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"Looking ahead, rookie two-way forward Enrique Freeman is a name to watch as a standard NBA contract conversion candidate after the trade deadline, league sources told HoopsHype."

I don’t believe Moorhead is looking for a P4 HC this year. He surely knows that isn’t a viable option unless he turns Akron around. Moorhead has spoken glowingly about coaching in the SEC and I would imagine he’d like to have that opportunity again. My point to the OC conversation - and I’ve said this in the past - is that his name will be attached to a position every year regardless if he is interested or not. His success as a HC has no bearing on if he’s able to become an OC again. As far as the portal goes, I attempt to update the 2025 MAC thread on a daily basis. I’m a little behind right now due to signing day activity, but it’s more accurate than any of the recruiting sites, as none of them are ever 100% when it comes to MAC movement. Years 2023 and 2024 can also be viewed under the recruiting section. I’m not concerned with Moorhead’s portal recruiting. Yes, he’s had some misses, but so does every team. All-in-all he’s blown portal recruiting out the water while at Akron. What is encouraging is that his full classes have increasingly gotten better during his short tenure here.

I'm sure there will be more transfer portal (TP) movement, but as things currently stand: Brought in 4 OL, 3 of which were true freshman. I think they'll plan to try King at OT, but I'd like at least one more. Didn't see much to be excited about from our back up tackles. I'm content with our interior OL. I'm good with the WR corps. I'm good with the QB room. I think we need another RB. Probably TP route, but could live with high schooler as both Williams and Patrick have potential behind Simmons. I think you still have to bring in like 4 more TP DL players. 2 DT and 2 DE. Dall is the only one currently on the team I'm comfortable with relying on a lot next year. Good with LBs Good with CBs/Nickels I'd add a TP safety. Like David and Anderson, but want somebody to compete with them a little bit. Backups are unproven. Scholarship chart based on what we currently know shows 9 non-special teams schollies available with maybe 7 real needs per the above? Also have the opportunity to maybe suggest some players who aren't working out to move on and create more opportunities to add valuable players. Zips Football Scholarship Chart.xlsx

My concern is - do the budget-cutting bean counters realize this? Or do they just see the disparity in wins/losses as Joe has worked to pull the Zips out of the deepest abyss any D1 program has ever seen? Joe returned to Akron for a lot of reasons that had nothing to do with football glamour and money, and more to do with running a D1 program, while being there for his family. That remains valid. If we’d just treat the guy right I think we could hold on to him for a while longer. Giving him his training table back so his offensive linemen can be an athletic 325 pounds instead of a skinny 285 pounds would be a great start. There are few Joe Moorhead’s looking to coach Akron, and a ton of Arths and Ianellos. For once, could we not blow it?

Norton not being 1st team is a joke 30 less catches than Vandeross but had more yards and touchdowns.

On phone, so can't post graphics, but we ended up with: CJ Nunnally and Avery Book 1st team all MAC. AD Norton and Bryan McCoy 2nd team all MAC. Paul Lewis III 3rd team all MAC. Snubbed - Garrison Smith

At some point, maybe in the not too distant future, will the MAC, C-USA, Sunbelt et al have to seek a divorce from the NCAA as it is structured and governed right now? I keep thinking that eventually all of the "mid-majors" will come to the realization that they cannot survive or succeed by being the de facto developmental league for the Power Conferences. Obviously I'm thinking of my alma mater, UA, but even more successful programs like OU and Miami will eventually face serious problems faced with a rebuild from the keel up every damn year. Is there even one G5 athletic department that breaks even? No NIL to speak of and even winning programs lose 10, 15, 20 athletes a year to the portal.... It's crazy. I suppose younger people have adjusted to this new reality, but I'm in my 50s; for me the whole system, which was never angelic, is now a grotesque and terribly uneven professional league in which a team with a 20 million dollar roster plays teams without a nickel of NIL? WTF, are we really talking about Michigan spending 12 million on a high school QB over four years? What planet am I on?

U of A signage at every NE Ohio football stadium on Friday nights would have been way cheaper, and way more effective at reaching HS kids. Giving 1.3 million to the Browns, as you’re slashing the University budget. Only in Akron. At least we’re consistent.

Gotta be this for me too. Plus that year or maybe it was 2009 when the Zips were atop the poll, I was at the CAK airport at the same time they were there leaving for a match.

The positive is it's on Saturday afternoon with the temp above freezing and I can drive up in the daylight. Now get off my lawn!

Based on their Twitter accounts it looks like none of the bigger three portal guys (James, Kellen, and Nunally) have received any offers yet. It’s still early, but technically these guys could still come back to Akron if they don’t get the offers they are looking for.

I think we are in general agreement on the OL. Tackle is a large concern, but I am comfortable our interior OL rotation Morris/Williams/Davis/Seymore/Lyons/Mitchell. Might be an upgrade to find there, but it is not a weakness like tackle is IMO.

Listening to Groce’s comments I gather we can expect to see a 9 or 10 player roster until everyone is playing up to standard in practice and in games. Wilson must have had the worst grade before last game and Scott before this game. I do think his goal is to eventually play 11 deep at some point.

Might need three Hoppin' Frog Blonds to sit through this one.

