Where do we go from here? Kent just suffered yet another losing season. I'm in favor of replacing the coach, but that alone may not make a big enough difference. There is something basically wrong with Kent's football program. The administration is going to have to do something about it.

hey fairwood.

yep, you called it after that loss to bowling green. this team really fell apart down the stretch. very disappointing. they did have some key injuries that contributed to the demise, however. i went to their last game, their offense was very stagnant.

Martin has to go. He hasn't been a good coach, and he ran his mouth all year and didn't back it up. I would honestly call Glen Mason first. I don't think too many top schools will be calling him, so maybe he bites at one of the few calls he gets. If he doesn't, I think they need to get an Ohio guy that will recruit this state well. The second guy I would call is Darrell Hazell and maybe he could bring Paul Haynes over.

Kent has struggled to have a consistent winning football program since I was in college (30 plus years ago). Not much has changed.

You'd think being in an area that is loaded almost every year with pretty good football players they could do better.

jpake1 wrote: Martin has to go. He hasn't been a good coach, and he ran his mouth all year and didn't back it up. I would honestly call Glen Mason first. I don't think too many top schools will be calling him, so maybe he bites at one of the few calls he gets. If he doesn't, I think they need to get an Ohio guy that will recruit this state well. The second guy I would call is Darrell Hazell and maybe he could bring Paul Haynes over.

You are aware, aren't you, that Glen Mason was Kent's coach in the 1980's? I would love to have him back, but I don't think it will happen.

I think this thread shows how bad off Kent's situation is. There are more threads for Notre Dame on this blog than there are posts on this thread. No one seems to care about KSU football. The only reason I attended the games when I was at Kent was because I was in the band. It was some of the worst football I have ever seen.

This year Kent lost three games they definitely should have won. If they had won them, they would be 8-4 and probably headed to a bowl for the first time in generations. But it didn't happen, to no one's surprise, and Kent football is a woeful as ever.

No shit no one cares. We're a basketball school and likely always will be. Until they start recruiting this area harder it won't matter who the coach is. Whatever makes them think they can go across the country and try to suck players in from NC, Florida, etc., I'm not sure--but the talent is right here. All around them but they overlook most of it for whatever reason.

Just burn the whole damn place down already.

Actually the talent on KSU's roster is not that bad and there is a lot of good players coming back next year. With that being said Martin is one of the worst football coaches I have ever seen. He is a joke and needs to be let go ASAP. A good coach is all that is needed to turn this team and program around. The campus is beautiful and the amount of alumni is insane. There would be fans if they could win. And since they have had the top rated recruiting class the past 2 years, the talent is there as well.

You're right about one thing for sure, and that's the fans. When they're playing well they show up.

SQ_Crazies wrote: You're right about one thing for sure, and that's the fans. When they're playing well they show up.

Kent is one of the largest schools in the country so there is no doubt that they would have fans. A good coach solves all of the problems at Kent IMO.

Yes, we need another Don James. When he was at Kent, the team was winning and the fans filled the stadium.

sjmvsfscs08 wrote: Just burn the whole damn place down already.

Watch what you say! I graduated from KSU three times and I later taught there. It is a very fine educational institution.

FairwoodKing wrote:

sjmvsfscs08 wrote: Just burn the whole damn place down already.

Watch what you say! I graduated from KSU three times and I later taught there. It is a very fine educational institution.

yes it is and there would be plenty of fans if KSU could have a few winning seasons.

bo shemmy3337 wrote:

FairwoodKing wrote:

sjmvsfscs08 wrote: Just burn the whole damn place down already.

Watch what you say! I graduated from KSU three times and I later taught there. It is a very fine educational institution.

yes it is and there would be plenty of fans if KSU could have a few winning seasons.

WIN and they will COME...!

Obviously I'm aware that he coached here awhile ago. He's older, but you never know if he's bored with the B10 Network. Not too many other people are calling him now-a-days. Martin is a complete douche. His own son even thinks he's a bad coach lol.

Is it true that KSU pays their head coach less than any other I-A school (or whatever they call it now) in the country?

FairwoodKing wrote: Is it true that KSU pays their head coach less than any other I-A school (or whatever they call it now) in the country?

yes but it is still 170K a year and I am sure the new AD will dish out 200K a year for the new coach. There are a lot of good coaches out there that would take 200k a year IMO.

Kent won't be good for a looooong time. Nobody will go there instead of places close by like Toledo and Akron who have much better facilities.

dave wrote: Kent won't be good for a looooong time. Nobody will go there instead of places close by like Toledo and Akron who have much better facilities.

Doesn't Kent have an indoor practice field?

Yes. Kent has nice facilities, that isn't the problem. They just upgraded the stadium as well and it's pretty nice. There aren't many MAC schools with better facilities.

It's not as though Kent is a small school. The enrollment is greater than that of Notre Dame and Southern Cal combined.

Are they getting rid of the coach?

It just isn't a football school. Never has been, likely never will be. If they're good people show up, but the vast majority don't really care about football. They'd rather sit in their dorms/apartments/houses and watch the Buckeyes. Most just look forward to basketball season and use football games as an excuse to get drunk. Who cares--not every school is going to have a good football program.

It's true that Kent has never been a football school, but there was a time when they tried. I remember when the stadium was built in 1969. It sat 30,000 people and was designed to be expanded to 70,000. They had the idea that someday they would host Ohio State. Before the stadium was open a year, we had the infamous 1970 shootings. Around the same time, the school demoted Leo Strang from head football coach to head of the new ice arena. Strang was out and Don James was in. Our opening game that year was at North Carolina State. I remember Strang telling me how Kent would get beaten badly by NC State. James surprised everybody by taking his team out there and winning. It would be the first of many wins for his teams. After he left for Washington, KSU football fell down dramatically and stayed down until the late 1980's when Glen Mason took over. His most glorious win was a Kansas. But it proved to be a costly victory because Kansas then hired him as their head coach. The team hasn't been the same since.

Well you're never going to keep a coach in Kent with any sort of success--so we may get some good years here and there but that trend will probably continue. It's a stepping stone job for sure. Kent's basketball program is one of the best mid major programs in the country and even that is just a step for most coaches. Guys don't stick around anymore, why would they? I'd run for the money too most likely and most of them have aspirations of coaching on a bigger level from the start. Just how things are, they'd have to compete with OSU for a guy to stick around and we know that will never happen. The only MAC school that is actually making strides to try to get on a bigger level like that is Akron. And from what I understand they have aspirations of joining the Big Ten someday--apparently they want NEOUCOM outright to make their case stronger. And of course they just built a Big Ten quality stadium. But even they're a loooooooooong ways from reaching that goal, and Kent is light years behind Akron.