zipboy

Just curious, are the issues that she is a different personality, more of a yeller or are there more underlying issues like she can't coach, etc?

Many great memories.1. Beating Marshall on ESPN 2 years ago.2. My FR year, and seeing Darren Alcorn kick a 56 yarder.3. Coming back to beat Can't on a crushing block by Matt Zuercher and Butchie running it in. Afterwards, Dennis Helsel called it the greatest win in Syracuse history.4. All of the great players that I saw, J. Taylor, Dwight Smith, Charlie, Vic Green, Rothelsberger, Pennington, Charlie Batch, etc. Looking forward to many more in the new digs.

I think he was a preferred walk on as well.

I agree with what you are all saying. What I meant was we should be able to compete well against top tier mid majors and lower level BCS schools. Fleming has an offer from Akron and Hawaii. I give Akron the advantage.Recruiting against schools like Northwestern (where Sutton went), Indiana, Cincy, etc, I don't see why we can't get kids a reasonable percentage of the time. I hear what everyone is saying and don't expect to get kids if Ohio State, Michigan, etc offer. But I do expect to get some kids that Indiana and Northwestern offer.

Your much close to the situation than me, but I struggle with comparing the Akron Zips 5 years ago vs today. We have one of the best facilities in the country, will have one of the best stadiums in the country where next years class will play 4 years if they redshirt in 08, and an entirely different coaching staff from 5 years ago.A kid needs to pick the school that is right for him. Who is to say that JD has a couple of great years and leaves and Fleming goes with him. If the kid is only going to be here because of his Dad, then it may not be the best decision for him.I know that I am biased, but Akron is a great place to go now if you are a football player. Akron kids go pro, there is TV exposure, the facilities and campus are outstanding. Northwestern averaged about 25K last season. With the new stadium, we will average more than that. Tyrrell Sutton made the right decision for himself. Hopefully guys like Larry Dawson see what the Zips are becoming and want to be part of making this area great. I am excited to see what Bryan Williams does this year.

Nice picture of Dwight Smith in the loge. I thought the picture on the outside was Matt Cherry?

More than just the MAC, a lot of schools are drooling after seeing this. This is the catalyst for something huge.

The best brand awareness would be a win on Sept 8th

I remember reading 30 million in donations and 25 million in bonds. The extra revenue from the loges, parking, etc would pay the bonds off. Someone who knows more, please correct me if I am wrong. But I did read no extra fees for students.

Great job! I don't mind secrecy if things turn out like this. Mack mentioned not a big change in ticket prices. My guess then is that the club seats, loges, and suites will be hefty and there will a donation like basketball for some of the better seats. Parking and food will be higher although I am all for raising prices somewhat especially for big OOC games like Indiana, Kentucky etc.I like the homestands where they are. If most of our games are still starting around 6, the sun going down at that time will make it hard to see for the east stands.Can't wait for August 1st!

Good post,Doing the little things this year right will make a big difference. How many times did we jump offside, or drop a pass, or miss a coverage at crucial times last year? Eliminate some of those mental mistakes, and you get a couple more wins.I also hope we show more consistency this year. No more Army, Ball State games like the past couple of years.

I hope after the stadium announcement, they bill the Can't game as the last ever at the Rubber Bowl, bring back some old players and play the historic angle. The Indians sold out the weekend series in 93 before Jacobs field doing that. And they had very mediocre attendance that year.

Good point ZIP. I think last years class started that trend. I would be surprised if the incoming class has many problems. And I like the current philosophy.

