ZipForNow

Yikes. I guess I was pretty selective in my recollection. I remember the improvement and the bowl games. You are right.

I may be missing something, but I thought Bowden was pretty good. That said, I do think Goodrich is the person to figure this out. I think Guthrie was looking to make a splash and get out. He ignored the budget and overspent. Goodrich is trying to figure out how to be the leanest, meanest athletics program in the country. It may require a different kind of coach and approach.

Doesn’t Amani have a solid shot at making an NBA roster? Or is he just looking at keeping his options open?

Good point. Still, I wonder whether he could have gotten NIL money if he had entered the portal.

I think we assume this, but some good players do return for their own reasons. I have no idea why Jordan Gant returned, but he did.

I can't get past the firewall, but it was discussed here: https://www.crainscleveland.com/sports-recreation/ccl-akron-budgets-20260730/

I completely agree that Dr. Goodrich falls in Category #2. I think he thinks that the Zips can be the best under-resourced FBS program in the country. Has anyone seen the statistics overall for Akron athletics? We are something like #7 or #9 in the country in terms of athletic success per dollar spent. Goodrich wants us to be number one. He believes there are plenty of football programs resourced similarly to Akron, but through a culture shift and a genuine commitment to both academics and athletics, we can be better than those other schools. And we need to be in order to be included in the upcoming TV deal.

Akron Zipped Up recap is here: https://akronzippedup.substack.com/p/game-5-recap-central-michigan-41?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=2970576&post_id=218201656&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=1oisov&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

This is frigging scary.

What about establishing a running game and keeping the defense off the field?

Fascinating day in the MAC if you are not a Zip! Some great football being played. Eastern is manhandling UMass. Several tight contests. Miami BGSU seems like a dogfight.

Also, we need a balanced attack whether we are ahead or behind. As soon as we fall behind, we throw too much. We have good backs. A single well-designed run play can move the chains just as well as two incomplete passes followed by a long completion, and definitely even better than a 3-and-out passing attack.

I don't know. There must be a ton of FBS schools out there in similar straits to UA. If we were the best of those schools, we would have something to be proud of. Again, win or lose, I think most of us want to see us COMPETE! That means execute: wrapping your arms on a tackle, controlling turnovers, not committing stupid penalties, angle of pursuit, etc.

I would settle for a winning in-conference record and being bowl-eligible (6 or more wins). That would be a good start.

I don't see why we can't compete at the MAC level. I don't see a lack of talent or lack of available talent. There will always be players transferring down to schools like Akron. The problem on the field is lack of execution, not lack of talent. And in addition, there seems to be a pretty serious coaching problem, both developmentally and in-game. I am convinced that if we found a hungry young coach who wanted to prove himself in FBS, the Zips could be successful. In terms of NIL and other resources, It's not as if many other programs are not in the same boat.