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Joe took over a Fordham program that was 1-10 in 2011. He wanted the Zips job in 2012, but UA chose Bowden. A home run hire on every level. Get it done, Guthrie. 🙏

No, but there's a private charter from Portland to Akron Fulton under the name Ron Mexico.

And this is what we call Circular reporting. And how our so-called independent media works now. 1. Take a rumor tweeted out by 1 person. 2. Keep citing it over and over on different sites 3. Now add the work "Sources Say" to the citation. Boom -- full on press.. used to be you needed at least 2 sources to corroborate the facts to run a story-- not anymore... a guy in his basement with a smart phone and twitter account can affect us all. My favorite is when the sites start citing each other as the source.. that is priceless.

A decade ago, the ZN search committee come up with Joe Moorhead as their leading candidate. 😀

Gotta spend money to make money. Commit or get out of the game. Edit: Let me elaborate with spending money on the right guy. Moorhead has an undeniably successful track record, and based on the headlines, this would really turn heads in college football. Bowden turned heads slightly, and the program took a step in the right direction. Ianello and Arth did not. Go all in on THE guy.

According to Pete Thamel on Twitter, Joe Moorhead has emerged as the leading candidate I didn't think he'd be on the radar simply because he's overqualified and too expensive. I like where this is headed!

There are several posters here who are skeptical or disliking Guthrie. Give the guy a chance. Go talk to him. You will be impressed and you will have hope that he can turn our dumpster fire around. He inherited a mess. Williams took the cowardly route out of Akron saying he couldn't handle the changing environment in college athletics meaning he did not want to put the work or commitment into righting the Zip ship. He also didn't want to live with his lousy hire for football. It will take Guthrie time. He can't do it overnight. He made the excellent call in firing Arth. He has put other coaches on notice. He expects performance, not excuses. He has not cut the budget any further, in fact he is looking for ways to reward performing programs. BTW, football has one of the biggest budgets in the MAC. Funding is not the issue. Leadership, or lack thereof, is. All I'm saying is give the man a chance.

A reason to take the Akron job? The MAC East is so horrible that Kent can win it. With just a little competence and some decent recruiting, the next coach should be competing for the division championship in three years or less.

Jonesing for news over here.

Morehead..... I hope it's true. I thought he would be out of our league in terms of interest and price. Akron badly needs competency at the helm. His resume smells of more competency than any other coach in the division or even the conference. Some guys reach their level. Joe is a G5 head coach or a high level coordinator. If you want to lead, you become a head coach. If you want to follow, you stay a coordinator. Joe is a good leader. He did well at Fordham and MSU. He knows how to lead a team. He also developed a good list of QBs. For those who root for defense, his 2018 Bulldogs lead the nation in total defense. He was on a MAC Championship team at Akron so he knows what it takes. If this is true, and God I hope it is, there will be brighter days ahead.

While our alumni support may currently be small, those of us who are still around are die hards. And I see having an urban campus as an asset. It roughly means we are uniformly accessible to the greater Akron area, and many of the student-athletes who will be recruited either come from another urban area or appreciate urban culture.

George reports on the reports.

I think @LoyalZIP is spot on with "Akron wouldn't do this if it couldn't," as we're tied to multiple P5 coordinators (OSUcks OC, Moorhead, etc.). Clearly there's a goal to make a home run hire. I'd imagine Guthrie, not having football at UWGB, wants to make a splash and his mark in the #1 college sport. Talk about a resume builder. Moorhead returned to Fordham (where he played). He's a WESTERN PA guy (Temple vacancy doesn't scare me; this is also why a failing program should get a head start in its HC search), and has history with Akron. This is not a pipe dream, evident by the volume of reports he's at least our top target, with other reports saying a deal could be done today. This is fun, regardless.

I've said it before, but I don't look too much into crying poor when UA makes these decisions. The university has rightfully made it clear at the top that they are reducing the budget and taking measures etc. Gary Miller was brought in to fix that issue, and he brought his guy Guthrie to straighten out athletics. If they couldn't afford to do what they're doing right now, they wouldn't be doing it. Akron has an insane opportunity right now. Kaulig is all in on the university, not all schools at this level are fortunate to have donors like that. Utilize it!!!

I 100% agree. There's a school of thought that Larry W wanted to make the big moves but was always shut down so he continued to make mediocre hires: Arth and Melissa Jackson come to mind. And the Groce hire save the university a lot of $ upfront. Illinois was essentially paying him to coach here. And something has to be done big now or just give up on football and watch Infocision turn into something like those creepy abandoned amusement parks you can find on YouTube.

