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Yeah I'm down for the best player we can get at this point, regardless of position.

This is confusing. Why do you keep bringing this up as if it was the coaching staff's plan to play a 6-6 post? KD left the cupboard bare. We had 3 eligible bigs, and two of them got hurt. The third was a freshman. Unless you're on a steady diet of Duke or Kentucky, you rarely see freshman bigs who are any good. Next year we'll have 4 bigs on scholarship. On a roster of 12, 4 bigs is plenty. Beyond that, one can only speculate how injuries +/or development will play out.

If I ever see another ref call a T for hanging on the rim I'm going to have to resist the urge to run out on the court and immediately kick his ass.

I think the timing/chemistry will come as they get more work in on those deep routes. I like his size and burst off the ball to gain quick separation. I don't think he's fully 100% yet, but I don't know if that's accurate. Either way, I think there will be some big-play potential there when he and the QBs get on the same page as far as where he likes them to place the ball on certain routes.

I'd love for the Zips to have come up with another quality big in the recruiting process, but their failure to do so isn't fatal.

I don't have much information to add to what you detailed as far as personnel groupings. It looks to me like they are doing exactly what TB mentioned; trying to find the best 11 on each side of the ball and then the next 11 after that. I think we have a lot more options at the receiver position but it'll be long into Fall camp before we start to see those position battles settled I'd imagine. On paper, we have guys to plug into the holes left by the graduating seniors but we'll have to wait and see if they are "better" as a group than what they fielded last year.

It's almost like az71 isn't aware that we have a 6'11" former 4 star recruit who is eligible this year as well.

Two new head coaches with Akron ties will coach their first games this evening. Congratulations to Nick Dials and Lamont Paris. Nick Dials story http://bit.ly/2i484Qe game video link for 7:30pm ET tip http://bit.ly/2yNJJZj Lamont Paris story http://bit.ly/2zAAEAg game video link for 9:00pm ET tip http://bit.ly/2ezV06D

