Game #11 - Can't State

[Captain Kangaroo]

13 hours ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

Kent follows up their win vs us by getting destroyed at home by CMU. 

One man's destruction is another man's 8 point loss. 😁

 

CMU (7-4) has won 4 of their last 5 games, the only loss coming by 3 points to a WMU team that has won 7 of their last 8 games.

[Blue & Gold]

Last night I was all about #FireUpChips

[Let'sGoZips94]

NIU just choked vs Kent. 

 

Kent finishes ahead of Akron. 

 

Joe. Has. To. Go. 

[exit322]

13 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

NIU just choked vs Kent. 

 

Kent finishes ahead of Akron. 

 

Joe. Has. To. Go. 

Good way for NIU to finish its MAC run, 3-9 with their QB throwing for 27 yards in a loss to Kent.

[catdaddyp]

41 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

NIU just choked vs Kent. 

 

Kent finishes ahead of Akron. 

 

Joe. Has. To. Go. 

Hammock did it to himself. On3 and 247 disagreed with me, but I thought he cobbled together multiple recruiting classes that sat at or near the bottom of the MAC — outside of the offensive linemen, running backs, and a few other select individuals — and that lack of recruiting, especially at quarterback, has finally come home to roost. The funny thing is he spent the entire offseason bragging about how easy recruiting had become while he was scooping up a slew of DII and FCS guys. Can’t win without the horses to run the race.

[GP1]

6 hours ago, exit322 said:

Good way for NIU to finish its MAC run, 3-9 with their QB throwing for 27 yards in a loss to Kent.

I'm rooting for them to fail even worse in their new conference. 

[MDZip]

I'm ok with it even being KSU that sends NIU out of the conference with a loss, but in true Can't read, can't write fashion...

[Lee Adams]

On 11/28/2025 at 3:04 PM, Let'sGoZips94 said:

NIU just choked vs Kent. 

 

Kent finishes ahead of Akron. 

 

Joe. Has. To. Go. 

Puzzling to me. KSU was branded as the worst team in the MAC. Fire their HC during the season. Then got hot. Finished 5-7 overall, 4-4 in the MAC AND beat the Zips. Akron finishes 5-7, 4-4 after how many years. Someone please help me with this.

[exit322]

2 minutes ago, Lee Adams said:

Puzzling to me. KSU was branded as the worst team in the MAC. Fire their HC during the season. Then got hot. Finished 5-7 overall, 4-4 in the MAC AND beat the Zips. Akron finishes 5-7, 4-4 after how many years. Someone please help me with this.

 

Kent State hired the right guy and has some momentum and a little hope.

 

We have been continually told that this is impossible at Akron, so we just have to deal.

[Lee Adams]

4 minutes ago, exit322 said:

 

Kent State hired the right guy and has some momentum and a little hope.

 

We have been continually told that this is impossible at Akron, so we just have to deal.

No, some people at the school have to change their commitments.

[exit322]

1 hour ago, Lee Adams said:

No, some people at the school have to change their commitments.

Nah, you're totally wrong.  It is fundamentally impossible here.  Any time someone says that it could be better, we are shot down completely.  Akron is hopeless and this magical five win run is the tops.

[kreed5120]

32 minutes ago, exit322 said:

Nah, you're totally wrong.  It is fundamentally impossible here.  Any time someone says that it could be better, we are shot down completely.  Akron is hopeless and this magical five win run is the tops.

 

That's because you're hearing what you want to hear. You keep just saying move on from JoeMo and it will make us magically better. Others are saying we need additional resources regardless of coach.

 

Just because someone points out that the program is underfunded doesn't mean they're saying the program can never succeed in the MAC. They're saying that if we want to have success in the future we need to find ways of increasing resources. Whether that falls on getting more donations, playing more buy games, or whatever else.

 

Replacing a coach is just a bandaid. I'm not even opposed moving on from JoeMo. I just want there to be a plan in place for how we're going to be financially competitive with the other MAC schools. Without it you will be here in 2-3 years demanding we fire another coach.

Edited Saturday at 08:55 PM by kreed5120

[AkronAlumnus]

6 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

 

That's because you're hearing what you want to hear. You keep just saying move on from JoeMo and it will make us magically better. Others are saying we need additional resources regardless of coach.

 

Just because someone points out that the program is underfunded doesn't mean they're saying the program can never succeed in the MAC. They're saying that if we want to have success in the future we need to find ways of increasing resources. Whether that falls on getting more donations, playing more buy games, or whatever else.