This should easily be one of the top mid-major jobs in the nation. Best facilities in the MAC, most beautiful college football stadium in the nation, playing in a conference where it's not difficult to attain success, good yearly rivals in KSUcks, Ohio, Buffalo, and Toledo (hear that MAC?!). Akron is the hub of NEO; a football-crazy hotbed. We have to battle the Cleveland sports and the Buckeyes for attention, but if the RubberDucks can average near 5K, there is no reason (if we win) we shouldn't average close to 20K per game. In my lifetime, the Cleveland tv media did absolutely everything in their power to downplay/ignore anything positive happening in Akron (why I'm not much of a Cleveland sports fan to this day), but as channels 3,5,8 & 19 have lost their influence, there's no reason Akron should continue with an inferiority complex. (Though it could take a generation to outgrow.) Love that Guthrie comes in and takes Akron seriously; most NEOhioans have been programed not to. I hope he his actions clearly convey to the Cleveland media, & Terry Pluto especially, to either do the same or go f*ck themselves.

Fortunately for us, he's a much, much better businessman!

Completely disagree. @Hilltopper has thrown as many college TD passes as Marousek and Jankowski combined. In the transfer portal era there are scads of decent, disenchanted QB’s falling from the trees. If QB is a problem for the Zips next season, we have bigger issues than QB…we will have picked the wrong guy to turn around Akron’s football program. Just my opinion tho…😇

I get made fun of frequently by friends and family because they are all fans of teams like Penn State, Ohio State, Pitt, etc. People ask me who my college team is and it will always be Akron. My response is always that I'd rather watch the Zips lose every game than root for some random school I have no connection to (which most "big schools" fans do not). I got a but tipsy watching the Zips win the National Championship in soccer in the packed Barley House and make a few NCAA basketball appearances during my time there. Held the trophy, talked to Faust, Dambrot, Porter and Bowden on different occasions. I feel like being an Akron fan, I appreciate the small victories so much more. OSU fans are ready to jump of bridges because they lost to Michigan. The Zips barely lost to the Wolverines and it was probably my favorite Zips football memory.

Exactly. He wasn’t happy here all year. Believe he was leaving even if Arth wasn’t fired. He didn’t play Saturday because he wanted to preserve his health and his stats from his 2.50 good games this year.

FWIW, Footballscoop dot com posted this link breaking the news of Arth joining UA on 12/14, and the University announced it later that day. They posted this link earlier this morning, playing off the other rumors and adding a sentence that the deal could be done today. The excitement is certainly at a higher level...let's hope it's not all smoke and mirrors to drum up interest.

The Athletic has updated its candidates for the VaTech job, removing Oregon Offensive Coordinator Joe Moorhead. The article was posted 5 hours ago, although I am not a subscriber and do not have an edited time stamp to reflect the removal of Moorhead's name. The other names removed have either been hired (Billy Napier/Florida) or signed contract extensions (Dave Clawson/Wake Forest, Hugh Freeze/Liberty).

Brookhart had to sell Frye on staying after Owens' firing, although transferring back then was a lot more daunting than it is today. I'll hold out hope that Gibson is open to at least listening to the new coach's sales pitch. If it is Moorhead, and he promises to bring in some Jr and Sr P5 OL transfers, ZG5 should strongly consider staying.

Would be funny if they hired his nephew Mike Tressel.

I highly doubt this. No way you could tell 100 college kids who their new coach is and not have anyone "leak" it, especially kids like Gibson that have entered the portal. Then again, a friend pointed out that Oregon does have 4 freshman QBs on their roster, so...maybe....

I’m guessing that they hired Moorhead just now if Gibson is entering the transfer portal. Players must have been informed.Why do it that fast and given the rumors are picking up fast since Sunday. Wish Gibson the best. I agree we will be picking up another qb and multiple positions via transfer portal. Hopefully get a jump on recruiting soon and put the staff together quickly.

With every minute that passes, the NEO sports fan PTSD voice in the back of my head tells me some deal is falling apart. 😨

Haha.

Oklahoma student reporters gathered video evidence that Spencer Rattler lost the starting job following their game against Texas. The blue checkmark is fulfilling, but not the end-all-be-all in today's crooked "journalism". For all we know, these lower-level sites could have studied Yahoo's previous coaching vacancy reports from years past, and seen a pattern in verbiage that foreshadows said-candidate getting the job. For as much buzz as there is for Moorhead to Akron, there's equal silence for Moorhead to any other vacancy. Possibly telling.

Thinking that it came down to both Moorhead and Wilson. Guessing Wilson is plan b if they can’t get the deal done today with Moorhead. Tonight it should be done with the contract. Guessing they were ready to make an offer after the Toledo game since it leaked out Sunday. Agree with ya, either one would be acceptable and have Div 1 experience at power 5. This would be a great way to start the new 2022 campaign before the end of November.

I'm bored: $725,000 in Eugene, Oregon: https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/85782-Lorane-Hwy_Eugene_OR_97405_M14029-44351 $567,000 in Akron, Ohio: https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/1538-Acacia-Dr_Akron_OH_44333_M34972-37001

That was the original headline. For the link text, I copy & pasted the first line of the article to reflect the Yahoo report confusion. Regardless, there is an awful lot of smoke for there not to be a fire here.

