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My complaint with the transfer portal is that it's open during the CFP. They should move the window to early February IMO. Trimming it down to 1 window was a big improvement. I feel a little bit more study needs to be done to determine proper roster size. NFL teams have roster size of 53, but they have an additional 17 player taxi squad, who they have on hand to step in when needed. Plus they can sign FA mid-season. An NFL team uses much more than 53 individual players over the course of the season when you factor in injuries. I would think 70-75 players would be adequate and accomplish some of the goals you stated.

This is a good step. Next step should be reducing scholarships to 65. College football is now a professional minor league. If 53 players per roster is good enough for the NFL, college can do the same thing. It will make coaches really think about who and who does not get a scholarship. One half of all kids in the TP never play football again. It will also accelerate them out of the spirit and move them to things they can do on life where they can be more successful.

Players and teams can still sign after the portal closes. Players just have a 10 day window to submit their names.

A few articles on former Zip Shooky.... He had 3 goals in a game on September 14 and has 15 goals on the year for Chicago Fire FC 2. https://www.chicagofirefc.com/two/news/match-recap-chicago-fire-fc-ii-falls-against-new-york-city-fc-ii https://ontapsportsnet.com/fire/chicago-fire-ii-make-history-defeat-rbny-ii-9-2/

Ncaa announced today plans to eliminate 2 transfer portals and to only have one that is open for ten days. the potential dates are Jan 2- Jan 12. that's it. it is official to one transfer portal but the window date has not been confirmed yet. it is reported that this is something coaches have pushed for and most likely will pass. that will be crazy. players will have to decide if they are leaving before the playoffs are finished and the national championship. i think last year i read 3,000 players from FBS and FCS entered the portal in the winter and spring windows coaches will have ten days to fill empty positions which should make teams desperate.

Spring transfer portal removed https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/ncaa-approves-single-transfer-portal-window-how-the-new-rule-will-impact-college-football/#

this game means nothing unless the Zips lose. Even if they win 45-0 it won't show us anything at all. They are playing a JV team and I fear instead of developing players or seeing what options exist it will be used for nothing more than stat padding for the starters. it shows me that program development means nothing if it is all the same players in the same positions. i don't want to hear on sunday how some starter that hasn't done anything in three games suddenly figured it out. im not saying bench all the starters but i do think if they really wanted to develop the program this would be the perfect game for players to get experience and see what they can handle.

Take me back!! I miss the Rubber Bowl and the feel of the games....especially the Acme Zip games!~

My son gets married on the 21st so I will miss this one. On my wedding day 32 years ago the Zips were down 35-0 at the half to BG. I listened to the game on my Sony Walkman in the vestibule as the church filled up. Hoping for a better result in 2025. Here’s my niece, then a freshman at Akron, bottle-feeding him at the Acme-Zip game in 2001. Time flies…

No, they play at the Public Auditorium now.

Is the Cavaliers minor league team still playing at the Wolstein Center? I haven’t seen them since they played in Canton.

He's a guy who can work a room. He was a name to some extent, having had MAC success and coming from the Big 10. He's intense, personable and outgoing, and those attributes get people to follow him, whether it's playing basketball or writing checks.

This interests me because he doesn't strike me as a sales type guy, but a gym rat kind of guy. It must have been hard at first because he wasn't really a "name" when he came to town. Imagine how easy it was for Sanders or George to do. Akron football needs to do at least one thing that would make life easier for them.

I think we all wish that for JoMo. We're just frustrated with the lack of progress.

Everything you say is true. JoMo's fatal flaw is his inability to attract and nurture the type of donors needed to fund those NIL dollars and program enhancements. John Groce has done an exceptional job at doing this and the results are evident. Jared Embick the same. At a MAC level school you need someone who is willing to help sell the program to the potential donors. At the P-5 schools where Joe had his success this was not necessary. The programs history sold itself. There were legions of development personnel eager to wine and dine to secure those donations. That infrastructure doesn't exist at Akron. We don't have that winning football tradition. It's going to take a different kind of coach than what have now if we expect different results.

Vermont wins are good for us.

I'm not the one who said Eddie George is irrelevant. Also, you notice all of these guys you mentioned came to FBS after 2-3 years of FCS coaching? I never said it couldn't work. All I said is it will still require financial backing to get things off the ground. I'm convinced even Nick Saban couldn't win at Akron given the current state of our NIL and staff budgets. Money would be needed regardless of strategy.