If anyone attended the scrimmage and wanted to share their thoughts, let's try it in this thread. Here's what I saw... The scrimmage began a little late, with the action starting a little after 9 am. Thankfully it was held indoors. Appropriately kicking things off was a session with the various kicking candidates who rotated attempts starting at roughly 30 yards, and extending out to 50. O'Leary and Gasser alternated, and then Fitschen and newcomer David Albert took turns. O'Leary looked strong. Gasser was short from 50. Fitschen is a lefty who's been around a while. Looks like he's got a really powerful leg. Albert hit one from 50. I don't know what that all will mean come September, but those are the names presently in the kicking battle. Kato and Alex Ramart split virtually all the QB snaps. Drew Hodgson saw very limited action. They wore red jersey's, so they couldn't be hit. The offense/defense portion of the scrimmage began with the offense basically at the 20 yard line, running 8(?) plays each, and then moving back to the 20 and re-starting with the other QB. The 2nd half of the scrimmage was devoted to red zone plays, again alternating QB's. Zips fans should be pretty excited about their 2018 QB situation. Both Nelson and Ramart looked eminently capable of running the offense. As expected, there were a lot of designed running plays with Kato. Ramart, while not the runner, acquitted himself well when he had to use his feet. Said Bowden after the scrimmage, "As much as we're excited about Kato, we haven't really talked about how excited we are about Ramart. He's 6' 3", 215 pounds and in addition to his passing, he runs the ball well. He's not a typical "Louisville type" running QB, but he's big and strong. I liken him to that Florida Atlantic QB (Jake Driskel). A smart runner with good size that drives you crazy if you don't account for him. It's exciting to have two guys who have now been with our program a little while, that can play the game like Kato and Alex." Both Ramart and Nelson showcased strong arms. Ramart threw a nice deep ball the MTB on his first possession that would have been on the money, had Traylor-Bennett not been held. He later had a deep one to Kwad that was dropped. Kato's best deep toss of the day resulted in a 30+ yard grab by Andre Williams. Williams took a big stem forward in solidifying a starting position. He showed sure hands, and looked comfortable catching balls along the sidelines and in the slot. He's also very elusive after the catch. Said Bowden, "We saw as a back up last season that Dre was going to be something special." Ramart threw the only INT of the day. Under pressure, he tossed a ball into traffic that was picked by Bubba Arslanian. A name to watch on the defensive side of the ball is Andy Jean-Baptiste. The 6' 5", 267 pound JUCO transfer looks like he'll make an impact in 2018. Dylan Meeks saw some time at defensive end. Jamal Davis had an active day. Said Bowden, "He's still learning to play with his hand down, but he's got as much talent as anyone on our team. He could've had two or three sacks today if the quarterbacks weren't wearing those red shirts. Sampson on the other side, he's got some real ability too. We've just got to continue to grow them." When asked about the goals of this scrimmage, and the spring overall, Bowden said "I told our coaches I want to find the top eleven guys on offense and defense. and then we need to find those next eleven. We're evaluating the talent level of the team, and identifying which guys we can count on in the fall." Bowden also said it was a good time to experiment with some different looks on both sides of the ball. "We're trying a few different things ...just throwing some plays and formations up against the wall and seeing what sticks." One of those trials looked to be lining true freshman Keyondre White in the wildcat as the potential successor to 2017 short-yardage specialist Manny Morgan. On White, Bowden said "He's 233 pounds...we haven't had a runner like that for a while. He's got those big hips and he's tough to tackle. He's got a place here for sure." Bowden also mention he's following the track exploits of Devanier Floyd, "He's 220 pounds and ran a 10.9 the other day." Abe Alce also enters the picture this summer at 250 lbs, so the 2018 Zips will definitely have a different, more physical look in the backfield. There were only two scholarship running backs available today. Keyondre White and Van Edwards shared the load on the ground. Former DB Caleb Green got a few carries at RB too. He actually looked pretty good. ZipsNation medical specialist Dr. Z reports Deltron Sands is 75% healed, and will be ready to go for the fall. The Coach spoke in general terms about the scrimmage when he stated "We saw some guys today that made some plays...we didn't know those guys could do what they showed." But it was clear he was caught by surprise at the physicality of Maverick Wolfley's (West Virginia transfer) play from the H-back position. With Kobie Booker out for a family commitment, and Newman Williams out with a meniscus issue, Wolfley took the opportunity for extended playing time to steal the early Saturday morning show and provide a rude awakening to multiple would-be tacklers. The biggest roar from the sidelines came when Wolfley steamed up the sideline and completely flattened a Zips CB. If you like hard-nosed, old school football you're going to love watching Maverick Wolfley play at InfoCision over the next four seasons. Another surprise was the play of former QB Nick Johns, who caught several mid-range passes (1 TD) from the H position. At 6' 3", 230 pounds he was a favorite target for both QB's today. Former Zips defensive coordinator (under Lee Owens) Joe Trecey was once again seen coaching along the sidelines? In addition to Akron, he's had stints as defensive coordinator at Cincinnati, UCLA, YSU and some other schools. Word on the street is he's not going to be the Zips DC, but will be a defensive position coach. Alvin Davis was a healthy scratch today. Jest is back and looks to be in better condition than his freshman season. So the overall takeaways from today's scrimmage? We have a deep, veteran defense. We're a little thin at WR, but reinforcements are coming. And MTB will shake off the rust at some point. We have two great young QB's. The depth at H-back might get the Zips playing some 3 WR + TE sets this year? Maverick Wolfley is a beast. We got out of the scrimmage healthy. Apologies if there are any errors above. The scrimmage was very fast-paced, with no time outs. The seating in the Stile Center is very low, and it's tough to see the action when it's far away. It was tough to keep up at times.

