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I can't imagine what the response would be if we fired Moorhead after having the most wins in 8 years. If he takes another job so be it, but firing a coach because we didn't go .500 hasn't fared too well in the history of Infocision Stadium. I totally understand the thought of we can find a new coach that fires up the team and we go to the top of the MAC out of nowhere, but I think that is pretty risky to go all in on considering we have made progress the last 2 seasons. We lost almost all our skill players last year, and this year we developed a great group of them. I have a hard time believing we just stumbled on to players like Williams, Gant, Polk (2 year track) because no one wanted them. Most of them will leave again this year even if we don't fire the coach. But I trust this current regime to develop players, which is very important with the current state of college football. You are only living a year at a time so you need someone to be quick to mold a team together. I am sure other coaches can do that, but is there going to be someone like that available this offseason and are they going to want to come to Akron? I wouldn't call The University of Akron athletic department a big risk taker. If that was the case then I would imagine we would have a different soccer coach after not living up to UA standards from 2019-2021

Yep, if he doesn't want to be here and we don't want him here there probably is no recovery. Maybe he will leave voluntarily for somewhere else. That said, if there is no real plan in place to improve things, I'm not sure how can can expect anything better than what we've experienced the past ~15 years. I foresee many 1-4 win seasons in our future.

I'm glad they actually changed the camera from looking at the hosts talking about nothing on to the real entertainment

The only way out is just another coach? There is so much wrong at Akron that another coach isn't the answer.

This is also pretty fair. It's OK to be better at just being the offensive coordinator and keeping your head down.

I’ve had a fan theory for awhile that they’ll give whoever is the highest in NET to Miami cause their SOS is so bad they desperately need it.

What a loss (Troy) by Kent ... in a game they should have won in regulation!! Their Kenpom would have really jumped if that had been the case. That said ... Troy needing OT to beat the No. 4 MAC team even on the road says something about the MAC. If zips draw Troy in next SB Challenge game on the road, it should be a big Kenpom boost with a win!!!

Out of likes, but BINGO. Hit the nail on the head.

Pretty sure that’ll end up being a Q1 since it was on the road for Troy

Troy, who beat Kent on opening night, beat San Diego St (38 KenPom) in 2OT last night.

This is probably the most correct take.

Here is the dilemma, neither party is happy. JoMo doesn't want to be here and powers that be don't want him to stay. If the optics weren't so bad, UA would just pay him off and send him on his way. JoMo holds all the cards. Hopefully he can find a job somewhere else and everyone will get what they want. I would rather take my chances on an up and coming guy who doesn't act like he is entitled to someone else doing all the heavy lifting required to engage the fans and community. That is the only way out of our football pit of Hell. JoMo will never be that guy.

The biggest potential news of the offseason will obviously surround Moorhead. Is there legs to the Virginia Tech rumor? If he does stay, will the investment in the program increase from UA? I assume we will have a few players who will garner good interest elsewhere. Are we able to retain any key players? Who will the starting QB be? Non-conference opponents are: 09/05 - at Wake Forest 09/12 - Robert Morris 09/19 - at Minnesota 09/26 - UNLV

I am not necessarily saying Moorhead needs to go. I'm pretty indifferent on him - I'm OK him staying and I'd be OK trying someone new. I'm just saying that I don't think it's impossible to find someone who can find a way to win here. I do think it would be a tough transition, though. The players do seem to play hard for and respect Moorhead for the most part, so we would certainly have more turnover than if he stayed.

Top Drawer soccer did a preview on the regional that the zips are in. https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/article/?categoryId=21&articleId=55371&articleTitle=mens-ncaa-tournament-region-3-preview 4. Akron(m) (11-4-3) - 1.56 goals per game (76th ranked), .667 goals allowed per game (12th ranked) Offensive Leader: Stefan Dobrijevic (8G, 10A) + Strong defense + Performed well against nationally ranked opposition - Offense can be inconsistent There is no doubt Akron has the defense for a playoff run; the question is if the offense can score enough in a region packed with high-powered attacks. Losing the Big East semifinal was not encouraging, but the team will be well-rested after receiving a first-round bye.

One has to wonder how a 6-7 Harris and a 6-6 Eric Mahaffey might have helped us last year vs. Arizona in particular. But it just wasn’t meant to be.

Or, bring in a former NFL player who knows what he is doing, committed to the program long term and give him some support. Take away the QB injuries and Eddie George is a great hire. Maybe the best hire of the year next to Wake's. BG sold out two games this year and was playing good. The administration is completely behind him. He is selling his home in Tennessee to move to Ohio. What else is he supposed to do? Great question. George looked at his roster last week and came up with a great game plan to have his team ready to not just compete, but to win. They executed on a great game plan last night and we're on their way to winning until the injury Gods stepped in. The coaching genius last night was Eddie George.