 

Replacing a coach is just a bandaid. I'm not even opposed moving on from JoeMo. I just want there to be a plan in place for how we're going to be financially competitive with the other MAC schools. Without it you will be here in 2-3 years demanding we fire another coach.

I haven't chimed in but wanted to share the following post from the boogeyman himself Connor Stalions when talking about the MSU hire - It's insightful. 

"People need to understand coaching is just one piece of the pie. More times than not, it’s a huge factor because talent & resources are usually close. But at Northwestern, it’s not even in the same ballpark as the rest of the conference. The academic standards make recruiting damn near impossible. The administration doesn’t care about winning. It’s basically an Ivy League school in the Big Ten. Pointing to a couple bad seasons (from a record standpoint) is lazy.

Speaking from personal experience (yes, at a much different scale): I coached at Mumford HS in Detroit as the DC for a few months. We had 3 coaches & 18 total players in the program with a team-wide average GPA of a 0.9 when we arrived in the summer, and had to play JV & Varsity games with those 18 players (do the math on that). We somehow won a game. But of course we lost to Cass Tech 70-0. Went to Belleville right after the regular season as the OC and won 70-0 first game in the playoffs. Do you think I didn’t know how to coach then all the sudden learned in one week for a 140-point turnaround? No… We won at Belleville because we had Bryce Underwood, Elijah Dotson, etc. We lost at Mumford because we didn’t (and played against CJ Sadler, Don Tabron, etc.).

 

While talent gaps are much greater in high school, I’m explaining the point that coaching only matters when the talent gap is manageable."

Akron like Northwestern's issues are largely structural (and financial here), and Moorhead is not to blame there.  Without addressing those underlying issues, a coaching change seems cosmetic. Unless they could line up someone like Jason Taylor.  They are working to address the underlying issues though. 

[exit322]

2 hours ago, kreed5120 said:

 

That's because you're hearing what you want to hear. You keep just saying move on from JoeMo and it will make us magically better. Others are saying we need additional resources regardless of coach.

 

Just because someone points out that the program is underfunded doesn't mean they're saying the program can never succeed in the MAC. They're saying that if we want to have success in the future we need to find ways of increasing resources. Whether that falls on getting more donations, playing more buy games, or whatever else.

 

Replacing a coach is just a bandaid. I'm not even opposed moving on from JoeMo. I just want there to be a plan in place for how we're going to be financially competitive with the other MAC schools. Without it you will be here in 2-3 years demanding we fire another coach.

 

Yep.  You're right, it's definitely hopeless.  Just keep Joe for the next two years and hope we can find a D3 coach for half the salary in 2027.  Winning is impossible, so let's save money.

 

Hell, may as well just get four money games (why waste time with a fifth home game since it's not like there's any reason to care) lined up every year to help pay for other programs.

Edited Saturday at 11:54 PM by exit322

[zippy5]

The resources are the resources. We aren't in the SEC. We had enough talent to win 6-7 games this season. We need a coach (and it can be Joe Mo) that can coach and win games with the resources that we have, and hopefully community support can increase with the success. Anything else is just wishful thinking in regards to UA committing to football because it's been decades without actual support 

[kreed5120]

14 hours ago, exit322 said:

 

Yep.  You're right, it's definitely hopeless.  Just keep Joe for the next two years and hope we can find a D3 coach for half the salary in 2027.  Winning is impossible, so let's save money.

 

Hell, may as well just get four money games (why waste time with a fifth home game since it's not like there's any reason to care) lined up every year to help pay for other programs.

Your significant other must love your selective hearing...

[kreed5120]

14 hours ago, zippy5 said:

The resources are the resources. We aren't in the SEC. We had enough talent to win 6-7 games this season. We need a coach (and it can be Joe Mo) that can coach and win games with the resources that we have, and hopefully community support can increase with the success. Anything else is just wishful thinking in regards to UA committing to football because it's been decades without actual support 

We don't have to be the SEC. @Captain Kangaroo shared how far we lagged behind other MAC programs in staffing. Being able to have just have enough money to fill out our coaching staffing to the level of our peers and having a little money to recruit with would be a good start.

[zippy5]

2 hours ago, kreed5120 said:

We don't have to be the SEC. @Captain Kangaroo shared how far we lagged behind other MAC programs in staffing. Being able to have just have enough money to fill out our coaching staffing to the level of our peers and having a little money to recruit with would be a good start.

