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Great context on the current state of the conference vs prior with the 8 teams. Sounds similar to the decline of MAC soccer and the decision to disband all together. Seems like there should be more pressure from MAC schools on the MAC commissioner and leadership as it appears to be in major decline across so many sports. The other thing I think about as we’ve seen this run of success (in the conference) by Akron non-revenue sports (lacrosse, SB, T&F, S&D) is how the state of affairs in the NCAA and the UA enrollment / budget crisis will continue to impact positive momentum and progress. I think the good news is the coaches in place don’t seem like a bunch of whiners and will do what they can with what they have. But I have to imagine Coach Mitchell had a different (not saying easier) opportunity when Akron was at its height of enrollment. I heard or read somewhere there’s been close to a 50% decline since 2014 - staggering. Then you also factor in the cuts made during Covid that have never been reinstated. Different times - sad state of higher ed and college athletics for purists like me.

Hey there @ZipsBBjunkie, thanks for your response. I appreciate your teasing, really. I agree the "jousting" part is all in play. And I agree, all of these athletes deserve their due and recognition. They did accomplish something major, and a win is a win no matter when or where. They are truly champions. Thanks for reminding me of that. Please remember when Coach Mitchell won many, and also lost a few MAC titles there were 8 teams competing, which made it a little harder. And your point on XC is well taken as well. Coach Lab and Scotty were the XC coaches in reality but none the less, it was under Mitchell's watch. I don't "have anything against" the head coach as a person, and I admit I am biased because of the stature and respect that the Akron program had for so long in the 21st century. I've had some "up close and personal" time with her, and I scratch my head in wonder afterwards. When Coach Mitchell left, there were plenty of his coaches that were more than qualified to take over the program on a seamless basis. But then-Ad Guthrie decided to gut the staff and went this route. She was touted on her experience producing 'multis" champions, combined-event athletes, decathlon, pentathlon, heptathlon. During her tenure so far, Akron has not had a single combined-event athlete. Not one has competed in the Outdoor or Indoor MACS, and to my knowledge not one at the Akron Invitational. Her biggest accomplishment, IMHO, was to hire Randy Overby as her sprint coach. His success was followed by Tom Bojalad being hired for throws. These two are the driving force behind the recent successes. A good manager knows how to hire good assistant managers, I get it. You are right, my negativity should not gravitate to the fact that these athletes have won titles, both individually and as a team, in an NCAA DI program in a good solid Conference. They should be applauded and should get the recognition they deserve. I stand corrected, if it came across I was anti-Zips Athletes. It is, as you said, always a good thing when the Zips Win! Go Zips!

First, overall I'm just teasing a bit. Jousting on the board with insights and opinions is what it's all about right? Second, I'm not delusional, I'm simply making sure these student-athletes and the coaches get their due - the joy they are obviously experiencing in those glitzy photos and videos is REAL and winning a title matters. Absolutely, a MAC title is not as 'prestigious' in T&F as other accomplishments, rankings, and Nationals appearances. Maybe the squad is lacking those with Mitchell gone, but the reality is if MAC Titles were easy Mitchell would have won them every year, he didn't. Mitchell had 16 men's titles (8 indoor/8 outdoor) over his 27 campaigns per his bio. If it were easy, he would have won the Cross Country Championship with Clayton Murphy, etc. He didn't. In 2023 the school won it's first ever Men's CC championship. MAC Championships mattered under Coach Mitchell. He won 33 of them! I would argue, Conference titles are perhaps considered the most important accomplishment for a NCAA TEAMS year in and year out no matter what NCAA level and the quality of competition in the conference itself. A conference title is a title for the team. Last I checked only those 'nationally' ranked athletes and the coaches get to truly bask in the joy of qualifying to go onto Nationals, it is not as team-oriented as a conference title is. I get T&F could be considered more of an individual sport vs. a team sport in terms of what matters more. I know to some extent this is comparing apples and oranges and T&F enthusiasts like yourself and 72 Roo will argue you can't compare at all... but think about some of the other Akron's sports that win consistently in the MAC and move onto higher levels of competition and rankings. Swimming & diving for example - would Akron and Peresie have 11 out of 12 titles if they weren't competing in the MAC? Once Peresie's team celebrates the MAC title, jumps in the pool etc. you don't hear much after that about the athletes that move on and qualify for Nationals unless you're a specific fan of that sport. In MBB, the MAC is not even in the Top 20 of Conferences - this year MAC MBB could have been dead last at times Nationally based on the horrendous level of competition. For Akron fans does the weak level of conference competition take away at all from the MBB team result winning the regular season MBB title? Did it matter to the coaches or athletes? Do they add an asterisk by the title based on how bad the competition is? The past 3 of 4 yrs they've made the NCAA Tourny - the MBB equivalent of the 'Nationals' so to speak and lost in the first round, yet Akron fans celebrate Akron and John Groce for what they do in the conference, despite how horrible it is. Seriously, help those of us less informed about T&F understand, what do you have against Coach RG? Is it just the lack of success outside of the MAC, at the Regional and National level? Back in 2022/23 you were ranting about all the wins fueled by mostly leftovers from Coach Mitchell and here we are again with you pointing out that Garretson is a Mitchell holdover. I guess next year we'll see where things stand as you can stop crediting Mitchell holdovers for the team's success. If Akron is at the bottom of the MAC once Mitchell's lone holdover is gone, I promise I will be right there when you ask where I'm at in your post and I'll take the heat. Finally, I am also realistic, Coach Mitchell had a 27-year career as Akron's T&F HC -- phenomenal! This isn't a comparison and shouldn't be of Mitchell vs. Gonzales head to head, but you seem to want Coach RG to boil the ocean in her brief tenure at Akron based on what Mitchell achieved across 27 years at the school. Coach Mitchell is a HOF coach no doubt but it took John Groce time to come behind the footsteps of Coach Dambrot. The reality is many times it's impossible to ever replace a HOFer. I'm just happy to see our Zips student athletes celebrating conference championships as a team! Go Zips!

