2025 Portal Departures

[MarkWiley]

2 minutes ago, LZIp said:

Kellom is in the portal to pick up and post offers from D2 schools..

 

To be fair, Mercyhurst JUST went up to FCS for football, starting next year.  Why? No idea...

[Blue & Gold]

Kellom gave up his scholarship w/ us to test the TP waters.  Risky... but if we don't sign a TP RB I suppose he could come back?

[catdaddyp]

10 minutes ago, Blue & Gold said:

Kellom gave up his scholarship w/ us to test the TP waters.  Risky... but if we don't sign a TP RB I suppose he could come back?

He could if the staff would have him back, but doubtful he will return. I do wonder if part of the reason he left was due to Sean Patrick waiting in the wings. I can’t wait to see that kid on the field.

[Captain Kangaroo]

50 minutes ago, catdaddyp said:

He could if the staff would have him back, but doubtful he will return. I do wonder if part of the reason he left was due to Sean Patrick waiting in the wings. I can’t wait to see that kid on the field.

From what I heard he was in a good position to be the #2 back this season, but was injured in camp.

[MangoZip]

1 hour ago, catdaddyp said:

He could if the staff would have him back, but doubtful he will return. I do wonder if part of the reason he left was due to Sean Patrick waiting in the wings. I can’t wait to see that kid on the field.

I have heard that most coaches are telling kids if you go in, you’re gone, they won’t have you back. They can’t sit there waiting for the kid to get in the portal and weigh his offers, they have to aggressively go out and fill that spot. If coaches allowed that you’d have the whole team out there testing the waters. It would be even more chaos that it already is! 

[clarkwgriswold]

13 minutes ago, MangoZip said:

I have heard that most coaches are telling kids if you go in, you’re gone, they won’t have you back. They can’t sit there waiting for the kid to get in the portal and weigh his offers, they have to aggressively go out and fill that spot. If coaches allowed that you’d have the whole team out there testing the waters. It would be even more chaos that it already is! 

 

I've told this story on here before.  I know of a college baseball coach who at the beginning of this portal insanity had one of his players come to him and tell him he was considering entering the portal.  He told the kid to do whatever he wanted as he wasn't going to recruit him twice.

[catdaddyp]

4 hours ago, MangoZip said:

I have heard that most coaches are telling kids if you go in, you’re gone, they won’t have you back. They can’t sit there waiting for the kid to get in the portal and weigh his offers, they have to aggressively go out and fill that spot. If coaches allowed that you’d have the whole team out there testing the waters. It would be even more chaos that it already is! 

It’s a case by case basis. Some coaches are more open to certain players returning, while others aren’t. For example, NIU’s Rudolph hit the portal last year and ended up withdrawing. He’s back in the portal again this year.

 

Another example is Mario Anderson who was named 1st team all-AAC RB for Memphis. Last year, an agent got in his ear and convinced him he could make more money elsewhere. South Carolina still tried to convince him to withdraw from the portal, but it didn’t happen. Beamer is usually a guy that tells players don’t let the door hit them on the way out, unless it’s a situation where a backup just wants more playing time elsewhere.
 

I have to imagine if McCoy and a few others changed their mind and wanted to return, Moorhead would be more than happy to welcome them back.

 

[Let'sGoZips94]

 

[akzipper]

20 hours ago, MarkWiley said:

To be fair, Mercyhurst JUST went up to FCS for football, starting next year.  Why? No idea...

 

This season was their first in Division 1 for all sports. It's got to be a tough sell for recruits because they aren't allowed to compete in the postseason for like 4 years or something. 

Edited December 13 by akzipper

[catdaddyp]

McCoy to Oklahoma State.

[Captain Kangaroo]

42 minutes ago, catdaddyp said:

McCoy to Oklahoma State.

Now he can win 3 games per year on a much bigger stage.

 

if he makes it to the pros he’ll definitely fit in best with a team like the Browns, Raiders or Jets. 

[MangoZip]

1 hour ago, Captain Kangaroo said:

Now he can win 3 games per year on a much bigger stage.

 

if he makes it to the pros he’ll definitely fit in best with a team like the Browns, Raiders or Jets. 

That’s kinda shitty. Hate to see him go but wish him all the best. He’s just trying to better his situation. 

[GP1]

2 hours ago, catdaddyp said:

McCoy to Oklahoma State.

Gundy just had a massive contract restructuring not in his favor. McCoy isn't the type of player he needs to coach at OSU beyond next season. 

[GP1]

4 minutes ago, MangoZip said:

That’s kinda shitty. Hate to see him go but wish him all the best. He’s just trying to better his situation. 

He's worsening his position. He's going from the 109th ranked defense to the 132nd.

 

If his decision is financial, I guess I can live with that, but I can also criticize him. 

 

I have no problem crapping on college football players. They are adults and they are now professionals. There are a lot of 18-23 year olds playing in the NHL and MLB. When they play badly or make poor decisions in the fans mind, they get hit hard by the media and public. That's part of being a professional. Moreover, these guys are playing at taxpayer funded public institutions so they can take heat from that perspective also. They want the money, let them take the heat. 

[catdaddyp]

1 hour ago, Captain Kangaroo said:

Now he can win 3 games per year on a much bigger stage.

 

if he makes it to the pros he’ll definitely fit in best with a team like the Browns, Raiders or Jets. 

I’m not sure he’ll make an NFL roster and if 2025 happens to be his final year of football, it’s hard to blame him for making some money while he has a chance. It’s unfortunate we aren’t in a place to give a little something NIL wise, but that’s our current situation. I’d be really frustrated if he transferred to another MAC school and we had to play against him next year.
 

On the bright side, I’m looking forward to seeing the young linebackers we have returning and who else we’ll be bringing in.

