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Exactly, I don't care whether the kids come from downtown Akron or Timbuktu or whether they are fresh 18 year-old greenhorns or 30 year old portal players, just give me competent players on the field, especially at the most important positions like QB. If indeed our talent level at the other positions has improved as some suggest, an even average MAC level QB should be able to lead the team to wins.

Wrong. Just 1000% wrong. Akron's defense is one of the best in the MAC. Why? Transfer Portal. Our secondary is entirely P5 and leaps & bounds better than previous years, especially last year. Our LB corps has 2 anchors, one of which came from JUCO. We're talking about a sport where physical contact is the name of the game. Most 18/19 year old kids are physically under-developed compared to 20-22 year olds. Most P5 programs have a better strength & conditioning program (largely due to funding) than Akron. So players are coming in from the TP more developed physically. Especially on defense, the Transfer Portal will always be a huge key to success. Offensively, we have some absolute studs. George (PSU), Adams (LSU), Lingard (Florida), Anderson (Arizona/Northwestern), Banks (WVU), Newell (Arizona State), etc. These guys are being overshadowed by pee poor QB play & play calling. That doesn't mean the transfer portal hasn't been successful. Northeast Ohio has talent. The top talent goes P5. When you're an Akron, you can't fence yourself into a particular area. Northeast Ohio's secondary talent might not be as great as Western PA, Eastern Tennessee, Southern South Dakota. Go get the best talent available regardless of area. The key for sustained success is winning. I don't give a damn where the kids come from, just f'ing win.

At 5:20 pm Sunday October 15th, the zips are #12 in RPI Providence win over Georgetown really helped Akron in strength of schedule. Akron strength of schedule was 99 yesterday morning currently, SOS is 64 Providence was 88 in RPI earlier in the week. They are 62 at 5:20 Jared did a good job scheduling tough out of conference opponents...Zips have wins over #7 and #8...and have a tie against #3 The zips are 0.60 behind #11 Duke in the RPI number. Hofstra is 5 spots below Akron in the ranking but Hofstra RPI ranking is only 0.36 behind the zips. I am so glad that the zips are out of the MAC. Western Michigan has a record of 9-1-3. Their current RPI is 50. WMU strength of schedule is 188. Southern Illinois-Edwardsville has a record of 10-0-3. Their current RPI is 55. Their SOS is 201. Rank SOS OSS 1Marshall 12-0-0 .6733 45 3 2UCF 7-1-2 .6470 2 57 3Notre Dame 9-1-3 .6405 4 20 4SMU 9-1-2 .6366 18 8 5Georgetown 8-2-1 .6208 27 1 6Wake Forest 10-1-3 .6091 43 12 7Vermont 9-2-2 .6000 37 85 8FIU 7-2-3 .5999 33 4 9West Virginia 9-0-4 .5990 81 24 10Clemson 8-3-2 .5973 23 14 11Duke 8-3-1 5960 26 17 12Akron 9-0-5 .5900 64 54 13North Carolina 6-2-4 .5894 16 7 14New Hampshire7-1-4 .5890 49 29 15Virginia 7-3-3 .5884 6 39 16Portland 8-3-0 .5874 65 25 17Hofstra 9-2-4 .5864 46 52 18Loyola Marymount6-1-5 .5831 44 34

Food and a cash bar. A chance to mingle with the players and coaching staff in a relaxed atmosphere. A short program to introduce everybody. Usually a trivia game by the players about Zips related subjects. Overall an enjoyable event.

While some states do produce higher quality than others, I wouldn’t agree on that ratio. Especially when recruiting can be cyclical in states not named Florida, Georgia, Texas, and California. As far as Wasel goes, he would have likely received an offer from Oregon and gone there had JoeMo stayed as OC. Regardless, he is a talent that will hopefully be developed sooner than later. I don’t disagree with an effort of recruiting the state of Ohio, but JoeMo and his staff have a long reach and would be foolish not to use it. Getting the best players no matter where they are located should be the goal. That being said, more Ohio quarterbacks will probably fill the pipeline due to Brad Maendler and his quarterback factory.

