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Moorhead Extended Through 2027

zippy5

By zippy5
in Akron Zips Football

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  • Dr Z changed the title to Moorhead Extended Through 2027
Captain Kangaroo Veteran

Captain Kangaroo

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When he first accepted the Akron gig I think Joe could have gone to 10 other places that would have paid him more. The opportunities won't stop now that he's here. College, and occasionally NFL teams will annually put him on their interview list. I just don't see him leaving until he gets the job done.

 

He's here for the right reasons - the chance to run his own program again, a decent salary (you can live pretty nicely on $700k in the Akron area), and for whatever reason...like all of us hard-core supporters...he actually believes in the potential of Zips football. 

 

Faust famously called Akron a "sleeping giant" when he came on campus back in the mid 80's. We've been asleep ever since, thanks to horrible facilities, horrible hires and overall administrative ineptitude. It's amazing how many 1-AA teams have ascended to 1-A since the Zips were the first to do so back in 1985. And every single one of them has been more competitive than the Zips. To me, Joe is our first legitimate chance to get off the 38-year schneid.

 

He wants to be here...he's got the facilities...he's a brilliant guy...he's a proven winner...if he can't do it, no one can. 

 

Stay the F away, NFL. You don't need Joe. We do.

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catdaddyp Grand Master

catdaddyp

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58 minutes ago, Captain Kangaroo said:

When he first accepted the Akron gig I think Joe could have gone to 10 other places that would have paid him more. The opportunities won't stop now that he's here. College, and occasionally NFL teams will annually put him on their interview list. I just don't see him leaving until he gets the job done.

 

He's here for the right reasons - the chance to run his own program again, a decent salary (you can live pretty nicely on $700k in the Akron area, and for whatever reason...like all of us hard-core supporters...he actually believes in the potential of Zips football. 

 

Faust famously called Akron a "sleeping giant" when he came on campus back in the mid 80's. We've been asleep ever since, thanks to horrible facilities, horrible hires and overall administrative ineptitude. It's amazing how many 1-AA teams have ascended to 1-A since the Zips were the first to do so back in 1985. And every single one of them has been more competitive than the Zips. To me, Joe is our first legitimate chance to get off the 38-year schneid.

 

He wants to be here...he's got the facilities...he's a brilliant guy...he's a proven winner...if he can't do it, no one can. 

 

Stay the F away, NFL. You don't need Joe. We do.

I suspect JoeMo will receive more and more interest as the years go on, especially as this program starts winning games consistently. Akron really is a sleeping giant with the staff and facilities in place. The team’s success this year will catch almost everyone by surprise outside of the fanbase and coaching circles. Or maybe some in the fanbase will still be surprised?

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Captain Kangaroo Veteran

Captain Kangaroo

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29 minutes ago, catdaddyp said:

The team’s success this year will catch almost everyone by surprise outside of the fanbase and coaching circles. Or maybe some in the fanbase will still be surprised?

The inexplicable CMU and Buffalo losses hid the progress the 2022 Zips made in the eyes of Joe Akron. A lot of people just read the box scores, or subscribe to the "You are what your record says you are" mentality. We need to get some more mature bodies signed up after the Spring game. Especially on defense. And we really need 5-6 wins, at minimum, next season. Then the progress is undeniable.

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MangoZip Proficient

MangoZip

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Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, Captain Kangaroo said:

When he first accepted the Akron gig I think Joe could have gone to 10 other places that would have paid him more. The opportunities won't stop now that he's here. College, and occasionally NFL teams will annually put him on their interview list. I just don't see him leaving until he gets the job done.

 

He's here for the right reasons - the chance to run his own program again, a decent salary (you can live pretty nicely on $700k in the Akron area), and for whatever reason...like all of us hard-core supporters...he actually believes in the potential of Zips football. 

