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Moorhead 2024 make or break season to keep job?


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This is the last year that we can give Moorhead a chance to keep his job. 3 years on the job with only 2 wins isn’t progress but status quo. I’m pulling him for this year but as fans of our Zips we deserve more. Still can’t understand firing Bowden 5 years ago. No more excuses on almost winning MAC games. Got to win 500 level or close to it for him to keep his job. Bowden was in a similar spot and finally in year 3 the rebuild turned around. I’m going to root for Moorhead until he proves me wrong with another 2 win season.

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On 9/22/2024 at 12:02 AM, akrzips2012 said:

This is the last year that we can give Moorhead a chance to keep his job. 3 years on the job with only 2 wins isn’t progress but status quo. I’m pulling him for this year but as fans of our Zips we deserve more. Still can’t understand firing Bowden 5 years ago. No more excuses on almost winning MAC games. Got to win 500 level or close to it for him to keep his job. Bowden was in a similar spot and finally in year 3 the rebuild turned around. I’m going to root for Moorhead until he proves me wrong with another 2 win season.

I agree.  I'm pulling for him, hoping for success, drinking 8-dollar beers at Infocison Stadium to support my alma mater, but another 2-10 year would be the end for him. I was optimistic in August, had reasonable expectations consideirng the non-conference schedule, but now it does look like a tough task to improve on 2-10 last year.  Kent is a possible win but based on recent play of the other MAC teams, I just do not see a third win, let alone 3 or 4.  😐

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12 hours ago, catdaddyp said:

Which teams were we supposed to beat to not have this thread pop up 4 games in?

I expected them to be 1-3 at this point, but it seems that the tide has risen for the MAC opponents I thought UA could beat this year. BGSU? EMU? UB? In August I would have said these were potential wins; today I can't see it.  

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3 minutes ago, UA1996MAENG said:

I agree.  I'm pulling for him, hoping for success, drinking 8-dollar beers at Infocison Stadium to support my alma mater, but another 2-10 year would be the end for him. I was optimistic in August, had reasonable expectations consideirng the non-conference schedule, but now it does look like a tough task to improve on 2-10 last year.  Kent is a possible win but based on recent play of the other MAC teams, I just do not see a third win, let alone 3 or 4.  😐

Buffalo is weak, and they beat NIU. It's the MAC. We should beat Kent, and pick up at least another 2 or 3 along the way.

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15 minutes ago, UA1996MAENG said:

I expected them to be 1-3 at this point, but it seems that the tide has risen for the MAC opponents I thought UA could beat this year. BGSU? EMU? UB? In August I would have said these were potential wins; today I can't see it.  

- EMU has had a manageable schedule this year. I’d guess most of the MAC (minus Kent) would have a good shot at being 3-1 against that schedule.

 

- To me, UB is one QB injury away from becoming 2023 Akron. Lembo is getting the most out of his team, but I suspect they will not sustain this pace through the entire season. I will say I thought they would be the worst team in the MAC this year and I’ve clearly been proven wrong there.

 

- BGSU certainly seems to be upper tier of MAC. 2 strong showings against P4s and a win against an 0-4 FCS. Still makes them 1-2 overall though. We’ll see what they do in MAC play.

 

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We have seen so much bad football the last 10 years I would not make a coaching change since team is not as bad as prior teams.  It seems like we have talent to compete but the coaching has not been great with the delay of games, play calling, and the decision to let Finley stay in the game and get beaten to a pulp.  We have to develop a running game and  Finley is just not a zone read quarterback.  Let him play to his strength, a drop back passer.  Using Tahj as a receiver has not worked and I wish they would bring him in to run the zone read offense for a few sets and see if he can move this team on the ground. 

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23 hours ago, GP1 said:

Better topic headline would be "Moorhead 2024: Why Would He Stay Until 2025?"

