So much has been written about Nick Saban and "The Process." But where would Saban be today if he hadn't chosen Kent State over the Naval Academy and Miami University where he learned "The Process" under Don James?

It was James who was instrumental in getting Saban into coaching in the first place. Actually, Saban never thought about a career in coaching until James offered him a job as a graduate assistant a few months before he graduated from Kent State. Saban had had plans of a career in the automotive industry, where his father worked. But as the story goes, James practically insisted that he join his coaching staff. When Saban initially declined the offer because he didn’t want to spend another year in school, James, a master of the counter move, was prepared for his response and pointed out that Nick’s wife, Terry, still had one more year as an undergrad, so he wasn’t leaving northeast Ohio for at least another 12 months. So, Saban reluctantly agreed to the position and stayed at Kent for another three years. And of course, the rest is history.

But if Saban hadn't been at Kent State to enjoy his first coaching experience and learn "The Process" under James, he never would have won seven national championships, which is the most in college football history.

They say being at the right place at the right time can be a life changer for some; it certainly was for Saban.

So, if Saban had not attended Kent State, he would not be the coach he is today. And if Alabama did not have Saban, The Tide would most likely not have won National Championships in 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, and 2020.

With Alabama's win over Georgia and becoming one of the four teams selected to compete for a national title in the final year of the four-team format, Saban will be in position to win his eighth National Championship.

Roll Tide!!!

I don't have a problem with Sean Lewis leaving Kent State for the offensive coordinator position at Colorado. However, he could have at least encouraged his players to stay and finish their degrees at KSU. But since loyalty was never a virtue of the team, 14 of his players entered the transfer portal a week after his departure.

This was not the first time a favorite team of mine was adversely affected by a head coach's decision to bolt. Back in 2014, Penn State hired James Franklin away from Vanderbilt. Among Franklin's Penn State commits five were former Vanderbilt commits who followed him and his staff to Penn State and flipped their commitments just hours after he was introduced as Penn State's 16th head football coach.

What Franklin was able to add to a Penn State class that was ranked 22nd by ESPN Recruiting Nation greatly detracted from the Vanderbilt group that he and his staff put together.

As a result of Franklin's poaching, Vanderbilt fans continued to refer to Franklin on social media sites as "Poach Franklin" as the Commodores class had as few as nine commits shortly after Franklin's departure. Ultimately, Derek Mason and his staff compiled a 22-man class that tumbled out of the ESPN Recruiting Nation's top-40 ranking. It was a far cry from the 29th spot Vanderibilt held on Jan. 9, just two days before Franklin was introduced at Penn State.

Flipping players wasn't uncommon even back in 2014, but according to ESPN Franklin's five flips were the second most in the college football offseason that year. Washington coach Chris Petersen secured commitments from six previous commits since he took over on Dec. 6.

If poaching five of Vanderbilt's top recruits wasn't bad enough, Franklin also kept his former Vanderbilt staff intact as he moved to Penn State.

Coaches like Lewis and Franklin have every right to move on, but their exodus can be done in a manner that won't adversely hurt their respective schools. It only seems right particularly when the school gives them their first head coaching job.

I'm also encouraged by the team's performance.

Login to view embedded media

I still like the gold helmet from 1976-1979 best.

I have to admit, I have always been loyal to loyalty. When it comes to supporting Kent State football coaches, I have, for the most part, been very loyal to them. Despite the overall lack of success in football at KSU, I have supported all the head football coaches with the exception of Dick Crum, Pete Cordelli, and Jim Corrigall. After ten years of incompetence under Crum (1988-1990), Cordelli (1991-1993), and Corrigall (1994-1997), I actually thought Dean Pees brought a certain amount of respectability to Kent State football. When Flash fans wanted Kent State to fire Pees after losing to Miami 38-30 in 2003, I wrote the following post professing my loyalty to Pees:

"Losing another close game to Miami is frustrating. However, I am not convinced that bringing in a new coach is the answer. Until someone can convince me that Kent will be able to hire a much better football coach than Dean Pees, I will be reluctant to call for a new coaching staff at Kent. Flash fans know very well that the only great coach Kent has had in recent memory was Glen Mason. Except for Don James and Mason, Kent has had very poor head coaches who could not compete on the football field. Just because an assistant coach can have success at one school does not necessarily mean that he can have the same success as a head coach at another school. I agree that winning is important and a coach's winning percentage is a major criteria for evaluating a coach. However, in Pee's case, Kent has shown major improvement over previous years and despite his record this year, Kent is good enough to compete with strong teams such as Connecticut and Miami. In yesterday's game, I don't believe anyone can blame the coaching staff for the turnovers that were committed. Areas in which a coach can be faulted are poor preparation (i.e., players out of position), lack of motivation, and poor play selection. Since I am not exactly sure what happened in the overtime loss to Connecticut with respect to the coin toss and Pee's decision to first go on offense, I will defer my criticism to others who may know more about it. Despite the loss, I will argue that Pee's has made great improvement to the program and fans should acknowledge this.

Now that Kent has shown that it can compete with some of the better programs in the MAC, it will just have to learn how to eliminate costly turnovers and how to make plays in the closing minutes so that it can win more games. Bringing in a completely new coaching staff after this season and starting all over again might undermine the progress that has been made. Although many might suggest that a new coach is needed at this juncture, I am not one of them. Please give me your thoughts on this subject. If you think Kent can get a better coach than Pees, who would it be?"

That post was written 13 years ago and the same argument could be made today. But unfortunately not enough fans agreed with me. Sensing lack of support, Pees decided in February of 2004 to resign and become a linebackers coach for the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.

In his six years at Kent State, Pees only had one winning season going 6-5 in his fourth season but considering what he inherited after Crum, Cordelli, and Corrigall, I believe his record was about as good as anyone could have had under the circumstances.

Although KSU was favored to win the MAC, Crum finished 5-6 in his first season at Kent. He went 0-11 in his second year and 2-9 in his third and final season. Despite inheriting a good team after Glen Mason left for Kansas, the Flashes under Crum finished 7th in the MAC. In Mason's two seasons at Kent, Mason placed 2nd in the conference both years.

Prior to coming to Kent State, Crum was successful at Miami and moderately successful at North Carolina but didn't have enough passion to succeed at Kent. As bad as Crum was, Cordelli and Corrigall were even worse and should have never been hired as head coaches at any level, much less Division I. On defense, their players were often out of position and were absolutely an embarrassment to watch. In 1996, the Flashes played Miami in Oxford and Kent lost 64-6. During that game, it was obvious that the coaching staff was clueless on defense. On several plays, Kent had players out of position and Miami was able to score with little effort. The following year, Kent played Ohio in Athens and Kent lost 31-7. But at least this time, Kent was still in the game after two quarters. During halftime, I remember the Athletic Director, Laing Kennedy, telling me, "We're still in the game." On the radio the next morning, an Athens radio announcer commented, "OU defeated MAC patsy Kent 31-7."

And if you think Corrigall was bad, Cordelli was even more clueless. Following a 42-7 loss to Akron in Cordelli's last season, Cordelli called a midnight staff meeting during which he asked his assistants to dig deep and figure out what was wrong with their football team. Recalling the incident, Jon Hoke, the defensive coordinator at the time said, ``I'm sitting there thinking, are you kidding me? I mean, we had good kids, they tried hard, but they were bad players."

Today, the Flashes continue to lose more games than they win, but the talent level has improved dramatically since then. When Coach Haynes states his team is close to winning, evidence shows that he is correct. The Flashes lost their three conference games this season by just four points. A play or two on offense or defense could have made the difference in any one of those games.

That said, the Flashes are no longer considered the "patsy of the MAC" and are getting respect from other teams in the conference. Since Haynes' contract (click web address below) ends June 30, 2018, he should be coaching at least another year. And if the Flashes continue to improve, I expect Haynes will get a contract extension. Because given the history of Kent State football, the administration should finally realize it's better to keep what you have than go with an unknown like Bowling Green's head coach, Mike Jinks, who could go down as one of the worst hires in college football.

https://hkm.com/football/wp-content/uploads/coach-contracts/paulhaynes-ksu-employment-contract.pdf

According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, hypocrisy is the practice of feigning to be what one is not or to believe what one does not.

Calling yourself a family when everyone is looking out for themselves is just another example of hypocrisy.