 

Faust famously called Akron a "sleeping giant" when he came on campus back in the mid 80's. We've been asleep ever since, thanks to horrible facilities, horrible hires and overall administrative ineptitude. It's amazing how many 1-AA teams have ascended to 1-A since the Zips were the first to do so back in 1985. And every single one of them has been more competitive than the Zips. To me, Joe is our first legitimate chance to get off the 38-year schneid.

 

He wants to be here...he's got the facilities...he's a brilliant guy...he's a proven winner...if he can't do it, no one can. 

 

Stay the F away, NFL. You don't need Joe. We do.

Very well said, that even got me a little fired up! The only thing that I dispute, and I hear this all the time, is how great the facilities are. Granted, the stadium is first class (despite the big screen and scoreboard constantly in need of repair) and the best in the MAC but what else is great about the facilities? The locker room is horrible , the weight room is worse than some high schools that I've seen and the indoor is average. I hear that are some much needed upgrades coming - desperately needed! 

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GP1 Veteran

GP1

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19 hours ago, MangoZip said:

Very well said, that even got me a little fired up! The only thing that I dispute, and I hear this all the time, is how great the facilities are. Granted, the stadium is first class (despite the big screen and scoreboard constantly in need of repair) and the best in the MAC but what else is great about the facilities? The locker room is horrible , the weight room is worse than some high schools that I've seen and the indoor is average. I hear that are some much needed upgrades coming - desperately needed! 

I don't disagree that things could be freshened up some. However, our current facilities are not keeping us from winning. Of course, prior to The Big Dialer and fieldhouse the facilities were nothing short of horrible. We have to move past facilities being an excuse at this point. Someone is always going to have something more new and shiny as what we may have in comparison. We need to win with what we have. It's good enough and they need to get winning.

 

Coaching is the key right now. I really believe in JoMo and those who think its now or never may in fact... be correct. Joe is the Dave Clawson (Wake Forest) of the MAC as he is the perfect fit for the program. Joe has a specific vision for the team which centers around our identity. I'm certain we have never had a coach with this clear of a vision for the program and a history of success to feel confident in his abilities.

 

Why Dave Clawson as a comparison?  The identity and vision are the two main reasons for me. Like JoMo, he has an offense he believes in and is a fit for his school. Joe understands who to recruit at Akron just like Clawson understands Wake is a very niche fit for his players. Joe had a much bigger name and history of success than Clawson did, so that alone is very encouraging. Clawson's first two years at Wake were both 3-9 seasons. They were absolutely terrible. Since then, they have had seven straight bowl seasons and one trip to the ACC Championship with some time in the Top 10 early last season before finishing the regular season 2-4. What does 7 straight bowls mean at Wake?  Wake has been to 17 bowl games in their history. They first started to play football in 1888. They didn't make their first bowl game until 1945 when Coach Peahead Walker took them to the Gator Bowl. Wake is a historic bottom feeder in the ACC. Recent success has come with a stadium not as nice as The Big Dialer and facilities on par with what Akron has.

 

I think CK used the word ineptitude to describe our football history. I would use the term Intellectually Lazy. Maybe one leads to the other. Issues such as culture and identity don't seem to have ever been considered when making a football head coaching hire. They made one with KD in MBB and it worked out great. I don't know much about Dr. Miller or our AD, but the little I do know is they seem to have a clear vision for the University and Athletic Department based upon the identity of the school itself. They brought in a coach who's opinions align with theirs. It's going to work because when this happens, it works out even for a bottom feeder like Wake.

 

The expectation of a 5-6 win season next year is not unreasonable. Clawson took Wake from 3-9 to 6-6 in year three and a bowl win finishing the season 7-6.  I would bet those with a clear vision at the University have the same expectation. Guys like Joe don't take baby steps. It's year two and the fans should be beyond baby steps as well. In fact, the idea of baby steps disguised as the "building process" has been part of the low expectations for Zips fans for too long. Getting to six wins shouldn't be nearly as difficult as we seem to make it. It's a mystery to me why we can't make it happen annually. If Wake can do it in the ACC, we can do it in the MAC.

