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Sometimes you just gotta be the tallest midget. Clutch play by Bruno! 🇩🇪💪🏽 5-wins despite the smallest staff, smallest budget, no NIL, can’t even afford grad assistants, no travel allowed for recruiting, going stretches without a meal plan, limited to 25% fewer practices than his competition…the Zips should have been UMass this season but instead won 5. As much as my eyes burn from watching the game tonight I give the staff and players mad props for going .500 in the MAC and winning 5 games for the first time in 8 years while being blindfolded, with two cinder blocks tied to each coach’s legs. We’ll see what the future holds for the 2026 Zips. The ball is in Goodrich's hands to objectively determine how much the restrictions placed on this staff contributed to the close losses to Wyoming, UAB, Kent etc. And to figure out a plan to break free from the crippling financial shackles imposed on this year’s team. UA needs to invest in football within reasonable and responsible limits. Completely handcuffed, the Zips were within an eyelash of bowl eligibility. By providing the team with just the basics…the ability to travel to recruit talent, practices like everyone else, a couple grad assistants, a few bucks to keep some key players…it is the difference between winning 5 games and winning 8.

This is another reason I'm very hesitant to knock JoeMo. This year was Year 4 but... it was really more like Year 1 than Year 4. Next year will be Year 1 all over again. Every year is Year 1. I hate it.

Most wins since 2017 and people on here choosing to be miserable. Sheesh! Go Zips!

I've seen some posts online that the tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. ... but that is Atlantic Standard Time. Tipoff for us is 5:30 EST. Don't complicate things for me, please. 😂

I know we’ve already got at least one thread going about the portal, but I’m going to try and streamline everything here. A few things I’m not completely sure about are which players are actually on scholarship, and which of the former JUCOs, redshirt seniors, or grad students still have any eligibility left. QB: Roggow (R. So.) Broughton (R. Fr.) Portal / Out of Eligibility: Finley M. Johnson RB: Curry (R. Sr.) Gant (R. Sr.) Gee (R. Jr.) Williams (R. Jr.) Patrick (R. So.) Portal / Out of Eligibility: WR: Davis (R. Jr.) Hills (R. Jr.) Louis (R. Jr.) Mason (R. So.) Monteiro (R. So.) Ma. Williams (R. So.) Witherspoon (R. So.) Sivon (R. Fr.) Portal / Out of Eligibility: Adams Grear Walker Polk (R. Jr.) - Portal TE: Newell (R. Sr.) Whisner (R. Sr.) Cravaack (R. Jr.) Portal / Out of Eligibility: OL: K. Davis (R. Sr.) Fox (R. Sr.) A. Jones (R. Sr.) Shor (R. Sr.) Mann (R. Jr.) Morris (R. Jr.) McManus (So.) Gould (R. Fr.) Portal / Out of Eligibility: Archer George D. Johnson Lyons J. Moore Motley-Simmons King (R. Sr.) - Portal Ndaiga (R. So.) - Portal (Walk-on) DL: Laventure (R. Sr.) Murphy (R. Sr.) Musika (Sr.) Cheatom (R. Jr.) Dall (R. Jr.) Durham (R. Jr.) Mixon (R. Jr.) Vega (R. Jr.) Hull (Jr.) E. Davis (R. So.) D. Frazier (R. So.) J. Frazier (R. So.) Brown-Demery (R. Fr.) Kavals (R. Fr.) Watkins (R. Fr.) Portal / Out of Eligibility: Madden LB: Spriggs (R. Jr.) Benenge (Jr.) Hocker (R. So.) Boswell (R. Fr.) James (R. Fr.) Reeves (R. Fr.) Portal / Out of Eligibility: Cooper Summers DB: Flowers (R. Sr.) Reed (R. Sr.) Kamara (R. Sr.) Thomas (R. Sr.) Somerville (R. Jr.) White (R. Jr.) AA. Branch (Jr.) Hunter (R. So.) K. Johnson (R. So.) T. Davis (R. Fr.) Portal / Out of Eligibility: Anderson AL. Branch David DeWalt Jarmon D. Johnson Stepney ST: Miner (R. Sr.) Castle (Sr.) Samaha (R. Jr.) Wiley (R. Jr.) Schramm (R. So.) Portal / Out of Eligibility: Denis B. Johnson

