NewZipsFan

Only so much the staff can do with the time they have left before signing day, but recruiting has become a year round "sport" - and with this crew, I would guess that there will be a LOT of information coming out all year long...

The players already here will improve under the new staff and the incoming players will be made to feel welcome - and also foster some competition. Without competition at every position, players don't push themselves to play their best.

Sorry - I'm not used to one continuous thread for recruiting... Usually each new commitment/ recruit gets his own thread. I think they deserve to feel special

New commit to Akron: http://recruiting.scout.com/2/1149201.html

It looks like the Athletic Department had it produced. Have you seen this? Akron Football

It is my understanding that he is not being recruited to play at Akron. With the legal issues pending, it just doesn't seem like the best fit for the team.

I do not believe he is being offered a scholarship. Coach Bowden does his homework when it comes to situations like this one, and then makes the decision based on what he feels is best for the team.

Isn't he a classic I-formation RB? I don't think he's very fast, either. Coach Bowden is not going to be running an I-formation offense, so I doubt they will be going after him.

More important than turnover margin, or offensive turnovers, is turnovers GAINED. The defense must force turnovers in order to play top level football. I just looked at Akron's 2011 stats (ouch!) and one of the most glaring stats is that we only intercepted our opponents TWICE all season. I guarantee THAT statistical category will be different this year - T-Buck must be chomping at the bit to start coaching these guys!

For anyone who thinks Coach Bowden's comments are merely lip-service, take a look at this column he wrote for Yahoo! sports. It's a statistical breakdown of top ten teams, and his analysis of the most important categories/stats. There is also a link in the article to a mor comprehensive spreadsheet, where you can plug your own team in and compare to the too 10 teams. Granted, this is from 2007, but I'll bet there hasn't been much change. Coach Bowden has an Accounting Degree and a Law Degree - he may sound a little hillbilly with all the ya'lls and dadgummits....but he is a VERY intelligent guy. Terry's Top 10

Too many programs overlooked the great experience/knowledge/relationships Coach Bowden gained while he was broadcasting for ABC, ESPN and Westwood One, writing for Yahoo, and doing motivational speaking across the country for the 10 years he was not coaching. Plus the fact, he learned from possibly the greatest "salesman" ever in college football - his father. Akron is going to be the beneficiary of all of this - and if things go the right way - he could take the Zips not only to a MAC Championship, but also to the next level and a National Championship. The Bowden's are very loyal - Bobby at FSU for 34 years even though he was offered many other jobs, Tommy staying at Clemson for 10 years, even when he knew he'd probably get fired if he didn't win the ACC Championship the following year (when he was offered the Arkansas job a few years ago), etc... I see Coach Bowden building his own legacy at Akron.

I thought they were very good pieces. Its obvious that this writer is trying to bring a "flavor" to her writing by painting a picture a bit.. Nice touch.... http://www.ohio.com/news/top-stories/marla...alling-1.255127 http://www.ohio.com/sports/zips/marla-ride...iority-1.255135

Don't live on the gulf coast - actually the east coast. And what is Dreamland?

Here it is: Terry Bowden brings FSU flavor to Akron football By Ira Schoffel Democrat sports editor It was only fitting that Akron's new head football coach, Terry Bowden, would put together a staff with a distinct Florida State flavor. His cornerbacks coach is former FSU great Terrell Buckley, his defensive coordinator is longtime Seminoles assistant Chuck Amato, his brother Jeff is on the staff as special-teams coordinator and outside receivers coach, and there are other FSU connections as well. The way Bowden sees it, Akron's struggling football program is a lot like the one his father, Bobby, took over at Florida State. Like the Seminoles of the mid-1970s, Akron's Zips have been battling to get back on the winning track; they have won just one game each of the past two seasons. But with improved facilities, a strong talent base in the area and an energized new coaching staff, Terry Bowden believes he can awaken a sleeping giant. "Akron is so ready to win," said Bowden, who has spent the past three seasons at North Alabama. "It really reminds me of the situation at Florida State when my dad got there in 1976. And I believe we can have that kind of success on our level - the MAC (Mid-American Conference) level." It has been an odd journey for the 54-year-old Bowden, who was one of the nation's hot young coaches when he led Auburn to an 11-0 record in 1993. After compiling a 46-12-1 mark in his first five years there, Bowden resigned following a 1-5 start in 1998. He then spent most of the next decade working as a television broadcaster and public speaker, before getting the itch to return to coaching. "Very few people go into a different industry for 10 years and then go back, so there was nobody to pattern myself after," Bowden said. "But I knew one thing - I knew that I wanted to coach again." After an 11-year absence from the sidelines, Bowden took over Division-II North Alabama in 2009 and enjoyed instant success. The Lions went 29-9 in his three seasons, made playoff appearances each year and were planning to make a move to Division-I status. Bowden said he was perfectly content to stay in Florence, Ala., but everything changed when he received a call from athletic department officials at Akron. "They called me and sold me," Bowden said. The attraction for Bowden was natural. Not only has the school made a commitment to athletics, with a new $61 million football stadium and an indoor practice facility, but he actually worked there as a young assistant under Gerry Faust in the mid-1980s. And he remembers the area fondly from his youth, when father Bobby was the head coach at West Virginia. "I grew up in Morgantown, which is three or four hours from here, so this area is home for me," Bowden said. "This is the part of the country where I'm most comfortable." Bowden also is familiar with the rich talent in the area. Though he joked at his introductory press conference that he might need to head down to Florida to find some "gazelles," he is excited to recruit the hard-nosed, physical style of football players that can be found in Ohio and western Pennsylvania. When it came to building a staff, Bowden said he didn't intend for it to be so Florida State-centric. Bringing along his brother Jeff was a natural, but his other offensive coaches were simply men he had worked with in the past. "I'll be running the offense, and I'll be calling the plays," said Bowden, who will run a quick-tempo, no-huddle attack. "So I wanted to surround myself with people who were on the same page." Most of the Florida State connections are on his defense, which will be orchestrated by Amato. "Defensively, I wanted a dynamic leader, somebody with energy and who would bring some pizzazz," Bowden said. "Chuck not only did an incredible job for all those years at Florida State, but also what he did (as head coach) at North Carolina State - particularly on defense. They had some great defenses there." It was Amato's desire to bring along former FSU standout and strength coach Todd Stroud to coach the defensive line, as well as Buckley to coach the cornerbacks. And Bowden has been impressed by what he has seen thus far, saying that Buckley, "is on the verge of being a great one." With his coaching staff in place, and a few more weeks to tidy up his first recruiting class, Bowden sounds like a man who can hardly wait to get on the field for spring practice. "I'm just really excited about it," he said. "I know that I have another 10 or 15 good years."