 

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kreed5120 Mentor

kreed5120

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On 2/17/2023 at 11:53 AM, GP1 said:

I don't disagree that things could be freshened up some. However, our current facilities are not keeping us from winning. Of course, prior to The Big Dialer and fieldhouse the facilities were nothing short of horrible. We have to move past facilities being an excuse at this point. Someone is always going to have something more new and shiny as what we may have in comparison. We need to win with what we have. It's good enough and they need to get winning.

 

Coaching is the key right now. I really believe in JoMo and those who think its now or never may in fact... be correct. Joe is the Dave Clawson (Wake Forest) of the MAC as he is the perfect fit for the program. Joe has a specific vision for the team which centers around our identity. I'm certain we have never had a coach with this clear of a vision for the program and a history of success to feel confident in his abilities.

 

Why Dave Clawson as a comparison?  The identity and vision are the two main reasons for me. Like JoMo, he has an offense he believes in and is a fit for his school. Joe understands who to recruit at Akron just like Clawson understands Wake is a very niche fit for his players. Joe had a much bigger name and history of success than Clawson did, so that alone is very encouraging. Clawson's first two years at Wake were both 3-9 seasons. They were absolutely terrible. Since then, they have had seven straight bowl seasons and one trip to the ACC Championship with some time in the Top 10 early last season before finishing the regular season 2-4. What does 7 straight bowls mean at Wake?  Wake has been to 17 bowl games in their history. They first started to play football in 1888. They didn't make their first bowl game until 1945 when Coach Peahead Walker took them to the Gator Bowl. Wake is a historic bottom feeder in the ACC. Recent success has come with a stadium not as nice as The Big Dialer and facilities on par with what Akron has.

 

I think CK used the word ineptitude to describe our football history. I would use the term Intellectually Lazy. Maybe one leads to the other. Issues such as culture and identity don't seem to have ever been considered when making a football head coaching hire. They made one with KD in MBB and it worked out great. I don't know much about Dr. Miller or our AD, but the little I do know is they seem to have a clear vision for the University and Athletic Department based upon the identity of the school itself. They brought in a coach who's opinions align with theirs. It's going to work because when this happens, it works out even for a bottom feeder like Wake.

 

The expectation of a 5-6 win season next year is not unreasonable. Clawson took Wake from 3-9 to 6-6 in year three and a bowl win finishing the season 7-6.  I would bet those with a clear vision at the University have the same expectation. Guys like Joe don't take baby steps. It's year two and the fans should be beyond baby steps as well. In fact, the idea of baby steps disguised as the "building process" has been part of the low expectations for Zips fans for too long. Getting to six wins shouldn't be nearly as difficult as we seem to make it. It's a mystery to me why we can't make it happen annually. If Wake can do it in the ACC, we can do it in the MAC.

 

To the ones complaining about our weight room not being adequate, I'd love to hear what free weights, machines, equipment we're missing that our peers have. What makes a Toledo or Western Michigan weight room better than ours?

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catdaddyp Grand Master

catdaddyp

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4 minutes ago, MarkWiley said:

https://twitter.com/BG_Football/status/1641454097521049600?s=20

 

BG fan forum is not liking this...

He did just have the best year of his tenure, so I assume they are doing it for recruiting purposes. That being said, it’s still hard to envision BG doing any better than last year with the way their recruiting is currently going. 

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MarkWiley Collaborator

MarkWiley

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15 minutes ago, catdaddyp said:

He did just have the best year of his tenure, so I assume they are doing it for recruiting purposes. That being said, it’s still hard to envision BG doing any better than last year with the way their recruiting is currently going. 

Shoring up recruiting seems to be the consensus about it.  Not sure if it's true but someone over there is saying it's just two years and not much of a bump so still gives them outs to fire him without too much trouble.

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