The Legacy of Tyler Kozlov

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Re: The Legacy of Tyler Kozlov

Clarence Fitzpatrick intercepts a late thrown to seal the victory

Ten Straight!
24 vs 7

The score in this one showed a more lopsided result than what took place on the football field thanks to costly errors from Western Kentucky that swung the game in favor of the Zips. Even despite the Zips early errors, they managed to win by a commanding 17 points to take the Go Daddy.com bowl from Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers just couldn't make up for their errors.

Chandler Kincade spent most of the first quarter getting back into a rhythm, he actually started 1-5 before getting a small streak of completions going as the Zips utilized a quick hitting offense and led to a touchdown drive in the final moments of the first quarter for an early lead. One that would hold through the remainder of the game thanks to their defense which shut down the Hilltoppers and when they bent, they didn't break.

Once the Zips went up by 14 in the second frame, on a touchdown pass from Chandler Kincade to Jeff Parker, a 34 yard bullet that had the senior rumble into the end zone for his only score of the game, it would be the final offensive touchdown for this squad as Chandler Kincade never seemed to get into a rhythm or the Hilltoppers secondary was just that much improved.

The Zips started to feel the pressure in the third, with three drives pushing the ball deep into Akron territory for the Hilltoppers but only once would it result in the Hilltoppers yielding points. An interception tossed to Wesley Taylor would be reeled in at the Akron five, with the junior corner scrambling upfield and outlasting his opponents to make his way to a touchdown, turning a guaranteed 3 (or potentially 7) into 7 for the Zips and a 21 point lead that the Hilltoppers wouldn't manage to come close to matching. It would seem they would have a chance though as a quick 3 and out led to yet another solid drive ending with a sack and a failed fourth down conversion. On the final drive for the Hilltoppers in the quarter, they moved downfield with Troy Jones connecting with Nick Fant for a touchdown.

The lone touchdown for the Hilltoppers would breath brief respite into the team before the bitter reality struck, with another drive heading downfield midway in the fourth and the Zips defense using mostly reserves including freshman wideout Clarence Fitzpatrick at a safety slot, and it would be the freshman coming up huge when he made a terrific read and jumped a throw, reeling in the pass for an easy interception in the red zone.

The interception took all the wind from the Hilltoppers and they ultimately yielded as the Zips burned two of the final three minutes and on the final last ditch attempt to score, the Hilltoppers wouldn't go anywhere, with four incompletions to end the game.

Akron caps off a tremendous season that saw them win ten straight, a huge feat for this program that just three years ago had just one win, to move to a MAC Championship and consecutive bowl victories is a true testament to the coaching ability of Tyler Kozlov and a testament to this team for rising up to the challenge.

The 2016 Akron Zips, MAC Champions, Go Daddy Bowl Victors.




MAC Bowl Results

Little Ceasars Pizza Bowl
34 vs 7

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
28 vs 35

Military Bowl
20 vs 35

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Trevor Knight runs away with heisman, prepares for national title contest against Ohio State

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41 vs 31

Buckeyes best heisman winner Trevor Knight, Sooners to claim title

The Oklahoma Sooners came into this game the hottest team in all of college football. They were fueled by the heisman winner, Trevor Knight and a stingy defense that looked primed to deliver a national title to Norman. The only thing that stood in their way was Urban Meyer's Ohio State Buckeyes. Ohio State came in without a conference championship and ultimately some extra rest due to that.

The Buckeyes got to the national title by hanging a 17 point victory over UCLA who ended up ending the season on a two game losing streak after winning the first 12. The Buckeyes earned a rather controversial #1 seed in the playoffs after missing the conference championship and sliding into the playoffs on an extra week's rest. Something that will likely be factored into future playoff decisions.

Ohio State took care of business in this one, as they punished Trevor Knight who left the game with injury in the first half, the Buckeyes forced Knight to just 1 touchdown, an interception and 127 passing yards before he left late in the second quarter. Boomer Mayfield came on in relief and tossed a pair of touchdowns in the final two frames that kept the Sooners close but when it came down to it, the Buckeyes and Cardale Jones whom earned player of the game honors with 237 passing yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 rushing touchdown, would claim victory and another national title for Ohio State.

The Buckeyes are the 2016 national champions, and the winners of the first ever NCAA Playoff. The Sooners fall to 13-2 on the season, after an impressive season spearheaded by their senior heisman winner, the Sooners will face a lot of hurdles next season, and overcoming this loss will be the biggest trial of them all.
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Re: The Legacy of Tyler Kozlov

Coaching Recaps: John Valkyrie
John Valkyrie ended his first division 1 season on a 4-8 Arkansas State Red Wolves squad that had a lot of new pieces coming together including an odd assortment of three freshman quarterbacks under helm. The Red Wolves had their share of adversity due to that, with the youth on the roster, the team ranked just 112th in the nation for turnovers finishing with a negative total for the season, it really isn't a shock given that this team had so much new talent under the middle.

Valkyrie took on a rather rough situation and it would show, the teams main strength laid in its halfbacks and offensive line and Valkyrie milked that for every ounce he could pull from it, his team actually ranked 62nd in the league (just inside the top half) for rushing offense. The Red Wolves just couldn't overcome a young quarterback corp and a rather mild receiving unit. While Valkyrie did catch some flak during the season, as the Red Wolves struggled heavily early on, as did head coach Blake Anderson.

There are rumors that Valkyrie could take the reigns if Anderson is let go after this season when his contract expires, but in the end , it is all hear-say until coaching news heats up in the coming weeks, we can just sit back and watch. This team has only room to rise from here, the Red Wolves haven't been bowl eligible in three season, but with the amount of youth growing on the team and Valkyrie's ability to coach up his boys, this team could make more of an impact in the Sunbelt next season.