The Beacon Journal is doing a nice job of promoting Zips mens soccer this week. Malone Pioneer posted an excellent article from the Beacon(about zips seeding and possible opponents) .....under the ratings and RPI topic. This morning, The Beacon did a very good article on Stefan Dobrijevic. (attached below) I greatly admire Stefan for his tremendous improvement as a soccer player over the past 4 years. After reading this article, I also greatly admire Stefan as he is true definition of a "Student-Athlete". Congratulations to Stefan on his success on the soccer field and also for his succcesses in the class room. https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/sports/college/zips/2025/11/19/stefan-dobrijevic-akron-zips-soccer-ncaa-tournament/87320211007/ Dobrijevic grew up in Akron as an Akron Public Schools student, attending Salem Elementary School, STEM Middle School and Firestone High School. His family moved to Uniontown when he was 16, but he remained at Firestone, where he took engineering, college level and advanced placement classes, recorded a 4.7 GPA and graduated in December 2021. Dobrijevic played club soccer with Internationals Academy, which is based in Medina, and started taking classes at UA in January 2022. He has a 3.8 GPA, earned a degree in business administration with a minor in marketing in December 2024 and is working toward an MBA.

Here is the dilemma, neither party is happy. JoMo doesn't want to be here and powers that be don't want him to stay. If the optics weren't so bad, UA would just pay him off and send him on his way. JoMo holds all the cards. Hopefully he can find a job somewhere else and everyone will get what they want. I would rather take my chances on an up and coming guy who doesn't act like he is entitled to someone else doing all the heavy lifting required to engage the fans and community. That is the only way out of our football pit of Hell. JoMo will never be that guy.

Back when there were talks of Akron getting a new arena ~10 years ago I kind of spoke against the 7k-8k seat arenas for this purpose. Although it would have been taxpayer funded through the city so not much pull the school would have had. It took exactly 1 game at Infocision for the new smell to wear off. I'm not sure we've hit 80% occupancy in a game since. Basketball after a season or two would almost certainly be back to averaging ~3k fans. I always thought the game day experience is better with the arena 80%-100% full, which leads to more fans wanting to return. It kind of sounds counterproductive but fewer seats can actually help improve attendance averages as it creates a false sense of scarcity and makes it a more desirable ticket to have. Particularly in an age where those under 30 want to brag on social media. It also creates a sense of urgency for people to get season tickets or buy single game tickets in advance. Key example is I would never feel the need to buy a ticket to Akron football in advance because I know I could show up to the gate and there will be 10k+ remaining. I do buy tickets in advance for Akron-Kent basketball because I know the risk for selling out is very high.

Absolutely no problem with the Zips effort. Groce always gets the kids to play hard.

We just got a 100k donation for the recruiting, absolutely huge!

Akron Felt is no more, the old owner didn't pay taxes for multiple years. One of the former employees started his own business doing the same thing. https://www.simos.cc/ He has totally rebuilt the business but is doing a great job, we use him to do all the repairs on the RubberDucks uniforms, highly recommend

@Z.I.P. 11:30am today for you if I'm not mistaken. You're welcome, you lucky, Hawaii-living son of a nutcracker. 😂

The only proven formula to make the tournament - WIN THE MAC.

I've wondered this as well. I feel like he was pretty visible around the program for a few years and not so much anymore.

Fill the Hill

All of these posts from national guys happening the day after the season ended and Franklin gets hired

We have posted before about Kam Warnke... Kam had 20 goals and 10 assists this year for the state runner up Auroroa Greenmen. Nice to see all of the Akron logos in the signing announcement

Horrible QB. Leads the MAC in TDs. Second in the MAC in total yardage. Scholar athlete of the week in the MAC this week. Joe found a guy like this with essentially no NIL money and convinced him to stay for 2 seasons. Good luck finding better in 2026. I like Broughton a lot. I hope Zips fans get to see him at Infocision one day.