Take it a step further, it's Akron. Do the budget cutting bean counters really care about Akron football or treating Joe right? The main guy on point for the budget is the provost and he's constantly yapping in his reports on the university state of affairs about the drain of athletics. This is why they moved Miller and Guthrie out right? You posted on the UA partnership with the Browns about the Ohio State check. Think Joe appreciated the first move made by the new president to give the Browns $1.3M for 'marketing'? to help enrollment? Announced right after he came on board, ahead of the news of more cuts, layoffs to faculty and academics etc. If they chose to pay the Browns even with the cuts looming, and according to the provost faculty and academics are supposedly taking precedence over athletics, but they hand the Browns $1.3m. What a joke. The Browns have more visiting fans looking for cheap seats to see their favorite team in the stadium than locals. Who exactly is UA marketing to at the Browns games? Why are those bean counters ok with giving away a million plus to a historically horrific NFL team but not trying to get out of their own abyss, making Joe play money games to support the athletic budget, giving away money to a pro team when they have to shell out multi millions a year to pay off an empty stadium built what 2 or 3 presidents ago, and to your point can't even afford to back their own student athletes nutritional needs. None of this would be considered treating him right and that's on the back of a single decision tied to the freaking garbage Browns. I hope they are all enjoying the high life in the suite while UA, faculty and clearly the best shot at turning around football they've had in years all get screwed again. At least they won't be on the hook for the additional payments required if the Browns make the postseason.

Well, first of all he doesn't have to be looking for a "P4" HC job. We may know that soon. The portal has already started to open. We still have to see how many others bail. They are losing key D players to graduation. In this day and age its hard to evaluate a team's overall roster until the dust from the portal has settled. What may look good in December may not look so good in April. I am HOPING that Moorehead can keep most of this group together through 2025 and see if he can get them to maybe 5 wins in the MAC.

And its only gonna get worse. Its the hamster on the wheel. It keeps moving but ends up in the same place. The 'mid-levels' like Akron and the rest of the MAC now have to overhaul their rosters pretty much every year. They get a decent player from the portal. Whether its a DI castoff or a prospect from 1-AA or DII. Those kids either don't work out or contribute little taking up a scholly or they come in, play well, hit the portal and get picked up by a better program. Maybe a few who play well stay a second year but probably not enough to keep the roster very competitive. The 'mid-majors'( with the 1-AA's second) may be in the worst position of all. Their best players are gonna move up, or try to constantly leaving holes in their rosters. Look what Cignetti did to James Madison. Took a bunch of kids to Indiana. You are right its 'grotesque'. What do you do. Can't compete with the Big Boys. Its even difficult to be consistently competitive at this level. Stuck in the middle is know place to be. Either gotta be a top dog or get out of the rut. I know what I would do but nobody wants to hear it again. And, I'm not suggesting dumping football.

I was just coming to post the link. No surprises on who made it. I was surprised that Norton and McCoy were not 1st team. I also didn’t think Nunnally would get voted 1st team. Shows how much respect he had from the conferences coaches. D.Lewis had a shot, but his play dropped off the last few games, whereas P. Lewis got better.

When diamonds are mined they are in a raw form. It takes time and a skilled technician to create the facets that turn them into something of value and beauty.

I think you have captured many of my sentiments regarding our returning team as we know it today. Yet I disagree with you on the OL. I am not comfortable with it and losing James makes the situation more of a concern. The TP may solve that issue as I don't see high school signees or current backups stepping in and playing at a high level. I hope we find a punter as good as Book was and another long snapper. Smith was a better than average kicker who I hated to see go. I am hoping this is the opportunity for Wiley to take the position and own it. We can't build a team with the return of past inferior Zip special teams. My concern over the DL equals or exceeds that of the OL. What a rebuild we have! Dall will probably give us a good DE, but after him who do we have that can put pressure on the QB? Lavea and Moore were emerging players at DT, but they failed to bring heat in the big games. Lavea's injury robbed him of the chance show more as the season went into the second half. If we can find some DT's in the portal we have a shot at 6-6 next year. I pray that the portal will help us more than hurt us, but who knows how returning eligible college kids view staying at Akron, especially if they feel NIL dollars will be available somewhere.

That project has been in the works for quite a while. Glad to see it getting completed.

Some Z

Can't believe how much the TP has taken away from the excitement surrounding Signing Day. For about 30 years this has been like Christmas morning to me but anymore it's meh. Gotta see who we get in the TP who can help us immediately next season. Oh well. Things change.

This is why Stanford hired Andrew Luck as their GM. Most G5s can't afford a GM, which will only add to the cavernous division forming between the upper echelon of P4 and the rest.

I'm not much of a soccer fan, but my best moment for sure is when we won the National Championship over Louisville in 2010!

As long as we’re on the topic of logos, I have to admit I really like these kinds of logos. They say the name of the university and incorporate the mascot. I don’t see any reason we can’t have a logo that says “Akron” and also incorporates a kangaroo.

I thought there were no more NLI's(?)

Our leadership for the past fifteen years has to be some of the most incompetent at any Ohio university all-time. Sadly, this example demonstrates it's just continuing.

Cutting 10 of 19 of the professors in our most well renown program seems like a huge mistake. Hope someone talks some sense into these people.

No ESPN+ for this one.