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great exposure for Zips soccer

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.

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.

FYI only - there were some recent instances where the behavior of a couple members didn't meet the standards of ZipsNation. When this happens it drives good people away, and puts a damper on quality conversation. I apologize. I tend to give people a really long leash, and I probably need to nip this stuff in the bud quicker.

I thought is would be interesting to compare the coaching staffs and budget between UAB and Akron. From what I can tell, UAB's football budget is roughly 11 million dollars...about double that of the Zips UAB has 24 football coaches and 18 support staff. Akron has 12 coaches and 6 support staff. And we only lost by 3 to them, on the road.

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.

QB: Finley had his best game of the season, though that might not be saying a whole lot after the first two. He avoided turnovers and made a handful of really nice throws. There were a few sacks I thought he could’ve steered clear of, but beyond that, if he can consistently play at this level, the offense has a chance to keep moving forward. I’m still scratching my head over why Johnson didn’t get any looks in short-yardage situations. RB: I kept waiting for Patrick to bust a big one, but it just never came. Still, he and Gant ran hard, combining for 148 yards on 20 carries. I’ll take that any day of the week. WR: Similar to Finley, this was the wide receiver corps’ best outing too. Even with three drops, they got open, put in effort blocking, and for the most part, hauled in the catches. TE: Newell didn’t do much with his two catches, but he was solid as a blocker, especially in pass protection. Cravaack saw less than 10 snaps. OL: I thought Lyons and K. Davis played well. There were a few times we were close to breaking a big run, but things like letting a combo block go too early and both guys releasing to the second level ended up giving the defender a free shot at the back. I can’t help but wonder if all the subbing we’re doing is causing some of those mistakes. The OL definitely could’ve been better at times, but overall they opened some holes and gave Finley a pocket to work with. DL: The defense as a whole did a really nice job against the run. That said, our four-man pass rush was anemic…again. We had a hard time getting pressure in the first half, though things looked a little better after the break. Both of our sacks came on five-man pressures if I’m not mistaken. I’m not sure what’s going on with Cheatom, he hasn’t played lately, and we’re getting next to nothing from the backup DEs. LB: I thought Cooper, Spriggs, and Boswell all played well. The more I watch Boswell, the more I like him—kid’s going to be a player and just has a knack for making things happen. DB: All things considered, I thought Reed and DeWalt held their own. Our safeties, on the other hand, got absolutely roasted when they were stuck in man during the first half. The good news is we probably won’t see a better passing attack the rest of the way. UAB may not be a great team overall, but they’ve got some legitimate threats at receiver. ST: The kickoff return for a touchdown and the penalty that set up another score were absolute back breakers and, in my opinion, the difference in the game. Punting and placekicking were solid otherwise, with the only miss coming on a long field goal attempt. Coaching: That was the most animated I’ve seen Moorhead since he’s been at Akron. I think he knew this was a game we had every chance to win, and maybe he’s feeling a little pressure too. I did like the commitment to the run game, and the offense putting up 441 yards without a turnover is nothing to scoff at. Sure, it came against a bad defense, but the offense still played well. I’m not sure what adjustments were made defensively at halftime since I couldn’t see much of what was happening in the backend, but it was night and day when it came to points allowed. We still gave up yards, but that’s fine because at the end of the day the defense threw a second-half shutout. In the end, it’s another disappointing close loss in the Moorhead era. The game was there for the taking, and we couldn’t do it. We’re likely going to be 1-3 heading into conference play, which is the exact same as last year’s payday schedule. Of course, that’s assuming we take care of Duquesne this weekend, who will surely be pining for an upset. QB: Finley Johnson RB: Patrick Gant WR: Walker Mason WR: M. Williams Monteiro WR: Polk Grear TE: Newell Cravaack LT: Motley-Simmons D. Johnson LG: Archer McManus C Lyons Morris RG: K. Davis RT: A. Jones King DE: Durham D. Frazier DE: Dall J. Frazier DT: Laventure Mixon DT: Hull Murphy Musika LB: Cooper Spriggs LB: Summers Boswell NB: AL. Branch AI. Branch CB: Reed CB: DeWalt T. Thomas S: J. Anderson Hunter S: D. Johnson Flowers KO: Wiley B. Johnson K: Wiley P: Castle Top Rated Offense (20 snap minimum) QB - Finley WR - Grear RG - K. Davis WR - Polk RT - King Top Rated Defense (20 snap minimum) DT - Murphy NB - AL. Branch LB - Spriggs DE -Dall DT - Laventure

Obviously a big match with two tops teams in the country. Zips going on the road to the defending national champions and I saw on the Vermont site that the game is sold out. Should be a fun one!

Great crowd. Respectful fans. Those around me were very complimentary of Ashton Kamdem and rightfully so. First time our 2025 Zips have trailed. Very impressed by how they handled the adversity on the road with a large opposing crowd, a missed call which could have resulted in a leading goal, and being down a goal. Didn’t stop playing to score and didn’t give up another goal! Lots to build upon. Proud of this team and happy to have been there. GO ZIPS!!!

