The 2015 Football Commitment List

[Buckzip]

There are other players that may be able to transfer to UA this off season from down south.

[Blue & Gold]

I'd love to see Paris Campbell come home. He could really contribute here but won't likely see the field in Columbus.

[Buckzip]

I'd love to see Paris Campbell come home. He could really contribute here but won't likely see the field in Columbus.

Yes he will. He's been hurt off and on but when healthy reports are he's been great. He's got a great future.

[Captain Kangaroo]

That damn big hole can be defined by two letters. QB. We were 4-2 and favored in our final 6 games. Other than QB, can the hole really be that damn big if the pollsters had us favored in every game?

To steal Zipgrad01's thunder, we really need to get in front of B. Miller for twenty minutes. He needs to understand that two words- former buckeye- is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars for the rest of his adult life. If he transfers to another power school and wins, that becomes tens of thousands.

If he becomes a Zip, we win and he will profit. Team Akron.

Wish in one hand, poop in the other...

5th year QB's have shredded the MAC, like Hendrix, Frohnapfel and even Dalton Williams. But they do it for pathetic, loser teams. We need a QB that will shred the MAC for two or three consecutive years.

Chapman has to be The Man this year. Or Kincade.

Chapman's numbers at Ashland are a concern, but obviously he didn't want to be there. The Bowden staff speaks very highly of the kid, so I'm optimistic he'll amp-up our lethargic offense.

Kincade is a wild card. Big, strong, and with a year of learning the system under his belt. Maybe he's a baller and we're set at QB through 2019...maybe he's the second coming of John Fergueson?

Woodson has that rifle arm. But Bowden says he has a zero tolerance for turnovers this season. That doesn't bode well for him. On a tangent...I saw a stat this year where the Vikings Cordarryl Patterson led the NFL in "Interceptions when Targeted." He ran crappy routes, so the balls that went his way got picked. I wonder which Zip led the team in "Interceptions when Targeted?"

You'd like to think the job is Pohl's to lose. But he really needs to show something in the spring to have any sort of edge.

We have 2 QB's that were Pitt commits, one that was an Arizona State commit, and one that has 20+ Division 1 starts under his belt. That SHOULD be an embarrassment of riches, not a reason to hunt down a 5th year, mercenary transfer.

If we can't find an upper-echelon MAC QB out of that lot, we never will.

[Jrship35]

Pohl will not be the man ......................... Period

It is currently Chapman's spot to lose ................. The way Bowden talks about him, you can tell that the job is currently his

[Captain Kangaroo]

I was one of the ones that said that I was extremely concerned and it is for a very simple reason. If you can not get anyone worthwhile from your core recruiting area , NE Ohio or simply Ohio in general, to commit to your program then it is a major red flag!

Bowden has stated that his core areas are Ohio, SE Michigan, western PA and Florida. We recruited almost exclusively from Florida. That is not good when you can't pull any players from 3 of your 4 hotbed areas. People can make excuses all they want, but the fact is offers were out there for kids in all these areas and we came away empty handed.

Every school in the country recruits Florida. If we think that we are going to build classes by picking through the Florida leftovers then we are insane. Several of the kids that we got from Florida had no other offers, or if they did they were not from traditionally successful programs. The offer sheets matter more to me than the stars. But, when you scroll through our classes offer list you quickly see one of two things...

1. Not many other programs thought these guys were worthy of offering.

2. Bowden is just that much "smarter" than every other coach in America.

i guess I can be considered one of the doubting thomas's.

I buy that it is disappointing to have so few kids from W Pa and Ohio in the class. To some extent.

Generally-speaking, the Zips name doesn't carry much weight locally. Yeah, he attended West Virginia, but he's always coached in the South. His Dad is a legend in Florida...not so much in East Liverpool.

Bowden can walk into pretty much any Florida High School and the resident HS coaches get all weak-kneed. Not so much in Monroeville Pa.

I doubt there is a high school coach in Florida that's going to tell a "Bowden" that he has a legit D1 kid that he wants him to sign, and that kid actually sucks.

By the same token, the high school kids we've seen thus far from Florida have not made an impact. Most of them are still pretty young, and all were recruited off the epic string of 1-11 seasons, so I don't think you can condemn this Florida-based class because of their predecessors.

For the most part, the signing day event was uneventful. Coach spoke for a long time when answering most questions, and in the end didn't say much. But those in the audience that were perceptive caught on to his interspersion of passion when the QB situation was brought up, and the fact that year #4 of the Bowden Era needs to be a leap forward. He was adamant about it.

Zips recruiting is tough to follow. It is a completely different animal that almost anywhere else. You can't rely on Rivals or Hudl or Scout or 24/7 or anywhere else. These guys don't research squat. Some post nice videos, and they get the scoop on recruits commitments from the HS coaches. But recruiting sites just don't look into the kids the Zips recruit beyond the surface. Especially the transfers, who by necessity have made up the bulk of the impact players we've seen under Bowden.

I have faith in the guy. The retention of the young recruits is my barometer that the program's health continues to improve. Having the aforementioned 3 "BCS Commit Quarterbacks" on our roster is an unbelievable thing for a MAC program...even if the local papers don't know it. Next year's QB situation should be light years ahead of 2014. RB too.

If Bowden delivers the goods in 2015, I think the Ohio and Pennsylvania kids will take notice, and we'll see a few more next February.

Until then, let's hope Ray Ray Smith gets his ACT scores up. If he does, look out.

[ZachTheZip]

I was surprised at how just little recruiting cache beating Pitt gained us.

