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You produced more meaningful Zips football content in the past 48 hours than one can traditionally expect from the Beacon over an entire spring.

Spring Practice #1 Recap

Spring Ball gets started in a week! Next season starts now! I'm hoping to see a couple in person, but we'll see how my schedule works out. Is @Dr Z planning on taking the camera to any? I haven't been this excited for both Zips football and basketball's upcoming seasons in at least 5-6 years. We've got something special building at UA! GO ZIPS!!!

I thought the kid showed promise but let's be frank. As a big man he didn't play on a team that was short on big men. Have to trust the staff's assessment on this one.

As someone who lives in Wilmington, NC, I'd selfishly love to see Akron schedule some teams near me. I'd love to see home and aways with UNCW (just won the CBI) and Coastal Carolina (playing in the championship game of the Basketball Classic this week). I'd also really love if they scheduled UNC, Duke, or NC State.

Thanks for posting! It’s just helmets, but #6 (Curtis Fann?) looks the part. Nice size and moves really well. If he moves the same way with pads on, he’ll see plenty of action this year. It was just one play but TE #25 better do a better job than that if he wants to see the field. The one play was an RPO, which is a staple of Moorhead’s offense. Looks like it was Joey Marousek at QB and Cam Wiley at RB. Couldn’t see the receiver who caught the ball.

I apologize for missing a couple of updates. I'll make a standings update post later today heading into the Final Four this weekend.

That’s a shame. I know the first two days will be helmets only, so I’m sure a lot of the news will be about who is taking leadership roles, etc. When pads come on is what I’m most interested in, but if news is as sparse as you say I guess any news is better than no news. Hopefully, the staff will use social media to their advantage and post clips from practice.

B&G hit it on the head, but Akron Beacon Journal is the "best" by default. Also you'll see a lot of the interviews in the sense I was talking about on the Akron Zips/Akron Football social media accounts and the Akron Zips youtube channel.

Which news outlet gives the best coverage for Akron football?

Buffalo in Oats' last year.

BVP was always a pain to play against, but I think we can do better, especially for a one and done player. I think the staff can find a better addition. I guess we will all have to stay tuned.

Could he pull the dreaded “Reverse Bubba”?!

Good luck Sekou! I met his host parents once, they are very sweet people and he’s a good kid. He’s got a fan in me. Now, it’s a huge opportunity to fill a roster spot with a meaningful contributor. Come on, Coach!

I figured BVP was done with college ball, but this could be just what the doctor ordered. I imagine he's trying to go higher though.

Sekou Kalle in the transfer portal. So it begins.

With Spring Ball kicking off tomorrow, I thought I’d go ahead and post my opinion on the prep signees. This is strictly going off their hudl film, as I haven’t seen any of them play in person. Prep Signees: QB - Dijon Jennings = Great athlete and very elusive. Jennings would most likely develop into a dynamic WR if QB didn’t work out. His throwing motion is inconsistent, but he flashes the ability to keep plays alive with his feet. RB - Charles Kellom = Reads the cutback lanes well and runs hard. He’ll need to add mass on his frame to hold up at D1. It’s always good to recruit the home state and Kellom will add depth to the RB position. WR - Bobby Golden = Smaller WR that can flat out fly. Golden is a prototypical slot receiver who can take the top off a defense. As far as year one goes, he’ll likely get some looks as a returner on special teams and may see the field at WR depending on his development and team need. TE - Marquell Darnell = Tall athlete with excellent size. Darnell was mostly split out wide in high school, so it’ll take some time to learn how to play as an in-line TE. He flashes solid hands and often out jumped DBs in high school. The potential is there to develop into a playmaker, but it probably won’t be in year one. OC - Tyhler Williams = Underrated interior lineman that brings Center to Guard value. Williams has been well coached at the high school level and will be ready to contribute as a freshman. He’s very agile, strong, and uses leverage well. OG - Keylen Davis = Wide bodied interior lineman that is strong and agile. Davis brings an aggressive mindset and is looking to pancake defenders at every opportunity. He brings Center to Guard value and is the one of most physically ready OL to compete for starting minutes in the prep class. OT - Ka’Marri Landers = Big bodied OL that is unusually mobile for a player his size. He’s an extremely underrated offensive lineman that brings guard to tackle value. Landing a player out of high school with Landers talent and ability is huge. Once he adjusts to the speed of D1 football, he’ll become a stalwart on the offensive line and has the potential to develop into an all MAC player. OT - Jourden Hale = Massive offensive tackle that overpowered defensive linemen at the high school level. Hale exhibits excellent size, balance, and aggressiveness. He’ll need to work on his technique, and tune up his body, before he starts contributing on a consistent basis. DT - Kiawan Murphy = Stout and wide bodied DT, similar in build to transfer Curtis Harper. Murphy has been well coached at the high school level and gets out of his stance quickly. He usually overpowered OL at the high school level, but also flashed plenty of agility. ILB - Bryan McCoy = Aggressive, hard hitting, inside linebacker. McCoy’s strength is in the run game. He quickly diagnoses where the ball is going and gets there in a hurry. When chasing down the play, he’s explosive upon tackling the ball carrier. However, his ability to drop into coverage and defend the pass is questionable and will need improving.

