After NBA All-Star Weekend, and with All-Star Weekend comes the dunk contest. Here's this year's winner Terrence Ross and all of his dunk's from the competition!

The Welcoming and Questioning of Paul Haynes

By: Justin Rockhold

I would like to be the first individual to extend my warm welcome to Paul Haynes, the new football coach of the Kent State University Golden Flashes. I’m sure I’m late; someone has probably beaten me to this, but hey here’s hoping. Anyways, Mr. Haynes, our facilities may not be quite OSU or MSU and the weather isn’t exactly southern, but the competition is a little softer in the Mid-American Conference. I’m so excited to have you here, but I have to admit I’ve been hurt too many times by this team, but the last guy to stroll through Dix Stadium left quite the impression on me. Let’s just say that you have quite the shoes to fill. Darrell Hazell turned this program around in two incredibly short seasons. You’re expected to win now, which is actually quite unfair.

But let’s get onto the important things, shall we? This hire immediately made me things some things aloud, but I have the answer to three big questions that the Flashiest Fans in the Land (I’m trying to coin this phrase) will be wondering: 1. Who is Paul Haynes? 2. What will this team look like? 3. What does this mean for Kent State?

1. Hey, have you ever heard of this Paul Haynes guy?

By now, you’ve seen the general reports: Former KSU walk-on, Midwest ties from schools like BGSU, NIU (that name still stings), Louisville, Michigan State, and Ohio State, and most recently the Defensive Coordinator at Arkansas under John L. Smith. From the outside looking in, that seems like a very solid resume, but let’s go a little more in-depth with this.

Before coming to Kent today, he spent the 2012-13 college football season as Smith’s defensive coordinator. This is a concerning fact for 2 reasons.

1.Arkansas Defense National Ranks: 72^nd in total defense, 81^st in scoring defense, 20^th in rushing defense, 104^th in pass efficiency defense, 20^th in red zone defense, and 118^th in turnover margin

2.He was hired under Bobby Petrino, and coached under John L. Smith. 

Let’s address the issues individually…

Now I understand that Haynes is coming from the SEC, and that he dealt with some extremely high powered offenses this year, but when I see Kent signing a defensive coordinator from the conference-to-end-all-conferences, I expect to get an incredible defensive mind. The numbers would suggest otherwise. The rushing defense numbers are impressive, but really who was a great running back in that conference this year? Alabama had two, that’s about it. Haynes, a defensive back’s coach at heart, was torn apart this year through the air. 104, 81, and 72. Those numbers are incredibly unnerving for a defense in the MAC, let alone the SEC. His defenses got torn up all year long, and just for cross-comparisons sake against Rutgers, an offense that KSU demolished this year, his defense was shredded. Quickly looking at the numbers you see this… Points allowed: KSU- 23 ARK- 35, Total yards allowed: KSU-409 ARK-525, Turnovers Forced: KSU-7 ARK-0. It’s scary how much better the Flashes performed against their only mutual opponent. But it’s not just about one game, I understand that, but maybe the most telling stat on that list is the turnover margin. The Razorbacks finished dead last in the country. That’s a double-edged sword as well, because this year KSU finished 2^nd in that exact same category. Now it’s not all Haynes’ fault, his team coughed up the ball a ton, but his defense only created 12 turnovers the whole season. The Flashes did that in almost one game, against their only mutual opponent.

Now onto Bobby Petrino and John L Smith. Bobby “quit midseason” Petrino, and John L”eave after the spring game.” Smith. I get why the athletic department likes Haynes’ character, he coached under Tressel (like DH), he’s a former Flash (twice), and hell, even Wikipedia tells me that he’s known for his intensity! But before we get too carried away, let’s not forget who really liked this guy just over the last 11 months. First of all, Bobby Petrino has clearly engaged in his fair share of monkey business over the years. He left his position as an NFL head coach mid-season (the Falcons did lose Vick before his tenure began, but still) to head to Arkansas. Right after hiring Haynes, Petrino then gets fired for an “inappropriate relationship” with a female employee. He’s now at Western Kentucky, and I whole-heartedly wish them luck. Enter John L. Smith, former head coach at Michigan State and most recently (at the time) Weber State, the school from which he has his diploma. Great situation right? This coach builds back up his reputation at his former school, which is a smaller place, before jumping back into the big time competition. It’s a fairy tale all the way up until you find out that Smith left Weber State after being there for just a few  months,  and that he never even coached a game. I have a theory that it was the greatest spring game in WSU history, but that’s for another time.

Now I’m not blaming Haynes for these other coach’s faults, but many coordinators emulate their head coaches playing styles, and their personalities. If you don’t believe me, just take a look at Will Muschamp, Bill Stevens, and even Hazell. It’s just a fact sometimes, though it’s not necessarily true.

Here’s the best case scenario: The Flashes get the Haynes whose secondaries dominated the Big Ten at OSU, and he emulates Coach Tressel’s incredibly professional demeanor and we get a Darrell Hazell 2.0 because of his experience in the SEC. Hey, we might even compete against LSU.

Here’s the worst case scenario: KSU gets a coach who thinks that last year was a fluke because he was in the SEC, he underestimates the MAC’s high-powered offenses, and leaves KSU in the midst of an NCAA investigation.

I’ll say it ends in something in the middle of those two hypotheticals.

