Lee Adams

I remember when JD Brookhart was hired in 2004 after Lee Owens actually had a winning season in 2003(I believe). JD took what was left of Owen's bunch(some of whom were really good,without Charley Frye) and added some solid pieces and managed somehow to win a MAC championship in 2005. A bunch of us were really excited about 2006. Some quality was returning and JD added what appeared to be some solid recruits(had a freshman all America). In 2006 they went to NC State and beat Chuck's boys if memory serves. But,that season while competitive never panned out. '07,'08 and '09 were disappointments also. They did go up to Syracuse one year and beat them. If they had beaten UB in the last game at the Rubber Bowl in '08 they may have won the division again. '09 even with the new stadium wasn't good. JD was gone. 6 years! Point being that some coaches have the ability to get a program to a certain level then things stall. We will know at the end of this season if that's where this program is at now.

I think what is frustrating is that this program has made progress since Bowden took over. Shoot,where do you go from 1-11? That's history. But,at least some fans see that some of the same things that were happening in years 2,3 etc. are continuing to occur. That is especially true on the offensive side of the ball. The lack of consistency,the weak play of the offensive lines,the inability to consistently run the ball,the seeming inability to really develop a top notch QB like we have seen at other MAC schools,the lack of player discipline during the games and what many fans who have actually been attending a large number of games over the years see as a maddening inability to develop coherent offensive game plans. Make no mistake,without some of the really good defensive play that we have seen here over the past several years,this program would not have been in a position to go to bowl games or to a MAC championship game by relying on the offense. And yes,when we see over the years the consistent winners at NIU,WMU,Toledo,OU and now a program at UB that has been quickly turned around, fans wonder why not at Akron. Nobody expects a MAC champ every season. But,what they want to see is the ability of this program to play competitively against those top quality teams every year.

Its odd to me that two of the most wide open routes of the day were to an 'alleged' tight end/H-back type in the middle of the field. The first one he just completely muffed. The 'hands of stone' syndrome. Luckily he more or less surrounded the second one for a TD. Point is not to demean that player. It is not his fault he is being used incorrectly. Point is why doesn't the Bowden/Milwee gang get a tight end on the field who can catch? Then use him. For a guy like Nelson who is not accurate, a TE in the middle of the field can be a real weapon. Start throwing some 10-20 yarders behind the LB's and in front of the safeties you loosen up the line of scrimmage a little and get the safeties into coverage in the middle of the field. More options running and passing. Come on, this is not rocket science! Or,is it?

This is probably one of the most insightful comments I have seen on this site. It has been said previously. But, coaches have to be capable of coaching up the talent THEY have recruited. I have not seen anything, especially on offense that indicates this staff can do that.

I wish Bowden/Milwee would actually make legitimate use of the H-back/tight end as an offensive weapon.

Watched some of the Toledo/WMU game last night. Don't know how it ended. Couple of things struck me. There seemed to be a noticeable difference' a higher level, in the offensive line play in this game than what we see from the Zips. And,WMU was playing with its back up QB and was still very competitive against one of the best teams in the MAC,at least in the first half. And,didn't Guadani go to Hudson High school? Did Akron recruit him?

And the play calling.

NIU? OU?

The only way we tell if this was a significant win is if they back it up with at least 5 total MAC wins this season. I think that's 1 less than last year? That means they have to beat at least 1 quality team out of the next 5. Is it NIU? Is it OU? Not quite ready to place CMU or EMU with the elite quite yet. Certainly Buffalo going into Toledo and winning kind of separates them for the time being. Until this team cleans up the things people on this site have been talking about endlessly,especially offensively, there will be no consistent winning especially against the top tier of the MAC. One question,how many total MAC wins will it take this season to avoid the AD making significant changes inside the program?

That sound U will hear is a moving van. Doesn't matter now!