I’ll just touch on the recruitment of Wasel and Jennings. Wasel was ranked a 3 star by Rivals since late 2021. At one time he was listed as the 20th best player in Oklahoma. After committing to Akron, he later fell to 28th overall. After receiving his initial rating, he stayed as a (5.6) 3 star by Rivals, which is high for MAC status. Jennings was not given a rating by Rivals until signing day, despite being offered by Kentucky back in January of 2020. However, UK eventually backed off. To my knowledge, Jennings did not do many camps and therefore flew under the radar outside of the MAC footprint. I stand by what I’ve been saying in that this staff has majorly upgraded the talent level on this roster. The QB problem is masking much of that. Arth’s last class (before being let go) was off to a horrendous start and it was unlikely it would have picked up much, if at all.

??? Their HC is in his tenth season. This year will be their 5th bowl game but they have had only 4 winning seasons and I mean marginally (7-6, 7-5, 2-1 in COVID year) in his tenure. Two of their bowl seasons ended with losing records. During the 70s -90s, they had multiple seasons of 10-1 where they didn’t get a bowl invite due to lack of conference tie-ins and bowl games. You’re correct that he barely recruits Ohio, but that is why he has been mediocre there. The Miami teams of the 70s - early 2000s were totally dominated by Ohio recruits, most specifically NE Ohio from their linemen to their skill position players. They and Toledo are the two dominant MAC teams in history with Miami still having the most wins and championships, despite Toledo being the more consistent program over the last 20 years. Toledo still concentrates locally (Detroit), Martin couldn’t find NE Ohio (or SW Ohio to a lesser extent) on a map despite his brother coaching a local D6 power (Cuyahoga Hts). I realize most Zips fans would be thrilled with Miami’s recent bowl appearances but it is the result of the overall weakness of the MAC and the proliferation of bowl games, not the strength of their non-Ohio roster. They have fallen far from their glory days since all but abandoning Ohio. Trust me, I was no fan of Arth in the end, but he was trying to establish an Ohiocentric recruiting culture with kids whom Akron was their first choice. In the end, he was out of his league but right now, it’s hard to argue that his record would be any worse than what Moorhead has done. I get he had a good track record at PSU and MSU ( Oregon- meh), but his biggest problem right now is his stubbornness ( failure to adapt his offense with what he has at QB) and cockiness ( “I could be in the NFL or at a P5 but I came here”). BS - he lowered himself because he was going to be out of a job, but was still being paid the big bucks and his wife told him to take the extra $$$ for a couple years while we’re closer to family, and then we’ll move on. All the QB problems are of his making, he anointed DJ from the jump because he had recruited him out of HS and with the knowledge of a lot of tape from the ‘21 season that wasn’t all that great. He is responsible for bringing in both Undercuffler and Tahj. Finally he recruited both Jennings and Wasel, neither of whom was rated highly by the recruiting services. Dijon was a three star in Ohio, but looking at his tape, he is not a D1 QB, even as a RPO type in Jo MO’s system. The rating was based more as an athlete. Wasel wasn’t even rated until the final days of the recruiting cycle when he ended up at an FBS. So all these kids with the exception of Jankowski are his and the position is a mess. Even if he is correct and Wasel is as good as some people here think, than why isn’t he getting an opportunity in this era. If the kid is a superstar these days, they are leaving after three years and if a kid doesn’t get a shot in the first two years they are hitting the portal. Saving a RS in this situation is stupid unless he isn’t ready. Lastly, all of Moorhead’s posturing since he took the job makes him look remarkably like Sean Payton in Denver. My prediction is he is looking to get out again at seasons end, most likely at a lower figure than he was hoping for last year when he interviewed or as soon as he can get 4 wins in a season and declare it some miraculous accomplishment only made possible by his genius, again at a discount to what he originally figured. After that, I don’t know what Akron’s choices could possibly be but I’m starting to agree with Dre22 that Tyrell may be the only option with his knowledge of NE Ohio players and HS coaches. I still feel Vince Kehres was the best choice when they passed him over for Arth.

NIL, SCHMIL… Our G5 competition isn’t shelling out big NIL money to get players. That’s for P5 programs. Pro teams like the Cowboys or Mets shell out huge money every year and win nothing. The Guardians are always competitive, with 1/3 the budget. You think if Kaulig donated 50k to UA we’d spend it on anything but a sack of beans and some shiny trinkets? The next Getsy, Frye, Johnson, Washington, Jacquemain, Woodson…Dalton Williams…whomever… is out there and it doesn’t take 50k to identify and develop them. Big off-season for Joe in the QB department.