We have Joe for $650,000? And he's HC, OC and QB coach. We have $0 in NIL. Our staff pool is the lowest in D1. I can imagine, if Joe leaves or is fired at year's end, how bad a coach we will get for the sack of beans, buttons and bus tokens we offer. I work in Industrial Automation. It's impossible to beat your competition when you have half their distribution network, half their direct sales force, 1/4 their overall budget, 1/10 the Marketing budget, limit your outside sales force to generating business by phone and Linkedin messaging vs. getting on the road and meeting customers face-to-face, etc. etc. On one hand you don't want the University to go public with the shackles and anchors they've strapped on Joe. It would kill whatever miniscule recruiting sell-points we have left. On the other hand, staying quiet hangs Joe out to dry. 99% of the general public thinks we're funded just like anyone else. They only see wins and losses. On TV MacGyver can beat the bad guys with paper clips, duct tape and a AAA battery. In real life, that doesn't play out so well. I hope Joe has a good MAC season and sticks around another year or two. He's been dealt the mother of all losing hands and been asked to beat Phil Ivey.

I imagine a lot of Tennessee State fans said things like this over the years. At some point, someone decided to ignore the sad sacks and do something truly different. Why can't we get someone like that "someone" to work for us. What is our most recent marketing genius AD going to do that the last 10 didn't? He might be really bright and energetic, but I've already seen Band Day, etc. If Eddie George is too old and irrelevant for kids to remember and be drawn to, why are so many good transfers from respectable schools drawn to him? The nightlife at Bowling Green?

Amherst is 2 hours west of Boston

Those are East Coast dollars. The cost of living in suburban Boston is outrageous.

The simple answer is we can't, at least not with the current level of alumni and local community support. That's why I've long advocated for spending on basketball instead. Dollars go further because fewer schools prioritize it. It's also why I contribute to the basketball collective, but not football.

Financially speaking only: UMASS just hired Joe Harasymiak in December 2024. His contract details are: Term: Five years. Salary: Approximately $1.3 million to $1.4 million annually. NIL/Revenue Share: Guaranteed funds of $2 million for 2025 and $3 million for 2026. Staff Pool: Over $2.7 million, which is projected to be the highest in the MAC. Coaching Experience: 2025 – Present: Head Coach, University of Massachusetts 2022 – 2024: Defensive Coordinator, Rutgers University 2018 – 2021: Co-Defensive Coordinator/Safeties Coach, University of Minnesota 2016 – 2018: Head Coach, University of Maine 2014 – 2015: Linebackers Coach, University of Maine 2011 – 2013: Defensive Backs Coach, University of Maine If he gets that kind of money how could Akron EVER afford to bring in a Coach that is going to bring in all of this talent because of their names or what they have done. Most kids on these college football teams were only one or two years old when Eddie George retired from the NFL and would only know who he is from a parent UNLESS the school did a fantastic job of marketing and selling their name. Seeing this NIL/Revenue Share Guaranteed funds, makes me wonder if Akron football gets anything like that?

Not likely to be a popular suggestion, but Jerry Kill has won everywhere he has coached. Get him to Akron for a 2-3 year stint (he has severe health issues) to build a foundation.

Trent Dilfer was a journeyman QB in the NFL. Eddie George I'm not certain is a Hall of Famer, but his career was certainly good enough that he's worthy of bare minimum being in the hall of very very good. He would probably already be in the HOF had the Titans beat the Rams in the Superbowl. He's that much on the fence IMO. He's also a hero in the state of Ohio. Trent Dilfer to my knowledge doesn't have any connection to UAB or the state of Alabama that would generate any excitement. I wouldn't even know of a candidate, like Eddie George, who would both generate buzz and who would actually want to coach at Akron. You have to remember BG and Colorado weren't Eddie's and Deion's first jobs. I guess a good place to look would be to see who is coaching at the FCS level that would generate the buzz you're looking for if that's the route you would want to go. I would also think you would need an experienced staff to make up for an inexperienced head coach. Guys like Deion or Eddie might know football, but they are new to navigating the GM side of college football. Experienced coaches are likely expensive. Once again any route you take you will need a serious upfront financial commitment to at least get the plan off the ground.