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Boom! Love it. Could this be part of a larger event in Philly, or an easy coast swing where we whoop some SEC butt on the way out or home? EDIT: Looks like this could be it. 2022 The Barstool Classic at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA Dates, teams and matchups are still TBD. Good luck finding additional information. There's a Reddit thread about the tournament that contains zero useful information, and the rest of a Google search is the Barstool Classic Golf tournament. I'd imagine, however, that the field will be pretty decent. Already off to a good start with the inclusion of Akron. 😉

Zips are apparently playing Mississippi State in...Philadelphia. You figure it out. https://bracketeer.org/nonconference/sec

I thought this was an excellent interview overall. A few interesting bits I took away: (and I’m mostly paraphrasing) - Lost nearly 50 players from the end of last year’s roster to either graduation or the portal. - Had several waves of transfers. - Expect players to conform to all expectations, including the simple things like wearing the right outfits each day and always being on time. “If you’re not 100% right then you’re 100% wrong.” And “Express your individuality through conformity.” - Have to be very particular when recruiting out of the portal. If they don’t bring in guys with the right mindset and fit the culture being built, they could lose the team. Have longer to recruit high school kids and make sure they are the right fit, but must make those decisions in several weeks with portal players. - When recruiting OL the preference is for kids to be multi-sport athletes. Recruit interior OL differently from offensive tackles. Prefer to see interior OL also wrestle and prefer offensive tackles to play basketball at the high school level. Both sports help with body control and balance. Other sports could be track & field or baseball. - For the most part, no need to recruit OL outside of the midwest. Can find really good offensive lineman within a 5 hour radius of campus. - The whole staff trusts each other and worked with JoeMo in some capacity in the past. Only one who hasn’t is the DC, but he coached against JoeMo in both the BIG and PAC. - JoeMo learned a lot from his time at Mississippi State. He wasn’t a good fit there culturally, but came away knowing what he had to have at his next stop as a HC. One of those things was full control over who was on his staff and support from the administration. - JoeMo chose to come to Akron and rebuild the program. He had opportunities at Power 5 schools, but wanted to be at Akron. - The offense mostly works out of 11 personnel, but can shift to 10 or 12. - The offense can be tailored to what fits the players best. If a mobile QB, more QB reads will be called. If a less mobile QB, more inside zone runs will be called as well as WR screens etc. Mentioned the different ways they used Barkley at PSU and the QBs at Mississippi State and Fordham. - Spoke to how they call their blocking schemes a good bit.

Ah the never ending star debate. Haha. I’ll try to give a little insight into the industry. Overall, yes stars matter, but it’s not an exact science. For Rivals, the guys that do the national coverage give all the ratings and stars. The kids that go to the Rivals camps will be rated and usually be given a more generous rating. For kids that don’t go to the camps, the national writers will review highlights and give their best judgement. However, their main job is to write articles and get views/subscribers. Ratings and stars are secondary. So schools that are not Power 5 tend to get shafted in coverage. In Akron’s case, not many media members are paying much attention and just assume it’s the same ole Akron. They also assume the players being recruited probably aren’t as good as some others being recruited at more traditional powers in the MAC or elsewhere. Recently On3 came into existence and poached some Rivals employees, so the coverage may not be as extensive as it has been in the past, but Rivals is pushing to remedy that situation. 247 is a little more generous in their star ratings than Rivals. Many of their 4 star ratings should not be 4 stars in my opinion, but rating them as such tends to get more media coverage and the kids will post their best star ratings on social outlets. It’s a smart business move by 247, but it inflates the amount of 4 stars. Same could be said about the amount of 3 stars. On3 has tried position themselves as the top dawg by using Rivals, ESPN, 247, and their own ratings to make a “composite” and promote that as the top source. Some analysts rate more heavily on potential, while others rate more heavily on where the kid currently is. The amount of scholarships and which schools have offered also play into the ratings. Keep in mind, many of the guys rating these players never played or coached, but that’s how this industry is setup. In my opinion, the better players will “pop” off the film regardless of anyone’s expertise or rating.

Beautiful

Nice article. Love the mentality...“We have guys who have won conference championships from past years who have come in,” he said. “That's our standard now. That's our goal every day we get on the field − that we're winning the MAC championship this year and winning a bowl game or playing 14 games this year. That's our goal. We don't talk about a 12-game season. We're planning to play 14 every day.” Teammates once again: Archbishop Hoban players reunite with Akron Zips (beaconjournal.com) https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/sports/college/zips/2022/08/09/archbishop-hoban-players-reunite-with-akron-zips-college-football-mac-caden-clark-grant-gainer/65394434007/

https://medina-gazette.com/news/311196/wadsworth-midfielder-jackson-herbert-to-play-soccer-at-akron/

All of our 2023 commits now have ratings except Lester Miller and Max Tucker, but I’m working on that.

