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2024 Rewind: Don Brown was let go before the season ended in his third year with the Minutemen, as they stumbled to a 2-10 finish. He wasn’t able to recapture the same success he had leading UMass during their FCS days. Rutgers defensive coordinator Joe Harasymiak is the new man tabbed to take on the seemingly endless UMass turnaround. Recruiting under Harasymisk: 2025: On3 - 13th in MAC 247 - 13th in MAC Minutemen on Offense: UMass will have a tremendous amount of new faces seeing significant playing time this season, including at quarterback, which will be filled by either Yale transfer Grant Jordan or little-used Utah transfer Brandon Rose. The running back room will be almost completely new and feature mostly youth and inexperience. UTSA transfer Rocco Griffin will be the only player with significant snaps at the G5 level. Ty Harding and Jacquon Gibson return at wide receiver, with USF transfer Tyree Kelly rounding out the starting group. Harding and Gibson combined for 42 catches, 604 yards, and 6 touchdowns last season. Reece Adkins will compete with Illinois transfer Owen Anderson at tight end. The offensive line will be almost entirely new, with only interior lineman Benjamin Roy and tackle Ryan Mosesso returning as starters. As we’ve seen in some other situations, so many new faces at an underperforming position may not actually be a bad thing. Minutemen on Defense: UMass will likely run a different defensive scheme than what “Dr. Blitz” had in place. Three of the four starters up front will be new to the team, with incoming transfers from Jackson State, UConn, Virginia Tech, Maine, McNeese State, and Rutgers all in the mix. Former Zips defensive line coach Nyeem Wartman now holds the same position at UMass. There are questions at linebacker, with no guaranteed starters heading into fall camp. It'll be a competition between transfers and some of last year’s backups to see who earns the job. The secondary is more of the same, with transfers and last season’s backups competing for spots. That said, this group probably has the most upside talent on the defensive side of the ball, despite their lack of overall experience at this level. Cal transfer Derek Morris will take over at kicker, while Texas A&M transfer Keegan Andrew takes over at punter. Position Advantage: I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I don’t see a single position—at least at this point in the offseason—where UMass is a clear favorite over Akron. QB - Akron RB - Akron WR - Akron TE - Akron OL - Even DL - Even LB - Akron DB - Akron ST - Even Way too Early Prediction: UMass has a lot to figure out on both sides of the ball. Chances are, by the time this game is played, a number of different starters will be on the field compared to who began the season. UMass may be heavily investing in their football program by MAC standards, but I have a hard time seeing many wins on their schedule in 2025. Who knows though—maybe they’ll be the surprise team of the conference this year. Extremely doubtful, but there’s always one or two that catch everyone off guard. I’m sure the UMass fanbase is circling this matchup as a certain win, yet I just don’t think the Minutemen have enough in the tank to pull it out. Also, this is usually the point in the season where things start clicking for the Zips under Moorhead. I’m calling for Akron to win 30-20.

I think that is what you said 7 years ago 😉

How embarrassing for Memphis. They won 11 games last year. Let me be the first to welcome them to the new G5 division. I will say, it's been nice to have an off season without all of the conference jumping. That part of college football may have run it's course.

Alright MAC, your move. Go get em. 🤣 And people think Toledo and Ohio are coveted commodities.

This was quite the ramble. I'm jealous.

I posted this 7 years ago and here we are.......

The Zips are hosting the Akron Men's Basketball Alumni Camp this Thursday, July 24th at the JAR. The schedule is: 4:30pm - Cocktail Hour with cash bar and light hors d'oeuvres. 5:00pm - Watch former Zips basketball student athletes take the floor at the JAR for the Alumni Game. Parking is available in the Lot 1 parking garage on the corner of Spicer and Carroll St. and must be paid for via the scannable signs in the lot.

