Tom Arth out at Akron

Akron has decided to part ways with Tom Arth, the school announced this morning.

Arth was 3-24 in three seasons trying to rebuild the program.

"We appreciate Coach Tom Arth's work on behalf of our student-athletes and coaches and we wish him well moving forward," AD Charles Guthrie said in a statement. Associate head coach Oscar Rodriguez, Jr., will lead the team through their final three games. 

The Zips are 2-7 this season after a close loss to Ball State on Tuesday.

The Akron job was a coming home of sorts for Arth, who went an impressive 40-8 as the head coach at D-III powerhouse John Carroll from 2013-16 before jumping to the FCS level at Chattanooga for two seasons. In his two seasons with the Mocs, Arth went 9-13.

At Akron, Arth went 0-12 in year one, 1-11 in year two, and had won just two of their nine games so far this fall. Thursday morning's decision came after a Wednesday night #MACtion loss in which Zips quarterback Zach Gibson fumbled away the game-winning touchdown at the goal line.

Typically, the worry with MAC hires is that their success will be upended when a Big Ten school scoops them up three to four years later, but that has not been the case at Akron. 

Since moving to FBS in 1987, all six Zips head coaches have left Akron with a losing record and a pink slip. That list includes former Notre Dame head coach Gerry Faust, former Ohio State assistant and successful Ohio high school coach Lee Owens, former Pitt offensive coordinator JD Brookhart, former Notre Dame assistant Rob Ianello, longtime head coach Terry Bowden (now in the midst of a turnaround job at ULM) and, now, Arth. 

Now in their 30th season of MAC membership, Akron has won the conference one time and appeared in three bowl games. Two of those trips occurred under Bowden, who was let go following a 4-8 season in 2018. 

Bruce Feldman was among the first to share the news.

Located in a fertile midwest recruiting area, it will be interesting to who the Zips land to lead their program into the future.