'We’ll Get Back to Our Rocket Culture': Tod Kowalczyk's Raw Reflection on the Turning Point after Loss to Akron in MAC Semi-Final
Maybe he was exhausted, maybe he just didn’t have the energy to spin. We got something real. No polished statements, no carefully crafted non-answers.
AIDEN BRUECK - March 15 2025
There’s an account on the social media platform X which calls for the firing of Toledo head coach Tod Kowalczyk. After multiple MAC regular-season championships, MAC Coach of the Year honors, multiple 20+ win seasons, and NIT appearances—is it still not enough for Rockets’ fans?
Of course, the goal is to win the MAC tournament and make it to March Madness. But after this year’s semi-final loss to Akron, Toledo has now gone 45 years without an NCAA tournament appearance, with their last showing back in 1980.
"I’ll be honest with you: it’s a team that was not nearly as together or united as a team I’ve had in the past. The chemistry was nowhere near where it had been. We will get back to our Rocket culture, we’ll get back to it in a hurry. But that needs to happen, we ‘gotta wait.” Kowalczyk said.
That prompted response was a reminder that, beneath his calm exterior, every decision and every call weighs heavily on him. That mix of passion and frustration left him open, offering a rare window into just how deeply the highs and lows of coaching affect him.
"You have to sell your program. In recruiting, season ticket holders. Maybe I did that too much. I don’t know if we have other people that will do it—on our behalf." Kowalczyk said.
“I just feel like maybe it hurts.”
It’s not often you see that kind of raw honesty in a press conference. Not from someone like Tod. Not in a setting designed for damage control and half-truths. But there he was—unfiltered, exposed, saying things that weren’t perfectly packaged.
And it worked.
Maybe he was exhausted, maybe he just didn’t have the energy to spin. No polished statements, no carefully crafted non-answers. Just a guy who looked like he’d been through it, speaking without a script.
Because when someone stops playing the game, you actually start believing them.
I think Toledo fans need to believe him too.
He knows the job isn’t just about X's and O's. It’s about relationships, about building a culture that goes beyond the players on the court. That self-awareness is rare in sports. Coaches don’t often admit their missteps out loud, and when they do, it’s usually a rehearsed line. But Kowalczyk’s admission felt different—it felt like he was trying to hold himself accountable in front of the public, which is not an easy thing to do.
Kowalczyk also voiced his displeasure with the transfer portal and the lack of loyalty in college basketball.
“I’d like to do a study in 20 years and see the impact of guys’ livelihoods in futures that go to four different schools,” he said, expressing concern about the long-term consequences of constant movement.
He pointed to players who left his program last offseason.
“You look at the three guys that left, they did not have success and hurt their chances professionally.”
For Kowalczyk, the portal may offer short-term fixes, but it’s clear that jumping from school to school can ultimately jeopardize a player’s future success.
And maybe that’s what Toledo fans need to hear—something real. Sometimes, the polished answers and media-speak don’t do justice to the truth. What we got from Kowalczyk was a coach who was clearly tired, but also one who has invested so much into the program that his struggles hit him personally. That authenticity doesn’t come around often, and it’s a rare glimpse into the heart of a coach who cares deeply, even when the tournament results don’t show it.
So, maybe this is the moment for Toledo fans to pause and reflect on what Kowalczyk has brought to the program. Yes, the NCAA tournament drought stings, but does that outweigh everything he’s accomplished in the last decade? In times of frustration, the long-term success a coach has built is forgotten. Perhaps, for once, the best thing fans can do is believe in Kowalczyk’s promise to rebuild, to get the culture back on track, and to trust that he’ll figure it out—because after all, sometimes the best thing a coach can do is just be real with the people behind his team.
Follow my live updates for the championship game on X, here.