Been 4 days since we had a post on the basketball section. Just wanted to say... Kent Sucks.

I'm right here. You can post all the glitzy photos on Instagram you want, but winning the men's MAC T & F title, which is a good thing, isn't as prestigious as you might think. Beating 3 other full-roster teams and a team featuring only distance runners is like winning the NEO Quad meet. I respect the athletes ad their accomplishments, but let's face it, Bismark, Garretson, a few throwers. That's it, and Garretson was a Mitchell holdover. Go on out to the TFFRS page and check out how the UA men's times and marks correspond to national ranking. Bismark is at #7, Garretson is up there. But there is only 4 marks/times in the top 150. Not saying the title isn't an accomplishment, but if you really believe this coach is the way to make T & F the Gold Standard it used to be, with 14 to 20 athletes qualifying for Nationals every season, then you are delusional.

As far as I know, this is the most championships won by Akron athletics in a single year. MBB Regular and Tournament MSOC Regular Men’s Indoor T&F Swimming & Diving WLaX Regular and Tournament Men’s Outdoor T&F Also the best finishes by Softball and Baseball in years Best finish by Football In 6 years

Congratulations to Markus!

Where you at @zippy-claws?

Tomorrow is senior day, there is an amazing group of players graduating (Max Bowman, Andrew Horvath, Brett Dietrich, Ian Pennington, ETC) Also Zips looking for the sweep!

FYI, Sept '24 article from Toledo Blade about the Perrysburg HS team and their two senior stars. Too bad we couldn't have gotten them both, but Camille Francis committed to Ohio per TDS. I really hope coach Simonetti is able to overcome her trials and remain in charge for this upcoming season to show what she can accomplish with a clearly upgraded roster. Stability is the most important thing for a growing program. https://www.toledoblade.com/sports/high-school/2024/09/04/francis-and-ogdahl-form-power-pair-for-perrysburg-girls-soccer/stories/20240904086

I don't know who was in the marketing department, but I think Samantha Maxwell deserves some credit.

Good for you.

I'd hate to see Markus go, but since he was either not considered for the AD job, or interviewed and didn't land it, I wouldn't blame him. Candace had already left for a better gig at the end of basketball season. I certainly hope we see a move as far as Women's Administrator goes. Someone who takes a full-time job then dedicates herself to getting a law degree on the U's dime is not needed. An administrator who actually shows up at women's events would be refreshing! And I agree with @72 Roo, Camden was the driving force towards some marketing efforts at the end of the basketball season. Meanwhile the marketing department of 2 was "out to lunch".

Maybe AD will make a run at keeping him which could be a good thing to keep momentum.

I just texted Camden yesterday. He was on vacation and did not mention leaving his position. If he does I would regret it. He was good at what he did. He also did a lot with the little he was given. As the basketball season wound down we started to see some marketing. Camden directed a lot of it.

Uh 'whoda thunk'? I would. How much do you know about Randy Moss - post NFL playing days? Hall of Famer Randy Moss is almost 50 now and has been a well liked ESPN analyst for almost a decade now ... why wouldn't his children have their heads screwed on straight? Not to mention his children also have something called a mother. He had five children with his high school sweetheart. His oldest daughter who he had while still playing at Marshall is going into her third season as the head women's basketball coach at Wilmington College, a small private school right here in Ohio. A friend of mine who lives near Dayton has seen them play and has talked about Randy attending games to see his daughter coach. Great article from the Dayton Daily News which also details his recent battle with cancer: https://www.daytondailynews.com/sports/archdeacon-sydney-and-randy-moss-share-daughter-father-bond-like-no-other/EN2HXLZOJFCMFGGIWTWZNYIHA4/ Appears more than one of his 'kids' have their head screwed on straight.

Heartily agree with @ZipsVoice These are two coaches I really hope we can hang on to! They operate the Akron way and if given time and some resources I believe they can create some momentum for the Zips in each of these sports.

Heard there’s been quite the exodus of Guthrie’s LT / hires from the staff side including Marcus Jennings, Camden Stockton and Candace Smith. Should set up Goodrich nicely to quickly bring in his own people and get to work.

kickaball pod instagram is saying that the zips have added a transfer player from E. Tennessee State https://www.instagram.com/p/DJpe9uDTy8j/ was a 6'1 145 freshman last year for ETSU. From Vaughn soccer club in Canada https://etsubucs.com/sports/mens-soccer/roster/abdi-bahur/6518 played in 16 games last year for ETSU.....Started 6 of the games...played 734 minutes had 6 assists last year. https://etsubucs.com/sports/mens-soccer/stats Abdi Bahur's instagram page...has a big picture...if you look at comments, outstanding former Zips Abdi Mohammed comments about the new Abdi's commitment. Then, Marcel Zajac and Abid Mohammed exchange additional comments. https://www.instagram.com/p/DJpaftCv5dD/

AD doesn't control that budget.

While not Zips-related, I though this was an interesting college football article. Whoda thunk Randy Moss' kid would have his head screwed on straight? Kudos to him...wish his character wasn't an anomaly nowadays. Turns out any temptation to play elsewhere was no match for an increasingly scarce characteristic in college sports: loyalty.

FWIW, coach J Rod seems quite excited about Simmons on Twitter. We’ve added quite a bit of OL through the transfer portal. Hope that unit finally breaks out and is solid.

Damn. This guy lost 2" in height since he committed. His X bio says he's 6'7" 😂.