2. What the hell will this 2013-14 Flashes football team look like?

As I mentioned earlier, there’s a very good chance that this Haynes will be an intense disciplinarian type who rules this team with a quiet demeanor, much like Hazell did. That’s the best-case scenario, and that’s what that team will need next year. Here’s a list of some of the key players that this team is losing this off-season:

Kent Cleveland

Josh Kline

Adeyemi and Hurdle

Sidney Saulter

Luke Baton

Brian Winters

C.J. Malauulu

Spencer Keith

Jake Dooley

Dana Brown

Freddy Cortez

Those 11 names, plus possibly Dri and Roosevelt Nix make this Flashes team in need of a major makeover, and honestly a new identity. They lose 3, maybe 4 of their starting offensive lineman, their 4 year starting quarterback, one of the nation’s leading tacklers, an incredible kicker and possibly a 3-time All-Mac performer and the first All-American in school history. Good luck Mr. Haynes, you’ll need it.

But that won’t be the only struggle he’ll have to deal with it. This Flashes team is headed to their first bowl game in way too long, and that can have two types of impacts. They can develop a winning attitude, and make this program something to be proud of. Or…they can get cocky, and feel like they can walk into next season as the MAC East champs and expect teams to roll over for them. Haynes has the difficult task, as the new guy in town, of instilling that winning attitude in these players, and this university, who just got their first taste of success. There is a good chance that the Flashes finish next year at 6-6 or even below .500, and if you go back and look at that list of players, it should almost be expected. That’s ok, as long as there is light at the end of that tunnel and the holes left after this season seem to be closing as the season goes along. Haynes won’t be stuck with a bunch of bums, and hopefully he can instill his leadership to players like David Fischer, Luke Wollet, Tim Erjavec, Durham, Tyshon Goode, and possibly Roosevelt and Dri who will all be back next year and young guys like Italiano, Pierce, Humphrey, and Tiggle all showed great potential throughout the year, so there’s players left on the team, but this was the year.

Here’s my way-to-early prediction for next year: The Flashes start off 2-0 and then give a great game to LSU, but fall to the Tigers. From there it’s downhill, the Flashes lose to Penn State, lose their first two in-conference games (opponent pending) and all hell breaks loose. The fans call for Haynes’ head, Fischer’s benched at least once, before he defeats South Alamaba, and everything subsides for the time being. The Flashes then have their typical KSU ups and downs before finishing out the season on a 3 game win streak, finishing the year at 6-6. Luke Wollet gets invited to the NFL combine, Tyshon breaks every Kent receiving record and Trayion Durham leads the MAC in touchdowns, and Erjavec emerges as the top tight end in the conference, redeeming that dropped pitch (too soon?) Like I said, 6-6 isn’t bad.

3. What does this mean for the Kent State University Golden Flashes Football Team?

Well it’s fairly simple, signing Paul Haynes, no matter how good of a coach he turns out to be, is a good sign. Jim Corrigal was a great player, but never had much of a coaching resume, Dean Pees was a linebackers coach at Michigan State (who was going through tough times), Doug Martin came from within and Eastern Carolina before Kent, and then we welcomed DH. Hazell was a significant turning point, outside of the wins, because it showed that the Flashes administration was serious about winning. They hired an assistant head coach from a BCS-bowl winning team, and it was a hire that made sense. He was from the area, he played ball in Ohio, he was a great recruiter, and he knew what it took to win. Haynes fills all of those qualities as well. He’s from the SEC, and OSU before that, he’s got a great reputation in this area of the country, and he knows what it takes to win games that matters. It’s something that Kent State never seemed to take into account under Kennedy when they hired a coach. A winning attitude is contagious, just look at this year’s squad. With the signing of Paul Haynes, the future looks bright for Kent State University.

Now I promise, this is the last time I compare Haynes to Hazell, because I’m sure the rest of the media will do that his entire career at Kent. But, Paul Haynes, you have a damn near impossible duty in front of you, and I applaud you for taking this job, because it’s going to be an extremely difficult one. Hazell, as much as he wants to claim he hasn’t, left a lasting legacy on this university in just two years. He’s taking us to a bowl game, he gave us the first winning season since Josh Cribbs, and we even won the MAC East. I wouldn’t be surprised if they built a statue of him in front of Dix Stadium, there is a lot of people were hurt that he left (really though, did you not see that coming?), and perhaps Joel Nielsen put it best, “There will never be another Darrell Hazell.”

So with all that said, WELCOME TO KENT STATE Paul Haynes! We’re glad to have you here, and we expect some big things out of you, I’m sure you’ll be great. Hell, you coached in the SEC and the Big 10, the little ole’ MAC should be simple! Just be yourself, and you’ll be fine. Good luck.

Kent State University Head Football Coach Darrell Hazell is heading to Purdue. Hazell leaves behind a program that he reinvented in just two short years into one of the most entertaining and successful programs in Kent State history. The MAC East championship team plays in the GoDaddy.Com bowl in less than 30 days, and then Hazell will part ways with the program for good. Before leaving, Jon Jankowski caught up with some of the players from the team to see what they thought about Hazell's departure. Here's their reactions on KentWired.com

By now, you've had to have seen this. It's everywhere. It's probably the greatest shot in D-1 basketball history. You don't know what I'm talking about yet? Well Appalachian State's Brian Okam stepped to the free throw line, received the ball from the official, and let go of history. It came out of his hand, arched high into the air out his hands, and came down...right in the middle of the lane. Don't worry Brian, you're 7'1, you have a future in basketball. Here's the video.

Basically, this is where our reporters would blog. This would be a section I would like to update around daily. This would be writing, this would be video if we had it. Yeah, this would be sick.I'm just writing just to write. I really hope someone is casually checking out the site right now and reads this and realizes how terrible this looks. Anyways. That's all. I hope this slightly fills in the spot. Wu-Tang Forever.