The FlashFast family that Sean Lewis touted was no family, but a collection of individuals looking out for their own best interest.

There was no real sense of family connection, causing Lewis and his team to pretty much count down the days until they would go their separate ways. Because of Lewis' sham of a family with no true bonds between players and the Kent State community, the Flashes have no returning offensive starters from a year ago and only four returning starters total. Offseason transfers gutted the team after the departure of Lewis for Colorado as the Buffaloes offensive coordinator.

Some Flash fans want to believe Lewis was the savior of Kent State football, but the truth is Lewis was the beneficiary of Paul Haynes' recruit Dustin Crum just like Darrell Hazell was the beneficiary of Doug Martin's recruit, Dri Archer, and Stan Heath was the beneficiary of most of the talent on the 2001-2002 Elite Eight team that Gary Waters recruited.

Crum was named the MAC Most Valuable Player, Archer was a consensus All-American, and Trevor Huffman and Andrew Mitchell were All-MAC First Team and Demetric Shaw was All-MAC Defensive Player of the Year. With talent such as that, Lewis, Hazell, and Heath couldn't help but win.

But after Crum graduated, Lewis struggled to win consistently. And even he knew without a quarterback as talented as Crum his offense was not going to be nearly as effective as when Crum was under center. So, he bailed, which in itself wouldn't have been detrimental for Kent State but he didn't encourage any of his players to stay and as a result a week after the departure of Lewis, 14 players from the program entered the transfer portal.

I don't know how long it will take Kenni Burns to rebuild the program after such massive defections, but it is apparent to me after seeing the Flashes 56-6 loss to UCF it could take longer than most Flash fans expect.

I believe the game went about how I expected it to go. I predicted the halftime score would favor Indiana by 8 points and was correct about that. I also predicted Indiana would win by double digits and the Hoosiers won by 11.

It was a great effort by the Flashes but the effort in Farleigh Dickinson's upset win over Purdue was even more impressive.

It is always nice to see Kent State in the NCAA Tournament but the Flashes' 97-80 loss to UCLA in 2017 and the 71-60 loss to Indiana last night are not enough to give Kent State "national distinctiveness" no matter what Flash Fanatics want to believe. The quest for national distinctiveness is admirable but the reality is it is still an elusive goal.

Login to view embedded media

As a resident of the Nashville area, I listen to 104.5 The Zone, Cumulus Media’s premier live and local Sports Talk radio station serving Nashville and Middle Tennessee. Among the morning show's hosts is Ramon Foster, a former Tennessee Volunteers offensive lineman, who spent 11 seasons in the NFL with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

I remember a couple of months ago Foster mentioned Kent State in a discussion and when another host questioned why he would include Kent State along with some other schools, Foster said, "Well, if you look at all of the players Kent State has put in the NFL."

Of course, as a former Pittsburgh Steeler, Foster would be familiar with Jack Lambert, James Harrison, and Roosevelt Nix.

However, most football fans don't know the history of Kent State’s NFL pipeline, but I believe it is a selling point to football recruits.

From: Hardesty: The history of Kent State’s well-worn NFL pipeline

"A major selling point college football blue bloods pitch to high school recruits is that if the athlete signs to play at their school, the NFL will be waiting.

It’s an effective recruiting tool used by all the usual suspects in major college football.

It could also be used by Kent State, because a quick glance of the Golden Flashes’ NFL lineage belies its mid-major status.

And it’s not just how many — 51 professional players, 42 of them drafted, according to Pro Football Reference — it’s who. Greats like Hall of Fame linebacker Jack Lambert of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ famed Steel Curtain defense of the 1970s, college quarterback turned NFL wideout extraordinaire Julian Edelman, teeth-rattling linebacker James Harrison, college basketball beast turned freakish tight end Antonio Gates, and mercurial return man Josh Cribbs immediately come to mind, but there are a slew of others — up to and including iconic University of Alabama head coach Nick Saban, who spent time in the NFL as Browns defensive coordinator under Bill Belichick."

So, I hope Coach Kenni Burns uses this selling point when he recruits players to come to Kent State. Certainly, there are many other selling points, but I have to believe this one could very well be a difference-maker in recruiting.

