MAC Media Day

[kreed5120]

The Toledo Blade asked coaches questions during media day and they answered them anonymously. The Blade usually puts together a few of these good articles each year between football and basketball. I figured I'd share if others wanted to read.

 

https://www.toledoblade.com/sports/college/2026/07/25/briggs-mac-coaches-anonymously-dish-leagues-best-jobs-worst-trips/stories/20260724086

[72 Roo]

Apparently this is not a free site. The last time I recall the Blade doing one of these anonymous surveys the answers were very interesting and revealing. Some great, hard-hitting questions were asked. I enjoyed reading it very much. I hope someone can share it. 

[kreed5120]

4 minutes ago, 72 Roo said:

Apparently this is not a free site. The last time I recall the Blade doing one of these anonymous surveys the answers were very interesting and revealing. Some great, hard-hitting questions were asked. I enjoyed reading it very much. I hope someone can share it. 

It worked fine for me. I'm on my phone right now. If I remember later I'll copy and paste the article from my pc.

[Zips1991]

It may be anonymous but we all know this was Moorhead 😆 

 

Has the free-agency era changed the way you coach?

 

“Not here, because we generally sign kids we haven’t beaten anyone for and this is their opportunity to play FBS football, and we don’t have any money from a rev-share standpoint. We get who we get and there's nothing we can do to retain them anyway.”

[exit322]

1 hour ago, Zips1991 said:

It may be anonymous but we all know this was Moorhead 😆 

 

Has the free-agency era changed the way you coach?

 

“Not here, because we generally sign kids we haven’t beaten anyone for and this is their opportunity to play FBS football, and we don’t have any money from a rev-share standpoint. We get who we get and there's nothing we can do to retain them anyway.”

 

I mean, the negativity and "woe is me" certainly is on brand.

[72 Roo]

14 hours ago, kreed5120 said:

It worked fine for me. I'm on my phone right now. If I remember later I'll copy and paste the article from my pc.

Thank you. I get an advisory that to continue reading a subscription of some sort must be purchased.

[Dr Z]

On 7/25/2026 at 9:42 PM, 72 Roo said:

Apparently this is not a free site. The last time I recall the Blade doing one of these anonymous surveys the answers were very interesting and revealing. Some great, hard-hitting questions were asked. I enjoyed reading it very much. I hope someone can share it. 

Try this

[kreed5120]

20 hours ago, 72 Roo said:

Thank you. I get an advisory that to continue reading a subscription of some sort must be purchased.

Weird, I didn't get a paywall when I viewed it from by phone, but I am now that I'm at my computer. I was able to view @Dr Z article though.

Edited Monday at 01:04 PM by kreed5120

[ZippyDoo]

I know I am going to get bashed for this, but Joe Moe has said they have the lowest budget than any other team in country.  Apparently it is close to two million dollars.  I don't think that is a woe is me mentality it is a realistic mentality and pointing out that something has to change.

 

The Big 12 signed a sponsorship with Monster Energy and every team in the Big 12 got 1 million dollars sounds great, Ohio State just signed a sponsorship with JP Morgan and Ohio State alone gets 17 million dollars because all of their sports teams are going to wear a patch on their uniforms...  

 

I'm not saying I want the jerseys to look like billboards but any type of sponsorship money would be nice.  Players that have transferred from JUCO and FCS schools have said that they had more at their other schools.   I agree the only reason players are coming to Akron is to get the chance to play so they can go somewhere else.  The mere fact that Gant stayed is amazing I truly hope he has a great season and it pays off, I think Hull could have left as well and got paid.  

[exit322]

17 minutes ago, ZippyDoo said:

I know I am going to get bashed for this, but Joe Moe has said they have the lowest budget than any other team in country.  Apparently it is close to two million dollars.  I don't think that is a woe is me mentality it is a realistic mentality and pointing out that something has to change.

 

The Big 12 signed a sponsorship with Monster Energy and every team in the Big 12 got 1 million dollars sounds great, Ohio State just signed a sponsorship with JP Morgan and Ohio State alone gets 17 million dollars because all of their sports teams are going to wear a patch on their uniforms...  

 

I'm not saying I want the jerseys to look like billboards but any type of sponsorship money would be nice.  Players that have transferred from JUCO and FCS schools have said that they had more at their other schools.   I agree the only reason players are coming to Akron is to get the chance to play so they can go somewhere else.  The mere fact that Gant stayed is amazing I truly hope he has a great season and it pays off, I think Hull could have left as well and got paid.  

 

If Joe had ever once said "we're going to succeed despite our limitations," I'd agree with your assessment.  Or if he'd ever have been positive about where things are or could be.  Then maybe.

 

But nope, the public head of our program is just "yep it sucks."

[ZippyDoo]

That's fair.  I don't remember ever seeing him take on that mentality or saying we are going to overcome.  I guess I always looked at it as though he was pointing out the problem that exists and hoping at some point someone would listen and try to change it.

 

Hopefully to the players he portrays it as though it is us against the world and despite not having a pot to pee in we are going to prove them all wrong.