I think the football staff is doing a tremendous job recruiting and landing some players that could play at the Power 5 level, but will be difference makers here. Not necessarily starters at the Power 5 level, but could make the depth chart and contribute. In essence I think we have a staff that is recruiting like a Power 5 staff at Akron. The biggest difference I see in recruiting as a whole is along the offensive and defensive lines (and to some extent linebacker and safety). It may take a year or two for the freshmen to develop on the OL and DL, but the talent has most certainly increased. The physicality our incoming recruits play with is eye opening and something we see on a weekly basis at Power 5 levels. Im doing my best to get the national guys at Rivals to rate our recruits, but they are busy and there is still the mindset that Akron isn’t a good program. I suspect I’ll have their ear a little more after this season and we’ll likely see a few more 3 star recruits in next year’s class, even if they aren’t any better than some of the recruits in this year’s class. It’s an exciting time for Akron football and I’m looking forward to experiencing it with everyone here.

Attaching updated scholarship chart per the roster. All newcomers are now listed we are aware of except for Deontae Williams. Maybe he's a greyshirt? As @catdaddyp previously mentioned, Janirr Wade and Juan Jarrett are no longer listed. The scholly chart shows 85 players, but 34 new additions (when I believe the max is 32. Of course, we never claim to be 100% accurate..just strive to be. A thought is that potentially 2 players were medically disqualified and that opened up additional positions. Michael Snowden is one player we know who that happened to. Zips Football Scholarship Chart.xlsx

It's great to see that the University is really working on getting all of our sports facilities updated/upgraded. Finally some real focus on our sports programs with these events and the coaching upgrades!

JoeMo interview from media day https://youtu.be/G7mbEIiTxys

I'm rather excited about the potential of our linebacking crew. Bubba - best LB in the MAC (I may be just a bit biased) Tim Terry - brings additional senior leadership from a successful Buffalo program Jeslord Boateng - a solid MAC 2nd-Team, or Honorable Mention-type of talent Andrew Behm - who wasn't impressed with how this guy looked as a true freshman filling in for an injured Bubba last season? Julian Richardson - as was mentioned in another thread, we didn't send this guy to MAC Media Day for nothing Corey Thomas Jr. - was one of the top HS players in PA his senior season; hope he's physical enough for LB Ryan McClain - a horse. Is he quick enough for a stand-up LB position? Bryan McCoy - only going to be a true freshman, but this guy was a heat seeking missile in HS who can already bench something like 400 lbs. 😅 Luke Bauer - always pull for the local products. Built like a brick sh!thouse. Hope he's fast enough for this level.

Decommitted from Buffalo following Felicia's move to Cuse. Commits to coach Jackson & @ZipsWBB.

Alabama and OSU are Saudi oil fields. By comparison, MAC schools are fracking in Newcomerstown. Upper-tier P5 programs are starting their own bazillion dollar "LIV Tour." MAC schools are clipping coupons to save 50 cents the next time they play Putt Putt. @catdaddyp did an awesome job of explaining why stars are exponentially less applicable the further you slide down the college football food chain. If the Zips staff is choosing a 3-star guy over a 2-star guy simply because of stars, he's not going to be coaching for long. Quoting catdaddy - "The better players will 'pop' off the film regardless of anyone’s expertise or rating." Give me a D1 coach that knows talent when he sees it, over one that bases his recruiting on nameless star-assigners who have never coached or played, but have monetary incentive to gain views/subscribers.

Blue and Gold, really good find.... Thank you for sharing... The beacon had a subscriber only article this morning...where they listed the 16 boys soccer players to watch this fall. This is what they said about Jackson Herbert : Jackson Herbert, Wadsworth, midfielder, sr. There may not be a faster player in space than Herbert, who was a Division I second-team All-Ohio selection. The Akron commit led the Grizzlies in scoring with 15 goals and nine assists. He has 38 career goals and 16 assists.

The 2022 roster has some players added.

St Francis - W Michigan St - L Tennessee - L Liberty - W Bowling Green - W Ohio - W Central Michigan - L Kent St - W Miami - W Eastern Mich - W Buffalo - L Northern Illinois - L 7-5. I watched inept, under-skilled, and under-sized Arth teams stay competitive in the MAC, ultimately coming up short for reasons Moorehead has already fixed (lack of coaching experience, talent, and size). I say it often: the MAC blows. Joe Mo & Co. will instantly make their presence felt. See y'all in Detroit!