Indeed. And the MAC is a grind and the MAC Tournament is a grinder. So we don't get too cocky, it's good to remember that, in the MAC Tourney, we beat Buffalo after a Bulls last-second, potentially game-winning shot was a near-miss, and we beat Toledo by 8, while UT didn't help themselves, going 10-of-22 at the free throw line. Having said that, our D was national-level elite -v- KSUcks & UCLA, not letting KSUcks get into any comfortable offensive flow, while also keeping high powered Blue Blood UCLA discombobulated for most of the game. (If the refs didn't cheap-foul Enrique out of that game we beat UCLA.) Add to that young, sophomore-heavy roster the offensive fire power we're bringing in next year with our redshirted freshmen (and the fact they got to witness first hand how good we can be when we sell out on the defensive end of the floor) and I'd like to see us crack the Top 25 next regular season.

I guess you can take that up with the engineers and architects from 1940 if you can track them down

I became a Zips fan after moving to Ohio last year. At times, the games were difficult to watch and the incoming recruiting class didn’t provide much hope. Joe Moorhead has quickly changed that outlook. I don’t expect the Zips to win the MAC this coming year, but the 2022 class is a great start towards that goal. My thoughts on the 2022 transfers are below. I’ll give my thoughts on the incoming freshmen at a later date. Transfers: RB - Cameron Wiley = Transfer from Minnesota. Wiley was a backup for the Gophers who flashed at times. He displays patience, vision, and power when running the ball and could develop into an every down back. He may not turn into an all conference player, but should give the running game more production. WR - Shocky Jacques - Louis = Senior transfer from Pittsburgh. Shocky was a part-time starter at Pitt and is a proven receiver at the Power 5 level. He has demonstrated the ability to make difficult catches in his career and will go up and get the ball. He should slide right in as a day one starter. WR - Alex Adams = Transfer from LSU. Adams was an explosive player in high school that hasn’t lived up to his potential. If the staff can motivate and develop Adams, he’ll be an all-MAC player before he graduates. TE - TJ Banks = Transfer from West Virginia where Banks was a backup TE. He mostly played split out as a WR in high school, so learning to be an in-line TE at the D1 level was an adjustment. Banks exhibits a large catch radius and a big bodied target for the QB. If he can pick up the nuances of blocking, he’ll be a weapon at Akron. OL - Max Banes = Transfer from Houston where he was a part-time starter. Banes brings Guard to Tackle value to Akron. He has excellent size, demonstrates great feet, and runs extremely well for an offensive lineman. He should be a starter from day one. DE - Devon Robinson = Transfer from Memphis, where he did not play. Robinson was originally a scholarship player at Mississippi State and then walked on at Memphis. This is the definition of a boom or bust opportunity. It’s worth the staff taking a chance on Robinson as he possesses immense talent and could be an all MAC player if he lives up to his potential. DE - Victor Jones = Senior transfer from Wyoming. Jones played DE and DT during his time at Wyoming. He was a productive backup who will bring experience and provide immediate defensive line depth. DT - Curtis Harper = Senior transfer from Syracuse. Harper was a productive backup who will likely be a starter before the year ends. He’s strong, agile, and should cause problems for interior OL in the MAC. OLB - Tim Terry = Senior transfer from Buffalo. Terry was a multi-year starter at Buffalo and will look to claim a starting spot at Akron to close out his career. Having a player with Terry’s experience can only help the LB corp. CB - Cameron Threatt = JUCO transfer via way of Mississippi State. Threatt is a long and rangy DB that’ll be able to line up anywhere in the secondary. He’ll provide immediate depth as well as push for a starting position. S - KJ Martin = Transfer from West Virginia. Another long and rangy DB except Martin is a true S. He was mostly a backup at WVU, but did start a handful of games. Martin is excellent when coming to help from the weak side, but will need to shore up his tackling technique when facing head on. He’ll provide depth and push for starting minutes.

Moving was the right choice. That said, it was a cool stadium and a fun time. Not many better tailgate setups than that

Can't wait!! Really excited for this team and upcoming season!!!

Charles is a rising star. He will move from Akron when the situation is right. He is a great guy and better than we can provide. He will move to Syracuse (both his and his wife's alma mater), Pitt, Penn State or BC. All four will put him in a P5 position with more money than he could ever get at Akron. He also would be closer to home, which is Albany NY. He is a strong family man and wants to get home one day while his mom and sisters are still healthy. I can't blame him. I'd do the same thing. One thing is for sure, he will leave Akron far better than he found it. He will make that happen before he leaves. When he does go I will thank him and wish him well.

Surprised this hasn't been spotted yet