Less than a month before games begin. With no MAC media day to trigger conversation/debate here is one pre-season MAC prediction. 1. Akron - All the pieces in play with or w/o Ali Ali. 2. Toledo - Until proven otherwise, still a power. Is TK changing offense with a pair of 6-10 post players? 3. Ohio - Not much interior size, but tons of guards and wings that can score. 4. Kent - Maybe not the best, but teams will have to go through them to win it all. 5. B. Green - A proven new head coach with proven transfer talent coming in. 6. NIU - Quietly building a solid program that could tickle 20-wins. 7. Ball St. - Lost a lot of top tier talent to the portal. Lots of unknowns 8. Miami - Rebuilding program should be tough at home. 9. Buffalo - How the mighty have fallen. 10. Eastern Michigan - Like BSU, lost a lot to portal/NBA. 11. Central Michigan - Chips always have talent, but just can't seem to keep them around. 12. Western Michigan - Some veteran players of interest but lacking much depth. Overall: If the top six teams all become 20-game winners - and the bottom three are good for 10 or 12 wins - the league should be fairly strong overall. If 2/3 teams at the top can somehow break out that would be special as well.

I’m not suggesting any team ignore the transfer portal. Akron’s improvement on defense is clearly due to the influx of transfers, but the portal is 3 frigging years old and for the better part of the last 40 years, transfers were few and far between. Miami made hay during those years and prior, by getting the second level kids that Ohio State didn’t grab or the Michigan’s and Michigan States etc. There was still enough talent they grabbed from NE Ohio to be one of the two dominant MAC programs. Now they don’t come recruit Ohio as hard and NE Ohio at all and they are no longer a dominant program. I stand by the reasoning that HS recruiting and development is far preferable to turning the roster over every two years and if you can land local “secondary” talent, all the better. Akron’s historic record isn’t good inside or outside, transfer or not. Yes, they need to find a QB from anywhere, but their greatest success was an under recruited kid from Willard who was looking for a good fit. And when I say NE Ohio, I’m not saying they need to find APS kids or Hoban kids, I’m talking the triangle from Lorain county through Cleveland to Youngstown back down to Massillon, Canton and Akron. If Akron outrecruited the rest of the MAC in that area, they would be a top tier MAC program. Miami’s past history proved that, and no one has filled the void. What the hell does UA have to lose trying. 40 years of mostly crap football would suggest nothing.

In their loss to Ball State, they had solid statistics as well, they outshot BSU by a gazillion, which tells me they've at least changed their game strategy and are playing very aggressively on offense, which is great. It had to be a heartbreaker to give up the late gal last Thursday after they played so hard, at least it appeared on the livestream that they were the aggressors.

Chuck Martin has won a MAC Championship, and has maintained a level of success since they started his third season 0-6 before running the table. He's been on the brink of deserving to be fired quite a few times, but has assembled a very strong program that has had the same starting QB for 5 seasons. He has been more than mediocre, especially with how up and down most of the rest of the league has been since 2014. The secret to solving the QB problem is to recruit your own and build them up, as OU, Toledo, and Miami all have enroute to championships and/or appearances in the title. Perhaps the portal will provide the MAC with more talented QBs as the years go by, but most of the best QBs in the league come in as freshman. I want to see what Wasel can do at some point before this season is over for that very reason. Get his feet wet, get him hungry and keep him interested if he was indeed brought in to be the QB of the future.

This. Our QB struggles aren't due to a lack of NIL. Our QB struggles are due to coaching, whether it be in the recruiting department, development, or system/play calling. Next year there needs to be a competent QB under center with complimentary, competent play calling that moves this offense. As you said, Captain, big off-season for Joe in the QB department.