No idea what the rules are with contracts and the regular season coming to a close, but IF these rumors are true, I couldn't be happier to welcome Coach Moorhead back, or even the guy from O$U. Both would give immediate credibility to a program where even most of us fans were wondering what kind of candidates would be drawn to this job. I am through the roof with optimism. Don't ruin this for me, UA.

He can be the change of that though, and that challenge should excite any coach. Winning will help! And the money will work itself out. Well, I hope it doesn't come down to that....but it could. I'm trying to be positive here haha.

Even as an Akron fan and proud alum, I can't imagine turning down a salary of over a million dollars to leave Oregon and coach in front of a few hundred fans every Saturday.

We are getting our hopes up but I would love some Oregon style uniforms...all in gold!

I'm not sure how I'm supposed to work today with this potential news. Constantly refreshing Zipsnation and twitter.

Wow, both Joe Moorhead and Kevin Wilson in the discussion legitimately? YES!! I'm getting EXCITED about the possibilities of this hire!!

I found a couple of articles. If these have been posted, I apologize. One looks to be recent regarding Ohio State's Kevin Wilson, the others are a few days old. https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ncaafb/update-on-akrons-coaching-search/ar-AAR6eTy?ocid=uxbndlbing https://247sports.com/Article/Akron-coaching-search-Ohio-State-OC-Kevin-Wilson-reportedly-drawing-interest-from-Zips-176556382/ https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/packers-qb-coach-luke-getsy-a-candidate-for-akron-hc-job-per-report/ar-AAQPoJo?ocid=uxbndlbing

I know it seems fars off into the future, but I believe the Zips are on the verge of much better days. It has everything it needs to be successful and just needs some consistent winning with a competent coach. Once they win, they can then really make the University something that benefits the players, students, alumni, fans and general communities around Akron. This will be the difference between good and great.

Miami went for two in the first OT. There is a great screen shot of the two point conversion try where the Kent CB jumped the route to knock down pass, but right in the Miami QBs line of vision, the TE is wide open on goal line. That’s how close Kent was from sitting at home today at 6-6 and being left out of bowls, (and they would’ve like Miami will due to more 6-6 teams than bowl spots). Instead we have to read about how great Lewis is from John Telich and Terry Pluto. Yes, he has improved their fortunes, but they still have no defense and the recent success comes primarily from his move of desperation two years ago to finally play Crum. Minus that, they’re probably sub .500 and still the same Kent. The guy who should be out along with Arth is Martin at Miami. Total mediocrity for 8 years at the historically best program in the MAC. Their administration won’t pay him a $1.25 million payout so they’re stuck. Unlike most of ZN.o, I am not yet a fan of Guthrie, but I will say I found it refreshing that he didn’t let Arth’s payoff paralyze the need to make a change. Arth’s biggest failure was not the lack of talent or choice of local character kids (in which there were failures on both counts there) but his choice of defensive assistant’s and his relegation of OC duties to Gasser. He was a cancer to most of the players/coaches and terrible in his personnel evaluations. Here is hoping the new coach brings in experienced FBS assistants.

When I was listening to the post game interview with Joe Dunn and ORod started to cry, I felt for him. He has been through a lot and I think it all hit him at once. I wouldn't mind seeing him stay on as an assistant. but I am pretty darn sure that ship has sailed. I wish him luck in the future.

I'm not gonna get on Rodriguez too much. He, like most of the staff, was completely in over his head. Take an assistant that's in over his head and promote him to head coach, and that's what you get. Coach Rod is a tremendous person and a great story. I have no doubt he will be a great college football coach some day. Like most guys on this staff, including Arth, they benefitted from a very poorly done coaching search, and for Rod in particular, he jumped onto Arth's staff from D3 right before the 2018 season and then we know what happened from there. When you consider the timeline of how things have gone down with this program since the win over Ohio in 2017, it's like Murphy's law outside of the wins over Kent x2 and Northwestern. The program has been in the tank ever since they got blown out by Miami on homecoming in 2018. It's really quite remarkable. At the end of the day, when I think Akron football 2019-2021, I think "overmatched." Overmatched in every way. Got manhandled nearly every single game with a couple close losses and a couple of wins. I'm still baffled that Dustin Fox had the cajones to say Arth was about to turn the corner and that it was a terrible move to get rid of him. Nowhere else in America would Arth have survived too long past the 2019 year. I'm so tired of coach talk and speculation. This news release cannot come soon enough.

Dino Babers is going to be available in about 20 minutes.

That dude was tough. Nut case. But tough.

Your guess is music to the ears of D3 coaches across the country.

Moorhead was another guy who always struck me as a douche bag on a personal level. Ego the size of Texas, and he's another guy who would just use this job as a stepping stone. Also, his offenses were good in comparison to what we've seen the last few years, but still didn't put up close to the numbers of Winters. Edge to the true Akron guy. Winters > Moorhead