As a Kent State fan the 2011-2012 season gave me faith again that Kent deserved to have a football program. I, like so many others was proud to be a Golden Flash. It was simple GREAT coaches, SMART players and one team with one dream created WINNERS. The stint between these two years filled Dix Stadium, garnered outstadnding recruting classes, created school pride, gained Kent national recognition, gave pride to players and even produced the best academics ever seen in the football program. Oh yeah and it created a WINNING PROGRAM!
GOOD COACHA good coach
will teach the athlete to love the sport. He will inspire that athlete
to dream big and take risks in pursuit of that goal. He will motivate
the athlete to work hard, push through pain and fatigue and bounce back
from setbacks and failures. He will build trust among team members and
teach each athlete to sacrifice the "I" for the "we." A good coach will
teach valuable life lessons and model these through his behaviors and
interactions with the athlete and everyone he comes in contact with. A
good coach will directly and indirectly change that athlete into a
better, more confident, happier person. And the result is a WIN. That was Hazell.
Hazell changed the culture in just two seasons. A roster that was once
divided was brought together by the 48-year-old native of New Jersey,
who had no previous head coaching experience before accepting the job
following the 2010 season.
From a article dated Dec. 22, 2012 written by Mike Carmin : SMOOTH TRANSITION
(players) Brown Jr. and Kent Cleveland were recruited to Kent State by previous head coach Doug Martin, who won 29 games in seven seasons. Hazell had to sell the current players about his vision for the program and why his methods would be different.
"As
soon as he walked in, he lit up the room," said Brown Jr., who is from
McKeesport, Pa. "He let it be known from Day 1 this is one team and we
were going to play together. He took on the challenge of being the Kent
State head football coach when nobody really wanted us. He let us know
we could be winners." Cleveland recognized there was something different about Hazell during the first team meeting. "Right
off the bat, you could tell he cared about everybody on the team,"
Cleveland said. "Before he got here, we were separated. The first thing he did was make everyone one team. That
was the biggest thing. We played together and we play off each other.
BAD COACH
A bad coach, on the other hand
will teach very different lessons. Through his treatment of his players
and interactions with those around him he will turn his athletes off to
the sport. He will gradually kill the athlete's love and enjoyment of
the game. He will steal the athlete's self-confidence and energy and
replace them with self-doubts and apathy. A bad coach will motivate the
athlete to expend her energies in self-protection and risk avoidance,
rather than personal excellence. He will breed jealousy, selfishness
and mistrust on the team. He will snuff out dreams and make the athlete
fear failure on and off the playing field. A bad coach will leave the
athlete diminished and embittered. And the result is LOSS!
Since the new coaching staff has taken over from Hazell the team and program spiraled down. Even with the return of Dri Archer and Trayon Durahm - Kent loss 8 games last year and only won 3 games in the MAC. NO BOWL. Of the 27 recruits that Hazell recruited in 2012, 11 have quit and the few remaining that were trained by Hazell and staff are benched or have limited play. Haynes clearly does not have the ablity to mesh a team. As a result we have less or no experience on the field opposed to teams who are playing experienced redshirt sophomores, Juniors and Seniors. The team is once again divided. Why loss or bench players who participated or were trained by the winning program.
As I watch post game interviews-press conferences with Haynes and players, Haynes appears rattled and lacks confidence. He repeats the same reasons every week for the losses and his only answer is we must do better next week. He sits with freshmen players who clearly do not understand why they have been put in this situation. Opposed to Hazell who always appeared confident. He had a very specific answer to the challenges they faced and his players appeared seasoned and prepared to respond to reporters.
Last night after the loss to S. Alabama, Coach Paul Haynes states; "Again, we came up short," Haynes,
whose Golden Flashes fell to 0-2 at home to start the season. Haynes states "But we are not good enough
to get negative plays and overcome them."
I can only imagine what he tells this team in the locker room after games. "We just are not good enough"? This team is Good Enough - Maybe the COACH isnt GOOD ENOUGH.
MAKE THE CHANGE SOON - WE DO NOT HAVE TO RETURN to the DARK DAYS of Kent State Football
Below is memory -
In Hazell's first season, 2011, the team had two three-game losing
streaks, but also had a five-game winning streak in the latter half of
the season. Kent State dropped their first three contests, which
included losses at eventual BCS national champion [7]
The 2012 season began with a 41-21 win over 1973 team
for most wins in a season at nine. On November 11, the Flashes were
ranked 25th in the weekly AP poll, their first time being ranked since
November 5, 1973, when they were ranked 19th for one week.[11]
Kent State vs. Ohio at Dix Stadium in 2012. The Flashes won the game 28-6 to clinch an 8-0 season in MAC play.
