Arth left home to chase dreams

There is something to be said about being honest with yourself.

Even if it tugs at your heart strings.

Tom Arth make no qualms about the fact he could have been perfectly happy spending the rest of his life at 20700 North Park Boulevard in University Heights.

Don Shula Stadium, home of the John Carroll football team, holds a special place in his heart.

Not only did Arth star for the Blue Streaks in his playing days, but he also had the honor of coaching his alma mater.

But a good look in the mirror told Arth he was destined for bigger things.

Not necessarily — although hopefully — better.

But bigger.

Arth took the next step toward that ambition Dec. 17 when he was introduced as the new head coach of the Akron football team, ending his two-year stint at Tennessee-Chattanooga for a chance to coach in the Mid-American Conference in a town virtually in his backyard.

“I could have been head coach at John Carroll University and been the happiest person in the world,” Arth said during his introductory news conference. “I realized as I went through different experiences that I really wanted to pursue coaching at the highest levels.”

It was a difficult realization for him. After all, he had gone 40-8 in four years at John Carroll, including a career-defining (at least to this point) 2016 season in which he led the Blue Streaks to the Division III national semifinal round.

But Arth had to be honest with himself.

“Would those opportunities (of coaching a higher levels) be of interest to me?” Arth said, recalling his inner conversations. “If I am being honest with myself, the answer was yes. A lot of me wanted to say no. I (was) happy where I’m at, my alma mater means the world to me. But honestly, I wasn’t able to answer that question with anything but, ‘Yeah, I would be excited to have those opportunities.’”

So that being said, Arth is now an Akron Zip, agreeing to what is being reported as a base salary of $500,000 for five years.

Athletic Director Larry Williams said Arth “stood out head and shoulders” above other candidates and “checked off every box” in regard to the school’s check list of attributes demanded of the new coach.

At the top, Williams said, was energy.

“It’s got to be the energy that inspires,” Williams said. “That’s what we’re about at the University of Akron.”

That energy is a big part of Arth’s makeup as a coach. The Westlake native, and St. Ignatius graduate, was able to bring John Carroll’s program to national prominence in four short years because of that energy.

But moving on was an important process.

Going to Tennessee-Chattanooga showed him the ropes of what he called “Division I college football.” It taught him how to recruit on a higher level. It prepared him for the next step.

That next step is taking over an Akron program that scuffled through a 35-52 record under recently fired coach Terry Bowden.

Arth said he doesn’t want to be just a coach.

He learned that long ago from his high school coach Chuck Kyle, who was in attendance during the introductory news conference.

“I go back to Chuck Kyle. I just don’t think there is a better example of what it means to be a coach,” Arth said. “We’ve got to come up with a different word, because (coach) doesn’t do it justice.”

Coaching means improving a student-athlete’s life.

It’s inspiring them to be more than what they believe they are capable of.

In this specific case, it’s keeping Northeast Ohio talent home to blossom.

“I believe in doing the best job you can for the student-athletes where you’re at,” he said. “Northeastern Ohio in general is such a special place and so much of the person that I am.”

Arth might have gotten a little foreshadowing a handful of years ago. While attending a Division I, Region 1 playoff game between Mentor and St. Edward, Arth glanced around Infocision Stadium and marveled at what might be.

“I remember thinking to myself what an incredible opportunity it would be and the special things you could accomplish at the University of Akron with this football program,” he said.

Five years later, he stood at a podium accepting the head coaching position at that school.

Yes, he would have been perfectly happy had he stayed home at John Carroll.

But sometimes being honest with yourself — and chasing bigger dreams — means leaving the comforts of home.

Kampf can be reached at JKampf@News-Herald. com; On Twitter: @NHPreps and @JKBuckeyes.

JOHN KAMPF — THE NEWS-HERALD Tom Arth talks at his introductory news conference Dec. 17 announcing him as Akron’s new head football coach.