The University has never once publicly mentioned any of the crippling limits placed on the football program in the name of budget cuts. They’ve hung Joe out to dry with a historic lack of support, whistling through the graveyard, and by their silence painting Zips football as having the same resources as every other MAC program. It isn’t fair to Joe, and I expect that grates on him. And it should. Bobby Knight once famously said - "If you're getting raped, you might as well lay back and enjoy it." Joe has bit his tongue 95% of the time, but who can blame him if, when pressed, he vents on his lack of recruiting budget, training tables, staff, and on and on? UA isn’t holding any pressers stating “You gotta understand the situation we’ve placed Joe Moorhead in. I can’t believe the guy won 3 games, let alone 5.” It's Zips Football against the world. Maybe the same geniuses at UA who’ve blundered every football-related decision since Jim Dennison’s firing will identify a "unicorn" coach that only wants a $300,000/year salary, that flits about Summit and Stark counties with a wicker basket collecting NIL money from scores of donors happily willing to fill it up, while also coaching Akron to MAC Championships and bowl victories. Wish in one wicker basket and poop in the other...see which fills up first. I have no clue what Goodrich will do regarding football. Maybe he spends a year crafting a new logo, quits his job and moves on to the next rung on his AD ladder? Maybe he’s empowered, independent of thought, and implements a plan to elevate Zips football to respectability? That would be awesome. Historically new AD’s "check their box" and hire “their guy” to run either the football or basketball program. On paper, Joe is on the hot seat. It it were me, I would fix the budget BS, show Joe a little love, and see what transpires in 2026. Joe took over a 1-11 Fordham team and went 38-13 during his tenure, winning 11 and 12 games in successive seasons. The guy can win big at the FCS/G5 level. It’s proven. But not when he’s hamstrung and unsupported. No one can.

Top Drawer soccer did a preview on the regional that the zips are in. https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/article/?categoryId=21&articleId=55371&articleTitle=mens-ncaa-tournament-region-3-preview 4. Akron(m) (11-4-3) - 1.56 goals per game (76th ranked), .667 goals allowed per game (12th ranked) Offensive Leader: Stefan Dobrijevic (8G, 10A) + Strong defense + Performed well against nationally ranked opposition - Offense can be inconsistent There is no doubt Akron has the defense for a playoff run; the question is if the offense can score enough in a region packed with high-powered attacks. Losing the Big East semifinal was not encouraging, but the team will be well-rested after receiving a first-round bye.

Iona beats Princeton by 20 at home. They are now 4-0 and a KenPom of 160. Game on!

I so badly want a marketing campaign to troll the big conferences. Something like… “Akron Basketball, good enough to play in the Big Ten, SEC, ACC, Big 12 and the Big East.”* * Based on Kenpom rankings on 11/18/2025. If they don’t like it they are welcome to send Rutgers, South Carolina, Utah, Boston College or DePaul amongst others to Akron to prove us wrong. Go Zips!!

Kansas only beat Princeton by 19, bring 'em on! 😊

BTW I may be in the minority but I said this last year when all the Joe rumors were swirling. Very similar this year. I absolutely agree with whoever mentioned it in the past few days .. the rumors are all being generated by Joe’s agent. Watch other rumors pop early in the search cycles for OCs in the NFL etc. I believe Joe’s options to leave for bigger and better pastures are extremely limited. I don’t believe James Franklin will look at him as a first choice or maybe second/third based on how he’s building his staff. I also think he remains comfortable from the standpoint of family life, nice house in Hudson, grandkids around - his son is off next year to play college ball and he has his routine at Akron down to where maybe he can keep a better eye on his son’s career va working his ass off as a OC for some other program with less familiarity. I could be completely wrong but this is my gut feel.