I want to welcome Coach Burns to Kent State. I believe Coach Burns has a lot to offer the University. However, I wish his view of spirituality included more than just "knowing what serving and giving is, giving back to our community, giving back to each other, being the best version of ourselves through our Flash for Life program."

Not that I have a problem with P.J. Fleck, but it seems that Burns will try to emulate Fleck at Kent State including his “Gopher for Life” program. At Minnesota, Fleck unveiled a “Gopher for Life” program, similar to the one he had at Western Michigan. The goals are “educating and developing the complete man — academically, athletically, socially and spiritually.”

For Fleck, spirituality doesn’t mean any particular religious belief. To him, the point is to believe in something bigger than yourself. For example, the team.

But I will argue that faith is most important because when we face challenges in life, we must believe that the Lord is with us. That is why I prefer to have a coach who has strong faith in God like D.J. Boldin, the head football coach at Lake Erie College. Boldin believes in faith, family, and football — in that order.

Former Kent State basketball head coach Gary Waters also understands the importance that faith has in our lives, and I would like to see more coaches like him.

In the video below, you will hear Waters share wisdom on what it takes to guard your heart, have integrity and bring a Godly balance to life, family and career.

Burns' secular approach to spirituality may have a great effect on his players, but I believe a faith-based approach to spirituality would be much better.

Nevertheless, I welcome Coach Burns to Kent State University and wish him and his family the very best.

Login to view embedded media

Below is a Facebook post by Lance McAlister, a University of Cincinnati Bearcat fan, regarding the departure of Luke Fickell.

Fickell thoughts: My reaction to his departure

Am I mad at Luke Fickell? Nope

Am I disappointed? Sure

I've learned over the years not to believe or buy into anything college coaches say. Ultimately, coaches say what is required to build their program. And then when something better comes along, they deny interest to protect the process until it’s time to sign the contract at their next school.

I get it. What’s why I don’t blame Luke. Hell, who wouldn’t look out for their family and themselves first?

Here is the singular ask I have of a coach: Leave the program in better shape than they found it. Luke sure as heck did.

He elevated UC football to a new level, a level that not many programs in the entire country have EVER reached. UC played in the freakin' CFB playoffs! He's the winningest coach in program history. Personally, I always appreciated the time and cooperation he offered to Sports Talk.

He spent six seasons in Clifton. How many years did you think he would stay, or should stay? The recruiting website On3.com says the average tenure of an FBS coach at his current school is 3.7 years.

Luke put ‘Team’ on the back of his pullover and talked passionately of family, a brotherhood, and of a commitment. He even did chin-ups from the ceiling of the locker room after wins. He did his thing for six years......2,179 days. He built a winner. He passed on several gigs, some much more prestigious than Wisconsin.

But after turning down Notre Dame and others, Luke’s team took a step back this season, and stay or go, his team was going to take a step back in their first Big 12 season. Luke’s mantra has been about playing for championships. His team didn’t do that this season. They didn’t even get to the championship of the AAC. Instead, Tulane and UCF did.

It’s bad business to let your coaching star dim when you’ve been the hot coaching name. Along came Wisconsin. This wasn’t ‘Dream Job’ stuff, but it was enough for Luke to bolt Clifton. Whether the deciding factors included conference, salary, facilities, budget, NIL, stadium, owning the state of Wisconsin vs sharing the state of Ohio, does it matter?

Wisconsin’s AD Chris McIntosh fired Badgers coach Paul Chryst on October 2. Do you think McIntosh sat around for almost two months before the light bulb went off to contact Fickell? Coaches think it’s cute to play the ‘oblivious’ card when it comes to their total lack of awareness of things going on outside their program. Think Fickell was unaware until this weekend? Reports indicate he interview after the ECU game two weeks ago.

Justin Williams of The Athletic, reports Luke’s wife visited/scouted Madison earlier this month. While she was doing that, Luke was preparing game plans for his UC players. He was also recruiting players and hosting them on campus, selling them, applying a full court press to convince them to commit to the UC family............Then, Fickell served divorce papers to his UC family.

Fickell professed his love for Ohio and called UC a special place at his introductory news conference Dec. 10, 2016:

"This is a true dream to me. As a man who grew up, born and raised, a family that is born and raised in the great state of Ohio. To have this opportunity is an honor and truly a blessing. This is not a job to me."

