University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football coach Tom Arth has agreed to take the same position at the University of Akron.
Sources told the Times Free Press of Arth’s impending departure Friday, and Akron later posted a release on its official athletic website saying Arth had been named the Zips’ head coach, pending approval by the university’s board of trustees.
That job became open on Dec. 2, when Terry Bowden was dismissed after seven seasons at the school. Bowden led the program to two bowl bids and the 2017 Mid-American Conference East Division championship but was 35-52 overall with the Zips.
Arth, 37, is originally from Westlake, Ohio, about 50 miles west of the Football Bowl Subdivision school. He played at John Carroll – a Division III program in University Heights, Ohio, about 40 miles south of Akron – and later coached the Blue Streaks from 2013 to ’16, compiling a 40-8 record and leading them to their first Ohio Athletic Conference championship since 1989 in his final season.
He was 9-13 in two seasons at UTC.