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There it is.

I renewed and upgarded season tickets today. I'm frustrated about the post-season ban and the academic failure that led to it, but I love my alma mater and want to continue my support. I hope to see you all at InfoCision for the Wyoming game.

I think this season will be remembered as the Mahaffey brothers season Eric is going to be legit and his brother is the glue guy of the team. I’m starting to think both Start! With Tavari Lyes and Scott

Im losing interest by the minute.

Looks like we have our first Sun Belt matchup in place - James Madison. Nice home game for the schedule.

Pretty much agree here. OL and DL are definitely the biggest question marks. I think we did a good job filling the OL holes. Not so sure about DL. I’m not too excited about the JUCO guys, but who knows - could be another CJ Nunnally in there. Hope more of the young guys are ready to contribute.

Just a heads up—I likely won’t be updating recruiting threads much anymore. On3 bought out Rivals and the transition kicks off in a few days. I’ve already stepped back from writing quite a bit, so the timing actually works out. I’ll still be around and talking ball as always, just won’t have much insider recruiting info going forward.

I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere yet, but big congratulations to Malik on making his MLS debut last night!

It’s the Zips combining. Cross from Royer, flick by Stefan, finish by Buebendorf. Hope for about 20 of these in the fall…… https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLX2CKaAUXK/?igsh=dGpzeDJnaTFibDl5

I'm really looking forward to seeing what we have in Eric Mahaffey. I'd heard that he was so good in the preseason last year that he was going to see some time and be a contributor as a freshman. Now, it is clear he is doing the off the court work in the off-season. He could develop into a fine Nate replacement.

Speaking of Vermont, their soccer team is going to Germany in June.... very good article....about the We Five......greatly helped Vermont mens soccer https://uvmathletics.com/news/2025/6/24/peter-bernhardt-72-champions-global-experience-for-mens-soccer-national-champions.aspx

Football roster has been updated. Looks like everyone is accounted for except the incoming freshmen and JUCO DT Nehemiah Musika, who may just be enrolling later. Also, it seems former UNC LB CJ Murphy has filled the open LB spot.

Season opener against JMU announced for November 3rd. Only 125 days away.

Spradlin did an excellent job last year in year 1 as their head coach. He inherited a 32 win team, but much of their roster was turned over. He still managed to lead them to a 13-5 conference record after an understandably slow OOC start. I haven't followed their offseason, but with a full year of recruiting I imagine they should be one of the better mid-majors this year. A nice home opponent for the schedule.

Another USL 2 goal by Stefan for Akron City in a 1-1 draw with Steel City. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLf5x9Jya73/?igsh=MWloeWJudTUzcTR5cg==

Good news: they can't take us lightly. Bad news: they won't take us lightly. Especially Toledo after last year. Would love to pluck the Redsquawks.

I don't know if this is the right thread for this, but it deserves eyes. Pretty strong finish by Akron in the Director's Cup. This is based on the finishes of every sport throughout the athletic year.

I'll save you the 39 minutes of misery of listening to the podcast. One picks 3 wins one picks 4 wins. Doom and gloom like A LOT of people on here. It's simple if you don't want to cheer the team on then. The team won more games last year and has improved. We have a lot of transfers and a good group of freshman coming in. Give them a chance before you start hating on them. I am pretty sure none of you applied for any of the coaching positions and none of you were offered any of the scholarship positions to get on the field and sacrifice your time and your body. Of course you all have answers from your couches and you all could do better, but how about trying something different and supporting them when nobody else is.

I really like our depth at Assistant Coach next year. You never know when one of our starting A.C. might strain his voice.

Another Caleb Borneo goal

Goal James Buebendorf, assisted by Jamai Royer, for Akron City FC in a 2-0 win over Cleveland Force.

Wise words from little bro.

