This letter is in response to the Kent State football team and was submitted by Ken Poshedly, a class of 1974 graduate.

The following letter was originally submitted to Todd A. Diacon, president of Kent State University, just short of a month ago, but not acknowledged. 

And in light of his recent announcement of the dire financial state of things at Kent State, my plea for someone to thoroughly shake things up regarding the university’s football “team” may be tossed in the nearest wastebasket. Hopefully not. (How the deficit was even allowed to grow like that makes me wonder who was in charge, but that’s another matter to be investigated.)

I’m not necessarily a football fanatic, but just a loyal Kent State alumni who is now just totally ashamed of the performance of its football team – 0 and 8 so far.

For crying out loud, show some pride and stop with the excuses! The Atlanta Braves could barely draw enough people to pay the bills but somehow turned everything around in the early 1990s and became a real powerhouse for the rest of the decade. So can you!

I’m from the Class of 1974, Bachelor of Science, Journalism (Radio-Television News). I transferred into Kent the fall of 1971 as a junior and lived initially at Clark Hall (freshman dorm) and then now-gone Apple Hall. I graduated in 1974 and went on to work in newspaper reporting, then public relations/publications editing and, finally, technical writing.  I’m now retired and have lived in Atlanta since 1984 for work.

Because I worked weekends in Cleveland all during my college days, I was able to attend only a few Kent football games in the fall of 1971. I probably saw Nick Saban play for Kent, but who knows where anybody would be so many years later? 

But my absence from Kent football games while attending there doesn’t mean that I don’t support them and KSU. Another individual and I helped found the first Kent State University alumni chapter in the southeastern U.S. in the summer of 1989. Today, I remain a paying member of the Kent State Alumni Assn, have Kent State window decals on my car and donate annually to the School of Media and Journalism as much as I can on my retirement income. And I’ve attended various homecoming games over the years since moving here to Atlanta in 1984.

My most proud football seasons were when Kent brought in Darrell Hazell as head coach in 2011. Though Kent has had a few shining moments, it has historically been pretty much a .500-or-less team with what I considered coaches and players who simply went through the motions of playing and coaching. But it took Mr. Hazell to show how a coach can shake some sense and professionalism into a team apparently not really interested in winning. 

I recall that under Mr. Hazell’s short term of leadership, Kent went from a 5-7 record his first year to an 11-3 season in his final year as coach (Purdue bought him off in mid-contract, if I am correct). Cripe! 11-3 season and 8-0 MAC! Their best season ever since 1921! Better than LSU and possibly Alabama that one year.

Kent was even ranked that season (number 23 in one poll, but hell, they made it!). They even played Arkansas State in the “GoDaddy Bowl” in Mobile, Alabama.  And Darrell Hazell was there to coach them that night. Yeah, they lost but I remained so proud that they got even that far.

I believe that Mr. Hazell made a terrible career choice, however, in taking Purdue’s offer and was never able to come close to his Kent State success while at Purdue and was cut loose a few years into his contract. Mr. Hazell’s successor at Kent was a great guy but a terrible coach who took them back down to the cellar, with a 2-10 record in his final season there before they cut him loose. Incidentally, Alabama is now suffering its own loss of stature with the retirement of Nick Saban and is now rated 15 (after having always been in the top 10, sometimes near the very top). I’d love to see Kent rated 15.

So now what? Remember that phrase “Desperate times call for desperate measures?” I, and I’m sure LOTS of other Kent Staters (both present and past), wish the university administration (not the athletic staff) would think way the hell outside the envelope (or box). 

I have two suggestions, both of which I mean in dead earnest:

1. Make an offer to Mr. Hazel “that he can’t refuse,”  that is, to come out of retirement and be Kent’s head coach on one more multi-year contract; Saban is now 72 and just retired. Mr. Hazell is only age 60 right now and who knows? If he does take the offer, he could go out “in a blaze of glory.” He obviously has the skills and know-how to make the team great. Tell him you’ll erect a statue in his name on campus.
2. As far-the-hell-out-of-reach as it seems, why not make a reasonable offer to Nick Saban. After all, he’s now also retired and Kent State turned him down in 1987 when he applied to serve as head coach. Isn’t hindsight great? Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Promote your offer as penitence for that boneheaded rejection of him in 1987 and ask him what else he would like to sweeten the deal (including a statue). 

If he does come back, Kent will be all over the national news headlines, entrance applications from student athletes and non-athletes alike would be monumental, your alumni contributions would skyrocket, your team would surely learn how to play actual football again and your stature as a university (and football powerhouse) would grow immensely. And your increased income would surely wipe out the deficit.

Would these two ideas cost lots of money? Damn right they would. But if Northern Illinois and other schools in the MAC can somehow find what it takes and other incentives to draw great talent, then so can you. Maybe it’s time to beef up your Professional Development (i.e., financial) Growth staff with real talent.

Here’s an idea! Back in 1977 and 1978 or so, the Cleveland Red Cross brought in a retired (yes, “retired”) former Cleveland business executive to run a low-key fundraising campaign to completely renovate the chapter’s 10-story headquarters building. His tact was to quietly approach top executives at big Cleveland corporations for their support and he succeeded beautifully (with millions of dollars raised). Try it. What have you got to lose?

Today, your season is over. Yeah, you’ve got some games to go but face it, based on how the Flashes have performed so far this season, few if anybody expects you to win any.

DO SOMETHING RIGHT!  KICK SOME ASS AND GET SOMEBODY WHO WANTS TO DO THINGS RIGHT! AND GIVE THEM AN IRONCLAD CONTRACT THAT THEY CAN’T REFUSE!

Finally, though it’s hard to believe, . . . Respectfully submitted,

— Ken Poshedly

Atlanta, Georgia

You can contact Ken Poshedly at [email protected].