Top Drawer soccer....now showing 5 transfers to the zips.....the 3 that are playing this spring...; Abdi Mohamed and ....drum roll, please a young man from Rome, Italy..who scored 10 goals in 20 games last year for Young Harris College https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/college-soccer-articles/2018-division-i-mens-transfer-tracker_aid43621

Here are a few things I noticed. I thought Denzel Butler looked very comfortable covering on the edge. His man coverage was tight and his mechanics looked improved to me. I saw Andy Jean-Baptiste get inside penetration twice early, then get stood up late. MTB was getting separation on go routes, for whatever reason, both QB's missed him deep Saturday morning, I would bet we see multiple connections throughout the year on that go route. His size is noticeable. If I'm a special teams coach, I want Maverick Wolfley blocking for me, he gets low and destroys would be tacklers. If he is catching the ball out of the backfield, I don't want to be the guy that has to take him on one on one, ouch. Reminds me of Peyton Hillis.I noticed Gilbert blitzing (run and pass) around the end, once disguised in coverage. He had a TFL on one run play away from him, reminded me of the way Polamalu executed from the backside. It made me wonder if he is able to freelance like Troy did if he reads the play. Keyondre White is hard to tackle, he impressed me for my first look. During warmups I witnessed a trick play out of the FG lineup that I think has potential. This scrimmage was hard to judge being inside the field house and using a shortened field. The offense was working on particular things (red zone, short yardage...), so everything I observed won't be taken too seriously. I'll be out of town this week, but back for the spring game, hopefully the weather cooperates. Hopefully a few can attend and report.

Love hearing that Ramart looks capable of stepping in right away if needed or if he wins the job.

We only have one big. K-Lac. 6-8, 6-9 is not really a D1 center these days. I am well aware that the cupboard was bare, and that it was not Groces fault. But face it, compared to past years we were SMALL, and it killed us. Two guys hurt, K-Lac in foul trouble, the next biggest guy on the team 6-6. We have to fix that.

We must agree to disagree. EMan may or may not be back. Much too soon to tell. That will be up to his doctors as the season gets closer. No one can predict that future. Sayles was starting to look good, then he got hurt. Aside from not being a true center, my concern is that he may be gun shy because of the way he got hurt. I would not blame him. I am a big fan of Klac, but clearly he was thrust into a role he was not ready for. Sure hope he stays and improves. All that being said, KD was right, we have to be built for the Mac. That is where we live. Over that span of years where we got to the title game year after year, we almost always had a height advantage. Zeke, Big Dog, Pat, Tree, Jake, Reggie, these were all big guys. This year there were times our tallest guy on the Court was 6-6. We can NOT win in the Mac with that size. And don't tell me about the Dance. The game you refer to, we did not have a PG AND two of our starters got sick and barely made it into the arena. Fast athletic guards are a good thing, we are not winning in the MAC without a GOOD big man.

False. We never went to the NCAA Tourney with Big Dog, struggling in the MAC Tourney for a couple years because of a lack of a backcourt. Zeke was a bit of a different player, because he was a highly touted recruit with a massive wingspan that really changed the game defensively. However we lost Abreu, and got stomped by 40+ in the tourney, despite Zeke and Tree. While I do like a good big, NCAA games are won with killer guards and athletic forwards. This year showed it sucks to be young and lack depth. Period. Taking away anything more than that on the negative side is a bit of a reach, and shows pessimism. We have KLac, EMan, Sayles, and Riak in the front court. That's plenty to win in the MAC and beyond. The difference comes from the backcourt, which we need to solidify due to a lack of depth to begin with, plus the losses of Cotton and Duvivier.

I appreciate all you do to keep us informed as to TB's coaching decisions. He's got my support but I just can't get my head around his choices for Offense and Special Team coordinators. We have performed so badly over the last several years in both areas that a change is warranted. I realize this is a pet peeve of mine and maybe not shared by others, but a change can be positive for this team. Coaching does matter as we have the talent to put a better product on the field. None of that affects the respect I have for your informative posts. They are too notch. Thanks.

Appears Roscoe is eligible immediately and has 3 years of eligibility

Another nice article from GT: Zips show potential at spring scrimmage

Cap'n and CDMac, Thanks for the info. It is much appreciated. I believe this team will be much better than last year, but I am nervous as to how many games we will win.

Plus EMan and Sayles to an extent, and add the 3 scholarship players we are probably getting - whomever they are - to the roster.

Yes, this is exactly where I want to go.