For the 2nd straight game, there are 6 or 7 paragraphs written about the unselfishness and talent of Richie Laryea https://www.tfcrepublic.ca/july-20-toronto-fc-nashville-sc/ comments from their coach "I thought he was great. I thought he was very good. Again, Richie's understanding of what's dangerous, what's not, when to close, when to close hard, when to be patient, I think all of that [was good]. I knew Richie [when] he first came to TFC in 2019, and he was young and naïve then, and I feel like he's a completely different person now," Robin Fraser said. "He is a seasoned pro who we've obviously asked him to play in a number of different positions in the last couple of games, and he just does what's asked of him because it's what the team needs. So, I thought he put in a really incredible shift."

We beat Northwestern and NC State. No one gives a sht . Win more games

Looks like one game starting 3:30 or earlier on Saturday. Miami game start time not set but on a Saturday. Could the start times get any worse?

Bankruptcy is bad. Dissolution is worse. Anything further you would like to share?

Please give a full report! Hope they have a Q&A and some people ask some tough questions about the direction of the program

I wouldn't attend this if I still lived in Akron, but I think it's a good idea. Annually, they would have things like golf outings to bring people together. I didn't play in those either because I absolutely suck at golf to the point I'm made miserable playing, and I'm not blowing a round of golf level money to be made miserable. I prefer to throw money at the University from a distance. I'm so lazy about it I don't even write checks anymore. I let them automatically take money from my account every month. A small $20 event at a coffee shop is a good idea to bring some people in who don't want to spend golf level money but want to learn more about what's going on. It is also pretty low cost, which is important right now. I hope people attend.

Bump, since the event is this evening. I'll be there. Worth $20 to hear Joe, and see what the new AD is all about.

Every major decision of the board of trustees over the past 20-years has been a complete disaster. UA wouldn't be in the position of potential bankruptcy and dissolution if it weren't for the bungling monumentally weak decision making by the BOT. Have I met any of the Trustees? Yes, in the past. The current ones? No. Am I wrong that the BoT are political appointments in Ohio?

You have no clue what you are talking about. Have you ever even met any of the trustees? Your envy of anyone who is more accomplished than you clouds your judgement. Most of the trustees serve due to a sense of responsibility to their Alma Mater and community. The ones I know are way past needing a trustee position as some kind of stepping stone to some other position. They usually are well entrenched in the community through years of charitable and foundation work. The current trustees are in a difficult position trying to keep UA from bankruptcy and dissolution. It's a fine balancing act to try to keep all the shareholders(students, faculty, administrators and taxpayers) happy and still balance the budget.

I wouldn't buy season tickets because I wouldn't go to the weeknight games or any game that starts after 3:30. There is no reason for a family of four with the oldest child being 11 to go to a game starting later or on a weeknight, which isn't me, I'm just saying. By itself, Akron can't solve this problem. It's a problem throughout the G5 world. The causes are many. The solutions will be simple but hard to achieve because of the enemy within, athletic directors.

Even before MACtion Akron football was an afterthought. It would be even worse today as live attendance at sporting events is down a crossed the board at all levels compared to the 80s or 90s. I can't speak for everyone, but my undergrad was during the Ianello years. Having a new stadium should have been an exciting time for the program. Instead it was a pathetic excuse for football. People can forgive you for losing by 3 touchdowns to a ranked P4 program. Consistently losing by 20, 30, 40 points to teams in your own conference week after week destroys fan enthusiasm. Often times the games were decided before half-time. More so than just losing, nobody wants to watch bad football. At least when the Browns lose it's often times still a game entering the 4th QTR. The same friends who I used to go to games with as an undergrad quit going and now even if I tried giving them free tickets, they'd rather just stay home and do yardwork or whatever else. The Northwestern win was the most excited I have been as a Zips football fan (wasn't a Zips fan until 2007). The issue is they failed to build off of it. I think they finished 4-8 that season. Followed by Arth's 3-24 tenure. Why would Joe Akron care if after a big win they just go back to being the same old Akron? The last game I went to was in 2016 when App State came to town. If you're wanting 15k-20k people at games I'm the low hanging fruit you should be looking to attract. I obviously have an interest in Akron sports since I post here and since that time I have even attended dozens of other Akron sporting events. Heck, I've even went to several alumni homecoming tailgates, but skipped the game. Deciding on either going to Eurogyro to hang out with friends or just going home instead. I'm telling you the reason I don't attend is because watching bad football, which Akron has played for the better part of the decades I've been a fan, isn't worth spending 4 hours of my Saturday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. You're a former football player if I recall correctly and it seems if you were local you would probably already have season tickets. You're not the Joe Akron that needs to be convinced to attend. Simply playing games on Saturdays isn't going to make 10k more fans show up in the frigid cold. Much more needs to be changed.

