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I was able to attend today's scrimmage. Below are my notes. I will say - I am very excited for our offense! And I'm a very pessimistic guy who has soured on college sports in the NIL era. The Zips are legitimately 4-deep at WR, and have a QB that can get them the ball! Poffenbarger (#7) is the real deal. Based only upon today's scrimmage, he appears to be a poised version of Finley. His arm is "strong enough." His accuracy is excellent, but he doesn't seem to panic like Finley often did. He goes through his progressions and makes good decisions. Joey Castle looks to be the punter again Sean Patrick and Brandon Hills were the punt returners Poffenbarger got the starters reps. Ruggow was with the 2nd unit and Broughton was with the 3rd. Beals also got some PT and looks good for a guy who should be going to his high school prom next month Old friend and former Golden Gopher Marquise Williams busted a nice 30 yard TD. He played on the 2nd unit. Starting OL was 71(LT)/58(LG)/72(C)/52(RG)/50(RT) 83 and 84 got the bulk of the TE work #7 tossed a nice slant TD to Marcel Williams (#2) in tight coverage. Right on the money. Schramm had a so-so day kicking. Missed a 50 yarder badly to start the scrimmage. Nailed a 45 yarder with plenty of room to spare later in the day. Then missed a 35 yarder from the center of the field. Kyan Mason looks as good as ever. So glad he stayed. 2nd unit OL 57/70/62/58/75 Ruggow hit Jean Louis (#9)on a nice 25 yard slant. Overall, Ruggow has a decent day. #25 Chris Gee was present, but in a red jersey and didn't play. He looked to be in great shape. 1st Unit DL was: 16/5/97/10 2nd unit DL was: 90/52/51/50 Broughton hit Hills on a quick sideline pass that hills turned into a 40 yard scamper to the endzone. I look for Hills to have a big year. He had a standout scrimmage. Dwight Nonou and Israel Duncan got 1 team LB reps. Duncan (#92)is listed as a DE, but played LB. Reminds me a little of Dall. His hair is fantastic! #21 Catrell White dropped an INT from the hand of Poffenbarger. It was his one bad toss of the day...either that, or the receiver messed up his route. Who knows. First unit secondary appeared to be: 21/9/20/15/29 #81 Juke Sivon hauled in a 40 yard slant from Poffenbarger and took it to the house. Overall a great day for the WR's. Sivon is my "Sleeper of the Year".

NCAA tournament to go to 76 teams. All the 16 seeds and half of the 15 will play in the opening round. Just another excuse to shove the automatic qualifiers down further so they can shove a few more P4 teams in. I hate college sports more everyday.

Hello Zips Nation, The current software utilized for our site will cease to receive support. We will transition to Invision’s new Community platform. While the transition is anticipated to be seamless, it is important to acknowledge that minor challenges may arise. I have commenced preliminary work on the backend. The login process has to undergo a modification for enhanced security for the new software. Users will no longer be permitted to log in using their display name; instead, they will be required to utilize their email addresses. This change will be implemented in the near future. Sometime this summer, prior to football season, I will execute a comprehensive upgrade. This process may result in changes to the look and interactive elements of our site. I am providing this notification to ensure that all users are informed. I will post updates in this thread before proceeding with the full upgrade. Kind regards, Dr Z

Mahaffeys are at the presser.

Sad to see a "rafterable" player leave so soon, but that's the way it will be for the rest of our lifetimes. I saw worthless talking head Clark Kellogg state "The mid-majors are losing their veteran players to P4 programs, but they're getting a better caliber of Freshmen than ever before. So it's a wash." You know what they say when a Freshman redshirts? "You're trading your worst year for your best (5th) year." The Zips now get a Freshman for his worst year, and P4 programs get him for his best years. Definitely a "wash." 🙄

Worth noting just 71 players have filed as early entry candidates for NBA Draft 2026, the lowest total in over 20 years. With the player pool much smaller than usual, maybe there's a shot? I would think a summer camp invite, at least.

oh man I thought I was done reading this stuff like 4 years ago

He played well overall. Along with the 13/7 he also had 2 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. His +/- of 25 led the team.