I know the mention of Akron and the Big East in the same sentence make many roll their eyes. But here are some stats to think about which I am hoping Mack Rhodes and company are working on.Rasor had an interview with Mack about going to another conference and some of the things mentioned were facilities, community and fan support, TV market, academics, etc. Except for the community support thing, we stack up fairly well in all of the other areas. I looked at South Florida who just joined the Big East a few years ago. A few things of note1. Avg football attendance SF - 30K, Akron 16K. I know that the 16K was sold seats not who showed up. Not sure about SF if they really had 30K at their games. They also don't have a stadium of their own. They play at the Bucs stadium. Capacity is 65K. their ticket prices were $20-$30 per game.2. Avg mens bball attendance SF 3,852, Akron 3,593. Pretty comparable here. Their arena seats 10K3. Annual athletic budget - SF 25M, Akron 15MTo me here is what we need over the next 5 years in order to be thought of as serious consideration for a jump like this.1. Average 25K legitimate fans for football. With the new stadium, this is the big wild card. Will the Akron fan base grow and support the team? If we win, I think so. I like JD and hope he can pull it off.2. Average 5k for basketball. This would put us in the top 100 in the country for attendance. While I hope JD can pull it off, I know that KD can pull it off. One or 2 NCAA appearances, and I think we are there. I would be surprised if we don't average over 4K next season. KD is building something special here.3. Finish the football and soccer stadiums and do serious renovation to the JAR. If we are averaging 5K in bball, I can see the JAR expanding to 8K. An 8K arena that gets more than 2/3 full will be fine. Do what Toledo is doing with their exisiting arena.4. Increase the athletic budget almost double to 25M. Depending on what happens from 1 and 2 this will either feed itself or it won't. If we hit the numbers above. the budget still won't double but will go up a nice chunk with the extra revenue. There needs to be more committment from the community, administration or wherever but not as much as one might think.I look at those things above and think all are doable, definitely not a slam dunk but at the same time not impossible. The odds aren't that bad. Just some thoughts on a slow summer day. And I am still bitter about the basketball season and the ineptitude of the MAC.Go Zips!

At 260, Mondo is bigger than half our D line

Good find ZFF. It sounds like if osu does not offer, we have a fighting chance. Johnny is on the money, we just need a few top local kids to choose the Zips. Bryan Williams was one. I look and see what the Akron kids did for Zips basketball and hope that we get 3 or 4 kids to break the mold and be Zips.

I talked to a few different coaches from the city series, and I cant say which coach, but an assistant from Akron North also told me that Dawson is leaning towards Akron over the other schools that have offered him so that way he can stay close to his family, and they will be able to attend his games. He will be playing in a brand new stadium.....with a team that is on the rise...........a great fit for Larry. Hopefully a good fit for much of the other local talent. With state of the art facilities, a chance to play sooner rather than later, Akron should be at or near the top for quality local talent. Crossing my fingers for these guys to be Zips.

Phila QB commits to play at AkronT-R Staff ReportJordan Miller is getting it out of the way early.The New Philadelphia High quarterback verbally committed to play college football at the University of Akron on Thursday.The 6-foot-3, 200-pound senior signalcaller made the trip north to make his early commitment to the Zips.“I went up and visited with them today and told them I wanted to play for Akron,” an excited Miller said. “It was close (to New Philadelphia) and it was probably the best situation for me.”New Philadelphia coach Matt Dennison said Akron is the right place for Miller.“He felt comfortable there and they were comfortable with him,” said Dennison. “Jordan told me it was the right fit for him.”Advertisement Last year, his first as a starter, Miller hit 98 of 218 passes for 1,593 yards, 16 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.Miller will try to etch his name into Akron history alongside some pretty good company.“It’s a great quarterback school,” noted Dennison. “The last two Akron quarterbacks (Charlie Frye and Luke Getsy) are in the NFL.”Frye was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in 2005 and Getsy, Frye’s successor at Akron, signed a free agent deal with the San Francisco 49ers earlier this year. It’s also a place where Miller felt comfortable with Akron head coach J.D. Brookhart, who reminded the senior of another important man in his life.“Coach Brookhart reminds me of Coach ‘D’ (Dennison),” said Miller. “He’s a really smart guy who knows his football.”Miller said he owes a lot to Dennison. “Coach ‘D’ knows what he’s doing, you just have to listen to what he says and you’ll do well.”Now Miller hopes to do well as a senior on a Quaker team with high expectations this year, especially after dropping from Division II to III.“I got looked at by a bunch of bigger schools but I didn’t want to sit and wait and ruin my chances with a great school like Akron,” Miller said. “Plus I’m happy to have this decision made before my senior year started. We have high hopes this year and our team chemistry is so great. I’m glad I can focus just on playing.”Miller will join former New Philadelphia standout Richard Sandilands at Akron.“That’ll be neat,” said Dennison. “To have two kids from New Philadelphia there at the same time is a great thing.”“It doesn’t happen that often, it’s an honor,” Miller said of playing on the same team as Sandilands. “When Richard would come home this past year, we’d throw a little on the turf (at Quaker Stadium) and he told me a lot about the program. He loves it at Akron.”