[kreed5120]

2 hours ago, ZippyDoo said:

 

The Big 12 signed a sponsorship with Monster Energy and every team in the Big 12 got 1 million dollars sounds great, Ohio State just signed a sponsorship with JP Morgan and Ohio State alone gets 17 million dollars because all of their sports teams are going to wear a patch on their uniforms...  

 

I'm not saying I want the jerseys to look like billboards but any type of sponsorship money would be nice.  Players that have transferred from JUCO and FCS schools have said that they had more at their other schools.   I agree the only reason players are coming to Akron is to get the chance to play so they can go somewhere else.  The mere fact that Gant stayed is amazing I truly hope he has a great season and it pays off, I think Hull could have left as well and got paid.  

 

The jersey sponsorships are relatively new. I think it was just in the spring that the NCAA announced that they would be a thing. Now you have 350+ D1 schools and I'm not going to try to guess how many none D1 schools all trying to seek deals.

 

I don't think it's as much that Akron and other MAC schools don't want them. It's more about finding sponsors who are willing to pay mid-six figures. Especially since many of your local credit unions and regional mid-size businesses might have already had their marketing dollars already budgeted and allocated for all of 2026 before they knew jersey patches were going to be a thing. 

 

New Mexico State in CUSA signed a deal that pays around $350K/yr. If Goodyear, Timken, Cleveland-Cliffs, or whoever was offering Akron $300K-$500K/yr I'm sure they would have already accepted. It takes two to tango.

Edited 14 hours ago by kreed5120

[72 Roo]

On 7/27/2026 at 8:29 AM, Dr Z said:

Try this

Thanks to Dr. Z for passing on the MAC coaches survey from the Toledo Blade. I found it engaging and reflective of the general sentiment among most MAC coaches.The most interesting take away for me was that no MAC coach praised the conference, its future or its leadership. None of that came up. The coaches seemed to be trying to survive in the changing world of college football. I do agree with one coach who opined that Miami is preparing to leave because they have the resources and the backing to play at another level such as AAC. It seems to me that Steinbrecher has no vision as to how the MAC can improve and raise its stature. But we all knew that. 

[exit322]

7 hours ago, 72 Roo said:

Thanks to Dr. Z for passing on the MAC coaches survey from the Toledo Blade. I found it engaging and reflective of the general sentiment among most MAC coaches.The most interesting take away for me was that no MAC coach praised the conference, its future or its leadership. None of that came up. The coaches seemed to be trying to survive in the changing world of college football. I do agree with one coach who opined that Miami is preparing to leave because they have the resources and the backing to play at another level such as AAC. It seems to me that Steinbrecher has no vision as to how the MAC can improve and raise its stature. But we all knew that. 

 

The only thing about that...I just don't see what's in it for the AAC.  Another league?  Absolutely, I think at least half the MAC is looking at what NIU did.  But I don't see any team in the MAC being "big" or "important" enough for the AAC.  Sun Belt?  OK, you may have a little more interest there.

 

Some kidding aside...how gung-ho is the PAC-12 with regard to its basketball...we can bring them some noon kickoffs for TV and a legitimately decent basketball program...

Edited 4 hours ago by exit322

[kreed5120]

41 minutes ago, exit322 said:

 

The only thing about that...I just don't see what's in it for the AAC.  Another league?  Absolutely, I think at least half the MAC is looking at what NIU did.  But I don't see any team in the MAC being "big" or "important" enough for the AAC.  Sun Belt?  OK, you may have a little more interest there.

 

This is pretty spot on. I don't see what Miami would bring the AAC. Cincinnati and Xavier already own the Cincinnati market. OSU has a monopoly over Columbus. In-between even Dayton is a much bigger basketball brand.

 

Their ceiling is SunBelt as they're already in a saturated market. 

[exit322]

1 minute ago, kreed5120 said:

 

This is pretty spot on. I don't see what Miami would bring the AAC. Cincinnati and Xavier already own the Cincinnati market. OSU has a monopoly over Columbus. In-between even Dayton is a much bigger basketball brand.

 

Their ceiling is SunBelt as they're already in a saturated market. 

 

I'm not sure any MAC school has a ceiling higher than the Sun Belt (NIU kind of, but only kind of, did with the MWC move, though they went Horizon everywhere else...which does work well for them, to be completely fair).

[kreed5120]

6 minutes ago, exit322 said:

 

I'm not sure any MAC school has a ceiling higher than the Sun Belt (NIU kind of, but only kind of, did with the MWC move, though they went Horizon everywhere else...which does work well for them, to be completely fair).

 

I think UMass and Buffalo both have potential that they could be attractive to a conference like the AAC given their media markets. Their athletic performance, particularly in football, is what has held them back.

[exit322]

1 minute ago, kreed5120 said:

 

I think UMass and Buffalo both have potential that they could be attractive to a conference like the AAC given their media markets. Their athletic performance, particularly in football, is what has held them back.

 

Fair.  I stand corrected.