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

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…

The mental component of the game is so under rated. Those 2 early goal line stands at Lincoln showed what our D can do. When things got out of hand, that little bit of mental brake down let the roof cave in. Today, l don't think we pitch a shut out, but we will limit UAB's O. Our O has been abysmal. Just like batters go through streaks, I think today the O will put their slump in the rear view mirror. The O line will step up. The RB's will chalk up even more yards. The receivers and QB will live up to their expectations. Zips. 41 / UAB 27 Go Zips.

I would also like to see them celebrate the glorious history of Akron soccer. I loved the DeAndre Yedlin bobblehead from a few years ago. I would pay extra every year....if they did special bobbleheads. Darlington Nagbe bobblehead !!! Richie Laryea Bobblehead !!! Scott Caldwell goal scoring bobblehead !!! Wil Trapp bobblehead !!! David "Big Sexy" Meves bobblehead !!! Anthony Ampaipitakwong !! Steve Zakuani bobblehead !!! Teal Bunbury bobblehead !!!

https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/article/?categoryId=21&articleId=55064&articleTitle=tds-mens-player-of-the-year-leaderboard I didn't want to create a separate topic for this. If you click on the article above, you can see that Top Drawer Soccer has identified Mitch as one of the 10 players that should be considered as the best college soccer player of the year. The Player of the Year leaderboard is a weekly list of the ten players making the best case to win the prestigious award. The latest update features three newcomers who have helped their programs to historic starts. Mitch Budler, Akron (Newcomer) Budler breaks into the leaderboard thanks to an incredible start to the season, where Akron is yet to concede a goal despite playing four teams that have been nationally ranked at one point or another. The reigning Big East goalkeeper of the year has so far proven he may be the best in the country.

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

Making an entire thread to mock a potential punctuation snafu by spelling the title wrong is good stuff

The Hoban thing is complete BS.

49 days until Zips basketball.

I’m working remote today and watched the volleyball game while I was working and they just got a really nice win. They are now 5-2 and just beat a 5-2 WKU in 4 sets and 2 they had to come back from behind. Fun game. I heard the mac is really competitive but it’s good to see an Akron team getting the job done

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.

Arrived in Burlington today after a 10+ hour drive between yesterday and today. Beautiful drive from Rome, NY through some of Vermonts back roads including the Fort Ticonderoga ferry. Looking forward to the match tomorrow night. Go Zips!!

I’d be willing to pay a little extra for my Men’s soccer season tickets if UA would provide soccer scarves again. I like looking back on those various designs over the seasons / rosters.

How many UA soccer fans are there who say, I'd go for $8, but $15 is too much? It is still an incredible value for your entertainment dollar, and it is literally the highest level of amateur soccer in the country.

Also, not a critique of Vermont (maybe more a critique of Akron) but their tickets are all general admission at $8. Compare that to Akron where $15 gets you a GA ticket where you can only sit on the ends or on the hill. Also saw that Vermont season tickets are only $50.

https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/news/education/2025/09/11/university-of-akron-sees-higher-undergraduate-graduate-enrollment/86093682007/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=true&gca-epti=z112727p000050c000050e009300v112727b0054xxd005465&gca-ft=39&gca-ds=sophi This is promising, would love that number to keep creeping up closer to 20k

If you add in the $4.5-$5 million we're paying for Infocision then we're spending about just as much as OU on football. The difference is on how the money is getting spent. OU using it for staffing, training tables, and whatever else. We blew it on a shiny stadium that we couldn't afford, which sits empty. Edit: Kind of gets back to the point I make 1-2 times a year when major JAR renovations are discussed. Facility improvements are prohibitively expensive and you get more return on your dollars (from a performance perspective) on investing in coaches, recruiting, and whatever else instead.

Win on Saturday and Akron will be #2 at worst next week with the most difficult part of the schedule behind us.

We really haven't been playing to hold on to the lead in the 2nd half, we have been still keeping up pressure, this feels different than other zips teams recently

Before tonight’s game at number 2 Clemson, the VCU Rams had a 1-3-1 record final from Clemson , SC VCU 2 Number 2 Clemson 1 tonight’s final score from Burlington, VT unranked Dartmouth and number 13 Vermont battled to a 3-3 draw. Great win for VCU. That will help the RPI of the Zips.

I knew it's been a struggle against WMU recently but I didn't realize it was that bad. Gotta have a win tonight!