If this was 10 years ago I would agree with you. In fact, I was one of the most vocal people on this board about Bowden needing to go as we needed to strive for better. A lot has changed since that time. Any new coach would need an infusion of cash to hire a full staff, recruit, have training tables, etc. You know the basics that all the other MAC schools currently have in place. Not to mention at least enough NIL that you don't lose your key players to other G5s. I don't want to say it's impossible to win at Akron (and by win I mean consistently winning 6-7 games), but they're certainly being setup for failure given the lack of funding. They will have to climb Mount Everest to succeed.

let's just call it like it this. people are on fall into: a.) cancel program all together cause it's a waste of taxpayer money and they will never compete b.) get rid of joe moe that will solve all the problems or c.) my favorite being in an nfl player and that will pack the stands zips did better than i thought they would after starting 2-6. I give them credit. the players could have just thrown in the towel but they didn't. Kent state was heartbreaker but was an exciting game that could have gone either way. It's always easy to make all the right coaching decisions from the comfort of your couch and everyone on here can solve all the problems. that's why i come here

I don't quite agree here. No, you're not going to get an established coach or someone with a proven track record. But every great coach was once an unknown until they got their first shot. It's absolutely possible Akron could give someone their first shot and that person could turn its program around. Just because it hasn't happened doesn't mean it can't.

We can't cite the close losses without acknowledging close wins that could have easily gone the other way, too. CMU, Buffalo, and BGSU were all one score wins. We can be optimistic and say they could have won 8, but they also could've won 2. I do credit them for progress vs last season, especially with so little to work with. I also agree that they should be allowed the basic investments an average MAC school has. I don't think that is going to lead the drastically different results on the field, but they've probably earned the right to try.

I'm probably not as optimistic as you about this being an 8 win team, but I agree we likely overachieved given the limitations placed on the program. Given the financial, practice, and bowl restraints the Akron job might be the worst job in all of FBS at the moment. Almost certainly a bottom 5 gig. Odds are vastly higher we bring in another Arth or Ianello over finding someone better than JoeMo. That's not even me trying to give praise to JoeMo. It's that nobody with any real prospects would want this job. It was surprising someone like JoeMo wanted this job in the first place and it required special circumstances for him to even have an interest. We'll really have to scrape the bottom of the barrel for whoever the next coach would be.

That list isn't up to date. McElwain is no longer at CMU, and JoeMo is actually the 11th highest paid coach. His ranking in the MAC is irrelevant when considering the financial position Akron is in. $620k of taxpayer money at a school with financial troubles should yield more than the incremental progress we've seen. What's the ROI on the $620k? How's the community outreach from the HC? How's the NIL situation? Is 0 pts in the home opener vs. Wyoming an acceptable ROI for $620k? How about 3 pts vs. Toledo? Is the on-field product exciting and something the community wants to come out and support no matter the outcome? Do we have the Wagon Wheel right now? Surely we do since our rival is in year 1 of an interim HC who inherited a 1-23 roster, right? Damn the restrictions. This season was an abject failure. There were 5 more wins on this schedule that Joe's Zips lost more than the opponent won. Wyoming scored 10 pts at the Info and we scored 0. UAB fired their coach that we couldn't beat. Miami was a potential win and we couldn't score more than 7 pts. Balls is in year 1 of their HC - lost by more to them than Kent did. Lastly, Kent (not going to go into more details there). I'm not saying we should've won all 5 of these games, but we didn't win a single one. The program had a chance to make a national statement by being bowl eligible and forcing the NCAA to drop the postseason ban; they choked, which has been a staple of the JoeMo era.

The guy that’s the 7th highest paid coach in the MAC?

Sometimes you just gotta be the tallest midget. Clutch play by Bruno! 🇩🇪💪🏽 5-wins despite the smallest staff, smallest budget, no NIL, can’t even afford grad assistants, no travel allowed for recruiting, going stretches without a meal plan, limited to 25% fewer practices than his competition…the Zips should have been UMass this season but instead won 5. As much as my eyes burn from watching the game tonight I give the staff and players mad props for going .500 in the MAC and winning 5 games for the first time in 8 years while being blindfolded, with two cinder blocks tied to each coach’s legs. We’ll see what the future holds for the 2026 Zips. The ball is in Goodrich's hands to objectively determine how much the restrictions placed on this staff contributed to the close losses to Wyoming, UAB, Kent etc. And to figure out a plan to break free from the crippling financial shackles imposed on this year’s team. UA needs to invest in football within reasonable and responsible limits. Completely handcuffed, the Zips were within an eyelash of bowl eligibility. By providing the team with just the basics…the ability to travel to recruit talent, practices like everyone else, a couple grad assistants, a few bucks to keep some key players…it is the difference between winning 5 games and winning 8.