This week's advanced box score: https://collegefootballdata.com/boxscore/401532420 How about that, Akron scored every time they got inside the 40! But they only did twice. So if we look at the early portion of the game, we see that Akron's defense forced a long field goal, which was missed. Then Akron went 3&out, Then Golden-Nelson picked Bauer and took it into plus territory, followed by a short drive and made field goal (praise the Lord!). Then ANOTHER pick, this one was huge, as CMU was driving. After that pick Bullock ran 27 yards to get into plus territory again. Two plays later, that awful, horrible, unbelievable, etc. etc. interception. After that, the teams exchanged punts for the entire quarter until CMU nailed that long FG. Akron's defense gave them so many opportunities in that first half to bust things wide open. Even if it had been just 10-14 points mustered by the offense in the first half, the D could have ridden that tide to ultimately bring us a win. Things weren't necessarily looking promising before that pick, but they sure as hell took a further turn for the worst after. At this point, it's safe to say that the QB and OL are what is holding this team back. Sure, there are things like penalties still and plenty of blown coverages, untimely special teams gaffs, but as a whole, the team looks to be where it probably should right now. Only, the lifeblood of the offense is a mess. My heart hurts to think of what this team would look like if we had even just a QB playing at the level of DJI in 2022, which was usually nothing more than "decent." This season has become some kind of sick joke. It's almost as if a deceptive genie granted all of our wishes. Zips fans from 2018-2022: "Genie, all we ask for is a competitive team!" Genie: "Here you go! They will play nearly every opponent close, and even hold the lead for a decent amount of time, but they will never win!" Zips fans: "Genie, we just want a decent QB this year, DJ Irons is going to be back, right?" Genie: "Yes, DJ will be back! Only he won't be the QB he was last year, and he's going to get hurt at the start of MAC play!" Zips fans: "Genie, all we want is a coaching staff that can bring in the recruits we need to win!" Genie: "Can do! Here's the best receiving corps in over a decade, a top 3 running back talent of the century, some nice OL prospects, a P5 QB transfer, and a defensive unit that features some great transfers and even LBs that can make up for the loss of Bubba!" This is the most frustrating season I've experienced as a Zips fan in so long. It's usually blind optimism only to be disappointed and not surprised. Well, this season has been pretty shocking. We are every bit as capable as most teams in this league, but can never put together a 60-minute game on both sides of the ball. We can't even finish more than one drive, maybe two, per game on offense. I said before the year that we've got expectations now and it was horrifying, because we know how that goes at Akron. Well, here we are. There's such a solid foundation to this team, especially with a defense that's been answering the bell week after week, dealing with 3&out after 3&out from their offensive teammates. A funny thing I noticed while digesting the game the last 36 hours: DJI first drive of the season: Long TD on 2nd play JU first drive of the season: 5-play, 67-yard TD drive Bullock first drive of first start: 12-play, 65-yard TD JU first drive of relief at CMU: 8-play, 70-yard TD What does that mean? I don't really know. I would say it points to having some really good skill players and potential, but the QB play and line play simply isn't good enough to adjust to the defense's adjustments. Lingard has run for an average of 4.5 yards per carry during MAC play. In those 3 MAC games, he has touched the ball 41 times between runs and passes caught. In the MAC, teams have been relying on their running backs for years. It's usually a guarantee that when your RB is the most talented-or close to it-player on your offense, you're going to do everything in your power to get them the ball and put them in position to make plays. Whenever he gets the ball in space, he runs away from the secondary, leaving some of the fastest players on opposing rosters in the dust. Even when he doesn't have a lot of space, he falls forward and finds any space he can to gain yardage. Of all the failures of 2023, the most egregious is the usage of Lorenzo Lingard. I get it. Coaches are stubborn. Coaches have tremendous egos. They're often drunk on their own power. But rarely, and I mean RARELY, have I ever seen a player of Lingard's ability in this league not get used. Even the 2017 Ball State Cardinals, who had a worse MAC season than any Arth/Bowden/Ianello team ever did, had a stud running back and gave him the ball because it was their best chance to be successful. He ran for 1,000 yards on almost 5 yards a pop. Akron hasn't had a 1,000 yard rusher in 15 years. What they have done through 7 games with Lingard has been upsetting and incredibly disappointing. Between Moorhead, Arth, Bowden, and Ianello, Moorhead has still done more winning than those guys did through 19 games. In 2013, Akron finished 5-7, its best record since 2006. They started that season 1-6. Their run to 5-7 and a .500 MAC record kind of came out of nowhere. Even with a couple of beatable teams coming up for this 2023 team, I just don't have the belief that they will actually win. It sucks. This season has sucked. Every game has been so frustrating. It felt like we were about to break through against Indiana, only to be punched back down. I always enjoy going over to BG for basketball and football games. But I'm probably going to pass on making that trip. Maybe I'll change my mind later in the week. Finish...? It hardly even feels like this team has started...

