Dr Z

Stay tuned, lots of ZN members attended. I'm sure they will post later today. "Popular" would be one word to describe it. I'll start and hope others will add. The Quarry is a beautiful golf course, if your a fan of golf and live within an hour, you should try and get to play it soon. Bring your "A" game. Very competitive outing. I believe there were three groups tied with a 56 that was decided by a scorecard playoff. Strategically placed kegs of Yuengling might have been on the course, but I might be wrong. If your not a golfer, but like beer and food, the outside bar there is very nice and overlooks the 18th green. All coaches VERY accessible and wiling to converse with you. Got to speak with coach Amato about the past (Zips beat NC State), and the future (recruiting). He is the same person as his old NC State press conferences reveal, likeable and animated. I enjoyed his conversation. ZN members got an impromptu session with coach Bowden after dinner for about 20 minutes. Coach Bowden is very honest and open. Some of the stuff, I won't post in an open forum out of respect for others. But he would give you the same answers if you asked him. He explained how he called in his offensive plays and how he come up with those plays. He spoke positively about his offensive line. He seemed very excited about some incoming offensive skill players. As indicated in his radio interview last week, he spoke of sitting down with JPT and discussing how he recruited Ohio when he was at YSwho. He reiterated what a great advantage it is for the program to have somebody like JPT on campus. He added that we have 80 scholarship players right now. I came away from the discussion thinking coach Bowden has a very quick and sharp mind. Akron football is in good hands right now. He is asking for your help by spreading the word and getting friends and family out to the games. Terry also said he wants to have twice as many people by having a morning session and an afternoon session next year. He feels the golf outing is very important so he can speak to the long time Zips fans and share his excitement about the program with them. Total opposite of...(ahhh forget it). I was hoping that Bobby Bowden would be in attendance, but no such luck. For once, I actually won some door prizes!

But ESPN can't get what team he plays for correct?!?! Ah little details.

Take it to the soccer forum. If you want to talk about the Zips football schedule do it here. Oct 27th @ Western will be at 3:30 pm (Time TBD) Tennesee Schedule Link (Time TBD) FIU Schedule Link

I'll take Poland and Russia today. Poland 2-0, Russia 1-0. PS I can't believe you can actually bet on a TIE for these games. Nothing worse than betting on a game, watching it for hours, and it ends in a tie.

If you would like to add these times to your electronic calendar the ics file can be found here. PS Not a big fan of the one noon home start time. Leaves less time for tailgating. I like the 2 and 3:30 times.

Former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden has added his name to the list of ex-coaches in favor of a BCS selection committee to determine the participants in a four-team playoff. In fact, Bowden believes that former coaches would be the best to serve on that committee. "This Legends group is about as real a group as you can have," Bowden told ESPN.com's Joe Schad. "I voted for years as an active coach. But what you're really doing then is putting yourself and your conference in position. I used to have an idea of what was going on around me. But now I really have an idea of what's going on around the country. When we're retired, we all have a better view." The "Legends group" is the Legends Poll, made up of legendary ex-coaches who watch game footage from across the country and participate in regular discussions and voting. Bowden also told ESPN.com that he would be willing to serve on the committee. "I think ex-coaches have a lot of wisdom," Bowden said. "I watch the games. And I watch the game films on my iPad." Complete Story ESPN Bowden Wants on Panel

For those of you that watch ESPN you can see Jason on "NFL Live", "NFL32", "SportsCenter" and both the Sunday and Monday "Countdown" shows

Solon High School Pitcher Drafted 50th by Blue Jays

After listening to the interview again, one of coach Bowden's best comments. "When we start winning games that Akron hasn't won before, that's when the fans will come" I didn't catch this the first time. Coach can lay a lot on you quickly. Talking about JPT being able to speak to a recruit on campus "...can he do it, yes, has he done it, yes, will he continue, yes he will..." Coach was in studio for the interview:

Two more things I remembered from the interview. On recruiting in the area: "We need to put up a fence around the Akron, Canton, Cleveland and Youngstown area. Any recruit not going to OSU, should be coming to Akron." On his father: "Everything I do is the Bobby Bowden style. The way I organize, I do the Bobby Bowden way. The way I hire coaches, I do the Bobby Bowden way. The way I run offense, I do the Bobby Bowden way. I talk to him once or twice a day. Expect to see him at a few games this year."

He did say "the last two years were hard for the diehard fans to process" (no joke) During the interview it almost seemed like everyone went out of their way to say "the diehard fan", while carefully not referring to us as "Zips Nation." Probably just my paranoia.

After letting the interview sink in for a few hours. I think coach said he was going to sit down with Jimmy in a few weeks (somebody correct me if I'm wrong). If he would have already met with Jimmy and requested some input on recruits, would he have not mentioned it? So I'm assuming he hasn't. At any rate, that would have been a great follow up question by those interviewers. On a scale of one to ten, I wonder how much Jimmy will help bring an athlete to the progrum. I hope 10, but fear (the roo) 2. I guess we'll have a better idea next time this year. I'm guessing his name recognition (with a potential recruit) has about a three year window, after that, it won't mean as much. Hopefully by then, we won't need it. In the interview coach Bowden said he recognizes that Jimmy's name means a lot in the State of Ohio.

