Transfer Portal

[John Ward]

I would like to see some opinions regarding the transfer portal.There are currently 7 players in the portal now. How many more will follow. A lot of these young men have to be thinking that if they are not playing much on a winless team , Why stay? 

[kreed5120]

Sure, if those kids want to drop down to FCS or division 2. Akron has holes everywhere this year. If you aren't good enough to see the field as an upper class men this year, you're probably not good enough to see the field at any FBS school next year. 

[John Ward]

1 hour ago, kreed5120 said:

Sure, if those kids want to drop down to FCS or division 2. Akron has holes everywhere this year. If you aren't good enough to see the field as an upper class men this year, you're probably not good enough to see the field at any FBS school next year. 

Fair assessment ! However, what about the boys that are not even getting a chance. They didn't just wake up and become bad players. Not sure every boy needs to step down a level. If you are a FR or SO or heck even a JR you can transfer to another D1 program. Some might have to sit and others can try to get a waiver.SR that have graduated can transfer and play.

[zippy5]

They get their chance in practice. If they can't show the staff that they're better than what they're putting on the field now, good luck playing elsewhere.

[94zipgrad]

28 minutes ago, zippy5 said:

They get their chance in practice. If they can't show the staff that they're better than what they're putting on the field now, good luck playing elsewhere.

The one I think they made a mistake on was Dre Williams.  He was our leading receiver last year in the slot.  Because of the pro style offense & only having one slot they moved him to outside receiver because they fell in love with Boogie’s work ethic.  I don’t think they expected Burkhart to dominate camp.  I guess he had like 12 TD’s & more catches than all receivers.  Next closest TD’s was like 4.  Boogie didn’t do well in games & they moved Dre to slot but he had to make a decision before playing 4 games since he didn’t redshirt he can use this year & still have 2 years left.  Mathison ended up at the slot & Hicks outside.  It’s really hurt our offense losing Burkhart & Williams.  Even losing Morris to injury.  Lost 3 of our best weapons & it’s definitely showing.

[John Ward]

31 minutes ago, zippy5 said:

They get their chance in practice. If they can't show the staff that they're better than what they're putting on the field now, good luck playing elsewhere.

I guess I should be a little clearer. Its the underclassman mainly. I assume in practice they are not going full speed so its hard to evaluate. IMO.

[zipsoutsider]

3 hours ago, 94zipgrad said:

The one I think they made a mistake on was Dre Williams.  He was our leading receiver last year in the slot.  Because of the pro style offense & only having one slot they moved him to outside receiver because they fell in love with Boogie’s work ethic.  I don’t think they expected Burkhart to dominate camp.  I guess he had like 12 TD’s & more catches than all receivers.  Next closest TD’s was like 4.  Boogie didn’t do well in games & they moved Dre to slot but he had to make a decision before playing 4 games since he didn’t redshirt he can use this year & still have 2 years left.  Mathison ended up at the slot & Hicks outside.  It’s really hurt our offense losing Burkhart & Williams.  Even losing Morris to injury.  Lost 3 of our best weapons & it’s definitely showing.

Agree about Dre Williams.  

 

I thought Zaire Jacobs started to show a lot of promise as he developed towards the end of last season. I know Mounds was a huge factor in recruitment so he may have decided to blaze when the old regime went out. 

[Zippyroo]

18 hours ago, zippy5 said:

They get their chance in practice. If they can't show the staff that they're better than what they're putting on the field now, good luck playing elsewhere.

That is not totally true.  There is a lot of politics goes on in college sports.  There are players that are as good or even slightly better than the starters on all teams but may never see the field until they have earned their "stripes".  Hope this is not happening at Akron but it sure seems like it may be with the coaching staff's reluctance to even try other player combinations at certain positions especially Oline.  On top of that, you have coaches not wanting to eat crow over bad recruiting decisions so they stick with sub-par players for much longer than they should.  In my mind, if a player consistently outperforms a starter, whether a walk on or scholarship kid, regardless of years on the team, they should be elevated to put the best product on the field.   

[clarkwgriswold]

The Zips must look great in practice.  Just look at who they're playing against.    ?

 

At this juncture, if the best players aren't on the field, the staff has failed to recognize the urgency of the situation.

[akronzips71]

My questions about the transfers is this:

 

If these kids can not get playing time on the worst team in all of D1 Football, who do they think is going to be interested in making them an offer?

[zipsoutsider]

1 hour ago, akronzips71 said:

My questions about the transfers is this:

 

If these kids can not get playing time on the worst team in all of D1 Football, who do they think is going to be interested in making them an offer?

I am not convinced this staff knows how to pick the best talent and I am guessing the kids are not, either.

[John Ward]

I have heard there are guys out there that are not even getting a sniff for one reason or another. Politics ? Most likely. As much as I hate to say its ramped in sports at all levels. 

[ZipsVoice]

10 hours ago, John Ward said:

I have heard there are guys out there that are not even getting a sniff for one reason or another. Politics ? Most likely. As much as I hate to say its ramped in sports at all levels. 

And I have heard there are guys out that that are not even getting their pudding because they won't eat their meat - How can they have any pudding if they don't eat their meat?  Politics in sports?  and "for one reason or another"?  Probably one of those those reasons are they aren't good.... 

