Captain Kangaroo

If UA fired me, I’d put what’s best for me ahead of what’s best for UA too.

The good news is we can’t possibly shoot any worse from behind the arc than we did last year regardless of where they moved it to.

I think the traditional "Senior Night" is officially passé. Too bad...I always like the ceremony with the parents alongside the kid that you watched grow from an 18 year old role player into a 22 year old All MAC'er. Call me sentimental, but "Transfer Portal 5th-Year Eligibility Night" just ain't the same...

I'm guessing he'll foul out, get a couple rebounds, score a couple points, make 40% of his free throws and get a couple blocks consistently in Utah.

Trevor Brown doesn't merit even a 4th team all MAC mention? He's started every game at Left Tackle for the last 2 seasons, and done a great job.

So far, only an offer from Hampton? Bowden had said a lot of P5 schools were after him to play LB, but he wanted to play RB. Now he's listing himself as an LB? Twitter

Wasn't Abreu suspended for that game? Maybe Tree too? It was a fun trip. UA chartered a nice bus ride to Morgantown. Even provided beer on the bus!

I'll let you know once we return to being a legit contender for a MAC Championship.

McElwain Tells Hicks to Hit the Bricks

Sorry, there's too large a gap between a 72 Roo and a 19 Roo.

He’s only going to get better. Really looking forward to seeing what Arth and Gasser do with our WR’s this year, and next (with everyone returning).

Makes me want to drink Tres Agaves.?

That’s a little puzzling and very disappointing. He got a lot of reps in the spring. You’d think he’d be happy about his chance to be an RB here for 4 seasons? Maybe the staff wanted him to switch to the defensive side? I believe he was a gray shirt, so he could play immediately elsewhere. Too bad.

A couple weeks ago Zips redshirt sophomore receiver Jeremiah Knight was nice enough to answer a few questions from me and Dr. Z after practice. Here's his story - Catching On As always, thanks to Dr. Z for the great supporting photography and layout!

That makes sense. I quit attending Zips hoops games during the Coleman Crawford era. The games stopped being fun. Crawford was the nicest guy in the world, but a completely inept college basketball head coach.

Penn State played at the JAR?

You're correct.I fixed it. We were discussing Suggs yesterday and I guess I had Suggs-on-the-brain.

It was tough to get to my keyboard this weekend. Here are some belated practice notes - As per usual, there were group practice drills, interspersed with a few scrimmage periods. Lots of work in the red zone. We are going to have a lot of red zone options this upcoming season. It will be tough for anyone to cover Dre, Boogie, Nate and Jonah when we go 4-wide. Someone's going to be open. It doesn't seem like there's any doubt that this is Kato's team. In comparison to last season, he seems much more mature and poised. An Achilles heel of his has been letting his emotions get the best of him. Maybe Arth's calm demeanor is rubbing off on Kato a little? Speaking of Arth, he's definitely coaching "harder" in week 4 of the spring. In the first two Saturday practices there weren't very many critical assessments. Everything was positive. Today you heard a little barking at guys that lined up in the wrong spot, or who didn't know the play. Expectations are higher than one month ago. Reggie Corner was on the sidelines. Apparently injured. Ditto Dre Williams. Sampson and Keyondre White also didn't play. If the number of practice reps has anything to do with the QB pecking order, it looks like it's Kato, then Kelley, then TJ Deshields and then Ramart. Deltron is definitely bigger. Hopefully that helps his durability...staying healthy has always been a struggle for him. He had a really nice 35 yard TD run in one of the scrimmage sessions where he made a couple inside juke moves, then broke it outside and outran everyone to the endzone. Jonah Morris looked very good yesterday. Made some nice catches in the endzone. Nate Stewart continues to impress. He's had an excellent spring. There's no way diminutive RB Brandon Lee isn't seeing meaningful snaps on offense this season. He has the height of Franshon Bickley, but the comparisons end there. Tough runner with great speed. Jerry Fitschen got a couple opportunities to kick the ball through the uprights instead of just kicking off, and acquitted himself very well. He hit a 37 yarder to end the practice. Kato hit Dustin Burkhart on a long 50+ yard TD bomb late in the day. It was fun seeing Shawn Featherstone back in action. That's all I've got. It was more drills than scrimmaging today, so there weren't a lot of "sexy" happenings to report on. The biggest positive I walked away thinking about is - A more mature, improved Kato, plus 4 high level WR's in Josh Boogie, Nate and Dre means our offense is going to be a lot of fun to watch next year. We have a nice jab and punch combo in the backfield, where we can go small/fast with Sands and Lee, and power/big with White and Alce. Floyd has looked good too. And, I think Arth will find a way to feature Wolfley. He was underutilized last season.

Arth needs to work on loosening up those hips!

Terry's busted cheating off someone's paper!

Need to wait and see who graduates. It’s tough to keep up anymore.

I wouldn't mind seeing another grad transfer, like Duvivier, plucked from the free agent market. He was as good as Utomi, and more consistent. As much as the mid-majors are losing their senior "stars" to Power 5 schools, the seniors sitting on the pine at Power 5's are transferring down to MAC-level programs.

I had the opportunity to interview Josh Ward after last Saturday’s practice. Yet another great representative of Zips football! Thanks as always to Dr. Z for the nice layout and great supporting photos! Article

Gonzaga of the East!

Scrolling through Dr Z's photos, one thing that sticks out is the youth of this staff compared to Bowden's. Some of these guys are 30...40 years younger than some of those in the Bowden/Amato crew. There's a different form of engagement with the players during the drills, and a different level of energy. When I watch a practice I try to look at things from the Coach's perspective and see who really stands out. In one drill there were 20 guys running through cones, then tackling a dummy. Maybe 15 of them looked identical. A few showed techniques and speed that stood out, and a couple guys...probably won't be bucking for a starting position this fall. Guys like Alvin Davis, Josh Ward, Boogie and Bubba can be fun to watch, even in drills, because their technique stands out. If you are looking for a great stock to buy low, with huge upside, get in early on Freshman fullback Abe Alce (ALL-cee). With Deltron Sands and Keyondre White sitting out, Abe got a lot of reps. He's big, fast (for his size) and consistently shows soft hands when pulling in those almost-out-of-reach swing passes. I expect he's going to be a big part of our offense this upcoming season. Saturday was the first time the kickers were showcased under rush conditions. Cory Smigel is a tiny kid with a big leg. His ball gets in the air quickly, and in the difficult-to-gauge environment of the indoor practice facility, showed good accuracy from 40 yards-in. Sophomore Jonah Wieland (Hudson) also had a couple nice kicks, but had one blocked. Keyondre White and Andy Jean-Baptiste didn't play. Likewise, no Reggie Corner was seen in the secondary. Redshirt Freshman Jaylen Hooks (Warren Harding) got some reps at cornerback. Another redshirt Freshman, Rich Hall, got some reps in the secondary. Physically, Hall looks like he can step in and play immediately. In scrimmage situations, Kato gets the "first team" reps. As of March 16th, Robbie Kelly seems to be the leading candidate for the #2 QB position. @Dr Z mentioned Kelvon Blackmon as a player who tried-out as a walk on and was given a roster spot. Another is 5' 6" 165 lb Brandon Lee. Brandon played WR last week, this week he was in the backfield. He's REALLY tiny, and REALLY fast. It will be interesting to see if he can find his way on to the playing field this upcoming season. Liking what I've seen from Bubba Arslanian at LB thus far. He's a strong kid with a nose for the ball. He runs all his drills with great technique, and at high speed. Yet another guy that will be fun to chronicle once the tackling begins (all drills and scrimmage situations thus far are non-contact). It was nice to see so many high school kids attending the practice. The Ignatius HC and Maple Heights HC were there. Probably also several HC's that I didn't recognize.