Now he's professing his love of Wisconsin and calling it a special place:

“My family and I are thrilled to join the Wisconsin family. This is a destination job at a program that I have admired from afar for years. There is a tremendous foundation here that I can’t wait to build upon. This world-class university, athletic department and passionately loyal fan base all have a strong commitment to success, and I can’t wait to be a part of it. I wouldn't have done this if it wasn't a great fit."

I get it. Loyalty is ultimately only surface deep when you’re a coach. Again, first priority: Take care of family, take care of yourself.

What has happened no longer matters. I only care about what is happening. The dominoes that are falling all around are debilitating to the program. Will the last UC player off the roster and into the transfer portal please turn out the lights? The mad scramble is on to keep at least a few commitments from what was shaping up as a star studded recruiting class. Don’t forget the assistants. Fickell has reportedly picked off strength coach Brady Collins, and a number of assistants will follow. That’s how it works. Everywhere.

No harm, no foul. That's the game.

Now, it’s up to UC Director of Athletics John Cunningham to deliver a home run hire. UC has certainly been here and done this before. But now, the stakes are clearly higher than ever before.

A year ago at this time momentum for UC football was a tidal wave of power and energy….from a CFB Playoff appearance to an extension Luke signed through 2028 to the announcement of a move to the Big 12.

All of that has ground to a screeching halt. Now, UC football is about uncertainty and questions.

Luke left for a better opportunity. I thank him. I wish him the best. I'll root for him.

To borrow a quote from Tracy Jones: It is what it is.

It’s coaching.

On Wisconsin.


Now, if one were to ask whether Sean Lewis left the program in better shape than he found it, what would you say? Of course, the Flash Fanatics would say yes, but these are the same people who said Lewis would replace Jim Harbaugh at Michigan.

The truth is Paul Haynes left Lewis with Dustin Crum and after all the departures due to the transfer portal, Lewis will leave the new coach with practically nothing. Had it not been for Crum, Lewis would not have had a 7-7 record last year. And without Crum this season, Lewis finished 5th in the MAC East in a down year of the MAC. All his talk about the FlashFast family was all rhetoric. There never was any loyalty to Kent State. Lewis saw the writing on the wall and knew he would struggle again next year, which would have lowered his chances of becoming a P-5 head coach, so he cut bait and moved on.

So, forget next year the Flashes defeating Kurtis Rourke and Brett Gabbert, the best two quarterbacks in the MAC East because they will struggle against DJ Irons just to remain out of the MAC basement.

I appreciate what Lewis did while he was here, but I cannot say he left the program in better shape than he found it because that would be a lie.

I have always been a loyalty guy in a world where loyalty is for sale and words are empty promises.

May he enjoy his "prime time" in Boulder.

My biggest fear is Kent State making the same mistake that Bowling Green made when it hired Mike Jinks just so the Falcons could keep its up-tempo offense after Dino Babers left for Syracuse. Jinks was never a coordinator and relatively new to college football.

In three seasons, Jinks' overall record was 7-24, with a 5-14 conference record. So, I believe it's fair to say Bowling Green made a bad hire bringing in the inexperienced Jinks who had no prior head coaching or coordinator experience.

It almost appears that Bowling Green's Athletic Director simply Googled “best offensive team,” and saw the article, "Texas Tech's offense is amazing, and the defense is totally wasting it," and then decided to hire Jinks.

If Kent State can find a good coach who is comfortable with implementing an up-tempo offense, then Randale Richmond should consider him. However, the number one priority should be to find the best football coach who is interested in becoming the head coach at Kent State, regardless of his offensive orientation.

By looking only at up-tempo minded coaches, you limit yourself to the number of potential candidates.

ESPN's Pete Thamel reported Monday that Sean Lewis is joining the Colorado Buffaloes as offensive coordinator.

Some may question his decision to become an offensive coordinator at Colorado, but I have felt all along that Coach Lewis was better suited as an offensive coordinator than a head coach. The truth of the matter, the reason Lewis had a 7-7 record last year was because of Dustin Crum. Without Crum this year, the Flashes regressed to a 5-7 record. And if Maurice Linguist and the Buffalo Bulls didn't blow their 14-point lead in the 4th quarter against Kent State, Lewis would have finished with a 4-8 record.