You mean assuming the football world still sees him as an offensive guru after this stint at UA? He'd never be a head coach again, and finding a P5 coordinator position is not impossible but far less likley than it was two years ago. Like almost all MAC football contracts, he's here until the end. At least we aren't Kent with Kenni Burns.

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Certainly don’t think Moorhead is perfect, but he’s the highest caliber coach we’ve ever had here. The program not turning around as quick as we’d like just shows how bad it was when it was taken over.

 

Unless you get a PJ Fleck or Sean Lewis type, which Im honestly not sure I prefer due to the flash in the pan nature of success those programs had, I think the formula to having a good program is having the right guy in place and being patient. Chuck Martin, Scott Loeffler, and I believe even Jason Candle a few years ago were all on the hot seat at some point in their tenure, but ultimately got it turned around. Continuously improving the program over a number of years, building culture, and developing replacements from within is the key to having a MAC program that can have sustained success.

 

Looking forward to MAC play. I’m probably leaning towards 4 wins this season, but that’s more than double in any year we’ve had since Bowden. Step in the right direction and I firmly believe the program is back to a bowl in 2025 with another offseason to improve.

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34 minutes ago, UA1996MAENG said:

You mean assuming the football world still sees him as an offensive guru after this stint at UA? He'd never be a head coach again, and finding a P5 coordinator position is not impossible but far less likley than it was two years ago. Like almost all MAC football contracts, he's here until the end. At least we aren't Kent with Kenni Burns.

Tom Arth is a key coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He is designing a passing offense for an average at best QB and they are 3-0. He was bad at Akron because he couldn't put a staff together that could bring in talent.  He is very good at other parts of being a coach, but not good enough for what Akron needed. 

 

What I'm saying is there are a ton of places Joe can go and be successful, and he should. He should have bailed last year after the $#!+ the school pulled when Kennedy bailed. It was a knife in the chest of the Moorhead tenure at Akron. Drives me nuts every time I think about it. Could be in College or the NFL. Head coach or not, he'll be in demand. The failure at Akron would be easy to explain in an interview because there are tons of coaches out there who have failed in an unsupportive organizations.

 

Akron should be a place where the football program thrives. We go through one coach after another. The coaches change but the way the University runs the program remains the same. Hmmm.... what could be the problem?

Edited by GP1
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He will stay regardless of whether he deserves it or wins. Arth was fired because he was not the AD's guy, plain and simple. It was not about wins and losses. Arth's team improved immensely over his last year here & had he been Charles guy, then he would have stayed. Athletics does not care about winning, it is about image. We could go 2-10 with moorehead for the next 6 years and he will never get fired. Charles and his admin love the prestige they have ,of having moorehead as their coach. It also is not about the money and contract. They could afford his contract to buy out, they did in the past with previous coaches, when Athletics had MUCH LESS support. They do not want their image and ego to take a hit by admitting Moorehead was a miss. 

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2 minutes ago, Head coach Huell Jackson said:

He will stay regardless of whether he deserves it or wins. Arth was fired because he was not the AD's guy, plain and simple. It was not about wins and losses. Arth's team improved immensely over his last year here & had he been Charles guy, then he would have stayed. Athletics does not care about winning, it is about image. We could go 2-10 with moorehead for the next 6 years and he will never get fired. Charles and his admin love the prestige they have ,of having moorehead as their coach. It also is not about the money and contract. They could afford his contract to buy out, they did in the past with previous coaches, when Athletics had MUCH LESS support. They do not want their image and ego to take a hit by admitting Moorehead was a miss. 

And to add to this, Moorhead will not be here in 2 years if there is not a turnaround because he will leave. There was a huge fear he would leave for the Pitt OC job this offseason and the only reason he was given that extension and extra pay after year 1 is because Athletics was concerned he would dip. If we go 1-11 and then 2-10 next year, he will leave on his own terms. 

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16 minutes ago, Head coach Huell Jackson said:

They do not want their image and ego to take a hit by admitting Moorehead was a miss. 

The only miss was Joe taking the job. If Akron can hire a caliber of coach at his level and the school will not support his program, can Akron ever win? 

