University of Akron experiences a sports rebirth

The Zips enjoyed a special autumn by winning three MAC team championships.
AKRON (AP) -- Its football team played its first Division I bowl game, its soccer team was ranked best in the country and alumnus Charlie Frye became the leader of the Cleveland Browns.
In a town best known for rubber production, "Fear the Roo" has become a catch phrase and the once downtrodden Akron Zips experienced a sports rebirth with a fall to remember, winning Mid-American Conference championships in football, men's soccer and women's cross country.
"Our alumni are believing and our fans are believing," said Michael Waddell, associate director of athletics. "The most important thing was that in-house our student athletes started to believe we can turn this around. Once that inertia gets going, it's a hard thing to turn off."
The new attitude at Akron is reflected everywhere from the win column to the university's mascot, "Zippy" the kangaroo, who has taken on a leaner, meaner look. "Fear the Roo" indeed.
The catalyst
Football coach J.D. Brookhart credits university president Luis Proenza with being the catalyst by transforming the physical appearance of the university and upgrading its facilities, both athletic and academic.
"He's turned it into a true campus," Brookhart said.
The university has invested $300 million into nine new buildings, including a field house and student union. Thirty acres of additional green space were created, 30,000 trees were planted and two streets were closed to help give the concrete, urban campus a more collegiate feel.
"If we can just get a kid on campus, they're shocked," Brookhart said. "Our challenge is to change a perception."
Several events have happened recently that will help them do that. First, the Zips' soccer program, which had been successful for years under coach Ken Lolla, earned a No. 1 national ranking -- a first for a MAC school in any sport -- raising the team's profile.
Soccer grows popular
"When we walk around campus, people come up to us," said defender Ossie Michalsen of Bergen, Norway. "The guy in the coffee shop, people in your class, random people. Everybody reads about us in the paper. I sense a different buzz around the soccer program."
Then the football program won its first MAC championship after nearly two decades of tough seasons since the university moved from Division I-AA to Division I-A in 1987. That the title came on a last second touchdown in a come-from-behind victory over Northern Illinois made it even more dramatic.
"I almost put my head through the ceiling," Frye said of watching the winning score on television.
That same weekend, Frye took over for veteran Trent Dilfer as the Browns' starting quarterback. The rookie showed enough poise to go 2-3 as a starter.
Although coach Romeo Crennel isn't ready to name Frye the starter next season, he looks like their future at the position. He'll also be the poster boy for Akron recruiting efforts.
"We're delighted because that's the kind of attention that galvanizes our own community and which we could not purchase for any price," Proenza said.
Rick Chryst, commissioner of the Mid-American Conference, said the Zips are making a good impression coast-to-coast. "What's happened at Akron in terms of their athletics is being widely recognized, not just in northeast Ohio but nationally," he said.
Success and opportunity
With success comes opportunity and both Lolla and Mike Thomas, athletic director since 2000, left the university in recent months -- Lolla to coach at Louisville and Thomas to become athletic director at Cincinnati.
Mack Rhoades, who was hired to replace Thomas, said he was attracted by the recent success of Akron's teams.
The football team ended the season with a loss to Memphis in the Motor City Bowl and the soccer team was beaten by eventual champion Maryland in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA tournament, but the defeats didn't dampen optimism for Akron's athletic future.