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The men's program benefitted so much from having someone like Caleb Porter as the head coach. His personality was entirely unmatched by anyone else in the entire country. He was a one-man fundraiser, promoter, and CEO. To a fault, almost. The U had to do almost nothing to sell or promote the program because he took it upon himself to do that and build the Akron brand. The fact that Jared simply doesn't have that kind of personality is no fault of his own. Administration has been riding the wave he created for nearly 15 years now, entirely to a fault. Now, could they promote the program better? Absolutely. They leave a lot to be desired with marketing in general, as I have said of the last few admins at this point. So many things factor into attendance. Even men's basketball, who is arguably in the midst of its most successful 5-year run in its history, gets bad crowds for a lot of its biggest games. Ultimately, for me, I was raised an Akron soccer fan who knew I could look forward to a handful of things when I would go to games. I knew they would not lose at home, I knew the Rowdies would be loud and proud and make the opposing team's life a living hell, and I could always look forward to 3-4 home NCAA games that would all have an unmatched intensity. Well, again to no fault of the current state of the program, all of the founding Rowdies are long gone and nobody ever cared like they did, Akron soccer is no longer marketed the same way it once was, NCAA rules have leveled the playing field and/or made it tougher on programs like Akron. If you had told me 13 years ago that this team would drop a home NCAA tournament game in the first round, with red cards galore, I would have called you insane. At the same time, if you had told me that general success on a national level has been fairly steady throughout that time-frame, save for 2019, I would have been pretty pumped. So, is the administration giving them all the support they should? Maybe not. But, if you spoke to MSoc alumni from 2008-2018 about the "standard" being the same as it once was, I'm not sure we'd hear a universal yes. Adam Najem said before his senior season that it was College Cup or bust, after all. Akron soccer fans are indeed spoiled by some awesome success that spans across decades. Spoiled to a point where they won't show up unless it's the Elite Eight. But that's also what happens when you have a sport like college soccer that isn't a huge draw many places in the country, especially Akron, Ohio. Akron soccer has a lot of great die-hard fans, but most people I know are only going to tune in when they know a National Title is on the line. You can call them bad fans if you want, but that's their standard for Akron soccer and you don't have to like it.

Interesting read

"I was coaching an arts & crafts preschool football team in an awful city. JoeMo came into Akron, and I knew it wouldn't be long before I'd start losing the Wagon Wheel, too. Truth be told, I probably would've taken a job on any other staff just to get out of there, but when Coach Prime was hired, I knew there wouldn't be an opportunity better than that. Who wouldn't want to work with Coach Prime in beautiful Boulder, CO? Can you imagine my offensive scheme with the top talent he can attract? Now that I've gone over this, your question is really stupid and your need to ask it shows either lazy journalistic practices or a lack of understanding for football & sports." - Sean Lewis (probably)

What a huge bummer. It can be revived though. Charles needs to prioritize this. It looks great when kids show up!

On X I noticed that OL Jordan Hale-Frater (sp?) is also at JUCO.

The 2-3 Providence Friars travel to Akron Friday Night. The Friars have scored 8 goals in their past 4 matches, 3 of which have come by way of #9 forward Brendan McSorley. Zips will look to make some noise in their first game in the Big East. Fans will also be encouraged to make some noise because Thundersticks will be distributed to the first 1,000 fans through the gates. Hoping to stay undefeated and pick up our first ever Big East Conference W!

While the offense does run a number of RPOs, not every play is an RPO. If it was, you would see some type of mesh between the QB and RB every play. To say the defense dictates the calls is somewhat true. Anytime the numbers are even, 5 vs 5 (it’s usually 5 vs 6) or 6 vs 6, a run is always an option. They just haven’t been called as much as they could (and probably should) have been. Lingard even had a 5+ yard run last game when the numbers weren’t in our favor. Coach has said himself that they need to run more, get the running backs more touches, and have the OL run block more efficiently. No one is saying run the ball against a stacked box. Although, RBs should be expected to make one person miss, especially when running inside/outside zone. Also keep in mind most of the sports media is filled with people that never played or coached football, so how they present the information is in a view with limited background.

If these two are our best options, and they are, 5 wins is not a realistic expectation. Irons simply doesn't win games and U is a turnover machine that will cause losing when the competition level increases. QB play is more important than ever. Good QB play is central to winning in 2023. I don't care if that QB is on the team for next year or a transfer to be named later, but Akron can never win with the current quality of QB on the field.

Cross-posting here... Even Joe & Joe don't pronounce Gathings the same way, smh... 😏

The Rowdies haven't had good leadership in a few years. During covid their leadership completely fell apart. Their current "board" has maybe 3 people on it. That isn't completely their own fault, they don't have any budget or basically any formal support from the athletic department. Its been a problem for a few years with campus groups, there is no cross-communication between anyone (Greek Life, Student Life, Res Life, Athletics, etc.) Current students simply just don't know about what they can be a part of. Covid just absolutely destroyed that student involvement.

- Coach knows he needs to get the running backs more touches. - Wants to see better run blocking by the OL. Some guys have been shuffled and are playing out of their natural position. Hopes to have Keylen Davis and Nate Williams back from injury soon. - Trying to figure out the quarterback situation. - Again said WR is the strength of the team and the playmakers are there. - Spoke highly of the defense and gameplan the DC put together. - Mentions the 3 freshmen wide receivers as young guys progressing on offense. Kam Cheatom at DE, Melvin Spriggs at LB, and some DBs on defense.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CxG5AsBRUF-/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== Sharron Young, looks like on a second visit to UA.

Pretty sure Joe interviewed John Heisman when he coached the Zips.🤣

To even suggest that MSOC need to “regain relevance” is a pathetic statement. You have been a bitter old man lately.