The Football Golf Outing Returns

[ZachTheZip]

...well? How was it?

[Dr Z]

...well? How was it?

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!

[johnnyzip84]

My quick lunchtime take on yesterday's outing (Dr Z beat me to the punch, so excuse the repeat information):

1. The Quarry is a really nice course and terrific setting in general for an event like this. They could have had a little more food on the course, but I can't complain about the Yuengling kegs.

2. Since the response was so overwhelming this year, Coach Bowden threw out a suggestion that maybe they could have twice as many teams next year by having half play in the morning, everyone meet for lunch, and then have half play in the afternoon (presumably you'd have different awards for each?).

3. Now for the Coach Bowden sidebars:

a. I recall him confirming every "additional" recruit (Kurt Mangum, Carlton Thomas, Jamel Turner, Hakeem Lawrence, etc) I've seen mentioned previously on ZnO.

b. Several of the incoming FR offensive linemen are thought to be able to play 2nd string this year.

c. He said plenty Moore but I don't want to steal anyone's (Keener, CK) thunder.

4. The event attracts quite an assortment of people. Well done UA.

[akronad]

This is great news. I'm glad that the golf outing is back. I was all set to register, when I was notified that I had to be in Columbus all day on the 11th for meetings. hopefully, I can get out next year.

GO ZIPS!!!

[K92]

I do not golf, but I am very glad I attended. I visited in the morning with friends, bought a couple of Zips jerseys and then hung out until everybody returned for dinner. Luckily, for me, Coach Amato doesn't golf either, so I got a chance to talk with him at length in the clubhouse. There were quite a few interesting surprises while talking to him. I would say, in general, that this coaching staff has come to a very different conclusion in evaluating the existing talent in this team. I realize there are new philosophies on both sides of the ball and some of the players may not fit in as well in these new schemes, but I think there are going to be some fairly huge changes in what personnel we see on the field this fall.

Talking with Coach Amato is very easy. He is very direct and straightforward. I feel very fortunate to have spent the time with him and would encourage any of you to approach him if you have the opportunity.

After dinner Coach Bowden addressed the crowd with a nice little speech. After he was done, Joe Dunn started reading off ticket numbers for the raffle and Terry was sitting at his table all alone so I decided to go talk with him while I had the chance. I introduced myself and told him that I wanted to let him know just how much I appreciated that he made the decision to come to Akron.

I am not really sure why, but when I said that I kinda got a lump in my throat. I think he could tell how much I love my Zips and told me in a personal manner what he has been saying since he got here. He said he and the staff are going to do everything they can. He wanted me to do everything I can. He said when camp opens, the doors are open. He wanted to see me at practice and he wanted me to bring a friend. He said he thought it is very important for the Zips to win a game or two early in the season that they aren't supposed to. He said that will get people's attention. We probably only chatted for 3 or 4 minutes but he said a lot in a short period of time. I was already a Bowden Backer before Monday but he really personalized it for me that day. The man definitely has some charisma and I think I have a crush on him.

Great day.

[johnnyzip84]

I do not golf, but I am very glad I attended. I visited in the morning with friends, bought a couple of Zips jerseys and then hung out until everybody returned for dinner. Luckily, for me, Coach Amato doesn't golf either, so I got a chance to talk with him at length in the clubhouse. There were quite a few interesting surprises while talking to him. I would say, in general, that this coaching staff has come to a very different conclusion in evaluating the existing talent in this team. I realize there are new philosophies on both sides of the ball and some of the players may not fit in as well in these new schemes, but I think there are going to be some fairly huge changes in what personnel we see on the field this fall.

Talking with Coach Amato is very easy. He is very direct and straightforward. I feel very fortunate to have spent the time with him and would encourage any of you to approach him if you have the opportunity.

After dinner Coach Bowden addressed the crowd with a nice little speech. After he was done, Joe Dunn started reading off ticket numbers for the raffle and Terry was sitting at his table all alone so I decided to go talk with him while I had the chance. I introduced myself and told him that I wanted to let him know just how much I appreciated that he made the decision to come to Akron.

I am not really sure why, but when I said that I kinda got a lump in my throat. I think he could tell how much I love my Zips and told me in a personal manner what he has been saying since he got here. He said he and the staff are going to do everything they can. He wanted me to do everything I can. He said when camp opens, the doors are open. He wanted to see me at practice and he wanted me to bring a friend. He said he thought it is very important for the Zips to win a game or two early in the season that they aren't supposed to. He said that will get people's attention. We probably only chatted for 3 or 4 minutes but he said a lot in a short period of time. I was already a Bowden Backer before Monday but he really personalized it for me that day. The man definitely has some charisma and I think I have a crush on him.

Great day.

Good insight, Keener. I’m glad the day worked out as well as possible for you. But are you sure that lump in your throat wasn’t just the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale talking back to you?

You mention a recurring theme in “off-the-record” discussions with Coach Bowden. Publicly he likes to play it safe with statements like “2 wins would be an improvement”, but this is the 3rd or 4th time (by my recollection) he has privately emphasized “winning one of those games you’re not supposed to” early in the season. I believe that, in his gut, he thinks the Zips have a shot to do exactly that. So that leads me to ponder which game might “fall the Zips’ way”. You figure Tennessee is out of play and Morgan St doesn’t fit the criteria, so he probably feels either UCF or FIU are possibilities. A win over EITHER of those programs at this point would be big. I sure hope he and the Zips can pull it off. That, like he has said numerous times, would make his job a whole lot easier.

[Captain Kangaroo]

I don't know if I'll ever get the time to write a proper summary of our conversation with the coach, so I'll add short notes here as they come to mind --

Bowden said he has 5 "solid" offensive linemen, and two others that he feels will be at a serviceable level come Fall 2012.

Bowden was as clueless as any of us regarding what he could or could not do regarding an association with Jim Tressel. As time has progressed, he's learned that he can do quite a bit... much more than he originally anticipated. Tressel can't play AD. That's clear. Tressel can't coach football, period. But he can meet with recruits. He can meet with the coaches. And Bowden has no ego...he wants to win, and if he can use Jim Tressel, legally, to help the Zips win, he's going to do it. He views Tressel as a great resource. One that other coaches in Ohio would kill to have.

He said Jamel Turner is academically eligible, and his fingers are crossed that he is as-advertised. We probably won't know much more on Turner until August.

Regarding the kicker (Fox) - Bowden, politely-as-he-could, simply stated kickers are a different breed than "position players", and he was as surprised as anyone that Fox departed. Perhaps Fox was miffed that Bowden put the kicking job up for grabs this summer. He is confident the kid from Cincinnati will be a solid replacement.