Has anyone ever attended one of these? Curious what to expect.

Ya!!!!! Why should people publicly voice their criticism of an organization their tax dollars support. It seems unAmerican to do so.

After 7 straight league losses, a 0-0 tie...is probably progress. Looking at the stats, Akron women led 17-9 in shots and 6-2 in shots on goal. Next game is at Eastern Michigan. EMU is 1-5-2 in the league and 1-9-6 overall. Would be great if the lady zips could get a win on the road.

I'd like to see the kids from the area that end up at other similar schools stick around to play at Akron but: 1) there aren't that many of them, 2) often, kids want to spread their wings and go away, and 3) why would a kid want to commit to a program as bad as the Zips' right now?

One would think you would be happy with the draw given your earlier post that this was likely to be a loss. Terrible, small field, turf, crappy center ref and an AR who barely did anything except hop along the sideline. I have to say that although I despise scoreless draws, I'm happy with the result given the conditions and shorthanded roster. Hopefully, Mitch Budler's injury was not too serious, and he will be able to return soon. However, I'm totally comfortable with Seth Wilson in goal.

The "Field of 68" puts out an incredible comprehensive preview almanac. I'm probably biased since they are very high on the Zips, but it seems like, somehow, they put in the homework on all 360+ D1 teams. Best $20 I spent this year. They have Akron winning the MAC too. They have the Zips #4 in their preseason mid-major top 25. No other MAC team is in it. They have Enrique Freeman as their #4 Mid-Major player to watch. Again, no other MAC players made the cut. Some snippets from their Akron review: "The 2022 NCAA Tournament appearance is still fresh in the minds of Zip nation. Usually, it’s a stretch to draw parallels between teams two years apart. However, there are some déjà vu vibes brewing with this 2024 rendition." "As a coach, it’s not always wise to look backwards and fixate on what worked in the past. Today, competitors adapt, players change and the game itself continuously evolves. For John Groce, however, a stroll down the 2022 memory lane may illuminate a proven path back to the NCAA Tournament in 2024." "The boomerang transfer return of Ali Ali will light the way, as will the impending return of Mikal Dawson, a quasi-starter on the 2022 squad who missed last season with injury. The reunion of Ali and Dawson is a storybook backdrop to what could be a special season for the Zips. " "Don’t let Sammy Hunter get lost in the frontline shuffle, especially after his coming-out party in March." "Rookie Darrion Baker is a man-child in the middle and may be plugged in to bigger bully lineups. If he played anywhere else in the league, Baker could be a fringe starter." "In short, Akron’s combination of depth, talent and experience is second to none in this league." "In the team’s foreign tour this summer, Freeman displayed a newfound comfort zone along the perimeter, including shooting 3s off movement. That’s a scary proposition for the rest of the league, assuming he can convert at a high clip. The same goes for Dawson, who must regain his shooting stroke and shake off a year’s worth of rust." "Don’t dismiss this perimeter nucleus. There are question marks, sure, but Groce’s hit rate with freshmen and transfers deserves the benefit of the doubt. " "The bedrock of the backcourt is Greg Tribble, a defensive specialist who sets the tone for Akron’s coverage. Tribble’s offensive limitations can be frustrating, but his defensive value more than outweighs those flaws. He’ll be asked to run point in spurts this year, though his upside as a lead creator is limited by his rim-or-bust shot diet." "Another guard on deck is Ryan Prather Jr., a former three-star recruit who redshirted last season. It’s not often three-star prospects are slapped with the redshirt tag in this conference, further proof of Akron’s depth and robust internal competition. Groce said Prather was still nursing an injury over the summer, so he may not be cleared to play until fall." "The rocketship that is Hunter, coupled with the return of Dawson, gives Groce an endless supply of wings and forwards to play with." "The roster imbalance, however, portrays the perimeter as the Zips’ weakness. Whether that’s actually true or just a misnomer, comes down to Thornton, Scott, Tribble, Nate Johnson and Tavari Johnson. Collectively, this quintet runs the gamut of prototypes — but none is a bona fide scorer." "'Guys like Xavier Castaneda, and (Loren) Cristian Jackson — those guys were scorers,' Groce said. 'Our scoring this year will be carried from the frontline. We need the point guards to make open shots, but their primary job will be facilitating for others and defending.' On that note, role acceptance will also be pivotal this season."