Jacob Thomas, one of our student managers, wins the Internet today. He posted this on his IG.

I think one or two from this board would be fine because I'm sure a lot of our opinions would be repetitive

Yeah, I’m on a different page than many of you. I hate seeing the top talent from our conference get lured away. I want to win the MAC at its strongest.

This one hurts. I will never forgive John for poaching our guys.

According to an email from Coach Embick about Day of Giving, the 2026 home schedule features matches against the following (potentially more as he said they are finalizing some dates). Dayton, Army, Wake Forest, Syracuse, Creighton, Georgetown, Xavier, Butler and Robert Morris

This is a fantastic home schedule. We will see some of the best collegiate soccer in the country. I am so glad we got out of the MAC and into the Big East. We need big crowds for each of these games to cement our reputation as a near impossible place for visiting teams to win.

Softball won two more yesterday and are now 19-4 in the MAC with 4 conference games left. 2nd and 3rd place both have 14 wins but have more games remaining so I don't think we've quite clinched the regular season title but are getting very close.

I received mine yesterday as well. I plan to get a case and display it in my home office. There have been some talks here about how the success of the program warrants our attention, but it's also great seeing Ford, Bud, and the assistants engage the fan base. In a day and age where college athletics has become more transactional, it's great to still see the sense of community they're trying to instill in the program. They genuinely seem to want to be here and do great things.

Such a big get. 6'6" G that had 23 vs. Wake Forest in the NIT, 13 vs. Auburn in the NIT Final Four, etc. Comes from a winning program. LOVE this signing.

I am a life long Republician and there is NO WAY I would ever vote for Vivek after his simplistic attitude towards higher education. Simply put, The University of Akron is now stronger academically than ever in its history. The strength of undergraduate/graduate programs in Engineering, Business, Nursing, Law, Psych, Speech Audiology, and even unheralded programs like Geology and PoliSc/Law are numerous (I have left out some other strong programs just for brevity). How many schools can boost the world's best program in any discipline? Admittedly The University bears some responsiblilty for not promoting itself as much as it should have given its strengths but the facts are still the same. In addition, The University is doing an excelllent job of producing "career-ready" graduates- not everyone but some of that blame is on the students for not taking advantage of opportunities provided by UA that are essential in today's more difficult job market. It is inexcusable for any public figure to take such a sophomoric rather than qualitative view of Universities. He has lost this Republician vote forever. I would rather be Forever A Zip!

That's why Kent made it "kids day" and had activities for the kids with the football players being involved with the kids. Yeah, it was bad football...but I bet they made a couple fans for life because they actually tried to.

This could’ve been prevented if Zipsnation members were on the fan council.