Nor that Goodrich will be particularly bothered either way.

On a more positive note. A member of the womens volleyball ball team was chosen to putt in the Wentz Financial Group hole-in-ine contest. I think she is the first person to win the jackpot.

For many years, I have thought about the same thing on billboards in and around Columbus trolling the brainwashed OSUcks zombies about our men's soccer program being the best in the state of Ohio.

We pick him off the scrap heap after Pitt ditched him and this is the thanks we get... If I want to say something nice about him - he played hard against BG. Guys like Mumpfield and Norton completely tanked their last games before hitting the portal.

Maybe the conversation could sound something like this. "Mr. Commissioner, you are killing us with the schedule. All we ask is to play our rival when the weather is nice on a Saturday early in the season so we can have a decent crowd. You did it for the BG/Toledo rivalry and all they did was sell out a stadium and put on a very exciting game. We all know the only people dedicated to weeknight games are drunks and degenerate gamblers. Gamblers will bet on anything and drunks will drink to anything, so trading Kent for another MAC school on a Tuesday night won't matter. Would it be too much to ask for you to dislodged your head from your ass for a few minutes to schedule the Akron/Kent rivalry early in the season?" There you go. Problem solved.

I can't believe you didnt just say Tim Tyrell. 😉

Don't forget about Max Crosby, too.

The only way out is just another coach? There is so much wrong at Akron that another coach isn't the answer.

We're in year 4 of a highly paid coach. Kent is in year 1 of an interim-turned-permanent coach, reacquired the Wagon Wheel, and has a chance to not just match our win total but possibly go bowling. The little victories were fine in years 1&2. It's unacceptable in year 4. 2 losses to first year HCs and we couldn't muster 10+ pts vs Wyoming at home. If it wasn't for UMass joining the MAC, we'd probably be capping out at 4 wins again. I don't see an improved product on the field, at least not what you'd expect from JoeMo in his 4th year. It's hard for me to celebrate barely beating BUGS who is objectively horrendous.

https://x.com/awfulannouncing/status/1990982220949942290?t=OgtiHl73LlFxiLtt6J5FtQ&s=19

After 12 years of college basketball.

Duquesne plays its annual game at SVSM this Saturday at 4:00 against Northeastern. I've been to 2 or 3 of these now and its interesting to watch a D1 basketball game in that intimate of a setting. I wasn't a fan at the start of these as I was afraid it was in part a recruiting ploy but I haven't seen that happening. It's free D1 basketball in our own backyard.,

We attended the Akron at YSU exhibition game earlier this month and was mildly impressed with their arena. They didn’t do a full redesign but replaced all the old seats (in a very similar design. Lower level chairs upper level bleachers)with new chair backs with cup holders and armrests from floor to ceiling on both sides for 1.8 million last year by Hussein seating out of Maine. Still holds 5700 down from 6300

Game Day Notes: Bowling Green is down to its fourth quarterback of the season in Washington State transfer Hunter Najm. He wasn’t asked to do much in his last outing, and when the game shifted to the fourth quarter, things started to unravel for him. Still, with ten days to prepare, the Falcons have had ample time to craft a game plan and try to get Najm settled for this matchup. The running back room remains the strength of the offense. They have multiple backs capable of producing chunk plays, and BG would love nothing more than to ride that group all evening. Mizzou transfer Austyn Dendy has taken the lead role of late and brings explosiveness every time he touches the ball. Cameron Pettaway and Chris McMillan rotate in and give the Falcons solid depth. The receiving corps, however, has been all over the place. Tight end Jyrin Johnson — more of a tweener than a traditional inline tight end — is the lone true playmaker. The wideouts have shown they can catch the ball, but outside of that, they rarely offer much in terms of creating after the catch or winning consistently. Up front, the offensive line is built to run the ball. Pass protection has been another story, as they’ve struggled with the rotation of quarterbacks and have surrendered 18 sacks in conference play alone. Defensively, the Falcons are fairly similar to Akron in points allowed and rush yards given up. The biggest gap comes in the pass game. Bowling Green’s secondary has been stingy, but the defensive front hasn’t consistently generated pressure. Akron, on the other hand, has given up plenty of passing yards but is one of the better teams in the MAC at creating pressure. The turnover battle also favors the Zips, as BG has struggled to force them while Akron has been one of the conference’s best in that department. Linebacker Gideon Lampron is one of the best defenders in the MAC, and edge rusher David Afogho provides a real threat off the edge. Defensive backs MJ Cannon and Kal-El Pascal round out a defensive core that can make things difficult for opponents. MAC Stats Only: Finley heads into his final game as the current MAC leader in passing yards and touchdowns. He’s also tied for second in interceptions. Gant leads the conference in rushing yards and needs 54 more to hit 1,000 on the year. Marcel Williams now leads the team in receiving yards and is second in conference action. Mason is ninth in receiving yards and tied for third in touchdowns. Polk is fifteenth in receiving yards and tied for second in touchdowns. Laventure is fourth in tackles for loss and tied for eighth in sacks.