[Zippyroo]

42 minutes ago, ZipsVoice said:

And I have heard there are guys out that that are not even getting their pudding because they won't eat their meat - How can they have any pudding if they don't eat their meat?  Politics in sports?  and "for one reason or another"?  Probably one of those those reasons are they aren't good.... 

Listening to some Pink Floyd this morning?

[John Ward]

1 hour ago, ZipsVoice said:

And I have heard there are guys out that that are not even getting their pudding because they won't eat their meat - How can they have any pudding if they don't eat their meat?  Politics in sports?  and "for one reason or another"?  Probably one of those those reasons are they aren't good.... 

So what your saying is most of the boys woke up this year and all of a sudden became terrible football players. How would you know if they are bad if they do not receive any opportunity to showcase themselves.? Hmmm I believe the Vikings have a receiver who every D1 school passed on but is now a All pro in the league. A little school in MN took a chance and gave him a chance when no one else would.He said no one wanted him. I guess he was a bad player too ?

[ZipsVoice]

John, c'mon...no they didn't wake up "bad", they just were never D1 material, sorry to say.  The lateness that Arth came into the recruiting process, the guys who stuck around from Terry's regime that also never saw the playing field, and the fact that the team needed to fill a lot of spots on the squad just to be able to practice!  You act like this is the first time in NCAA D1 history that players on a roster never got PT.  I know you are coming from this based on us being winless, but is that any different than when we were in the midst of losing 5 straight last year under Bowden and we didn't ever see the likes of Youssef Barakat, Gavin Blunt, Zach DiLauro, Caleb Green, Nick Kopczak, and dare I mention Alex Ramart, who was supposed to be better than Kato?  These are just a few of the 2018 Zips that never saw a stitch of PT, and it's not that different at other schools who have losing records, have no chance of going to a bowl game or placing in the top half of there conference standings.  There are guys on all teams that are just not good enough, but they bust their butts every day, and try and try, and help the team in many ways, like running the scout team.  But their rewards don't include real game PT.  Stop making this sound like it's a conspiracy by the current staff.  It's not.  And yeah, you can always find a player in the NFL that everyone passed on....that's nothing new either.

Edited November 5, 2019 by ZipsVoice

[akronzips71]

Bradshaw and Sims both played for unknown schools. That is not the point.

Arth did get back a lot of players after Bowden, including Kato. I don't think that really explains how bad we are.

[John Ward]

With 0-12 starring us in the face, what does this mean for a lot of underclassman's desire to return to the UA field. Do we see a lot walk away, transfer or do they stay. ? Interested to hear what UA nation thinks. 

[ZipsVoice]

I think there will be a lot of underclassmen walk away, but it will be because either they see their future is bleak or the staff nudges them that way.  There are a lot of kids on this team who have busted their butts week after week in practice, and have basically been blocking "dummies" and scout team players, and were brought in because we needed numbers.  Next season there will be more talent arriving and unfortunately for some of the underclassmen, less room for them.  Just my thoughts..... 

[John Ward]

I hope you are right. My concern is with what is happening now ,can we attract talent? As far as non scholarship boys, I think most will leave and go elsewhere. IMO there is talent here. I just wonder if the system we have implemented is the right one for the talent we have.

[ZipsVoice]

2 hours ago, John Ward said:

I just wonder if the system we have implemented is the right one for the talent we have.

In the case of any leftover TB recruits, it's not up to the staff to design offense/defense to meet their talent, since they're more than likely gone in a year.  However, the talent, despite it being on the thin side, brought in by Arth's staff should have been brought in for the system he has or is planning to have, and the subsequent classes likewise.

[kreed5120]

This isn't college basketball where you can turn over a roster in a year. It wouldn't make sense for the staff to force anyone off the roster unless they feel that person is a bad influence on the team. We're going to be well under the 85 man scholarship cap even with a full recruiting class so there is no benefit in forcing guys out.

[Cykron]

I would think there would be a reverse flow from the Transfer Portal.  There are lots of good players out there not getting on the field for good teams that would love to come to a program where they could start.  The good news in the bad news is that you can look very attractive to Jucos and grad transfers who want one more shot to play.  And not necessarily just Last Chance U players.  

[zipsoutsider]

18 hours ago, Cykron said:

I would think there would be a reverse flow from the Transfer Portal.  There are lots of good players out there not getting on the field for good teams that would love to come to a program where they could start.  The good news in the bad news is that you can look very attractive to Jucos and grad transfers who want one more shot to play.  And not necessarily just Last Chance U players.  

Honestly, you have a better chance making the NFL for a quality team in a lower division than you do the Zips in current state. It's not like you are coming to play for a Chuck Amato with a reputation for building certain skill players. I feel bad for Alvin Davis as this season has likely hurt his chances.

[Cykron]

12 hours ago, zipsoutsider said:

Honestly, you have a better chance making the NFL for a quality team in a lower division than you do the Zips in current state. It's not like you are coming to play for a Chuck Amato with a reputation for building certain skill players. I feel bad for Alvin Davis as this season has likely hurt his chances.

 

The NFL finds talent.  But they aren't going to find talent that never gets on the field.  However, not all fields are the same.  Getting on the field for Akron means that you are on national TV several weeks per year, including some weeknights when you are the only game on TV.