[72 Roo]

Catdaddy you are ever the optimist. With the loss of all our All-MAC players we really took a gut punch. I pray Joe and Company can, in spite of our losses, keep improving the quality of the team and the wins. G5"s, especially low G5's, have a mountain to climb.

[MangoZip]

4 hours ago, GP1 said:

He's worsening his position. He's going from the 109th ranked defense to the 132nd.

 

If his decision is financial, I guess I can live with that, but I can also criticize him. 

 

I have no problem crapping on college football players. They are adults and they are now professionals. There are a lot of 18-23 year olds playing in the NHL and MLB. When they play badly or make poor decisions in the fans mind, they get hit hard by the media and public. That's part of being a professional. Moreover, these guys are playing at taxpayer funded public institutions so they can take heat from that perspective also. They want the money, let them take the heat. 

I don’t care if you criticize him or not, I’m just saying that he might have some valid reasons for leaving. Maybe he wants to test his skills at a higher level. Maybe he wants to experience playing in front of 80,000 people every week - not 3,000. Maybe he wants to play for a great fan base that supports their players. Maybe he wants to play for a program with more resources than Akron - better staff, a training table, more coaches, more trainers, better facilities, more gear etc etc. And like you said, maybe he’s getting paid. Time will tell if it’s a bad decision 

[clarkwgriswold]

Let's see.  A kid gets a chance to go from a program that's won 11 games this decade in a poor conference to get paid to play for a program that is regularly in the top 40 in the country in a top 3 or 4 conference.    Hmmmmm.

[exit322]

3 hours ago, clarkwgriswold said:

Let's see.  A kid gets a chance to go from a program that's won 11 games this decade in a poor conference to get paid to play for a program that is regularly in the top 40 in the country in a top 3 or 4 conference.    Hmmmmm.

Well when you say it like that, why would anyone ever leave?!!  😄

[catdaddyp]

20 hours ago, 72 Roo said:

Catdaddy you are ever the optimist. With the loss of all our All-MAC players we really took a gut punch. I pray Joe and Company can, in spite of our losses, keep improving the quality of the team and the wins. G5"s, especially low G5's, have a mountain to climb.

I know it seems gloomy right now and we’re losing some really good players, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll be worse next season. 

 

Our defense should have been much better than it was in 2024. Going into the season we had one of the best linebacker duos in the MAC returning, a deep defensive tackle rotation, both starters at defensive end (one of them 1st team All-MAC), a starting cornerback, and starting nickleback returning. We marginally improved in a number of areas, yet somehow marginally got worse in pressures, sacks, and passing yards allowed. Not to mention our sudden change defense was horrendous.

 

On offense, we lost two All-MAC receivers, both starting offensive tackles, and a running back with over 1,000 all-purpose yards. Fast forward to 2024 and we improved substantially in almost every category.

 

A major difference now than when Moorhead took over is the young talent on the roster. In 2022, there was very little of it. Now we have talented (albeit inexperienced) players at every position. I’m not pretending we don’t have some holes that need addressing, but if we can bring in some key pieces from the portal, 2025 could still be a breakthrough year.

[72 Roo]

Thanks for this morning's pick-me-up. It's too early to start drinking so I needed this. This forum can sometimes be negative, primarily due to the frustration loyal Zip football fans have experienced. It seems the future is slowly seeing improvement despite the inequity in D1 football. Hope springs eternal. 

[Hilltopper]

38 minutes ago, 72 Roo said:

Thanks for this morning's pick-me-up. It's too early to start drinking so I needed this. This forum can sometimes be negative, primarily due to the frustration loyal Zip football fans have experienced. It seems the future is slowly seeing improvement despite the inequity in D1 football. Hope springs eternal. 

It's always 5 o'clock somewhere!

[NeoZip]

3 hours ago, catdaddyp said:

I know it seems gloomy right now and we’re losing some really good players, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll be worse next season. 

 

Our defense should have been much better than it was in 2024. Going into the season we had one of the best linebacker duos in the MAC returning, a deep defensive tackle rotation, both starters at defensive end (one of them 1st team All-MAC), a starting cornerback, and starting nickleback returning. We marginally improved in a number of areas, yet somehow marginally got worse in pressures, sacks, and passing yards allowed. Not to mention our sudden change defense was horrendous.

 

On offense, we lost two All-MAC receivers, both starting offensive tackles, and a running back with over 1,000 all-purpose yards. Fast forward to 2024 and we improved substantially in almost every category.

 

A major difference now than when Moorhead took over is the young talent on the roster. In 2022, there was very little of it. Now we have talented (albeit inexperienced) players at every position. I’m not pretending we don’t have some holes that need addressing, but if we can bring in some key pieces from the portal, 2025 could still be a breakthrough year.

It seems like we have some good depth on IOL. Morris, Williams, and Davis being the starters plus McManus, JBD, Fox and Mitchell. Do you think any of them could move to tackle? They all seem to fit the IOL mold, however OT is ice thin. 

[catdaddyp]

47 minutes ago, NeoZip said:

It seems like we have some good depth on IOL. Morris, Williams, and Davis being the starters plus McManus, JBD, Fox and Mitchell. Do you think any of them could move to tackle? They all seem to fit the IOL mold, however OT is ice thin. 

Agreed, we need some help at OT. Morris and JBD have the athletic ability to play OT. Gould is an OT as well, but he’ll need a year of development. I think we are going to try the JUCO signee King at tackle. Outside of those guys, it’s really just Shor at LT and Mann at RT.

[72 Roo]

2 hours ago, Hilltopper said:

It's always 5 o'clock somewhere!

Damn! Why didn't I think of that. I knew there is a reason I stay on this forum. Cheers! 🍻