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Hopefully finding a new spot that isn't on the moon to put a TV camera on

I’m not familiar with this site, but it came up on my feed. When was the last time anyone listed Akron as a recruiting victory? Georgia Southern and UCONN both made bowl games last year. Times are changing…

That's my hope as well (although "peppermint blue with a dash of sea green" makes me feel a little bit better about it 😅) Pretty sure the actual color is Sherwin Williams #6456 - Monkey Snot. Actually, I'm pretty sure that's glass so I guess they wouldn't paint over it. Some kind of larger Kaulig signage wouldn't surprise me either which I'm all for if he's pumping in the dough.

Just for comparison to HS commitments at this time last year. Had 10 and then 2 more committed in July. QB - Steele Wasel WR - Adrian Norton TE - Conner Cravaack OL - Maurice Long (did not sign) OL - Jonas Mann DT - Marcus Moore LB - Joshua Bowen (did not sign) CB - Jean Louis CB - Catrell White CB - Zayden Laing-Taylor

... And stadium...? LeafFilter Press Box at Kaulig Companies Stadium? Nice ring to it... Just saying...

He committed to us early, but here is a nice graphic with Sean Patrick's offers.

I’d have to think they played a part in it. Getting guys on campus is always a big deal. There were 4 camps this month and the staff issued out a ton of offers, some to 2024s but especially to 2025 and 2026 prospects. We’re about to go into a recruiting dead period, but hopefully we get some news about how the team and incoming players look.

Big day for the 2024 class. Here’s DT Elijah Davis profile. Watch how he moves in the 2nd and 3rd highlights. (Hudl film should be linked at bottom of profile).

"I don't know who the hell thought peppermint blue with a dash of sea green would look good on the press box. It looks like the French sent us a copper press box and we let it corrode for decades." That's my hope at the very least - repaint the press box.

Anyone know what this is about?

While I do think it’s only a matter of time that Akron is a top level team in the MAC under Moorhead (or even the top team ), I wouldn’t go as far as saying Illinois doesn’t have as much of a chance in the Big10. Ignore history and take a look at what is currently happening. Illinois went from 2 wins in the COVID year (granted not as many games played, but I honestly don’t know if they would have won more than 2 anyway) under Lovie Smith, to 5 wins in Bielema’s first year (including an upset over Penn State) and 8 wins in Bielema’s second year (did not lose a game by more than 8 points until the bowl game where they lost to Miss State by 9 - not a single blowout loss.) Recruiting, culture, and development/coaching is what sets programs apart. I don’t have an inside connection to either Akron or Illinois, but both seem to now have the culture part in order, development of players is clearly taking place, we’ve witnessed some excellent coaching, and recruiting (where I can really vouch) has picked up tremendously. One of the biggest downfalls for the Illinois football teams in the past was losing top instate talent to their competitors. For the most part, Bielema has walled off the state and is now keeping the best talent home. Illinois has the 2nd highest retention rate when it comes to the portal under Bielema and have used the portal selectively when improving the roster. Wining 8 games last year and barely losing to Michigan was not a fluke. Illinois, as hard as it is to believe, is on the doorstep of being a Big10 challenger. Bielema has assembled a phenomenal coaching staff (only whiff was at OC in his first year, which he quickly corrected) and has now put together 2 very strong recruiting classes with a 3rd shaping up nicely. Akron is a year behind Illinois in recruiting, but Moorhead has accelerated the process by stringing together two strong portal classes. Zips played like a P5 team the last two games of the season in the terms of physicality. That, in and of itself, has me excited about this year. While the offense will certainly be strong again, I think the defense is really going to surprise, especially if we have a pass rush. If I’m wrong, I’ll certainly admit it. Although, I rarely am when it comes to turnarounds. That being said, I was wrong in the amount of games we would win last year. Not sure if anyone could have foreseen the way we lost a few of them. 2023 season can’t get here soon enough.