And a guaranteed big name opponent.

Notre Dame is the lowest rated RPI....selection.... St. John's at 42....Notre Dame at 44....both get in Georgia Southern at 34 and Gardner Webb at 35 do not get in.... Michigan lost 5-0 in the Big Ten final....to UCLA I like this draw for the Zips

This draw scares none of us. The team is ready and they are confident they can play, and beat, anyone. Having the matchup with either of the two Midwest blue bloods of D1 sports is perfect for us. The guys will have no problem playing at a pace that breaks their opponent down. The future is in their hands and this schedule has them ready.

fitting venue for Kent

The ceiling is very high for the 2025-26 Zips...if they quit biting on every pump fake and fouling 3-point shooters.

I thought we protected the ball fairly well. We only had 10 turnovers, which was 2 fewer than Purdue in what was a very fast paced game. Being outrebounded 45-26 was the real issue. They had a lot of easy 2nd, 3rd, and 4th chance points. I get we weren't going to win the rebounding battle, but Lyles only having 1 board just can't happen. Let's say he had 7 instead. That would have meant Purdue would have won the rebounding battle 39-32, which would still be a healthy margin, but not so large that you couldn't make up for it elsewhere.

This is the best Akron team I have seen against a quality opponent. Groce has them ready to play. Only down by 5. I am not sure we can play this well for 40 minutes but really impressed with the ball movement, hustle, and breakouts. Tevari looks like he can play with these guys and Scott has hit some great shots.

If you guys need a hate watch it’s Fordham vs Iona on espn+ rn. Iona win helps Akron and fordham has Guthrie as AD lol

Kansas would've been a fun matchup this year. I believe they're quite young, led by an Akron-connected Darryn Peterson, son of former Akron standout Darryl Peterson.

Thank you to the zip athletic staff for doing these excellent features on Stu Parry and putting them up on YouTube. For Zips season ticket holders, this will allow them to see what they missed at home games on ESPN Plus.

All of them until proven otherwise. With Devan coming out of nowhere, there's recency bias for me and I'm really intrigued by a 6'9" F with his level of athleticism. 6'4" and 6'5" guards though maintain fantastic size in our backcourt and everything about Ladd sounds like he's a real player. St. Iggy to Akron is an awesome pipeline I'd like to keep going. The St. Iggy kid Kent has can shoot so if RJ has the ability to contribute like that as a freshman, look out. We will still have 2 open spots automatically to bring in transfers. This is truly a dynasty being built.

Netters beat Toledo 3-0 tonight. If they beat Toledo tomorrow they qualify for the playoffs (and potentially knock Toledo out since the Zips will finish with the same record and took both games of the series so will finish ahead of Toledo). The Zips can still qualify with a loss but BGSU must lose to Buffalo. The Zips will win the tiebreaker with BGSU. They split their two games but the Zips have a win over a higher ranked team (WMU) than BGSU does.