Thanks for posting, I would have never heard this if you didn't. I think the most interesting part of the interview was the Jim Tressel stuff and what his involvement is going to be. Jim is allowed to talk to football recruits on campus, and TB about recruiting. He has to get 10 thousand more students by 2020, & raise money for basketball arena. TB suggested that Tressel should dot the "I" in Z-I-P-S at halftime. I would actually watch the band if he did that. Best idea I heard so far for Tressel. I like how coach tried to cross sell Browns fans Zips tickets. Buy 3 game Zips pack when Browns are away, & ol' man Weeden ran the same offense that we are going to run. Can you run the interview without a loooong commercial break in the middle 92.3? Bad programming. I'm guessing this is the article TB was referring to when asked how he would do a playoff system. He said he had the answer years ago and wrote about it. Coach expects 20,000 opening night against CFU, but realizes that he needs to win to continue big crowds. He said NEO football fans are educated and they don't put up with bad football. I kind of disagree with that (see decades of losing with the Browns), but I like his attitude. He really gives a great interview. A great spokesman for Akron.

NHL officiating is the best because, they get paid the best, and they have the "war room." The NFL is cheap because they figure the refs are only working 16 games (which is BS in my opinion). NHL refs never miss a replay and let them play when the game is on the line. They don't call suspect holding calls that kill drives, or 60 yard BS pass interference calls. NFL needs to do away with the spot of the foul pass interference call. One out of six of my plays would be a fly pattern to try an draw a pass interference if I was an NFL OC. The NFL should adopt the same instant replay system that the NHL has had for years. The rules committee needs to help NFL referees have a better chance at doing a good job. As the cry for MLB instant replay gets louder and louder, I wonder if they'll adopt the NHL replay model?

You can still attend the awards banquet dinner for $35 and watch me pick up all my prizes.

Consider the source.

One of my favorite things about attending a Zips game is to watch the Zips defensive unit work, and to see how they game plan against an offense. It has been a pretty awful thing to watch the last decade. I'm hoping this changes with coach Amato and his defensive and linebacker experience. 'Inside Triangle' Key to Sucess on 1st & 2nd Down by Pat Kirwan We hear coaches say "it all starts up front." when describing what a good football team looks like. That's not entirely accurate because what coaches really mean is "it starts up front inside." It doesn't matter if your favorite team is in a 3-4 or a 4-3 defense there is an inside triangle that is the foundation of the defense and if it isn't rock solid the rest of the package will crumble. The inside triangles look like this: • The 3-4 inside triangle: Two inside linebackers and the nose tackle. • The 4-3 inside triangle: Two defensive tackles and the middle linebacker. There are different philosophies about the inside triangle with all fronts. Two 4-3 coaches may build entirely different inside triangles. Same for any two 3-4 coaches. For example: • Shade 4-3 inside triangle front: A DT on the outside shoulder of a guard, a nose tackle on a side of the center and the MLB in a gap. • Base 4-3 inside traingle front: But both defensive tackles over the guards and the MLB over the center. It changes from team to team. The Eagles' 4-3 inside triangle is based on quickness with Cullen Jenkins and Mike Patterson at defensive tackle and DeMeco Ryans at the MLB. The Buffalo Bills have a combination of quickness and thickness with Marcel Dareus and Kyle Williams at DT, plus big middle linebacker Kelvin Sheppard. The Giants have a big thick inside group with Linval Joseph (6-foot-4, 328 pounds) and Chris Canty (6-7, 310) in front of a number of different middle linebackers who are hard to reach for would-be blockers. The shade look usually requires quick One-Gap players who penetrate while the base look has bigger defensive tackles controlling the line of scrimmage. If you're still looking for evidence supporting the inside triangle's importance, consider this from an NFL offensive coordinator: "If I can isolate the inside three on early downs, we always have a good chance to beat that team. We will run right at a bad inside triangle and away from a good one." Continue reading here for those interested Who fits into what philosophy for the Zips this year?

The guy that coach Bowden recruited to stay, went to a better progrum, the other two didn't. I can conclude from those three instances that TB & staff know their talent.

Always happy to read Rasor's stuff. Looking forward to his next blog.

I would love to hear coach Amato's opinion.

Hixon running with first team today

Will Jamel do the Same?

Donate the jacket to a shelter in Youngstown

Saw this on the same page.

Trubisky will not be at Akron (for now), and I will share additional information. Mentor junior quarterback Mitch Trubisky narrowed his choices down to Ohio State, Tennessee, Michigan State, defending national champion Alabama and North Carolina. He visited all five of them, but it was Saturday's trip to North Carolina which sealed the deal despite the fact the 6-3, 200-pounder didn't give the Tar Heels his oral commitment until Sunday.