Top Drawer soccer(TDS) is reporting that the Zips have their second recruit from the class of 2023 https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/club-soccer-articles/sima-recruiting-roundup:-july-18-24_aid51002 Class of 2023 M Caleb Borneo (Crew SC Academy) committed to Akron. From my limited research, this is an outstanding recruit for the Zips. Young Mr. Borneo (will turn 17 on July 20) is rated 4 stars by TDS...and Caleb is the 15th ranked player in TDS's class of 2023. Welcome Caleb Borneo to Zips Nation. Also, early happy birthday wishes to Caleb Borneo. another article from TDS. Caleb Borneo was selected to be part of the USA Under Mens National team camp https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/club-soccer-articles/roster-announced-for-u19-mnt-camp_aid50744 Jared, Ger and Michael....have landed 2 very highly rated players for the class of 2023. Keep up the great work, coaches !!!

When is Akron soccer going to do a Darlington Nagbe bobblehead for season ticket holders? I love my DeAndre Yedlin bobblehead from a few years ago........but the DeAndre bobblehead is lonely. A DNag bobblehead is badly needed.

Camp has started

I'm normally against filling a D1 stadium via free tickets. But I think Joe and the team deserve to play in front of a capacity home crowd. It's a great way to kick off the a new era and generate some excitement in the community. Maybe jack it up to $5 next year? I think if the casual fan had fun this year, they'd come back and pay a little for it next year. Yeah, it's the "Acme-Zip mentality"...but those game days were a lot of fun.

https://www.hustlebelt.com/2022/8/6/23292590/akron-zips-football-offensive-skill-positions-preview-2022

* Groce whispering in KD's ear * "Psst... Schedule us."

I really like this post, meet our new WR corps from Pitt, Penn St, & LSU & by the way our Dline will be better meet our new DT from Syracuse & DE from Wyoming

Disappointing about the link. I’ll see what can be done about it, but that probably won’t change any time soon. They would need an editor to keep the site up and running. For now, I’m making sure all of the recruits have updated profiles and receive a rating.

I believe '94 was talking about Cam Wiley.

I was told the first day of practice is August 3rd. Full pads on August 9th. Scrimmage (closed to public) August 13th.

Hoooooooly Mackeral, Andy!!! (I hope there are other Hoolihan and Big Chuck fans here?) Coach Beals has a 568-460-1 record, 325-258-1 with tOSU (133-125 in B10 with 2 conference champs). He has experience building college baseball programs in the snow belt and has connections. Charles Guthrie means business. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

As good a hire as you could hope for. The guy's got a yeoman's task ahead of him...

Found a new one while watching "Behind the Attraction" on Disney+. 29 minutes in to episode 9, they reveal that the first visitors to Walt Disney World on the monorail were from Akron Ohio, which the Disney company found perfect as they thought it to be right in the middle of things.

I updated Kameron Cheatom’s profile. According to Cheatom, Moorehead’s staff re-offered in January. Looks like he took multiple visits to Pittsburgh, but was unable to garner an offer from them. Cheatom seems to be athletic, possess great size, and should fit into an edge roll. The majority of his highlights are rushing off the edge unabated, so he can certainly do that. We are currently ranked #82 according in Rivals team rankings for the 2023 class and Rivals only ranks the top 100 classes. New individual player ratings will be released in August. We will see how many players receive bumps.

I prefer to use their fuller abbreviation of StFU which accurately fits how I should explain my knowledge of this FCS program. I will still be interested to see the new staff, players and turf. Oh, and football.

Akron has one of the nicest stadiums in the game. Really want to see it packed at some point and full of excitement.

Meh, I think Cincy deserved it last year and probably UCF a few years before that. When they don't win, everybody likes to say "I told you so", but I'd much rather watch that than watching ND or MSU lose by 5 scores. Even they Buckeyes have a nice 31-0 point drubbing from Clemson in CFP era.

Coach Winston on his route from Eugene to Akron, alongside @BallCoachJoeMo (literally!).

This is exactly how I feel and you nailed it perfectly. Of course I want to see the us win games. But more importantly I want people to care about Akron football. I'm so sick of seeing empty bleachers and people acting like Zips football is a joke. We have a Division 1 FBS program, with a legit head coach, stacked staff and an AD that's committed to winning. Even if we don't see a .500 season, we will most likely see a team headed in the right direction and some fun football.