And if blowing a 24-10 lead with 7 minutes left in the game wasn't bad enough, the Bulls gave the game away in overtime when somehow, they chose to be on offense first instead of defense. Had the Bulls elected to be on defense first, they would have gone for a touchdown to tie the game instead of kicking the field goal.

After the game, Linguist said that linebacker James Patterson was supposed to say they wanted the ball second, but that was a communications issue. How pathetic is that?

Such incompetence helps explain why Buffalo struggled to defeat Akron 23-22 even when the Bulls needed the win to become bowl eligible.

Knowing the MAC next year will be much more competitive than it was this season, Lewis knew his chances of a winning record in 2023 were slim and it was time for him to move on.

I have to believe Lewis sought the guidance of Dino Babers in deciding whether he should accept the OC position at Colorado. And if that were the case, I believe Babers told him to take it because that would better position Lewis for a P-5 head coaching job in the future.

One day, Lewis would like to make the kind of money that Babers is getting at Syracuse and perhaps that day may come. But it will take more time.

Baber's salary at Syracuse

2022 $3,983,295
2021 $3,504,958
2020 $3,208,683
2019 $2,268,825

Lewis' salary at Kent State

2022 Kent State $530,000
2021 Kent State $510,000
2020 Kent State $433,167
2019 Kent State $440,000

Flash Fanatics tend to hear what they want to hear, see what they want to see, and believe what they want to believe. Whether it's Sean Lewis or Rob Senderoff, Flash Fanatics posters have unrealistic expectations.

When the University of Michigan struggled with 9-4 and 2-4 records during 2019 and 2020 respectively, at least one poster honestly believed Lewis would replace Jim Harbaugh at Michigan. And after the most boisterous Flash Fanatics urged Joel Nielsen to deemphasize football in favor of basketball, Nielsen created Kent State's "strategic vision" in making men's basketball the focal point for "revenue generation and national distinctiveness." But we all know how that turned out.

I understand wanting your teams to do well, but you need to be realistic about it.

With Dustin Crum and the offensive line graduating, it's hard to believe Lewis will improve his 7-7 record next year, but I fully anticipate posters on Flash Fanatics to expect a MAC Championship.

And with the Flashes turning a rout into a competitive game against Ohio University tonight, some Flash Fanatics will be encouraged and still believe Sendy will finally one day take the Flashes to "national distinctiveness."

Because they hear what they want to hear, see what they want to see, and believe what they want to believe.

Scot Loeffler is in his fourth season as the head coach at Bowling Green. In Loeffler's first and second year, the Falcons lost to Kent State 20-62 and 24-62. Last year, Loeffler came close to revenging those two losses but still lost to Sean Lewis 20-27. But, I knew one day he would get his revenge, and I believe next week will be it.

In order for Lewis to avoid a losing season, the Flashes will have to win on the road at Bowling Green and Buffalo and also at home against Eastern Michigan. Kent State will probably be favored at home against Eastern Michigan but will more than likey be underdogs on the road against Bowling Green and Buffalo.

And should Lewis lose to Loeffler next week, ensuring him a losing season, perhaps he will learn a valuable lesson that you should never keep throwing the ball and running up the score late in the 4th quarter against a hapless team because that kind of humiliation will never be forgotten.

Despite the Falcons unimpressive win against the Western Michigan Broncos in Wednesday's MACtion game, I still expect to see more of the kind of post-game celebration next week as they had tonight.

Login to view embedded media

The last time the Flashes defeated the Toldeo Rockets in football was in 2006. Because that game was so memorable for me, I have the ticket from that game on display with a photo of Dix Stadium as part of my KSU memorabilia. Having lived in Nashville since 1984, I don't get back to Kent to see many games, but I was there that day to see Eugene Jarvis run for 179 yards and three touchdowns and Julian Edelman rush for one score and pass for another to lead Kent State to a 40-14 victory over Toledo.

On offense, the Flashes had Najah Pruden and Julian Edelman, who were Second Team All-MAC and on defense the Flashes had First Team All-MAC Dan Muir, and Second Team All-MAC Usama Young and Andre Kirkland.

The Flashes were led by third-year head coach Doug Martin.