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Said it before say it again. The problems with this program go beyond 1 coach or a few players. This is and has been an organizational problem for literally decades. And now with the changes in DI college football, programs like Akron etc. are just going to fall further behind. Agree with kreed can't put lipstick on a pig. A shame. A winnable game.

I haven't read the finer details of Joe's contract, but it appears his base salary is $620K and he still has two years left on his contract. That's 1.24 million in total. The buyout language in his contract says we would owe him 75% of that total. That would amount to $930K. I can't see how Akron could financially afford to pay that when we couldn't even afford a training table that costs $3k-$5k. Furthermore, it's not like we have Nick Saban waiting on the sidelines wanting this job. The Akron job is among the bottom 5 jobs in all of FBS as we have poor funding and little to no NIL in a day and age where money means more than it ever did. Hell, if the University just gave Moorhead $465k in NIL each of the next 2 years (amounts to what his buyout would be), Akron would probably be in a better position competitively than paying that to him to not coach. The reality is whatever coach we bring in is setup to fail and in 2 or 3 years we will be asking to pay his $1 million buyout as well. At some point this chain needs to be broken. To clarify, I'm by no means trying to defend Moorhead. I just realize Akron has much deeper problems and trying to slap a bandaid on it by bringing in a new coach is simply not going to work. If they want to compete they need to better engage the community and in particular wealthy alumni and local businesses. These are 18-23 year old kids who are now hired mercenaries. They will go to the highest bidder and frankly we can't compete financially without external help.

Really got no problem with that loss so long as we beat UConn on Friday. We played well enough to win but we lacked brilliance in the final third. Vermont, on the other hand, possessed that one moment of offensive brilliance. And that made the difference. Their goal was special, with a high degree of difficulty. No reason for Zips to hang their heads. Back to work.

I find it amusing that on the morning after that loss the athletic department sends out an email announcing 50 days until the basketball season

Defense pitched a shutout in the second half to boot…

Not trying to stir the pot at all, but why would anyone think that getting rid of joe is going to solve anything? the players that can are going to go where they can get money. until akron starts having money to pay the players akron will be a stepping stone. kids will come here because "it's D1" and they will hope to get film to bounce as soon as they can. example marcus moore left being a starter to get "paid" and is fourth string at purdue- hasn't played a snap. over half of Akrons team wasn't even on the roster last year. i don't agree with some player decisions that are playing and getting an absurd amount of playing time, there is only one starter from last on offense 2 if u count polk... an entirely new defensive line except bruno who stands out because nobody is doing anything. he is barely average to D1 ends. there are only 99 d ends in ALL of D1 who are ranked LOWER than Durham, yet he has more snaps than anyone on defense. it is a very tough position for any coach

You spend others money so easily.

It is so fitting that Akron and the Cleveland Browns are partners. Last Sunday, the Browns held the Bengals to 7 yds of total offense in the second half and lost. Last night, the Zips held UAB to 0 second half points and lost. When there's no mental pressure on Finley, he's a fine MAC QB. The moment any weight gets put on his shoulders, he folds like a very cheap lawn chair. He brought the Zips back from the dead in that game, but once it got within a score, he panicked in the pocket, missed his reads, etc. Someone on the Zips fan Facebook group stated they were at the game and heard tons of chaos on the Zips sideline. JoeMo was yelling at people and there was tons of confusion with play calls. JoeMo has to go. Let the interim coach get his feet wet vs. Duquesne. This program needs a glimmer of hope and that can only be accomplished with a HC search. UAB and Wyoming were the cornerstone pieces of a successful season this year. Two pathetic G5 programs with semi-decent name recognition, and we flopped vs. both. Bye Joe.

And then Finley panics when he can step up in the pocket and Akron gives the ball back.

Zips football has taught me to be careful what you wish for. It can, and usually does, get worse. Unless we can come up with an absolute slam dunk of a coach I don't think it's going to make a difference.

They forgot the question

Not sure if this has been mentioned. But I was confused as to why the UAB players all had different names on the jerseys. They are wearing the names of kids battling serious illnesses and they give the jerseys to the kids at the end of the season. Pretty awesome gesture.

Well I hope so. But I think the Zips are going to have to fire him. The new AD has his opportunity to prove he's serious about improving the program.

If Joe leaves, he'll be on staff somewhere as a coordinator or assistant making as much as he does at Akron.

I still think that donor money would be better spent on NIL. Donors only have a finite amount of money they're willing to give. $1 million in additional NIL could greatly revamp our offensive and defensive lines. Probably make both units at or near the top of the MAC. @LZIp made a comment the other day about how Akron is at the bottom spending in the MAC, but I pointed out those numbers don't include how much we're spending on Infocision debt financing. With it included we're actually near the top. It's not just about how much money you have to spend, but how efficiently you spend it. Paying a near 7 figure buyout to a coach has to rank at the absolute bottom of efficiency spending. At Akron we need to make our dollars go further, not further handicap ourselves.

In 1987 we got our first D1 win against EMU three games in also. It was nice. Too bad it was our last for the year that ended up 4-7.

Uncle.