Phila QB commits to play at AkronT-R Staff ReportJordan Miller is getting it out of the way early.The New Philadelphia High quarterback verbally committed to play college football at the University of Akron on Thursday.The 6-foot-3, 200-pound senior signalcaller made the trip north to make his early commitment to the Zips.“I went up and visited with them today and told them I wanted to play for Akron,” an excited Miller said. “It was close (to New Philadelphia) and it was probably the best situation for me.”New Philadelphia coach Matt Dennison said Akron is the right place for Miller.“He felt comfortable there and they were comfortable with him,” said Dennison. “Jordan told me it was the right fit for him.”Advertisement Last year, his first as a starter, Miller hit 98 of 218 passes for 1,593 yards, 16 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.Miller will try to etch his name into Akron history alongside some pretty good company.“It’s a great quarterback school,” noted Dennison. “The last two Akron quarterbacks (Charlie Frye and Luke Getsy) are in the NFL.”Frye was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in 2005 and Getsy, Frye’s successor at Akron, signed a free agent deal with the San Francisco 49ers earlier this year. It’s also a place where Miller felt comfortable with Akron head coach J.D. Brookhart, who reminded the senior of another important man in his life.“Coach Brookhart reminds me of Coach ‘D’ (Dennison),” said Miller. “He’s a really smart guy who knows his football.”Miller said he owes a lot to Dennison. “Coach ‘D’ knows what he’s doing, you just have to listen to what he says and you’ll do well.”Now Miller hopes to do well as a senior on a Quaker team with high expectations this year, especially after dropping from Division II to III.“I got looked at by a bunch of bigger schools but I didn’t want to sit and wait and ruin my chances with a great school like Akron,” Miller said. “Plus I’m happy to have this decision made before my senior year started. We have high hopes this year and our team chemistry is so great. I’m glad I can focus just on playing.”Miller will join former New Philadelphia standout Richard Sandilands at Akron.“That’ll be neat,” said Dennison. “To have two kids from New Philadelphia there at the same time is a great thing.”“It doesn’t happen that often, it’s an honor,” Miller said of playing on the same team as Sandilands. “When Richard would come home this past year, we’d throw a little on the turf (at Quaker Stadium) and he told me a lot about the program. He loves it at Akron.”

Thanks for all the updates GoZips. 8 home games, 3 neutral games, and 3 road games is very favorable.Quality opponents in Winthrop, Temple, Dayton, one of the Alaska games, Wyoming, and UIC. This is definitely an upgrade from last year and should help the RPI. I like this much better than playing a couple top 20 teams with no return games. Home and homes against quality competition.

I agree, a huge contribution! The football and basketball program combined have an annual budget of around 4.5M I believe. So that is an extra 3% or so increase which is a nice step up.

Feel better ZIP

The good news is that Proenza is not a dummy. I feel good that if things are not working out, he would make a move.72 Roo, if there was any change in leadership, would that hurt the stadium drive, or do you consider it to be a done deal?

I don't know what goes on and don't care to know but it seemed like Mack's strongsuit has been good relationships with the coaches and athletes. The bigger issue has been with the fans.So I scratch my head with this one. On the good side, he gave nice contract extensions with some solid raises to KD, JD, and Mitchell, arguably the top 3 coaches with Newt Engle. Everyone seemed to like Porten as well. We had an ex golfer post here a few times who is close to the program. I am curious to get his read on this.

I agree wholeheartedly. You know Central Florida won nothing in the MAC and moved "up" to CUSA. They averaged 2700 last year in basketball. What they did was committ a lot of money to athletics and built some facilities. South Florida averaged a whopping 3800 fans in basketball, about the same as Akron this past year. Didn't they move up to the Big East? I know this isn't immminent but we can be a lot closer to moving up than people realize.