Its a shame we are posting this kind of stuff before the 3rd MAC game. Broken record in some respects. Offensive issues all over the place. Seems like that has been a problem for a number of seasons,even when they won. I still can not understand why there has not at least been a change in who is responsible for the offense. Are the players being put in the best positions to succeed. I read a comment from another MAC coach in one of the pre-season pubs. He liked the defense a lot. But, he also said he couldn't figure out what they were actually trying to do offensively. In any event,KSU has a decent running back. That is only relative however. They have a few decent guys on the defensive side of the ball. If the Zips commit turnovers on offense,take stupid penalties(like they tend to) KSU will stay in the game and have a puncher's chance. If the coaches don't have the offense moving and scoring early mistakes will decide. Of course they need to run EFFECTIVELY. But,pounding the ball is not in the Zip's DNA. Hopefully,KN is paying attention early. Hopefully,he becomes more of a leader on the field. Hopefully.....

If the team that beat NW and played tough at ISU shows up,Zips win. If the team and preparation we have seen the last 2 weeks shows up,unfortunately could be 'all she wrote'. KSU is not good. But, one has to imagine that KSU now sees an opportunity to make its season with this one. Should not have come to this,but....

My only response would be that if the Offense had stayed on the field,put some drives together and put some points on the board,the Defense would not have been hung out to dry on a hot,humid day. Miami's D didn't have to operate under those circumstances. Bottom line:coaches didn't have this team prepared.

None of this is the fault of the D. If your offense can't score a TD against a good MAC team,get out of the business!

Wasn't really motivated to comment this season. But,I buy 2 season tix and have been for 20+ years. This season is in the dumper again. Please no talk about some meaningless bowl game. It has been obvious for years that the lack of consistent offensive production has been the problem in the Bowden/Milwee era.If TB is not willing to ditch Milwee and TB's brother at the end of this season or sooner then the AD needs to call in whatever favors he has and buy them out! If the Zips lose to Kent,which now is possible,its over for this regime. TB got the program to a certain level.It appears he has hit the wall. Kind of like the Indians and Francona.

Do we know if other MAC schools have/are imposing these same restrictions on sports recruiting? I am afraid what may happen is that after the best Ohio recruits are snapped up by bigger programs as usually happens now there may be even more competition for those Ohio kids who are left. Now lets say Akron has an Ohio recruit in its sights. And,that kid decides to go elsewhere in the MAC or another mid level conference. It happens. Is Akron now going to be limited to going after even 'lower level'(not using this derogatorily) Ohio recruit instead of being able to go outside of Ohio for a more highly rated recruit? IF thats the case the overall talent drop off within the program becomes more of a problem over time. If the program can't go after a Florida or Pennsylvania kid because of the new emphasis on 'staying in Ohio' what happens.

The only way it seems to me to help the University is financially. Again,the Info hangs like an albatross. Otherwise, there are several concerns for the football program in particular. First, the number of top quality DI athletes in Ohio is not what it used to be. Population out migration. The very best Ohio athletes are going to OSU or probably another Big-10 program. That leaves what is left for programs like Akron..etc.Then come the Toledos,Cincys etc that will pick off the best of the rest. Second,how many of the other MAC schools are limiting themselves in this way? That means that the out of state recruits that Akron may no longer pursue are going to go to places like OU,Toledo,WMU,Pitt,Cincy etc. if they come to Ohio at all. The repercussions of this have yet to be felt,obviously!

What was his final year at Akron? 2004? Too bad he wasn't around for 2005. Talk about a guy who made himself a solid NFL player. Lasted a long time on the field. Wonder if he has any head coaching aspirations? Ummm.

I'll take 6 wins in the MAC for starters. Thats a minimum for me. Beat OU and Miami on a consistent basis. OU especially. Have to look out for Buffalo though. That also means you probably have to beat at least 1 team from the West whether it be a Toledo,NIU,WMU or whomever. 6 MAC wins is going to likely put you in good shape to win the East most of the time. Tack on 1 win against a bad 1-AA school you should have at least 7 wins. If after this amount of time 'in the saddle' this regime can't recruit enough roster talent to beat 6 MAC teams 3 out of every 4 years look elsewhere.