With the Hustle Belt going under and not much news coming out about the football program, I figured I’d fire up the position previews again. I stopped updating them before because it got to be too much balancing a full-time job, writing for Rivals, and trying to keep up with the insane amount of portal movement. I’m going with a slightly different format this time around. Now that I’ve got a bit more free time, I’ve gone back and watched full games of our portal and JUCO additions to get a better feel beyond just their highlight reels. If anyone was at the spring game or has anything else to add, feel free to jump in. New Additions: The new additions will provide depth, and a few of them might end up entering the starting rotation at different points during the season. That said, I’m not seeing any clear all-conference type additions right now. If injuries don’t become a factor, the starting DL feels fairly predictable: Hull at one DT spot and Durham holding down one end. They are the two most likely all-conference candidates along the DL. @Captain Kangaroo mentioned D. Frazier as a starter at DE during his spring visit, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that sticks heading into the season. Based on one of the photos, Frazier looks like he’s added some bulk. He was an explosive player coming out of high school as a linebacker, so this might be the year where the move to DE starts to pay off and he takes that next step. The real question mark is the other defensive tackle spot. At this point, I’d lean toward Mixon holding onto it. I just haven’t seen anything on film from the incoming group that suggests someone is clearly better right now. Potential Starter: I originally expected V. Highland to start alongside Hull, and that still could end up being the case. But the staff may lean towards rotating Hull and Highland to keep both fresh, which could give us very little drop-off at that DT spot. Highland graded out as the highest-rated defender on Arkansas Pine-Bluff last season per PFF, but it’s worth noting his snap count was under 400. For comparison, Laventure logged over 650 snaps and Hull was north of 550, so there’s a difference in workload. Either way, Highland is going to play a lot this year. Whether he’s technically listed as a starter or comes in as part of a rotation, he should see significant snaps. The X-Factors: K. Waye and JD Williams bring the kind of size, length, and athleticism you just can’t teach — Waye at 6’4”, 240 and Williams at 6’6”, 340 really stand out. That said, both look a bit raw and are making the jump from DII, so there’s naturally going to be some projection involved. If I’m not mistaken, they each only have one year of eligibility left, which makes it tougher to bank on major development in a short window. I’d be a lot more intrigued if they had two years in the program with the staff having more time to refine things. It sounds like Waye was backing up D. Frazier during the spring, which at least provides a pretty athletic rotation at that end spot. Williams, on the other hand, wasn’t on campus for spring ball, so he may need a little more time to get up to speed. If one (or both) hit, it could really elevate the ceiling of this defensive front. Depth: JUCO DT Ross-Graves looks a bit smaller on film than what he’s listed at, but he plays with a relentless motor. That alone should give him a chance to push Mixon on the interior. At minimum, he feels like a solid backup option. DE J. Ridley is another JUCO addition with a similar high-effort profile. In the game I watched, he was in more of a 3-4 alignment and spent a lot of time lined up inside the tackles - almost like a DT - and held his gap pretty well against that level of competition. B. Tobias is more of a longer-term addition. He has excellent size at 6’5”, 240 and comes over from Western Kentucky, but I’m not expecting much from him this season. Overall, I’d still be surprised if any of these guys provide more than depth right away, but that was clearly a need after the portal losses and graduation. What about the rest of the returners? Not to be forgotten, D. Frazier’s brother, J. Frazier, should continue backing up Durham at DE, just like we saw at the end of 2025. There’s definitely some potential with the younger group. At defensive tackle, E. Davis (R. So.) and Brown-Demery (R. Fr.) could start working their way into the rotation. At defensive end, redshirt freshmen T. Watkins and V. Kavals may not quite be ready to make an impact yet, although it sounds like Kavals could be growing into more of a tackle role. Duncan is also listed at DE, but it sounds like he may have been moved over to linebacker. Overall, there’s some intriguing upside in this group, even if it doesn’t show up in a major way this season What’s next? The staff may not be finished adding to the defensive line if they feel there’s someone out there who can come in and contribute right away. As it stands, there’s a solid mix of older players and younger developmental guys. This unit certainly wouldn’t be mistaken for the best DL in the MAC, and I don’t think it matches the overall talent level of last year’s group. But there does seem to be enough depth here for the unit to be productive and, at the very least, not a liability for the defense. Projected Depth Chart: DE: D. Frazier Waye DE: Durham J. Frazier DT: Hull Highland DT: Mixon Ross-Graves Returners: DE - Duncan (R. Sr.) (Might be a LB now)* DE - Durham (R. Jr.) DE - D Frazier (R. So.) DE - J. Frazier (R. So.) DE - Kavals (R. Fr.) DE - Watkins (R. Fr.) DT - Mixon (R. Jr.) DT - Hull (Jr.) DT - E. Davis (R. So.) DT - Brown-Demery (R. Fr.) In: DE - Waye (Sr.) (DII) DE - Ridley (Jr.) (JUCO) DE - Tobias (R. So.) (Western Kentucky) DT - Highland (R. Sr.) (Arkansas Pine Bluff) DT - Williams (R. Sr.) (DII) DT - Ross-Graves (Jr.) (JUCO) Out: DE - Dall (All-MAC) = UCF DE - Cheatom = Robert Morris DE - Brown = Graduation DT - Laventure (All-MAC) = Texas Tech DT - Murphy = Western Kentucky DT - Vega = Portland State DT - Madden = Graduation DT - Musika = Portal

Article from the Beacon on the Spring game - https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/akron-zips-football-coach-joe-095601341.html

I talked to a coach about him. He said the player was brought in for depth and development. This staff does an impressive job in mining and growing under-developed players. Another interesting part of the discussion was that the staff rates itself on the performance of the players they bring in. Regarding JUCO's they have a hit rate of about 50%, but on high school players they are near 90%, especially in O linemen. The obvious problem is that we are developing high school players for other programs with money. It is what it is until Congress changes things.