Chad Wiseman, the Western Michigan coach, has an outstanding record against the Zips. Every soccer game is a challenge. The zips can not afford to being looking ahead to their top 10 matchup on Saturday. Chad Wiseman knows how to prepare for the Akron offensive game plan. The Zips owe a ton of payback to the Broncos. From 2019 to 2024, the Zips and the Broncos have played 8 games. In those 8 games, our beloved Zips have exactly one win. Let's look at the facts : 2019 1-1 tie 2020 teams played twice 0-0 draw 4-3 Western Michigan win 2021 4-3 Western Michigan win in overtime 2022 teams played 3 times 1-0 Zips win in first regular season meeting 1-1 tie in 2nd regular season meeting 2-1 Western Michigan win in conference tournament 2024 1-1 tie Since the beginning of 2019, the zips have a 1-3-4 record against the Broncos. On paper, the Zips are playing well...and this is a home game. Games are not played on paper. Zips need to come out focused and step on the Bronco's neck. Go, Zips

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.

Replica 2010 National Championship trophy?😆

What else is there to do in Vermont in September? Collect maple syrup? Sing the Sound of Music while they wait for the Von Trapp Family Lodge to open their skiing? I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Love seeing mid major soccer rise to prominence. This is going to be a good match. Can't wait and Go Zips! z.i.P.S. Put me down for an emphasis on more promotional items related to soccer. Scarves, bobbleheads, replica 2010 National Championship trophy, etc.

Here are some Game Day notes. I’ve also added them to the bottom of the original post. Kitna has already thrown for 551 yards while completing 72% of his passes. However, he’s shown to be mistake-prone under pressure, tossing two interceptions so far. The Blazers will rotate at running back with UTEP transfer Jackson and top backup Beebe handling most of the workload. Jackson is a dangerous runner who can break one at any time, while Beebe is just as likely to catch a pass as he is to carry the ball. Milliner is UAB’s most explosive wideout, and Hooks has been Kitna’s second-favorite target. UAB has stuck with the same five starters through both games, not rotating a single lineman. It’s a rebuilt OL and they’ve surprisingly been a strong unit so far—giving up only one sack and 6 pressures. Going left to right: Sneh - 6’5”315 (Kansas State) Perez - 6’5” 315 (Duke) Lepkowski - 6’3” 300 Morgan - 6’4”320 (South Carolina) Moore - 6’8” 290 The Blazers’ defense has struggled to stop anyone this season, but a few players have stood out with consistent play. Interestingly, both starting defensive tackles—Smalls and Sam Houston transfer Warren—have been really good. At linebacker, Rhode Island transfer Hightower has been effective, while in the secondary Boston College transfer safety Cheek and Pittsburgh transfer cornerback Crumpley have been the top performers. UAB has only punted once this season—a 39-yarder downed inside the twenty. All extra points have been converted, and field goals are 2-for-3, with the lone miss coming from the 30–39 yard range. The two makes, however, have both been from beyond 40 yards. During Dilfer’s press conference, a reporter referred to this as a “get right game” for UAB. Dilfer laughed and said the Blazers are usually the get right game for their opponents, adding that he hopes Akron’s offense doesn’t get going this weekend. Some notes about the Zips: JUCO transfer right tackle Maasai King has graded out really well through the first two games, especially in pass protection according to PFF. Next is right guard Keylen Davis, who has been solid but noticeably stronger in run blocking. Keep an eye on JUCO transfer defensive tackle Nehemiah Musika in goal line situations. He was also mentioned on the Zips Weekly show. Musika was a commitment I really liked, though I wasn’t quite sure how we managed to land him. He supposedly isn’t as tall as listed and is still working into shape after being a late arrival due to coursework. Once Musika is able to play more regularly, he should give us a strong rotation with Laventure and Hull at DT—barring injury. Former Illinois transfer Shammond Cooper has been playing at a high level and also leads the team in tackles with 19 total. I’ve mentioned this a few times already, but DeWalt and Reed have really stepped up at cornerback. Reed in particular has been impressive—allowing just 19 yards on four receptions while being targeted 10 times. They’ll need another strong outing today if we’re going to have a chance at slowing down UAB’s offense.

Volleyball and women's soccer both seem to be improved this year, but it can be hard to tell in non-conference. Hopefully it continues into MAC play!

Wonder what the tariff is on bobbleheads?

Big talk from a guy who's offensive line makes more money via NIL than the Zips entire football budget.

He obviously doesn't. To conclude this conversation on the level to which it has sunk- I am rubber, you are glue...

Cary (I looked last night out of curiosity myself).

They've matched the 2010 team with six clean sheets out the gate! We had some truly remarkably talented fullbacks on that team. 'Z' Valentin, Chad Barson and Kofie Sarkodie. And record-setting GK David Meves in net. Wow! Could Mitch Budler be remembered in the same way as Meves? Dare I ask...Where's the College Cup in December?

As a guy who is not a soccer die hard but loves the zips this is the type of game I love to see. OFFENSE. I’ve grown to love the zips defense and domination of possession but games like these are what brings casual students back. Winning is always entertaining but scoring helps a lot too

Penalty Kick for Akron. GOOOAAALLL!!!! 3-0 Akron. 37 minutes to play.

Ok so I may have to stand corrected here

Happy Birthday Coach Groce.

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.