Thats the guy I was hoping would find his way back to Akron at some point.Oh well. Read somewhere a year ago that he was with the Packers in some 'quality control' gig I believe. Think he was at IUP for a while also. Western PA guy? Think you might see a noticeable improvement in QB play if you could bring a gut like him in here. He liked Akron enough to come here from Pitt with JD if I am not mistaken. Correct me if I am wrong.

We won't know how good or bad recruiting has been until these guys get on a college football field and play. Thats especially true at the level where most MAC teams recruit and play. The obvious exceptions appear to be the Toledos,NIUs,OUsand maybe a WMU. Those teams have been consistently good in the MAC and competed fairly well against higher level competition outside the MAC. I realize that Ianello did nothing positive for the program. But,6 years later we are finally in a MAC championship albeit against a far superior opponent. Now, this coaching regime has to take the next step and become more consistently competitive IN THE MAC. That is going to mean an upgrade in the athletes on the field. Bowden has been able to bring in some individual players who have excelled at this level. And,thats a start. But,after watching the Toledo and FAU games we realize that quality up and down the roster is not quite there,yet. Bowden has to find more Jatavis Brown,Ulysees Gilbert,Jojo Natson etc type players at more positions. He and the AD also need to take an objective look into what if any adjustments need to be made to what goes on on the sideline. 2018 now becomes another critical season because the program needs to take 'the next step'. It needs to consistently win 6 games in the MAC. And,thats going to mean being able to compete more favorably against the Toledos,OUs,Nius etc. Hope this season got them 'over the hump'.

Makes sense. Even if there was any consideration to making a HC change,and I do not think that would be appropriate at this point, you would at least hope the AD raises some of these issues people are posting about when an extension is discussed with Bowden. For recruiting purposes you have to go into to next season with at least a one year extension to Bowden. Maybe there is something in his contract that kicks in if he wins the Division and goes to a Bowl. I do feel that if we get into late October/November and we are seeing the same things we are seeing now it might be time to reassess. If they can win 6 games in the MAC next season they will have a shot again. I think that 6 MAC wins should be the objective every season. Oh well,lets see what happens.

If we were not willing to admit it after the Toledo game,we have to admit it now. This regime has not raised the level of the program to be able to seriously compete with the very top programs IN the MAC much less outside of it. I am speaking of course of conferences outside the 'Power 5'. Aside from the issues some see with the coaching staff there is just an obvious lack of speed and athletic ability at most positions to be able to realistically compete. There is a player here and there. But,there are not enough 'heres and theres'. This makes the AD's call on Bowden et. al tougher in my opinion. You can't show up on national TV and get embarrassed twice in the space of a few weeks. Neither the program nor the MAC benefit from that.

Coaches and teams either embrace expectations and get motivated or coaches and teams shrink from the 'pressure'. Right now we know the coaches and teams in the MAC that improve with the expectation of getting better. So far I haven't seen that from this regime. If the coaching staff is 'scared' the players will be scared. 2018 is the critical year for this regime. I want to see if Bowden/Amato can coach like their reps depended on it. The first thing we will see or not see is if Bowden is willing to make some obvious changes to make this program beter. I am talking about coaches and position players.

I think the loss of the big guy in the backfield really hurt. Ball was a real upgrade to the run game which statistically was pretty bad for the season. His presence would have helped Nelson or Woodson or whoever was at QB. It would have also helped a somewhat inconsistent O-line by giving defenses something they had to really respect. Now Bowden has to find a real threat at RB. And,he needs to shore up the O-line among other things. Hopefully,they will indeed have upgrades at WR. If he can find somebody,someway to 'coach up' Nelson,there should be improvement there. I am just not convinced that Milwee is the guy to 'coach up' your QB's. And,YES there will be expectations. Finally! Lets enjoy that!