
I think the problem for the MAC is that the elite FCS coaches are often out of our league - whenever you get a great candidate out there like Jim Tressel way back or Chris Klieman this past offseason, they know their value and tend to jump to a power school since going to a G5 school means they'll probably spend at least three seasons there and risk flaming out. The likes of Jerry Kill are the exception and not the rule, making it far more likely for MAC schools to grab DII coaches turned P5 assistants (Chuck Martin), DIII standouts (Lance Leipold), or less-than-impressive FCS coaches (Arth). That can be a crapshoot too, which is why I think so many MAC teams go with the 'safe' choice of a Big Ten OC or DC even if it's not a surefire hit.
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10-28-2019 06:21 PM |
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Bronco'14
WMU
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RE: About those Zips ...
Home vs Eastern Michigan:
Akron fans with bags on their heads.
Akron punter punts negative yards, downs his own punt.
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11-12-2019 06:30 PM |
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CMichFan
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RE: About those Zips ...
(11-12-2019 06:30 PM)Bronco14 Wrote: Home vs Eastern Michigan:
Akron fans with bags on their heads.
Akron punter punts negative yards, downs his own punt.
It was actually a pooch punt by the QB. But still funny!
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11-12-2019 06:32 PM |
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Bronco'14
WMU
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RE: About those Zips ...
Zips are just abysmal.
Illinois - 1 Field goal
Kent St - 1 field goal
Bowling Green St: 1 field goal
Troy - 1 Touchdown
Buffalo - Shutout
Northern Illinois - Shutout
Eastern Michigan - currently being shutout
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11-12-2019 08:10 PM |
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emu steve
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RE: About those Zips ...
Zips just scored a TD.
(This post was last modified: 11-12-2019 08:20 PM by emu steve.)
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11-12-2019 08:20 PM |
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Bronco'14
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RE: About those Zips ...
(11-12-2019 08:20 PM)emu steve Wrote: Zips just scored a TD.
Yay!
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11-12-2019 08:28 PM |
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San Giuseppe Jato Rocket
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RE: About those Zips ...
(10-19-2019 06:11 PM)uakronkid Wrote: Bowden got the boot so our AD could mark "hiring a football coach" off his ladder-climbing resume checklist. Same reason he created a hostile work environment for Dambrot on the basketball side of things.
Maybe Tom Arth and his staff weren't ready for the FBS. Maybe Bowden's players are protesting the loss of the old coaching staff. Maybe the talent wasn't as great as the old position coaches made them look. It's probably all three of those things.
I think ultimately the AD's job is to build a financially self-sufficient athletic program by building excitement--ergo selling tickets and putting butts in stadium and arena seats.
Not sure this approach is getting it done in Akron.
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11-13-2019 09:19 AM |
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