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It was tough to get to my keyboard this weekend. Here are some belated practice notes - As per usual, there were group practice drills, interspersed with a few scrimmage periods. Lots of work in the red zone. We are going to have a lot of red zone options this upcoming season. It will be tough for anyone to cover Dre, Boogie, Nate and Jonah when we go 4-wide. Someone's going to be open. It doesn't seem like there's any doubt that this is Kato's team. In comparison to last season, he seems much more mature and poised. An Achilles heel of his has been letting his emotions get the best of him. Maybe Arth's calm demeanor is rubbing off on Kato a little? Speaking of Arth, he's definitely coaching "harder" in week 4 of the spring. In the first two Saturday practices there weren't very many critical assessments. Everything was positive. Today you heard a little barking at guys that lined up in the wrong spot, or who didn't know the play. Expectations are higher than one month ago. Reggie Corner was on the sidelines. Apparently injured. Ditto Dre Williams. Sampson and Keyondre White also didn't play. If the number of practice reps has anything to do with the QB pecking order, it looks like it's Kato, then Kelley, then TJ Deshields and then Ramart. Deltron is definitely bigger. Hopefully that helps his durability...staying healthy has always been a struggle for him. He had a really nice 35 yard TD run in one of the scrimmage sessions where he made a couple inside juke moves, then broke it outside and outran everyone to the endzone. Jonah Morris looked very good yesterday. Made some nice catches in the endzone. Nate Stewart continues to impress. He's had an excellent spring. There's no way diminutive RB Brandon Lee isn't seeing meaningful snaps on offense this season. He has the height of Franshon Bickley, but the comparisons end there. Tough runner with great speed. Jerry Fitschen got a couple opportunities to kick the ball through the uprights instead of just kicking off, and acquitted himself very well. He hit a 37 yarder to end the practice. Kato hit Dustin Burkhart on a long 50+ yard TD bomb late in the day. It was fun seeing Shawn Featherstone back in action. That's all I've got. It was more drills than scrimmaging today, so there weren't a lot of "sexy" happenings to report on. The biggest positive I walked away thinking about is - A more mature, improved Kato, plus 4 high level WR's in Josh Boogie, Nate and Dre means our offense is going to be a lot of fun to watch next year. We have a nice jab and punch combo in the backfield, where we can go small/fast with Sands and Lee, and power/big with White and Alce. Floyd has looked good too. And, I think Arth will find a way to feature Wolfley. He was underutilized last season.

I'm getting extremely itchy for recruiting news. The 1st day of the signing period is next Wednesday, but lasts for a month.

I'll start some notes, but I know @Captain Kangaroo has more. It's difficult to photograph, and be very attentive while keeping an eye on multiple footballs and players, but here are a few. ◙ The most positive thing I witnessed, in my opinion, is to see our quarterbacks go through progressions. I saw Kato look off receivers and go to his second option multiple times. ◙ Speaking of "options" I like to see the the team practicing red zone offense for good amount of time. Lots of options for the QB in the red zone passing game. ◙ I think it's unfair to judge an offensive line right now. I would have to watch individuals multiple times. As coach mentioned to Joe Dunn yesterday after practice, I think our run game is behind some. But there were multiple good runs by Deltron. I didn't get to speak with him after, if I did, I would have asked if he put on some weight. He looks bigger to me, but maybe thats because he was wearing #41 with a lot of space between the four and the one. ◙ Coach Arth, and staff, are constantly teaching, he will either tell someone what they did right, or what they did wrong after ever snap. He seems to really enjoy it, and every player and parent that I talk to says the same. ◙ Coach Arth held a breakfast with University faculty and staff before practice, going around to each table for a meet and greet. I think the phrase "he just gets it" is overused, but I wouldn't argue with anyone that said that about him. ◙ Referees attended the practice. There were also refs that were in training. Once in awhile they would throw a flag. Kind of interesting to hear some of the teaching, I hesitate to write what I heard. I'll just say it confirms a lot of what I thought about particular calls. The refs also mentioned a few things to the group after practice. ◙ Nate Stewart made a great case for himself seeing the ball often. He fights hard in one on one situations, and was very successful yesterday. If I'm the QB, and he has one on one coverage, he has my attention. ◙ I wish I could give you more detail about the defense, but I'm only coming up with a few things. Dylan Meeks stood out on a few short yardage plays. I noticed Michael Scott with multiple successful stunt blitzes. Alvin was at corner, and playing well. ◙ Lots of area recruits there. Many from Canton McKinley. ◙ I'll be interested to read other valued ZipNation member's notes next week at the spring game. I will be out of town, so please post something, even if it's just one thing you noticed. If you question something you saw, post it, I'll try to get an answer if there is one. I was told there will be no score or stats at the spring game. I think you will be entertained by this team, because they seem to enjoy practicing with this staff. I'm thinking it will translate on the field this fall.

Right but I know a lot of times we are aware of where our early season tournament will be located. I remember when Groce was hired the question was whether we'd still be going to Hawaii or not because that had been scheduled for months prior.

The kid can sure get buckets. He seems like a little bit of a knucklehead, but he's talented enough that he'll be playing somewhere next year (not the NBA).

Akron to play at Indiana in 2023 https://fbschedules.com/indiana-adds-indiana-state-akron-to-2023-football-schedule/

Here are some images from this mornings practice. Notes to follow.

Ugh. I fed the troll.

You will not mistake AA if you go next week. Abe is a load. I would not want to tackle him. He ran (successfully) a lot of short yardage situations yesterday. The thought crossed my mind if this is eventually his best use to benefit the team, it may not be. But I know nothing about the situation. I do remember coach Bowden saying that he came to Akron because he wanted to play RB. He does exhibit good hands out of the backfield as well.

Arth needs to work on loosening up those hips!

Nice read on how conferences benefit from tourney success. Makes you contemplate rooting for your conference foes a little more! https://www.crainscleveland.com/kevin-kleps-blog/ncaa-tournament-win-worth-millions-which-can-mean-windfall-likes-mac-and-horizon?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=socialflow

Height helps, but ... So does quickness. So does shooting. So does intelligence. So does desire. So does knowing how to play together. Has anyone seen the lineup that the NIT finalist not coached by Shaka Smart is putting on the floor? (http://www.lipscombsports.com/mbasketball/roster/?view=list) I'd take that team over any MAC team other than UB. Someone else mentioned Texas Tech, which is a great example of how "measurables" aren't necessarily determinative. (Given how well TTU played against Villanova last year and then how they've marched through this year's tournament, UB's loss to them doesn't seem so bad.)

They've made the tournament twice since 2006, that's not as easy as you make it sound

I wish people from Akron took 1/20 the pride in Akron that LeBron, or the people participating on ZipsNation do.

Had some doughnuts and coffee and watched a little of the football scrimmage on a beautiful morning, then wandered over the Lee Jackson, as the throwing events for the pieced-together NEO Quad track meet was underway. At YSU Friday on a crappy day, there were some okay performances by the looks of things, but talking to some of the runners and jumpers who were there yesterday to cheer on their throwing teammates, there's a real "downness" to their psyche. There's a lot of young talent coming up, like Nuh Andu in the HJ, Eldesouky in the LJ and TJ. Some nice young throwers as well. Coaches are really trying to keep things positive it seems, and the fact they were able to pull off this weekend says a lot. Then I wandered over nd watched little of the soccer match, and it struck me how, between InfoCision and FES-CCF sits this decaying facility where it seems no one in power at UA gives a hoot about. No wonder these men and women are a little disheartened. I did see Larry Williams on the track talking to coach Mitchell, which was a small positive for the day, other than the outcomes of the events.