InTheZone

You made me laugh when I saw this because I said something similar about ECU's back-up players. It was hot as heck last night and when ECU had to sub, their guys looked like starters for Akron. There was a huge drop off in talent and USC would take advantage of it. They looked like players who weren't ready to start and may never start because they could bring in someone better than them at the drop of a hat. I thought Icoach made it clear that the guys were getting stronger this year? A new strength coach and renewed emphasis on lifting has really paid off. To be honest, the zips were melting away under JD as well. You can't win games at this level if your players are not in proper game shape. You can't blame it all on the strength coach. Some guys, no matter what weight program they're on, are just never going to be elite athletes. When I played, we had guys who would work their asses off every damn day in the weight room, put in extra time whenever they could, do everything right, and still never get that big or strong. Then there were other guys who would dick around in the weightroom, miss half of the summer strength program, and then show up for camp benching 400, squatting 700, and faster than everyone who'd been there all summer. Some guys are just genetic freaks, and those guys are the one's passing "eyeball" tests. We have not been able to recruit that kind of player to Akron in a long time. Strength coaches aren't miracle workers. They can have a huge impact, but if they're given a bunch of Sallies, they're not gonna just be able to create Samson's in a few months of the offseason.

Excuse my language but... BUCK THE FUCKEYES!!!

I think you're being a little harsh Doug. Is this the most thought provoking, insightful thread ever? No. Does what Zach is saying have any realistic chance of becoming a reality? No. But this is the kind of post you'll see on every school's message board across the country. It's no big deal. If you don't like what Zach's saying, that's fine. But don't get personal with the dude, it's completely unnecessary.

Here's a few that weren't mentioned so far: 1. Putting 500 plus total yards on Wisconsin in 2003. I honestly believe in my heart if the ref had made the right call in the endzone (Bobby was in) we would've won that game. The 14 point swing was devestating and we had all the momentum before that. 2. Jumping 14-0 on Cinci in '06. For a quarter of football the Zips looked like one of the most dominant teams in America. 3. Brett Biggs to Jason Montgomery for an 80 yard touchdown pass against Purdue in 2005. Pulled the Zips within a touchdown I believe before things got out of hand.

Technically Nicely still has time to transfer down to one of the many D2 programs in the state and start immediately. A good D2 coach in need of a QB could have him enrolled in classes and on the practice field tomorrow afternoon.

You old white-guilt ridden tree hugging hippie

My heart says 9-3. My brain says 3-9.

Yes. Busted his hip. Injury #1. He was granted a medical redshirt after injury #2, ACL tear (it happened on the practice field next to Shrank South). I'm pretty sure the ACL was first, hip second, but you could be right.

That was his hip injury I believe, which knocked him out for another year. Two major injuries, two redshirt years, which is why he was a 6 year player.

I'm not exactly sure what drill you're talking about, but GP1 is right in the sense that guys need to get a few "pops" in before the game starts... you never want your first major collision to occur in the actual game. It's a shock to the system, and if you haven't already had some good contact before the game you tend to come out a little timid. I do have a "funny" story about that though. The year after I graduated (JD's first year), the Zips went down to play Virginia coming off a tough home opening loss to Middle Tennessee. I'm sure many of you remember the 51-0 drubbing we were handed that day, but before the game, apparently Terrell Williams (the first year d-line coach at the time) was unhappy with what he percieved as a timidness and lack of aggression in a pregame form up drill (form up drill is basically where you have two guys about ten yards apart, one with the ball, and a cone half way between them and off to the side. The ball carrier runs towards the cone and the defender simulates a proper tackling technique by getting his head across and wrapping him up.) Williams ordered the next two guys up in line, Brian White and Jermaine Reid, to each move back ten yards, and stated that he better start seeing some hitting (in a few more words than that). Well he saw a hit alright, a hit that Reid seperated his shoulder on, knocking out the first guy off the bench in an already short handed rotation. Needless to say, some pregame policies were altered after that one.