It's actually coming out tomorrow - that was a promo blurb for it. I have a subscription (and again, NO, I am NOT Bobby Bowden!) so I will share it tomorrow.

As a new Zips fan, I am no expert on the habits of the average football fan in the area. However, it has been my experience with other programs around the country is that "if they win, they will come". I agree that there should be some initial new excitement generated, but if the fans don't see a product on the field that they can get excited about, they will find something else to do/spend their hard earned money on. I'm confident that Coach Bowden is absolutely going to make an immediate impact on the team, but we must all be realistic - are 6-7 wins possible in 2012? Possible, yes. Probable? Probably not. I hope that the fans will see the progress made, and continue along with the team and their success as it builds and builds. But count me in for Lot 9!

I can promise you I am NOT Bobby Bowden! LOL... wish I was! Is Coach tweeting again? I'll have to go check it out.

I saw the other topic about the old book the Bowdens wrote back in the 90's. If you want to read some things that are a little more current - here are the links to a few of Coach Bowden's columns that he wrote while the exclusive college football writer for Yahoo! Sports (the first one is pretty funny/ironic/cool...) If anyone ever doubts how much he knows about the game, tell them to read some of these http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news...b-mascots063008 http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news...g=tb-top1011607 http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news...b-recruit012908 http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news...tb-spring021908 http://collegefootball.rivals.com/content....p;PT=4&PR=2 http://collegefootball.rivals.com/content....p;PT=4&PR=2 http://collegefootball.rivals.com/content....p;PT=4&PR=2 http://collegefootball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=844656 http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news...b-fathers061408 http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news...b-players052508

Started a new thread for this post... thought it was "worthy"

Of course he will coach the LB's.... who else in the country could do it better??? Coach Bowden is the Offensive Coordinator - and he will call every play; with great input from his eyes in the sky (Jeff) and on the sideline from Alan (Tank) Arrington and A.J. (a nice little tidbit that was missing from the brief bio is that AJ was the QB coach at East Miss. College - and they just won the JC National Championship while their QB set all sorts of records!).

They have already been all over the state of Ohio. Don't forget that Coach Amato is from Easton, PA, and Coach Bowden grew up, and went to college (and played) at WVU. John Pont is from Ohio - if you read the release, his grandfather was the John Pont who coached at Miami, Yale and Indiana - still very well known and respected name in that area. And come on guys -- do you really think its going to be difficult for Terrell Buckley, or anyone on "Coach Bowden's" staff to get in ANY door?

Hands down, the best possible choice. Those two words - "Coach Bowden" - say everything that you'd want your players, community, fans, alumni, staff and media to know. Thousands of players for SIXTY YEARS have been proud to call their coach, Coach Bowden.

Been booked for several months. Call it luck, fate, serendipity.....

http://www.ohiofairs.org/ConvProg.pdf Coach spoke at the Ohio Fair Managers Convention in Columbus yesterday - and I hear there were about 2,000 people/1,500 high school students in attendance for his motivational speech. Also heard it was a rousing standing ovation That's a lot of kids going back to their schools tomorrow talking about The University of Akron!

Gonna be a fun season!