The coaching career of Gregory James (NCAA 14)

[gijimbo12]

It's time for the bowl game! Akron accepted an invitation to the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl vs Iowa (6-6).

Akron upsets Iowa 38-21!

Team stats
QB Zach Gibson: 20-28, 313 yards, 2 TD, 3 INT
QB Kato Nelson: 10 carries for 70 yards, 2 TD

RB Cole Gest: 8 carries for 65 yards

TE Mav Wolfley: 6 catches for 91 yards, 1 TD
WR George Qualls Jr.: 5 catches for 127 yards
WR Michael Mathison: 5 catches for 54 yards

Next: On to the offseason!

[gijimbo12]

Season overview:
Week 1: @ #21 UCF (L 35-38)
Week 2: Louisiana-Lafayette (L 17-56)
Week 3: Bye Week
Week 4: Buffalo (L 20-27)
Week 5: @ Bowling Green (L 35-36)
Week 6: @ Ohio (W 36-26)
Week 7: Northern Illinois (W 49-14)
Week 8: Miami (OH) (W 70-14)
Week 9: Bye Week
Week 10: @ Kent State (W 42-23)
Week 11: @ Georgia Southern (W 58-56) 3 OT
Week 12: @ Eastern Michigan (W 52-7)
Week 13: Central Michigan (W 56-17)
Week 14: @ Toledo (W 59-36)

Little Ceaser's Pizza Bowl vs Iowa (W 38-31)

Finished 9-4, 7-2 in the MAC

Statistical leaders:
QB Zach Gibson: 163-239 (68%), for 2,615 yards. 27 TD, 8 INT

RB Cole Gest: 148 carries for 930 yards, 14 TD
QB Kato Nelson: 105 carries for 731 yards, 11 TD
CB Jordyn Riley: 67 carries for 549 yards, 6 TD

TE Mav Wolfley: 58 receptions for 961 yards, 10 TD
WR Michael Mathison: 41 receptions for 576 yards, 6 TD
WR Nate Stewart: 35 receptions, 749 yards, 7 TD
Gest: 26 receptions for233 yards, 1 TD
WR George Qualls Jr.: 27 receptions for 590 yards, 6 TD
WR Julian Hicks: 21 receptions for 346 yards, 2 TD

Accolades:
QB Zach Gibson was named to the 2nd team All-MAC squad
RB Cole Gest was named to the 2nd Team All-MAC squad
WR Nate Stewart was named to the 2nd Team All-MAC squad
C Bryce Petersen was named to the 2nd Team All-MAC squad

Regular Season offensive rankings
Scoring offense: 44.1 points per game (1st)
Total offense: 489.1 yards per game (2nd)
Passing offense: 284.9 yards per game (3rd)
Rushing offense: 204.2 yards per game (12th)

[gijimbo12]

Offseason recap:

Coaching carousel: Greg James signs a four-year contract extension to continue running the offense for Akron.

James received the following head coaching offers:
Louisiana-Monroe

Offensive Coordinator offers:
Iowa
Iowa State
Louisville
UCF
Boise State
Cincinnati
Georgia Tech
Hawaii
Illinois
Memphis
Syracuse

Key Players Leaving:
C Bryce Petersen
WR Nate Stewart
HB Cole Gest
QB Kato Nelson

Final recruiting class:
Notes: Top recruiting class in the MAC, ranking 29th (!!!) in the nation. The class includes 4, 4-stars and 12, 3-stars.
**** #17 Athlete (WR) John Jones. From Silver City, North Carolina.
**** #18 Athlete (QB) Shaun Reed. From Jefferson City, Tennessee.
**** #7 TE Jonathan Armstrong. From Littleton, New Hampshire.
**** #7 DT Paul Britton. From Roseville, Minnesota.
*** #105 CB Ray Abrams. From Eagle, Idaho.
*** #46 DE Travis Kelly. From Meridian, Idaho.
*** #60 QB Alphonso Barber. From West Orange, New Jersey.
*** #180 WR Lawrence Arnold. From Ephrata, Pennsylvania.
*** #64 WR Alan Fritz. From Carnegie, Pennsylvania.
*** #23 FS Quincy Wilson. From Pocatello, Idaho.
*** #178 JUCO WR Jeff Barr. From Fitzgerald, Georgia.
*** #53 MLB Dwayne Olsen. From Dalton, Georgia.
*** #49 C Austin Nunez. From St. Cloud, Minnesota.
*** #26 G Trey Wagner. From Homer, Alaska.
*** #82 JUCO RB Martin Toth. From Milford, Connecticut.
*** #125 DE Chris Roberson. From Madison, New Jersey
** #233 JUCO WR J.D. Sharp. From Edison, New Jersey

Next up: a new season! A quarterback controversy (yes, even after a freshman QB broke the passing TD in just 9 starts last year haha).