My point was this conference sucks. We can win here, it's not impossible even with a lack of funding 

[Let'sGoZips94]

On 12/6/2025 at 4:13 PM, AkronAlumnus said:

 

While talent gaps are much greater in high school, I’m explaining the point that coaching only matters when the talent gap is manageable."

Akron like Northwestern's issues are largely structural (and financial here), and Moorhead is not to blame there.  Without addressing those underlying issues, a coaching change seems cosmetic. Unless they could line up someone like Jason Taylor.  They are working to address the underlying issues though. 

 

The talent gap at Akron isn't very large compared to most of the MAC. In fact, we lost games vs teams throughout the year that we were more talented than. 

 

JoeMo is absolutely a problem. Is he the problem? Maybe not, but he has yet to be the solution.

 

I wish Akron had Northwestern's problems. Instead of having exceedingly high academic standards that stunt the growth of the program, our lack of academic standards have hurt the program. Regardless, Northwestern is still getting a large check from the Big Ten - literally 5× greater than what Akron gets from the MAC. I'm not sure how they are a comparison. By the way, our most recent P4 win came against Northwestern. 

 

It's possible to win at Akron but it largely starts with a coach that is willing to overcome the circumstances and lead. 

[clarkwgriswold]

On 12/6/2025 at 3:23 PM, exit322 said:

Nah, you're totally wrong.  It is fundamentally impossible here.  Any time someone says that it could be better, we are shot down completely.  Akron is hopeless and this magical five win run is the tops.

 

Here's the number for Victim Assistance-  (330) 376-0040.

[AkronAlumnus]

12 hours ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

The talent gap at Akron isn't very large compared to most of the MAC. In fact, we lost games vs teams throughout the year that we were more talented than. 

 

JoeMo is absolutely a problem. Is he the problem? Maybe not, but he has yet to be the solution.

 

I wish Akron had Northwestern's problems. Instead of having exceedingly high academic standards that stunt the growth of the program, our lack of academic standards have hurt the program. Regardless, Northwestern is still getting a large check from the Big Ten - literally 5× greater than what Akron gets from the MAC. I'm not sure how they are a comparison. By the way, our most recent P4 win came against Northwestern. 

 

It's possible to win at Akron but it largely starts with a coach that is willing to overcome the circumstances and lead. 

Both deal with structural barriers that make winning harder, just in different ways.  Northwestern’s high academic standards limit who they can recruit, while Akron faces a litany list of issues — a postseason ban, limited resources, inadequate support for football, and almost no NIL.  These issues impact Akon more-so than any other MAC program. 

 

So criticizing Fitzgerald for not winning big at Northwestern ignores the constraints he coached under, just like judging JoeMo without acknowledging Akron’s situation SOMEWHAT misses the point and I am far from a JoeMo Stan BUT I think we face greater issues (that AD Goodrich is already working on).

Akron beating Northwestern wasn't because Fitz was a bad coach (at least in my opinion). 

[Captain Kangaroo]

6 minutes ago, AkronAlumnus said:

Akron beating Northwestern wasn't because Fitz was a bad coach (at least in my opinion). 

It was because of Alvin Davis.

[lance99]

36 minutes ago, AkronAlumnus said:

Both deal with structural barriers that make winning harder, just in different ways.  Northwestern’s high academic standards limit who they can recruit, while Akron faces a litany list of issues — a postseason ban, limited resources, inadequate support for football, and almost no NIL.  These issues impact Akon more-so than any other MAC program. 

 

So criticizing Fitzgerald for not winning big at Northwestern ignores the constraints he coached under, just like judging JoeMo without acknowledging Akron’s situation SOMEWHAT misses the point and I am far from a JoeMo Stan BUT I think we face greater issues (that AD Goodrich is already working on).

Akron beating Northwestern wasn't because Fitz was a bad coach (at least in my opinion). 

 

IMHO Northwestern is not a comparable example. However a School like Rice is. Even with their small enrollment, seem to have similar academic standards as Northwestern. They have more money then they know what to do with and the only Sport they cared about for years was Baseball. Now is seems like their Admin there is actually at least trying to care(or at least the illusion) that they care. We can even look within our own Conference with Miami if you like with them being a Public Ivy. 

 

To fix the problem, it has to start at the top

Edited 24 minutes ago by lance99

[egregiousbob]

That public ivy thing was a brilliant marketing move.  Not true, really, but effective.  Miami isn't even one of the 59 or so R1 research universities, unlike a few other MAC schools. Unfortunately, Akron is (unfairly) considered a public nutsedge among many Ohioans.

 

Edited 21 minutes ago by egregiousbob