catdaddyp

I thought this was an excellent interview overall. A few interesting bits I took away: (and I’m mostly paraphrasing) - Lost nearly 50 players from the end of last year’s roster to either graduation or the portal. - Had several waves of transfers. - Expect players to conform to all expectations, including the simple things like wearing the right outfits each day and always being on time. “If you’re not 100% right then you’re 100% wrong.” And “Express your individuality through conformity.” - Have to be very particular when recruiting out of the portal. If they don’t bring in guys with the right mindset and fit the culture being built, they could lose the team. Have longer to recruit high school kids and make sure they are the right fit, but must make those decisions in several weeks with portal players. - When recruiting OL the preference is for kids to be multi-sport athletes. Recruit interior OL differently from offensive tackles. Prefer to see interior OL also wrestle and prefer offensive tackles to play basketball at the high school level. Both sports help with body control and balance. Other sports could be track & field or baseball. - For the most part, no need to recruit OL outside of the midwest. Can find really good offensive lineman within a 5 hour radius of campus. - The whole staff trusts each other and worked with JoeMo in some capacity in the past. Only one who hasn’t is the DC, but he coached against JoeMo in both the BIG and PAC. - JoeMo learned a lot from his time at Mississippi State. He wasn’t a good fit there culturally, but came away knowing what he had to have at his next stop as a HC. One of those things was full control over who was on his staff and support from the administration. - JoeMo chose to come to Akron and rebuild the program. He had opportunities at Power 5 schools, but wanted to be at Akron. - The offense mostly works out of 11 personnel, but can shift to 10 or 12. - The offense can be tailored to what fits the players best. If a mobile QB, more QB reads will be called. If a less mobile QB, more inside zone runs will be called as well as WR screens etc. Mentioned the different ways they used Barkley at PSU and the QBs at Mississippi State and Fordham. - Spoke to how they call their blocking schemes a good bit.

Maybe it means something, maybe it doesn’t, but that group looks like: LCB: Cam Threatt SS: Jaylen Kelly-Powell FS: KJ Martin RCB: Jalen Hooks OLB: Corey Thomas MLB: Bubba Arslanian OLB: Tim Terry DE: Ryan Johnson NT: Logan Hawkins Cant make out the other DE and DT

Bump for updates,

I hope it’s wrong too. I couldn’t verify anything, but this profile was created 2 days ago.

Offers are still rolling in for Tucker. He received another one from Dartmouth. Rivals is showing us as having 15 verbal commits, but someone at Rivals mistakenly created another profile for Tucker. It is actually 14 commits as @Blue & Goldhas listed at the top of this thread. Ive been told Tucker and Miller will have ratings soon. On a different note, there is a chance that Devonte Golden-Nelson is not enrolled despite what the official roster says. I stumbled upon some information that had him enrolled at Iowa Western Community College. We’ll have to see how that pans out.

Disappointing about the link. I’ll see what can be done about it, but that probably won’t change any time soon. They would need an editor to keep the site up and running. For now, I’m making sure all of the recruits have updated profiles and receive a rating.

All of our 2023 commits now have ratings except Lester Miller and Max Tucker, but I’m working on that.

Bump for updates.

Can’t tell much by any of these clips, but #4 freshman WR Bobby Golden looks explosive without pads.

I think the football staff is doing a tremendous job recruiting and landing some players that could play at the Power 5 level, but will be difference makers here. Not necessarily starters at the Power 5 level, but could make the depth chart and contribute. In essence I think we have a staff that is recruiting like a Power 5 staff at Akron. The biggest difference I see in recruiting as a whole is along the offensive and defensive lines (and to some extent linebacker and safety). It may take a year or two for the freshmen to develop on the OL and DL, but the talent has most certainly increased. The physicality our incoming recruits play with is eye opening and something we see on a weekly basis at Power 5 levels. Im doing my best to get the national guys at Rivals to rate our recruits, but they are busy and there is still the mindset that Akron isn’t a good program. I suspect I’ll have their ear a little more after this season and we’ll likely see a few more 3 star recruits in next year’s class, even if they aren’t any better than some of the recruits in this year’s class. It’s an exciting time for Akron football and I’m looking forward to experiencing it with everyone here.

Bump for update.

Ah the never ending star debate. Haha. I’ll try to give a little insight into the industry. Overall, yes stars matter, but it’s not an exact science. For Rivals, the guys that do the national coverage give all the ratings and stars. The kids that go to the Rivals camps will be rated and usually be given a more generous rating. For kids that don’t go to the camps, the national writers will review highlights and give their best judgement. However, their main job is to write articles and get views/subscribers. Ratings and stars are secondary. So schools that are not Power 5 tend to get shafted in coverage. In Akron’s case, not many media members are paying much attention and just assume it’s the same ole Akron. They also assume the players being recruited probably aren’t as good as some others being recruited at more traditional powers in the MAC or elsewhere. Recently On3 came into existence and poached some Rivals employees, so the coverage may not be as extensive as it has been in the past, but Rivals is pushing to remedy that situation. 247 is a little more generous in their star ratings than Rivals. Many of their 4 star ratings should not be 4 stars in my opinion, but rating them as such tends to get more media coverage and the kids will post their best star ratings on social outlets. It’s a smart business move by 247, but it inflates the amount of 4 stars. Same could be said about the amount of 3 stars. On3 has tried position themselves as the top dawg by using Rivals, ESPN, 247, and their own ratings to make a “composite” and promote that as the top source. Some analysts rate more heavily on potential, while others rate more heavily on where the kid currently is. The amount of scholarships and which schools have offered also play into the ratings. Keep in mind, many of the guys rating these players never played or coached, but that’s how this industry is setup. In my opinion, the better players will “pop” off the film regardless of anyone’s expertise or rating.

It’s 17 D1 offers, not 19. 247 probably saw a retweet and thought it was for Max. I verified with Max. Either way, 100% agree great pickup!

Yep. We may be Max Tucker’s biggest offer, but 17 D1 offers to date is nothing to sneeze at. The kid can play.

Good find. Probably is Max Tucker. After watching his highlights, I hope it is Tucker.

We landed a commit from Boston. My best guess is Osinubi. Unless it’s a DB, in which case I have no idea.

https://www.toledoblade.com/sports/college/2022/08/01/former-central-catholic-rb-jonzell-norrils-making-a-name-for-himself-at-akron/stories/20220726016 Piece about Norrils from the Toledoblade. If it has a pop up about subscribing, just change to reader format by hitting the AA in the browser.

Bump for updates and fresh links to Rivals profiles and highlight films. WR, DL, and OL are also updated.

Curious to know what you don’t like about him @bigjim? What I see is a safety who’s not afraid to be physical and will come down in the box to hit. He’s only 185lbs now, but should easily get up to 200lbs. I know South Gwinnett has an excellent strength and conditioning program, but many of these kids do not receive the proper nutrition to assist in their physical development. That’ll change when he arrives here.

We also offered his teammates CB Devin Thomas and LB Tymere Burton.

Commitment from 2023 S/WR Darius Owens. Seems to be a good one and under the radar. Hudl film

There isn’t a 2024 thread, but South Carolina also landed 2024 DB Karson Hobbs out of Cincinnati. Akron also offered.

As mentioned before, Shivers committed to South Carolina today. Akron was never in it for Shivers, but the staff is pursuing guys that should be at the Power 5 level.

Ginetti committed to Air Force.