Paul Hammond was pushed out. His exit "party" he made that very clear. Want to know how much he was pushed.... he applied for Charles job when he finally left. Doesnt sound like he was too please "retiring". With regards Anne, she worked in athletics until Charles pushed her out of it. An terrible decision as confirmed by student athletes letters and emails to the administration after the decision. Again, she would be back in a heartbeat if there was a job available for her. Contract extensions may be public knowledge to those who know how to get them, but no posts online from athletics social media because Charles said not to. The womens soccer coach was a winner at D3. Dont fool yourself. Akron athletics is miles off D3. She recruited D3 athletes and got D3 results - at Akron. All that while being a terrible person. Great hire Charles!!!!! If you are Charles agent - thank you for getting him the move. We all appreciate it.

Looking at last seasons NET numbers is pointless, especially in this transfer era. Even Akron, which was much less impacted by the portal than many, is looking at 4 new starters in their lineup. It's very much going to be a different team compared to last season. Many mid-majors are turning over half their roster. From my understanding the first round teams are matched based off preseason expectations. That would mean expectations are that Old Dominion and JMU are projected to be 2 of the Sun Belts better teams. That doesn't necessarily mean that it will play out that way as preseason predictions are educated guesses. It's the 2nd round that uses NET to determine match-ups.

The bigger impact of the Haiburton injury is it made their decision to let Turner walk to avoid the luxury tax easier. His departure to Milwaukee opens up both a roster spot and an opportunity for Freeman to earn minutes.

It’s the annual bible of college football information. It lists every team’s depth chart, stats, and other info. I’d post a screenshot but the type is so small and packed with info that it would be hard to read. You can buy it online or some bookstores carry it.

Not sure if anyone else has posted this, but here are a few nuggets from Phil Steele: He’s projecting our most wins since 2017 despite the portal and graduation losses. That said, he has us ranked 10th in the MAC—an improvement from being tied for dead last in 2024. (For reference, we finished 8th last season with 3 MAC wins and 4 total.) Coaching staff got a bump—he ranks them 5th in the conference, up from 8th a year ago. He’s not buying into our OL, DL, DB, or ST units though. He’s pretty down across the board on those groups. Preseason All-MAC selections: QB: Ben Finley (4th Team) WR: Alex Adams (2nd Team) TE: Jake Newell (3rd Team) LB: Gage Summers (3rd Team) CB: Elijah Reed (4th Team) My take: As far as preseason All-MAC goes, I think it’s wishful thinking for Adams after what I saw in the spring game. He didn’t have the explosiveness he had a few years ago. Hopefully he will get some of it back by the time 2025 kicks off. I think it’s more likely Mason lands as an all conference WR. I also think we’ll be fine at DB and on ST. I’m more concerned with our quality depth on the OL and DL. Hopefully we’ve done enough in the portal and through JUCO to shore up those groups so that injuries don’t drastically alter our performance when the backups have to step in.

I don't know about an easy win, but it's a game Akron should win. Moreover, it's a game Akron needs to win. I don't know how many games are "must win" games in week one, but this is one for Akron. Wyoming is a known college football brand and they even have a helmet everyone in the country recognizes. Heck, it's the name of a beautiful state. Akron has beaten better teams in the history of the program. Marshall, Northwestern, Syracuse and NIU in the MAC come to mind.

I appreciate their dedication to covering the MAC, but at the end of the day, those guys are really just fans who happened to graduate from MAC schools—so take their opinions with a grain of salt. We should’ve won more under Moorhead. Just too many close losses. If we don’t come out of this year’s OOC slate at 3-1, I’m going to be disappointed. The MAC is wide open, and we’re one of the few teams returning a starting quarterback. I don’t see us winning at Toledo or pulling off a home win over Miami—those programs look like they’ve reloaded pretty well—but outside of that, every conference game feels winnable. I agree the freshman class is legit, and the portal additions seem to be solid. The 2023 and 2024 recruits should be ready to contribute now too. If Tibesar’s defense overachieves like it usually does when expectations are low and we can piece together a competent offensive line, it could be a fun ride this season.