[skip-zip]

It is currently Chapman's spot to lose

Bingo. I'll say no more right now.

[ZachTheZip]

For the 98th time - Josh McNeil got arrested days after he was offered. He is NOT coming to Akron. Mansfield, maybe. Akron, NO.

Tupta and Lockett are preferred walk-on's at this time. You will not see anything about them until they receive a scholarship. Bowden was not publicly allowed to comment on them yesterday.

https://twitter.com/MBeavenABJ/status/563771230122442752

Michael Beaven says that Lockett will sign in August. Assuming the same goes for Tupta.

[UAZipster0305]

I was surprised at how just little recruiting cache beating Pitt gained us.

Beating Pitt was huge...potentially...but not when it is followed up with a weak performance at Ohio, a pounding at Buffalo, and a loss to the pillow-fighting Golden Flashes. Two of those three games were winnable. Do that and the program is on a substantial upswing and recruits take notice. As is, the Pitt win is easy to dismiss as an anomaly.

We have another chance at Pitt and a break out season next year. I'd love to beat Pitt twice in two years!

[ZachTheZip]

We have another chance at Pitt and a break out season next year. I'd love to beat Pitt twice in two years!

Then it can't be said to be a fluke.

[Blue & Gold]

http://www.ohio.com/sports/high-school/high-school-notebook-revere-st-v-m-coventry-athletes-primed-to-join-akron-football-team-1.564795?localLinksEnabled=false&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Coventry senior defensive end-wide receiver Devon Jones plans to attempt to walk-on the UA football team, says Comets coach Ed Egan. Jones is 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds.

Courtesy of Michael Beaven @ ABJ.

[blueandgold]

http://www.ohio.com/sports/high-school/high-school-notebook-revere-st-v-m-coventry-athletes-primed-to-join-akron-football-team-1.564795?localLinksEnabled=false&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Coventry senior defensive end-wide receiver Devon Jones plans to attempt to walk-on the UA football team, says Comets coach Ed Egan. Jones is 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds.

Courtesy of Michael Beaven @ ABJ.

I like his height and size for WR. We'll see about the rest.

[Jrship35]

http://www.ohio.com/sports/high-school/high-school-notebook-revere-st-v-m-coventry-athletes-primed-to-join-akron-football-team-1.564795?localLinksEnabled=false&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Coventry senior defensive end-wide receiver Devon Jones plans to attempt to walk-on the UA football team, says Comets coach Ed Egan. Jones is 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds.

Courtesy of Michael Beaven @ ABJ.

Put 25 pounds on the kid and we got us a nice big receiver !!!! ................ Walk on huh ?

[Balsy]

Anyone know the deal with Kefa Cort, Brandon junk, Joe Tupta and Vince Lockett?

[Jrship35]

Junk and Tupta - Preferred walk ons

Lockett to enroll in August :

St. Vincent-St. Mary senior running back-linebacker Vince Lockett plans to sign with the UA in August and receive a scholarship to be on the football team, said St. V-M coach Dan Boarman. Lockett first committed to the Zips in December.

Not sure on Cort

[Balsy]

Junk and Tupta - Preferred walk ons

Lockett to enroll in August :

St. Vincent-St. Mary senior running back-linebacker Vince Lockett plans to sign with the UA in August and receive a scholarship to be on the football team, said St. V-M coach Dan Boarman. Lockett first committed to the Zips in December.

Not sure on Cort

Thanks! I've been diein to update the roster with those unknowns!

[UA1987]

The QB situation will play out this Spring. I'm shocked at the hate for Pohl and love for Chapman. The only thing Chapman has showed is a tendency to get kicked off of a football team. Not a leadership trait in my book. Anyhow, we shall see very soon. One thing I think we can all agree on is that 2015 is a big year for the Zips. We must win - and please no kangaroos on the white helmets with chick thighs (no wonder some of you liked it).

[zippy5]

The QB situation will play out this Spring. I'm shocked at the hate for Pohl and love for Chapman.

Welcome to NEO

[Balsy]

The QB situation will play out this Spring. I'm shocked at the hate for Pohl and love for Chapman. The only thing Chapman has showed is a tendency to get kicked off of a football team. Not a leadership trait in my book. Anyhow, we shall see very soon. One thing I think we can all agree on is that 2015 is a big year for the Zips. We must win - and please no kangaroos on the white helmets with chick thighs (no wonder some of you liked it).

Who on this forum has said they hate Pohl? We're simply pointing out that with 2-years of Pohl at the helm, we've hit a barrier at the QB position. There's no hatred or emotion boiling over with a statement like that, it's stating observations and...frankly...the facts. I don't think there's a member on this forum who wouldn't love for Pohl to improve drastically in the off-season and beat out everyone on the roster...for him to stop throwing the ball to unopened receivers, making the right reads and leading the offense. The fact is, a drastic improvement for a 5th year player isn't likely. We've seen the best that Pohl can do.

[K92]

Whassamatta with chick thighs?

[UA1987]

Keener, if you had your way you'd probably vote for a fully exposed roo shootin the kanga on a helmet.

[K92]

Pretty hard for any qb to look good when his receivers can't get open or catch the ball. The only guy that could consistently get open and catch last year ain't comin' back, either.

All the energy focused on the quarterback situation might perhaps be best rechanneled into daily prayer that Donnell Alexander is the real deal because if he isn't, we're in big trouble.

[K92]

Keener, if you had your way you'd probably vote for a fully exposed roo shooting the kanga on a helmet.

[Jrship35]

Weren't we trying to court ole Noah over to UA ?

https://twitter.com/ekufootball/status/563017934067732480