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First Friday Club of Greater Akron Meeting – Speaker Tom Arth
April 1, 2022 @ 11:00 am
The First Friday Club of Greater Akron is happy to announce that
Our April speaker will be
Tom Arth,
Former Pro Football Player
and College Football Coach
on April 1, 2022
Tom Arth is a native of North Olmsted and attended Saint Ignatius High School in Cleveland where he played quarterback for the Wildcats.
He then attended John Carroll University, and Arth started for four years at quarterback. He set 18 John Carroll football records and earned unanimous All-American honors as a junior and senior. In 2002, he guided the Blue Streaks to a 12-2 record, an East Regional Championship, and a berth in the NCAA Division
III National Semi-Finals for the first time in program history. Over the course of his career, Arth captured every major passing record at John Carroll, including passing yards (10,457), and touchdowns (89).
He spent time with the Indianapolis Colts (2003–2005)[1] and was in the quarterback room with Peyton Manning, where they struck up a great friendship. Later, he played for the Scottish Claymores (2004) and the Hamburg Sea Devils (2005) of NFL Europa. He was signed by the Green Bay Packers in 2006 but was released prior to the start of training camp. Arth signed with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League in February 2007 and later signed with the Grand Rapids Rampage of the Arena Football League.
On December 5, 2012, Arth was named 17th head football coach at John Carroll and on November 12, 2016, Arth’s program earned their first outright Ohio Athletic Conference title since 1989 with a 31–28 victory over then-No.1 Mount Union. On December 17, 2016, Arth was named D3football.com Coach of the Year for 2016, becoming the first Blue Streaks mentor in any sport to earn a national honor in 42 years.
Arth was then named the head coach of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga on December 19, 2016 and on December 14, 2018, Arth was named the 28th head football coach at the University of Akron
Arth and his wife, Lauren, a 2003 graduate of John Carroll, have five children: Caroline, Thomas, Kathleen, Patrick and Elizabeth.
NOTE: Change of Location
First Friday Club luncheons are now held at
Our Lady of Cedars
507 South Cleveland Massillon Road
Fairlawn, OH 44333