You guys are way to hung up on traditional positional definitions of who is on the court.

Somebody donated 10K to basketball. They've already hit their goal!

Great win! (also, it should obviously be "flies" not "fly's". 🫠

Kansas caliber player and Kowalchoke still couldn't win the big one. Un"lucky" I guess.

Wonder what’s it’s going to take to resign Conner Groce???

Oh I see what this is. Welcome to Akron, Javari Tohnson

Zips add Tahj Staneskie. Zips entering the portal with a possibility of returning; Bowen Hardman, Sharron Young, Eric Mahaffey, Ognjen Stankovic. (Still on the chart in green) Those not likely to return; Connor Groce and Rich Brisco.

I understand most spring games are going by the wayside, but this whole thing has seemed like an absolute **** show. Kent State is doing it right and now this is supposed to be the answer? Just a few years ago they opened up the suites and had free food for everyone. How far things have fallen. I’m incredibly disappointed as I can only get up there twice a year and the spring game is one of those times. This is exactly how not to resonate with your fanbase.

The NBA has been doing it for about a decade now. Personally, I'm hoping for the Goodyear Wingfoot for 2 reasons. First, because it's an iconic Akron brand. Secondly, I think it would compliment the jersey well without being a eyesore.

I once took a whiz on a picture of Rick Pitino at the bottom of a urinal in a college bar in Lexington KY.

Zips Nation Insider podcast posted on IG that they'll have an interview with Coach Ford, releasing tomorrow at 6 PM on their YouTube Channel.

They wanted to get it in before the Spring Game...oh...wait.

Or our athletic department just got around to organizing it

Oggie aka the Big Stank started playing more and more hero ball when he got his runs. There were more than a couple bad 1-on-3 takes or no look passes out of bounds that had Groce just staring at him in disbelief. Bad defense and not running the offense means take a seat kid. I would have liked him to stay b/c he does have a lot of upside but the portal will tell us a lot about his true value.

Idea: teams/players should have to sign two-year contracts. If this included the redshirt year this would still give the athlete an opportunity to transfer two times in his/her career if they would so choose. Sound fair?

Ask yourself this people- If you were able to put your resume out there to see if another employer would pay you more to do the same exact job, and it wouldn't impact your current position, would you do it? That's what these kids are doing.

Ignacio Alem distinguished himself on the left wing. He was consistently dangerous on the dribble. Freshman Leo Morana also impressed with some incisive passing through the midfield. I believe he had at least one assist, depending on how you score it. But the frosh I really have my eye on is Londen Sears. Here is a mountain of raw talent! Fairly good with his right, superb with his left. He played all four years of high school, the old-fashioned way. "... a two-time All-America honoree, he was named as the Ohio Player of the Year in each of his final two campaigns...led his squad to a state title as a senior after advancing to the title game as a sophomore." If Sears plays all four years of eligibility, he will very likely have an MLS career. I will lay that bet right now! His size/speed ratio is fantastic. He is quite rough around the edges and really needs some intensive and focused development. Akron is a great place to receive that sort of attention, the program that turns red chips into blues every damn year. But what is his position? Not sure at this point.

Josh Jones, assistant coach at North Dakota State is joining Dustin's staff. Hes been at NDSU 6 years and overall has been coaching in college since 2014.

I don't know how it's going to happen yet, but I have a feeling the Akron Zips will win the MAC again next season.

I don't know about you, but I am sick and tired of the trite, sanctimonious messages athletes post when they go into the portal. They talk about God guiding them. They talk about the everlasting bonds of fellowship they have with their teammates. They thank their coaches for developing them into the men they are today. Then they leave. After great thought and consultation I'm offering this simple sample announcement: "I'm in the portal. I may come back. The most money determines what I'll do." This hits at the truth. Saves a lot of time. And eliminates hypocrisy. Please use for all future announcements as my gift to portal entrees. No charge.

Happy Easter everyone!!