AKRON, Ohio — Editor's note: the video in the player above is from a previous story.
Two days after a 31-25 loss to Ball State dropped its record to 2-5, the Tom Arth era at the University of Akron has come to an end. According to Bruce Feldman of The Athletic, Akron has fired Arth with linebackers coach Oscar Rodrigues Jr. having been named the program's interim head coach.
Arth's firing brings an end to his nearly three-season tenure with the Zips, in which he has amassed a 3-24 record, including a 2-17 mark in conference play. After totaling an 0-12 record in his debut season in 2019, Arth led Akron to a 1-5 mark during the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season before this season's 2-7 start.
A former starting quarterback at Cleveland's Saint Ignatius High School, Arth was hired to replace Terry Bowden, who tallied a 4-8 record in his final season as the Zips' head coach in 2018. Prior to his hiring at Akron, Arth spent four seasons as the head coach of his alma mater, John Carroll, totaling a 40-8 record before spending two seasons as the head coach of Chattanooga, where he went 9-13 from 2017-2018.
In a breakdown of the 40-year-old Arth's status in October, Feldman noted that the former Indianapolis Colts quarterback was likely on the hot seat considering the Zips' shaky start.
"He could certainly use another win or two to buy more time, and that won’t be easy since none of Akron’s four remaining opponents have losing records," Feldman wrote. "This is a school with good facilities by MAC standards and has one of the best stadiums in the league. Adding to what makes this an uphill climb: The athletic director who hired Arth is no longer running the show."