Now that Kent has suffered through yet another losing season, what is going to happen to the program? It's clear the current coach is not the answer. I know Kent is not traditionally a football school, but any Div. I-A program with an enrollment of over 30,000 should do a lot better.

doesnt the saying go.."cant read, cant write, kent state"

UA5straightin2008 wrote: doesnt the saying go.."cant read, cant write, kent state"

I graduated from KSU three times. I can read and write in more languages than you can count.

Fire the coach. Hire an in-state successful big time high school coach (yes, for real) and recruit the state HARD. Quit trying to get players from Florida and Cali. Quit hitting the JUCO circuit so hard and wasting a lot of time. Hit the recruiting trail in Ohio and western PA hard. Offer some sort of incentive to get people to the games while they still suck for a few years and go from there.

Drop down to the FCS ( I-AA) level and find out how good you really are.

SQ_Crazies wrote: Fire the coach. Hire an in-state successful big time high school coach (yes, for real) and recruit the state HARD. Quit trying to get players from Florida and Cali. Quit hitting the JUCO circuit so hard and wasting a lot of time. Hit the recruiting trail in Ohio and western PA hard. Offer some sort of incentive to get people to the games while they still suck for a few years and go from there.

This sounds like a good idea but who could they get? The only big time coach I can think of is at Ignatius and he is up there in age. I don't follow high school football too closely but I was curious who you were thinking.

SQ_Crazies wrote: Fire the coach. Hire an in-state successful big time high school coach (yes, for real) and recruit the state HARD. Quit trying to get players from Florida and Cali. Quit hitting the JUCO circuit so hard and wasting a lot of time. Hit the recruiting trail in Ohio and western PA hard. Offer some sort of incentive to get people to the games while they still suck for a few years and go from there.

Kent already tried hiring a big-time high school coach and it didn't work. In the mid-1960's, Kent hired Leo Strang, the coach from Massillon. Massillon was winning national championships then, and Strang was considered the best high school coach in the country.

Somehow, Strang could never adapt to the college game. His KSU teams did very poorly. He was finally replaced in 1970 by Don James who took us to a bowl. Four years later, James went to Washington where he won a national championship.

I think Kent needs to increase the coach's salary considerably to attract the right person. I imagine that some Big 10 assistants make more money than the head coach at Kent.

Who gives a shit, that was Strang. Doesn't mean someone else may not be able to adapt to the college game.

Good luck getting them to shell out more money, the team has to start winning first so the coach (whomever he may be) is going to have to play himself into a raise. May seem backwards but you know that's how it will work. Basketball is king at Kent, they aren't going to throw money at the football team until they're putting out a good product.

i think ohio st will put them on there schedule

SQ_Crazies wrote: Who gives a shit, that was Strang. Doesn't mean someone else may not be able to adapt to the college game.

Good luck getting them to shell out more money, the team has to start winning first so the coach (whomever he may be) is going to have to play himself into a raise. May seem backwards but you know that's how it will work. Basketball is king at Kent, they aren't going to throw money at the football team until they're putting out a good product.

Gerry Faust couldn't do it at Notre Dame, either. He came directly out of Moeller.

I think you are saying that we have a Catch-22 situation. Kent won't put any money into the football program until it produces, but the program won't produce until Kent puts some money into it. It looks to me like we are going to have another 40 years of futility.

grass_licker wrote: i think ohio st will put them on there schedule

Kent has played OSU recently. This coming year we are playing at Penn State.

The fact that this thread has gotten so few replies shows one of Kent's biggest problems. Nobody cares. I care, but I seem to be in the vast minority.

Nobody does care about KSU football. How many people care about any MAC football? The conference is horrible. It's a local conference and that's the only reason people pay any attention to it.

I can just barely remember when Don James roamed the sidelines at Kent. He did a commendable job. He moved on. Nick Saban? He moved on. Urban Meyer? He moved on. Gary Pinkel? He moved on. The point is, the MAC has never and will never be considered anything but a mediocre at best Division 1 Conference. Check the Bowl record over the last decade. Kent has been a regular "bottom feeder" in what has been a "bottom feeder" conference. Now if you want to talk about successful teams from the MAC. I offer you the 1959 BGSU Falcons. They went undefeated and the community went nuts over this great team. Their last game that season was a thrilling 13-9 victory over the Ohio U. Bobcats. As a result of completing the perfect season under legendary Falcon Coach Doyt Perry (77-10), who the stadium is named for, they were crowned NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!!!!! Of course, they were not a "Big School" in those days. They won the National Small School Championship. Today BG is a "Big School" and they spend lots and lots of money to maintain that "status". Attendance requirements, etc. etc. are now in force. Perhaps Kent could take a lesson from this. I kind of like the suggestion of the Huddler that suggests dropping down to a Division more representative of their competitive level. It would be a lot cheaper and much more fun for the fans. Do you think that Mt. Union fans think less of all the Championships their program has won over the years because they weren't "Big School" victories?

I doubt if Kent could switch to Div. I-AA (or whatever they call it now) without leaving the MAC. For the good or for the bad, the MAC is a Div. I-A conference. Even if Kent is not so concerned about football, there are the other sports to consider.

MAC football is not completely bad. Over the past ten years, MAC teams have beaten Penn State, Michigan, Alabama, and quite a few other top teams. Even Kent beat Iowa State two years ago. In Big Ben's last year at Miami, they ended the season in the Top 10 in the nation.

I just wish the MAC would have big wins every week.

Bring in Greg Kokal as coach, he was the only one to take Kent to a bowl game anyways...

I just watched the highlight film of recent Kent St verbal Steve Mehrer, LB/safety from Dublin Jerome. Wow, what a hitter. Looks like a really good pick up for Kent.

krazie45 wrote: Bring in Greg Kokal as coach, he was the only one to take Kent to a bowl game anyways...

Don James took us to our last bowl.

A Kent State football fan and a Dayton basketball fan. You are my new favorite person in the entire world.

CinciX12 wrote: A Kent State football fan and a Dayton basketball fan. You are my new favorite person in the entire world.

And you're a jerk. Grow up!

FairwoodKing wrote: Don James took us to our last bowl.

And who was the quarterback for that team genius?

krazie45 wrote:

FairwoodKing wrote: Don James took us to our last bowl.

And who was the quarterback for that team genius?

Don't get smart about it!

Does Martin's contract end next year? I thought it was this year or next and havn't heard about him getting the axe this year.

Don't piss off Brutus. Have you seen that crazy guy do push ups?

FairwoodKing wrote:

CinciX12 wrote: A Kent State football fan and a Dayton basketball fan. You are my new favorite person in the entire world.

And you're a jerk. Grow up!

Whoa, FairwoodKing, you need to lighten up and relax. Take a deep breath and count to ten my friend. Don't let these other posters get under your skin.

GO KENT STATE GOLDEN FLASHES !!