The excitement for the coming football season is at an all-time low. This is due to many, many factors the greatest of which is our losing record for way too many seasons. Despite this there is a core of support, of which you are one, that knows this can be turned around. I believe that too. UA football is not destined to be the poster child for a weak program. It has issues that were caused by coaching, conference, administration, AD's and the malaise of college football as a G-5. Many won't agree with me, but I believe these are all issues to be dealt with and overcome. Perhaps not all at one time, but over time all of them can be corrected or mitigated. This season can continue the improvement and that's how I see playing out. I don't see better than a five win record, yet that is another step back to respectability.

They are professionals now. They should play many more games.

it just needs adjusted. it's too hard to make moves once conference play starts, ie if your conference manages to get enough quad 1 teams in the OOC schedule, no one falls and the bottom teams have opportunities to move up. and vice versa, if the whole conference is quad 3 & 4, like the MAC, there's nowhere to go but down

The thing is if you eliminate it you have to put something in place to replace it with. RPI was an even worse system IMO. Whatever new system gets lobbied for I'd say make it reward teams more for winning on the road against quality opponents. Teams have become too complacent at loading schedules with homes games against cupcakes. You get what you reward.

Holy did he grow. He is definitely 6'5"-6'6". We recruited him at 6'1" or so.

That would be AWESOME! Roadtrip. 😊

And that wasn't even the SEC. That was Southern Mississippi. Corruption runs deep.

Maybe he wants an opportunity to actually play in a bowl game

having watched a lot of Pacers this year, I think Rique really fits in with their style. Hopefully he gets a 1 way deal next year, I think he could flourish

Jacksonville was his only other offer, looks like a pretty good scorer just going off his tape on X

Gross. Let's think this through. As a fan who doesn't gamble, thinks legalized gambling should be legal, believes legalized gambling is horrible for society,and likes good analysis of a game, I lose even more. In order to raise even more revenue, schools will sell even more advertisements to get people, in a very poorly state, to blow even more money they cannot afford to blow on gambling. That means the endlessly silly in game comments about the percentage of the right guard going into a three point stance on third and four. Further, the "analysis" of a game will become even more about telling us about stats and not analyzing the game. Facts aren't reasons. I want someone to tell me why something happened, not the RPMs of a pass. Louisiana universities are now in the business of persuading people to engage in one of the most irrational things anyone can do, gambling. College athletics are becoming more and more gross by the day. It's a real shame and a blight on our society.

People like to pick the language apart, but it's propped up by taxpayers. If it wasn't for taxpayer support, UofA wouldn't exist.

GPA or under/over on wins?

We haven't won a Conference Championship since 2005 - our only one in the program's history and folks wanna come on here and blame NIL for our struggles that have existed long before NIL. NIL is not the reason we can't even compete in our own conference. NIL is not the reason why we got our ass kicked by Ohio Univ 30-10. We continue to hire overrated glorified assistant coaches expecting them to act as a Head Coach. FYI

I don't disagree that the athletes we are targeting play a big part in this mess. The problem is this isn't a Miami (FL) issue where we're bringing in questionable characters, but still winning. Joe is bringing these players in and we're still going 8-38. Akron football is an embarrassment both on and off the field. We should probably revisit our recruiting strategies.

78% of NFL players are estimated to experience financial difficulties or go bankrupt within two years of retiring. So spare us from that BS reference. NIL has nothing to do with APR. Out of 134 schools we are at the bottom and folks have the nerve to blame NIL. Stop it

Recruiting a bunch of dumb kids from Last Chance U who caused nothing but trouble for the University is allegedly partially why Bowden was canned. Hate seeing JoMo make the same mistake for an even worse record. We were already bottom feeders of FBS, but now the team is making the University look bad academically. Enough is enough. Would love to see the new AD beg the A10 to let us in. Better basketball and a higher media payout without even having football. We could house football in an FCS conference, where we’ve historically been much better in.

I did notice that, so at that rate, maybe he'll be gone before we even play Miami.