The Dustin Ford Era

[clarkwgriswold]

We now have our new head coach, a familiar face who has been with the Zips for 9 years.

 

Dustin has been in charge of the defense and scheduling under Groce.  He's certainly earned the chance.

 

What do you expect from Ford's Zips squads?

[zippy5]

Championships!

[kreed5120]

I'm not as close to the program to know what differences Ford and Groce had philosophically so I can't speak to any schematic changes.

 

I expect us to continue down the same path of targeting young players, developing them, and then using the portal to plug deficiencies. From much of what I've read online player development is what many have pointed out as one of Ford's strengths. We'll continue to rely on that and perhaps can even use it as a tool to recruit under the radar underclassmen who might still be a bit raw. 

Edited 22 hours ago by kreed5120

[ZippyRulz]

Sameness, hopefully.

[Zippy87]

Heck of an endorsement from our 🐐

 

 

[NWAkron]

A signature win?

[zippy5]

54 minutes ago, NWAkron said:

A signature win?

Tbh - how many games have we won as an underdog?

[Let'sGoZips94]

Hardman getting a NIL agent may be the first news of a departure. I wonder if that is a sign of Ford's style preference being defense-first. 

[ZipsFan31]

If Ford ran the Defense, then who ran the offense? was it Groce or someone else. Do we need to hire an offensive coordinator. I know time will tell but any rumor as to his staff vs Groce’s. Like who are keeping and who is leaving 

[Let'sGoZips94]

2 minutes ago, ZipsFan31 said:

If Ford ran the Defense, then who ran the offense? was it Groce or someone else. Do we need to hire an offensive coordinator. I know time will tell but any rumor as to his staff vs Groce’s. Like who are keeping and who is leaving 

 

Only announced staff news so far has been Devan Morrow staying and Mike Allen following Groce.

[NWAkron]

Excitement is building.

[Let'sGoZips94]

 

[Zippy87]

Posted in the portal tracker too, but Eric has entered.

 

https://x.com/i/status/2039777040358907924

[kreed5120]

I wonder if this will open the flood gates of others publicly stating whether they plan to leave or stay. They don't have many more days left before the portal opens to decide.

[clarkwgriswold]

Eric in the portal.  He doesn't foreclose returning.

[Captain Kangaroo]

I think Eric has P5 potential, I don't think his college resume is sufficient to get him any P5 offers. He'd benefit greatly from another year at UA, then we'd unfortunately need to kiss him goodbye. 

 

I just shake my head when I see what college basketball has become. The arena is the same. The uniforms are the same. The fight song is the same. But the players are professional mercenaries, not student athletes. That's sucked the romance out of it for me. 

 

 

[Zips1991]

19 hours ago, zippy5 said:

Tbh - how many games have we won as an underdog?

Hard to win as an underdog when you're almost always favored.

[Zips1991]

1 hour ago, Zippy87 said:

Posted in the portal tracker too, but Eric has entered.

 

https://x.com/i/status/2039777040358907924

Not a great start to the Ford era!