I feel like this has been discussed a trillion times before. Unlike OU, which is in the middle of nowhere. Unlike Cincinnati, which is a larger city with it's own relatively unique culture and a larger student-base, There's another D-1 college right down the road...not to mention OSU. Yeah people show up to The Akron Rubberducks because it's over the summer. The best student Turnout we had to games was in the RooWards days and when they were doing stuff like Blackout game and tuition giveaways. Guess what? Those people behind that weren't valued, and the University refused to pay them what they were worth, so they rightfully moved on to Bigger Universities who were willing to pay them more.

Because Akron is seen as a stepping stone, a resume builder, nothing more. And Board of Trustees spots aren't awarded to people who care about the University of Akron or community, they're political appointees in a state that constantly doubles down on not caring about education. Even people in this very forum, crap on professors and people who work at the University, who are the very people that ... if you pay them well and trust them to be experts in what they do, can help build that sense of community. But instead the state and political powers at be just see Akron as a glorified community college; so the community and students are going to treat it as such.

Well, if the G5 schools pulled their heads out of their backsides, they could structure their league in a way that finances were less of a burden. I don't think a high level P4 win does much for a G5 school long term. App State was already a good program. It won national championships the two years prior to beating Michigan and were a I-AA powerhouse for years prior. Win or lose against Michigan that day, App State would be good. I think that the incoming freshman class wasn't born when they beat Michigan. It's a strange historical fact for them in the same way that Akron beating OSU in the late 1800s is a strange historical fact now. Our problem is even when something good happens, it's never enough and an excuse for why we can't be any good. Wins against Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Northwestern (I think they played in the Big 10 championship this season)?..... That's not good enough, they didn't beat Michigan that one time so nobody cares. The reason nobody cares is because even if they were good, they play their games on days of the week and at times that make it almost impossible for people to either attend and/or care. They play their arch rival on weekday night games in front of a basically empty stadium. The money problem can be mitigated, but the stupidity can't.

I don't have hard numbers, but I would guess Akron is averaging around 8k-10k currently. An extra 5k-7k fans (to get us to 15k) per game isn't going to suddenly make Akron financially competitive at the G5 level. Especially when you consider the majority of those extra ticket sales would be GA, which last I look are about $15/ticket, or students who get free admission. Edit: That's not to say it wouldn't be great to have more fans at games. What would get people's interest is winning games that matter. Joe Akron isn't going to care about Akron trying to pad its win totals against cupcakes, like New Mexico State, just so that it can backdoor its way into a 6-6 record and irrelevant bowl game that only hard-core fans or degenerate gamblers care about. What could get their attention is beating UM in the Big House, which we nearly did. You only have those opportunities if you schedule those games. App State had a lot of success at the FCS level, but their win over Michigan is what everyone remembers them for.

I think the bigger issue is how the government visa restrictions will affect international recruiting. ADs' and coaches' hands are tied; that's what "we" voted for.

Enrique finished Summer League in the top 40-50 (out of over 400 players) in PPG with 16.2, and just missed averaging a double double with 9.6 RPG (5th most in Summer League). Side note: Kent's Justyn Hamilton (1 GP, 6 PPG, 1 RPG) and Sincere Carry (2 GP, 1 PPG) also participated, and that's putting it nicely.