Kent State clinched their first-ever MAC East Division title and spot in the [12]
Following the win over Bowling Green, the Flashes rose to #23 in the AP
poll and entered the Coaches' and Harris polls at #25. Kent State was
also ranked for the first time in the Ohio
at Dix Stadium on November 23, which clinched their first-ever
undefeated season in MAC play and set a record for most wins in a season
with 11.Purdue
on December 5, but Purdue granted Hazell permission to coach Kent State
in the bowl game, the first bowl appearance by the Flashes since the Arkansas State 17-13 to finish 11-3 overall
http://www.hustlebelt.com/mac-football/2014/8/29/6081399/ohio-bobcats-vs-kent-state-golden-flashes-football-preview
GOOD COACHA good coach
will teach the athlete to love the sport. He will inspire that athlete
to dream big and take risks in pursuit of that goal. He will motivate
the athlete to work hard, push through pain and fatigue and bounce back
from setbacks and failures. He will build trust among team members and
teach each athlete to sacrifice the "I" for the "we." A good coach will
teach valuable life lessons and model these through his behaviors and
interactions with the athlete and everyone he comes in contact with. A
good coach will directly and indirectly change that athlete into a
better, more confident, happier person. And the result is a WIN. That was Hazell.
Hazell changed the culture in just two seasons. A roster that was once
divided was brought together by the 48-year-old native of New Jersey,
who had no previous head coaching experience before accepting the job
following the 2010 season.
From a article dated Dec. 22, 2012 written by Mike Carmin : SMOOTH TRANSITION
(players) Brown Jr. and Kent Cleveland were recruited to Kent State by previous head coach Doug Martin, who won 29 games in seven seasons. Hazell had to sell the current players about his vision for the program and why his methods would be different.
"As
soon as he walked in, he lit up the room," said Brown Jr., who is from
McKeesport, Pa. "He let it be known from Day 1 this is one team and we
were going to play together. He took on the challenge of being the Kent
State head football coach when nobody really wanted us. He let us know
we could be winners." Cleveland recognized there was something different about Hazell during the first team meeting. "Right
off the bat, you could tell he cared about everybody on the team,"
Cleveland said. "Before he got here, we were separated. The first thing he did was make everyone one team. That
was the biggest thing. We played together and we play off each other.
BAD COACH
A bad coach, on the other hand
will teach very different lessons. Through his treatment of his players
and interactions with those around him he will turn his athletes off to
the sport. He will gradually kill the athlete's love and enjoyment of
the game. He will steal the athlete's self-confidence and energy and
replace them with self-doubts and apathy. A bad coach will motivate the
athlete to expend her energies in self-protection and risk avoidance,
rather than personal excellence. He will breed jealousy, selfishness
and mistrust on the team. He will snuff out dreams and make the athlete
fear failure on and off the playing field. A bad coach will leave the
athlete diminished and embittered. And the result is LOSS!
Since the new coaching staff has taken over from Hazell the team and program spiraled down. Even with the return of Dri Archer and Trayon Durahm - Kent loss 8 games last year and only won 3 games in the MAC. NO BOWL. Of the 27 recruits that Hazell recruited in 2012, 11 have quit and the few remaining that were trained by Hazell and staff are benched or have limited play. Haynes clearly does not have the ablity to mesh a team. As a result we have less or no experience on the field opposed to teams who are playing experienced redshirt sophomores, Juniors and Seniors. The team is once again divided. Why loss or bench players who participated or were trained by the winning program.
As I watch post game interviews-press conferences with Haynes and players, Haynes appears rattled and lacks confidence. He repeats the same reasons every week for the losses and his only answer is we must do better next week. He sits with freshmen players who clearly do not understand why they have been put in this situation. Opposed to Hazell who always appeared confident. He had a very specific answer to the challenges they faced and his players appeared seasoned and prepared to respond to reporters.
Last night after the loss to S. Alabama, Coach Paul Haynes states; "Again, we came up short," Haynes,
whose Golden Flashes fell to 0-2 at home to start the season. Haynes states "But we are not good enough
to get negative plays and overcome them."
I can only imagine what he tells this team in the locker room after games. "We just are not good enough"? This team is Good Enough - Maybe the COACH isnt GOOD ENOUGH.
MAKE THE CHANGE SOON - WE DO NOT HAVE TO RETURN to the DARK DAYS of Kent State Football
Below is memory -
In Hazell's first season, 2011, the team had two three-game losing
streaks, but also had a five-game winning streak in the latter half of
the season. Kent State dropped their first three contests, which
included losses at eventual BCS national champion [7]
The 2012 season began with a 41-21 win over 1973 team
for most wins in a season at nine. On November 11, the Flashes were
ranked 25th in the weekly AP poll, their first time being ranked since
November 5, 1973, when they were ranked 19th for one week.[11]
Kent State vs. Ohio at Dix Stadium in 2012. The Flashes won the game 28-6 to clinch an 8-0 season in MAC play.
Kent State clinched their first-ever MAC East Division title and spot in the [12]
Following the win over Bowling Green, the Flashes rose to #23 in the AP
poll and entered the Coaches' and Harris polls at #25. Kent State was
also ranked for the first time in the Ohio
at Dix Stadium on November 23, which clinched their first-ever
undefeated season in MAC play and set a record for most wins in a season
with 11.Purdue
on December 5, but Purdue granted Hazell permission to coach Kent State
in the bowl game, the first bowl appearance by the Flashes since the Arkansas State 17-13 to finish 11-3 overall
http://www.hustlebelt.com/mac-football/2014/8/29/6081399/ohio-bobcats-vs-kent-state-golden-flashes-football-preview