JD was all about banging it out at the end of practice just like RI early on in his tenure. Things changed in the Spring of '06 when a goaline drill at the end of practice resulted in a blown out knee for the most promising young running back JD would coach during his time here at Akron. Alex Allen was able to come back and have a decent career, but he was never close to the level he showed himself capable of as a true freshman in '05 before the injury. Incidents like that will cause a coach to shy away from some of the tough guy stuff with his starters involved. I see both sides of the issue on having very physical practices. I was a guy who thrived in Inside Drill and Goaline, and those periods always got practice rev'd up and the juices flowing. But by the same token, those are also the drills where the most injuries occur. There is a fine line between doing what's neccessary to get your team ready to be physical and unnecessarily increasing your risk of injury to vitally important players. Regardless, I don't think periods like that are ever good to end practice with this close to the start of the season. At the end of 3 hour practices guys are exhausted and things start to get sloppy. With more bodies falling on the ground, you're really taking a chance by purposefully putting the team in short yardage, high contact, compact space situations. I understand GP1's perspective, but I think it's a little stupid to end practice this way.

Usually the Saturday scrimmages during camp are "open", but they don't really promote them to the general public. It's a chance for a lot of the player's families and friends to come up and see them at an otherwise closed camp. If Ianello follows the same schedule as every other college football program in America, you can bank on there being a scrimmage every Saturday the players are in camp, so if you want to go just blend in with the family members and no one will say anything to you.

When someone dies, I think it's pretty natural to wonder what it's from. Zach simply asked the question wondering if maybe it had been reported elsewhere. This is a Zips message board, not a graveside, and when one of our former athletes dies, asking if anyone has info on the cause of death is not some sort of out of bounds topic. You need to stop with your "holier-than-thou" attitude... no one's impressed by you being an asshole to Zach for wondering how someone died.But more importantly, R.I.P. to Tyler from one former Zip to another, and prayers to his family. A tragic loss, whatever the cause.

Jermaine's a good dude, we played together my last two seasons when he was just a young pup, he's come a long way on the field since then.GP1, Reid and Almondo Sewell are both playing for the Eskimos, and then Jabari is of course with the Stampeders. Those are the only former Zips I know of in the CFL currently. Cam Yeow is out of the league though still playing some Semi-Pro up there I believe, and Jason Nedd is a former CFLer who's finished as well.

Reid's had a good start to the season, winning the CFL's player of the week:http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Esks+Je...8157/story.html

Jermaine Reid was also playing in that game, as a starting defensive tackle for the Eskimos. And the Eskimos aren't a horrible team, in fact, they are 4-0.

He asked a pretty simple, natural question. There was no need for you to be a d!ck.

I would love to go. But I didn't receive an invitation. I wonder if the fans who actually go to the games will get an invite. Or is this based on contribution level? I got one and haven't given for a few years now outside purchasing season tickets.

I would imagine the football team is using the weightroom in Stile Fieldhouse. It is state of the art and much bigger than this one. It is also conveniently located inside the team's practice facility, next to team offices, locker room, player's lounge, training room and meeting rooms. Moving to the stadium would make no sense. It's likely this small weightroom is either for lower level sports or a lab area for the sports science department located in the stadium.

Shut up Dave

I do remember there being a black walk-on QB around my sophomore year who made it through part of the season before he started becoming an attitude problem and was kicked off the team by Owens. Don't remember what the guy's name was as he was insignificant and wasn't around long, so I never really took the time to care, but maybe it was this guy. Don't know if that exactly qualifies as "playing collegiately for the Akron Zips" as the article states though.

Why the hell are we playing JMU? That's just asking for another FCS loss embarrassment.

One good thing about JD, he was usually pretty blunt and open in his assessments of the team. You learned a lot when he spoke. Ianello speaks in hyperbole and is a giant bs artist.

I cringed when I read that also. How bad was it torn? I think about Aaron Smith (DE with recurring shoulder injuries). Oh well, we're going to be a juggernaut sooner or later.... Torn labrum's are pretty common place in football. I had one when I played, and the way they've perfected scope procedures nowadays, this is pretty minor. It might limit his bench press numbers in the future, but shouldn't have that big of an impact on his ability to play.

Apparently this guy doesn't know anything about the spring game, or the locker room. No jobs are won or lost in the spring game. Hell the coaches don't even watch the tape of it. It's just a fun end to spring and a time when your family and the fans can come watch. There's no pressure whatsoever, and guys in the locker room before the game are thinking more about how drunk they're going to be by 7 o'clock than how well they're going to perform in the game. I wouldn't have given two craps if they'd brought some alumni in before the game when I was playing. It'd be a good time to show the guys that there are alumni supporting them and who want to still be involved in the program. There's a large gap between current player/alumni player relations at UA for whatever reason. I like all of GP's suggestions. As for bringing kids in, yeah common sense dictates leave your daughter with her mom, but what difference would it make to bring your son in?