[Deuce2223]

Cant believe you would turn down the OC job at Boise State.. It's my dream job.

[gijimbo12]

Quote: Originally Posted by Deuce2223

Cant believe you would turn down the OC job at Boise State.. It's my dream job.

I love Boise, but I didn't want to make a move across the country to still be an offensive coordinator!

The Ohio kid stays home, for at least one more season. I also was really excited about this recruiting class. Coach Arth let me focus on the offensive recruiting last year, and I'm really excited about the potential of Shaun Reed and Martin Toth. They were both Athletes, but I think they'll slot in at QB and RB, respectively. They should bring a new dimension to the offense. We struggled a lot last year because we lacked speed, and these guys are both burners. Reed has a cannon of an arm too, he's got a real shot to be the starting QB this year.

We also snagged a couple of speedster WRs who, I think were vastly underrated by the national recruiting rankings.

I will be updating some of this tonight for anyone who is passively following! I might even go on Twitch for a little while, got some new video equipment so I can get some screenshots and video stuff to share.

Thanks to anyone who is following along!

Deuce, since you replied, do you want to submit a recruit for next year's high school class?

If you're interested in doing this, reply to this thread with the following information:

First name:
Last name:
Position:
Number:
Hometown:

Then just give me a brief description of what your player's playstyle is. I'll use a random number generator to give you an overall within a reasonable range for a recruit.

Once your player is recruited, I'll give some updates. Maybe I'll even be able to recruit one of these guys!

[gijimbo12]

Newcomers thrive, Zips put up a crooked number in win over SEC opponent

[Akron, OH] - When Shaun Reed committed to Akron after the team's victory over Central Michigan last season, Offensive Coordinator Greg James knew the 5'11 Athlete had a chance to be a special player.
He just didn't know he'd be showing it during the first game of his career.
Reed had a dazzling performance Saturday, leading the Zips to a 73-47 over Vanderbilt. He finished 19-22 passing, with 339 yards and 5 touchdowns. The freshmen didn't throw an interception, while also contributing on the ground with 2 touchdowns and 81 yards on 16 carries.
"I've been a college football fan for a long time, what Reed did today has to be the most impressive debut I've ever seen," James said after the game.
The only problem Reed had all day is something that was out of his control.
"That 16 carries number is a little too high," James said. "I'm encouraging him to scramble, but we need to limit the designed run plays to keep him healthy throughout this long season."
Reed wasn't the only newcomer who had an impressive performance in his first-ever Division I college game.
Junior College transfer RB Martin Toth led the way on the ground as he recorded 109 yards on 14 carries and 2 touchdowns. He was also impressive through the air, corraling 4 passes for 86 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Junior College transfer WR J.D. Sharp was also impressive, flashing his 4.4 speed and hauling in 5 balls for 153 yards and a score. Sharp was supplemented by veteran pass-catcher and team captain Michael Mathison (7 receptions for 140 yards).
With Reed leading the youth movement, the Zips offense tallied an impressive 616 yards of total offense.
Before the season, Reed wasn't even sure if he'd be the starting QB, now he's making an early case to be a First-Team All-Conference performer, after his 7 TD debut.
"We had a really tough battle in camp, we love Zach Gibson gave us at Quarterback last season, but we felt Reed was more dynamic in the run game and it really opens things up for the rest of our offense," James said,
Head Coach Tom Arth added that Gibson may still see some reps at QB throughout the season, and that he's a quality leader on the team who will be ready when he is needed this year.
Next up for the Zips is a trip to Happy Valley to take on Penn State (0-1).
I may hop on stream in a couple of hours for some games. You can follow me at twitch.tv/jfleezus

Akron vs Penn State.jpg

[johnstone1987]

Quote: Originally Posted by Deuce2223

Cant believe you would turn down the OC job at Boise State.. It's my dream job.

I was gonna say the same thing! Dude why the hell would you pass up that BSU job?

[johnstone1987]

Gets off from Boise State:

Him: