catdaddyp

Devon Robinson at 2:52. Looks like a stud.

Agreed. I think the Rivals guy has a connection to some of the Midwest JUCOs and was right in this scenario. I was really looking forward to watching Golden-Nelson play. Maybe next year.

On3 was created by the same guy who started Rivals. Rivals will have the most up to date information on Akron recruits. On3 is incorrect about Wasel. He’s firmly committed to Joe Moorhead and Akron.

All of our 2023 recruits now have ratings and Akron is #75 in Rivals team rankings. Although we will probably drop a few spots after the duplicate Max Tucker profile is deleted.

Not entirely accurate about South Carolina, but I agree with your point about Clemson joining the SEC. They currently invest more into their football program than the majority of ACC schools and play a fairly weak conference schedule on a yearly basis. Clemson is also positioned to recruit heavily out of talent rich states like Florida and Georgia. The state of South Carolina always has talent, but not enough to split between both Clemson and South Carolina. Not to mention the other national powers that attempt to sway the top talent away. South Carolina left the ACC and went independent for years before joining the SEC. Their downfall was their own doing. The SEC allowed South Carolina and Arkansas to join in 1992. Like you mentioned, success has been hard to come by outside of a handful of years during the Holtz and Spurrier eras. The SEC does not seem interested in Clemson at the moment. I suspect Clemson has already peaked in football, but they will still be better than the majority of ACC teams. I think their recruiting along the offensive line, running back, and quarterback has fallen off the past few years. Fans can point to stars as much as they want but I’d argue there are plenty of 4 and 5 stars that should not be 4 and 5 stars. Add to the fact they lost one of the best defensive coordinators in college football and it will be an adjustment year for Clemson at the very least.

Thanks for posting. The articles were a fun read despite these guys firing off the mark in a few places. I’ll always appreciate SBNation as they gave me my first chance to write about something I enjoyed. I’m sure these guys don’t get paid much (or at all) so I appreciate the effort they put forth in writing about the Zips.

I can’t speak to all of those teams, but some most certainly won’t be ranked by end of year. A few things of note as I enjoy following turnarounds closely. UTSA lost their OC to Illinois, so it’s unlikely they will repeat their same success. On the flip side Illinois is flying under the radar and will likely surprise this year. South Carolina stomped North Carolina in the bowl game and only received 5 votes while UNC received 34. To make it even more head scratching is UNC will probably take a step back after losing their QB to the draft while South Carolina has loaded up with talent in the offseason. South Carolina, Illinois, and of course Akron are the teams I’m most interested in this year. Carolina and Illinois are in their second year of rebuilds and are receiving little respect from the national media (and other coaches apparently).

I’m assuming QB1 is between Irons and Undercuffler. Both bring different skill sets to the position, so it will be interesting to see how it all plays out. I’d be concerned if Jankowski or Jennings saw meaningful minutes in 2022. It sounds like the offense will mostly work out of 11 personnel sets (1 TE, 1 RB) and we’ll see a heavy dose of inside zone regardless of who the QB is. If Irons, probably see more RPOs and QB reads. If Undercuffler, we’ll probably see more screens, bubbles, and things of that nature.

I’d guess Richardson is competing with Thomas at one of the OLB spots.

Could be. And that may be a good thing after last year. I suspect the other DT is Devon Robinson and the DE is Victor Jones, but who knows for sure. I think JoeMo mentioned Boateng was coming back from an injury. He’ll probably battle Terry for that OLB spot when he returns.

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.