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1 hour ago, Head coach Huell Jackson said:

He will stay regardless of whether he deserves it or wins. Arth was fired because he was not the AD's guy, plain and simple. It was not about wins and losses. Arth's team improved immensely over his last year here & had he been Charles guy, then he would have stayed. Athletics does not care about winning, it is about image. We could go 2-10 with moorehead for the next 6 years and he will never get fired. Charles and his admin love the prestige they have ,of having moorehead as their coach. It also is not about the money and contract. They could afford his contract to buy out, they did in the past with previous coaches, when Athletics had MUCH LESS support. They do not want their image and ego to take a hit by admitting Moorehead was a miss. 

I could be wrong but I do not think Nemer, the new UA President, will be as tolerant of the losing and intent you describe.  He understands the value of success in athletics and its essential marketing power on the modern college campus.  I think you'll see a more active influence by Nemer. 2-10 three years running?  I think he'll be gone.

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23 minutes ago, UA1996MAENG said:

I could be wrong but I do not think Nemer, the new UA President, will be as tolerant of the losing and intent you describe.  He understands the value of success in athletics and its essential marketing power on the modern college campus.  I think you'll see a more active influence by Nemer. 2-10 three years running?  I think he'll be gone.

No disagreeing, just asking. I have no doubt understands the marketing value. Does he know what to do about it?

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1 hour ago, Head coach Huell Jackson said:

He will stay regardless of whether he deserves it or wins. Arth was fired because he was not the AD's guy, plain and simple. It was not about wins and losses. Arth's team improved immensely over his last year here & had he been Charles guy, then he would have stayed. Athletics does not care about winning, it is about image. We could go 2-10 with moorehead for the next 6 years and he will never get fired. Charles and his admin love the prestige they have ,of having moorehead as their coach. It also is not about the money and contract. They could afford his contract to buy out, they did in the past with previous coaches, when Athletics had MUCH LESS support. They do not want their image and ego to take a hit by admitting Moorehead was a miss. 

This is so riddled with falsehoods it is close to comical. No one who witnessed Arth's programs would ever make these statements. Talk to the athletes, the support staff, the asst coaches, the administrators, they all spoke of a program floundering, one that was lost because Arth was. Of his ten coaching hires he had a total of 9 years of D1 coaching experience. He could not recruit in the MAC. He had a budget bigger than Moorhead had today. The enrollment decline had not hit athletics yet. His teams were terribly prepared for games and in the off-season. Guthrie cares about winning. He has told all the head coaches they must have a viable plan to be in the top three in the MAC. A quick look at athletics finances will show they have no money to buy out coaches. They weren't even willing to buy out Melissa Jackson last year, even though she was out-coached in every significant game and her record against the .500+ teams in the mAC was terrible. Moorhead needs to show the team is improving every week, which it has not. Yet we are where we realistically should be after four games. Firing him and his staff is stupidity extreme. They can coach and recruit. They present the best chance to turn around football. Please care enough to do research and spell his name correctly.

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1 minute ago, GP1 said:

No disagreeing, just asking. I have no douche understands the marketing value. Does he know what to do about it?

I hope he does.  His background in running the law school and his outside interests in a profitable sports (golf) marketing company lead me to believe he's not your average college president. I can't see him standing back and protecting an AD who made a bad choice that hurts UA's image in these difficult times (budget, enrollment, etc.), assuming Moorehead cannot win 4-5 games this season.  

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14 minutes ago, 72 Roo said:

 He has told all the head coaches they must have a viable plan to be in the top three in the MAC.

I'd love it if Joe asked him what his plan is to help him get into the top 3. 

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2 hours ago, GP1 said:

No disagreeing, just asking. I have no doubt understands the marketing value. Does he know what to do about it?

This is a president who has invested multiple millions of dollars in a meaningless affinity program with the Cleveland Browns. Those dollars should would have helped boost other enrollment initiatives, including improving the football program.

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