ZachTheZip

http://www.wkyc.com/news/local/story.aspx?...433&catid=3 Both the Golf torunament (all 50 of the world's top 50 golfers will be competing) and the NFL HOF celebration are in town, making this weekend one of only two every year when Akronites can look around, roll their eyes , and mutter about stupid tourists not knowing their way around town. The other week is the Soap Box Derby weekend where thousands of out-of-towners paint their cars in slogans supporting their kids, making them easy to identify.

http://www.bold.dk/nyt/FCM-vil-foelge-amerikaner My understanding of Danish is non-existent, but thanks to Google Translate it looks like he didn't make the cut. The Danish leagues are incredibly difficult for foreigners to get into because of how focused they are on tactical awareness. Even professionals in other European countries struggle to play in that league. He impressed pretty well for a college kid from America, however, and I hope he picked up some skills in his summer over there. It also explains why he wasn't playing in the Milk Cup with the other Zips defenders.

The good kind of "on trial", with FC Midtjylland in Denmark.

There's a problem with that, and that's the fact that the Zips aren't good enough to sell out the stadium on their own. So until that happens, we have to find interesting opponents. Maybe an ND home game ends up in Browns Stadium. Like when Toledo played OSU there last season and kept 100% of the gate, which was more than double what they could have made at the glass bowl.

Would Notre Dame be enough to sell out the stadium?

I hope it's for 2012 or later. A game in South Bend in 2011 means playing 3 non-conference road games against OSU, Cinci, and ND. That's killer.

MAX Preps profile. Scoutingohio profile I guess the Dayton newspaper has been reporting for some time that Plate is heading to Akron. He was a Safety for Division IV state champion Kettering Alter.

The FB spot is a much thinner one than the LB spot, due to years of playing out of a spread offense. Since everybody gets an equal shot this training camp, no matter their year or past depth chart position, Billy has as much of an opportunity as any player on the team to become a contributor.

Landon Smith committed to Youngstown State this morning: http://www.letsgoguins.com/columns/footbal...h-in-2011-class He must not think that he is good enough to play at a bigger school. Or maybe he wanted to play for a college just a few blocks away from his house.

Rodgers is athletic enough to be used in a wildcat formation. I think whoever somes up short in the competition will still see playing time.

http://twitter.com/ZipsFB Seems official.

Again I ask: What if Rodgers gets the starting spot? Well that doesn't fit into your Ianello is rebuilding concept. Rodgers is a Junior now. The question you should be asking is "What if Zach D'orazio gets the starting spot?" Won't have to worry about that: http://www.cleveland.com/sports/college/in...mple_expec.html "Open season: First-year Akron coach Rob Ianello said he expects a heated competition for the starting QB job between sophomore incumbent Patrick Nicely and the player he replaced because of injury, Matt Rodgers. The junior missed the second half of last season and much of the spring because of knee injuries. 'He [Rodgers] feels very comfortable,' Ianello said. 'No limitations. He's ready to go.' One player who will not be in the QB mix is freshman recruit Zach D'Orazio out of Cuyahoga Heights High School. 'He will not enroll until January,' Ianello said.

Offer: ATH Jabari Thomas

Looks like he's going to a community college in Kansas.

Those two home and home games he mentioned are for 2013 and 2014. But what about 2011 and 2012? We have two road games (OSU and Cinci) in 2011 and nothing at all in 2012. I think it hurts recruiting when you can't even tell your recruits who you'll be playing by the time they're freshmen. It comes off as unorganized. Looks like the AD is trying to remedy that, but scheduling takes a lot of time to get anything concrete. For 2011, here are the teams with an open date that doesn't overlap our two known games: ACC: Clemson, Duke, GT, Maryland, NC State, Virginia, Wake Forest Big 12: Kansas State, Missouri, Oklahoma, OK State, TAMU, Texas Tech Big East: UConn, Louisville, Rutgers, Syracuse, USF WVU Big Ten: Indiana C-USA: Houston, Memphis, SMU, Southern Miss, Tulane, UTEP Independents: Army, Navy, Notre Dame MWC: BYU PAC 10: Arizona, California, UCLA, Washington State SEC: Alabama, Auburn, Kentucky, South Carolina Sun Belt: Arkansas State, FAU, FIU, UL Lafayette, UL Monroe, MTSU, North Texas, WKU WAC: Fresno State, Hawai'i, Idaho, LA Tech, Nevada, NMSU, SJSU, Utah State The coach said both he and the AD want 6 home games. Both our known OOC games are road games. That means either two of the listed teams or one and an FCS team will be at home next year. An interesting note is that the entire WAC will be scrambling to find a team to play thanks to the departure of Boise State leaving with 5 OOC slots, so they might be open to one-and-done road games against lesser teams. Also, talk coming out of MAC media day is that Notre Dame is warming up to scheduling MAC teams (as long as they're only in South Bend), as indicated by them playing WMU this season. They are supposed to be in negotiations with one or two MAC teams for the 2011 and 2012 seasons. Akron and Miami are the obvious choices, with the coaching connections. They'll never play Ball State and risk losing to an in-state team not named Purdue.

JD brought talent with him. Does anybody count that towards what he inherited? Last year, Akron was the 3rd youngest team in the NCAA in terms of the number of underclassman who started. Does that translate to talent? or does it simply mean JD didn't have many seniors to work with?

Tennessee is a tough place to play, but one of those kind of games a year is a good thing. Pays the bills, gives us an opportunity for a major upset, but playing those games as the season opener never works. I hope we play a FCS team or a low-level FBS team (Army, Sun Belt) before taking on a major opponent. Two home-and-homes will be announced? He didn't mention if they were BCS or not. I recall something about us having an upcoming series with FIU. Maybe they're one of the teams. No matter, I'm happy to see the AD finally getting organized about future football scheduling. The one on gozips.com is from 2006.

It all got swept back under the rug after Lemon was forced to apologize publicly for having the nerve to be the subject of the coach's misfired text. But he's still on the team.

I'd like to nominate 'the Kid' for Giving up on the Zips Hall of Fame. In my humble opinion his performance over the last 6 months has pushed him right to the top. Who is "the Kid" ? Zach used to be UAkronkid and had a habit of saying so much stupid stuff people made fun of him a lot. So he reinvented himself as Zach and stopped saying stupid stuff for a while. He did? I most certainly did not! And as for beating a OOC team, I predict we beat Gardner Webb. Best chance against a BCS team is against Kentucky.

Which of the Zips seniors have the best chance of getting drafted after this season? In no particular order, I would say DT Almondo Sewell C Mike Ward LB Mike Thomas WR Jeremy LaFrance DE Shawn Lemon Any others that stand a chance of being drafted or signing as a free agent?

Again I ask: What if Rodgers gets the starting spot? Well that doesn't fit into your Ianello is rebuilding concept. Rodgers is a Junior now. The question you should be asking is "What if Zach D'orazio gets the starting spot?" It fits in if he thinks Nicely could use another year practicing in the pro offense and being coached. He could redshirt Nicely.

Coach's quotes. He seems to be all about fundamentals.

Again I ask: What if Rodgers gets the starting spot?

Got two more with offers: PF Aaron White PF Kirby Wright

A very good point. We weren't supposed to have any new stands this year, just a new field and drainage.