Saturday evening scores Number 17 Bryant with a 2-1 win at Providence Creighton gets a 3-0 home win over Oral Roberts Harvard went on the road and played a 1-1 draw at UConn Ohio State with a 4-0 road win at Butler Green Bay 1 Northern Kentucky 0 (game was at NKU) Georgetown gets a 4-0 home win over Rider Marquette 1 Lipscomb 0 Cleveland State and Milwaukee 0-0 result (at MW) Drake earned a 1-0 win at Home over DePaul not zip opponent related...High ranked teams found some trouble this weekend...Saturday night - Michigan 3-2 win over #1 Indiana ; Virginia battled to a 1-0 win over number 6 Louisville ; Friday night - #2 Clemson and SMU 1-1 tie ; #4 Wake Forest and #21 UNC 1-1 tie ; Furman put a 4-1 beatdown on #7 Gardner Webb. (Gardner Webb and Louisville had both been 5-0-0 before this weekend)...When I look at Gaucho Dan RPI this morning, it appears that Lindenwood, Delaware and Utah Valley are the only teams that do not have a loss or tie at this point of this season. #5 NC State will likely be the new #1 team when the polls come out.

Don’t turn it over, actually win the turnover battle, rack up 441 yards of offense, and still find a way to lose. Rough.

So we looking at what, maybe 1-11 this year? Figure Duquesne is bad enough to squeak by with a 21-14 win? That good enough for another two year extension for the offensive genius? The defense isn't anything special, but there's guys who could get a few NIL dollars from other teams on there...how many of them watching this nonsense and thinking "ya know, I could save my eligibility if I stop after four games."

I will never get those 3.5 hours of my life back.

I'm shocked this drive went off the rails.

I predict Bruno gets stolen by Purdue as soon as this season’s over.

Please do not throw the ball here….

Yeah. Sure, it can get worse. But it's time to see if it might be able to get better.

That was a good fourth down stop to start the second half.

Our safeties can’t hold up in man against these receivers, and we can’t generate pressure without bringing extra bodies. That’s a tough spot to be in.

Insert "ineligible for Bowl" joke here

Unbelievably stupid and undisciplined

Incredible. Leave Joe Mo in Birmingham. He loves The South.

Seems like Akron is the better team today, just can't manage to get it into the onion sack. 10 shots to 5. 5 corners to 2. 10 minutes to make it 1-1, or we fall for first time

Professionals versus amateurs, and that's precisely why there needs to be another division in college football that the entire MAC moves to.

So you're saying there is room for one more...

The Zips are in the FBS. "When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser." -- Socrates. Translation - when you start the name calling, your credibility immediately goes in the toilet.

I've been researching the roster limits and I believe the players who were walk-ons are grandfathered in - so Groce and Halligan wouldn't count toward the 15 player limit. They apparently did this so existing walk-ons weren't forced out of programs.

In addition, MAC kickers would miss 11 FGs in overtime until one team finally made one.

Thanks for the kind words. Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere regardless of Moorhead’s status. Sure, Moorhead coming to Akron and my family’s move to Ohio may have sparked my initial interest, but now I’m in it for the long haul. My kids look forward to going to an Akron game with me every year, and I’d be thrilled if any of them ended up attending Akron someday. It’s also been a pleasure meeting some of the posters here in person. I’m going to go on a bit of a rant here with my disappointment on how things have gone since Moorhead took over. Like I’ve said before, there are certain turnarounds in college football I really enjoy following. The two other programs I’ve kept an eye on are South Carolina and Illinois. Forget for a moment that they’re P4 and Akron is G5—the similarities are still there. All three were sitting in the bottom third of their conferences when their current head coaches took over. None of them are near the top of their conferences in NIL money. And the general consensus from the media and most college football fans was that it was impossible to win at those schools. Fast forward a few years, and two of the three are sitting in the top 11 nationally, depending on which poll you look at. All three schools have also assembled excellent staffs. Just the other day I was talking with a colleague who played at Bowling Green and later coached at Syracuse. We got on the topic of MAC football, and unprompted he mentioned what a great staff Moorhead has put together at Akron with limited funds. I had to agree. The flip side is recruiting. Because without great players, it really doesn’t matter how good the coaching is—wins will always be hard to come by. I’ve coached for well over a decade and also worked on the recruiting services side of things. From my perspective, Moorhead has brought in a lot of talent, but it just hasn’t translated into wins yet. Recruiting services will disagree, but here’s some context: most analysts have little to no football background—they’re writers. They put too much stock into measurables and camp performances without pads. On top of that, programs with long track records of success almost always get the benefit of the doubt with rankings. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a kid commit to South Carolina as a two- or three-star, only to decommit, flip to Georgia or Alabama, and suddenly get bumped to four stars. Same story with Illinois versus Michigan or Ohio State. I say all this because Akron football seemingly has what it needs in place to win right now—and just isn’t. I can’t explain why the offense looked like year one with a brand-new staff when this is year four with a returning starting quarterback who has the physical tools to make just about every throw at this level. I don’t have an issue with Moorhead being open about what the program is lacking financially. What I do have an issue with is the lack of wins despite a dramatically upgraded roster compared to when he took over and a really strong staff in place. All that said, I’m still hoping this week is the spark that finally gets the long-awaited wins rolling—and that I look foolish for even posting this. It’s past time.

If this year’s team can’t at least get to six wins with a schedule that features two three-win G5 teams from last season, an FCS opponent, and five MAC programs breaking in new head coaches, then some changes need to be made.

Hilarious when folks crap on how Ohio State moves when our own team ain't worth the price of a Jersey Mikes Giant Sub to watch in person and on tv