Stats and Schedule

Spoiler

Arkansas State Red Wolves 2016 Season Review (Website)

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Coaching Recap: Eric Grant

Eric Grant had a challenge similar to that of Quinn Retney and that was to turn around a winless team into a potential contender, yes the Cowboys were a 0-12 squad a year ago in the Mountain West, the team jettisoned both it's coordinators as head coach Matt Campbell hung on by a hair to stay with the Cowboys for another season.

This season had it's ups and downs, and this offense wasn't particularly scary by any sense of the word, but they were oddly efficient at scoring through the air despite a bottom 3/4ths finish in both metrics for offensive production. Grant utilized his teams strengths to put points on the board and this led to a victory over an AQ school in Washington State, the Cougars weren't a terrifying team by any stretch but the Cowboys beating them 49-42 at their stadium was definitely a marquee moment for this Cowboy's squad which will look to improve more next season.

The Cowboys managed to wrangle one of the top prospects in the country to their program and assuming Eric Grant remains with the Cowboys for next season, he will have a hell of a talent to coach up. Duncan Boland projects to be a wide receiver at the college level and he should step in to be amongst the top at the position, and he headlines a rather mediocre class. He does have the talent to be a terror in the Mountain West and some pundits are calling him a NFL talent, having that level of skill in Wyoming with a coordinator that knows how to get scoring through the air could lead to exciting things in Wyoming.

Stats and Schedule

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Wyoming Cowboys 2016 Season Review (Website)

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Coaching Recap: Quinn Retney

Our lone head coach this season suffered through a 0-12 record that will mark a 22 game losing streak for the Minutemen whose last victory came against the Colorado Buffaloes over a season ago. It certainly wasn't an easy season for this rebuilding team in a tough conference. The Minutemen would've competed for a bowl likely had they played in the MAC or at least would've been a 4 win program, but in the American conference they just couldn't take care of business. This winless team had five games decided by a touchdown or less, which is rather impressive but shows that they still need some maturation to get over this hump.

The Minutemen also spent the majority of their season with at least five or six players on the injury report including starting quarterback AJ Doyle whom was a better fit for the spread option offense that Quinn Retney employed than Andrew Verboys who started rather than Austin Whipple whom would be a poor fit for Retney's system. The big improvement came from Shadrach Abrokwah who punished the opposition including a dominating performance against Northern Illinois University in the season finale.

It's hard to tell what the future holds for this program, they are losing their top two offensive players in Doyle and Abrokwah and the depth isn't very reassuring, David Gray projects among the worst in the American, but they have a talented young receiving corp that could take some of the pressure off the option aspect of the offense. Defensively this team has a lot of youth and will return all but 2 starters for the upcoming season.

This is a team that went 0-12 and has a lot of work to do ahead for Quinn Retney, they ranked towards the bottom of the NCAA in almost every metric and their present recruiting class isn't showing much signs for hope in the upcoming season yet.

A bright spot exists on the defensive end where Da'Sean Downey (JR) outside linebacker was a huge force on the opposite end, accounting for 102 total tackles and adding 7 in the backfield with 1.5 sacks, he will definitely be a leader of this defense next year, and this team should expect to at the very least pick up a few wins next season, especially if they draw up a more favorable schedule.

Stats and Schedule

Spoiler

Massachusetts Minutemen 2016 Season Review

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Akron head coach Tyler Kozlov schedules press conference as offer rumors escalate

The hottest coaching commodity that appears available this offseason, Tyler Kozlov has scheduled a press conference at Akron University where he will address the coaching rumors that have swirled around him. Kozlov has been connected to several programs, including West Virginia and Virginia Tech as replacements for retiring and fired coaches. There had been rumors of Kozlov's unhappiness in Akron but details hadn't been made public yet.

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Coaching Carousel - CAC Edition

Two coaches ended the season as coordinators with hopes of moving into the head man's seat for their respective programs and while both head coaches at Arkansas State and Wyoming saw themselves given walking papers at the end of the season, neither saw an offer tendered to take over at their programs. All three coaches had rumors swirling but Quinn Retney ultimately turned down a coordinator position at Boston College and USF before taking twitter to announce

@CoachQRetney I will not be leaving Massachusetts, there's too much unfinished business to be taken care of.

Our other coaches weren't steadfast in staying, as both have moved to the head coaching ranks to join Quinn Retney as head men at their programs.



The Idaho Vandals have been perpetually in the hole of whatever conference they play in, and once more they found themselves in the Mountain West cellar, which didn't bode well for the athletic department. The staff decided to move away from the present coaching staff, cleaning house once again. Many sources felt that Grant felt slighted that he wasn't even given an interview for the Wyoming position and decided to move to new pastures. Eric Grant has been named the head coach of the Idaho Vandals. Grant will be given a long leash as he takes over the team, with administrative staff expressing excitement for their hire, Grant will take over operations immediately of the football program. Idaho finished last season 1-11.

Eric Grant - Head Coach of the Idaho Vandals



This leaves John Valkyrie, Valkyrie was interviewed for the Red Wolves position but decided to jump ship for the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks, the Warhawks just couldn't get much going right for them last season and Valkyrie's Wolves actually dominated the Warhawks last season, now it's Valkyrie's turn to take over this Warhawk program that has seen recent success but has since fallen off. He is no stranger to the Sunbelt and will retain in the area where he has started his career. Just now, he has an entire program underneath him. UL-Monroe finished last season 3-9.

John Valkyrie - Head Coach of the UL-Monroe Warhawks



Finally, there is a new coach joining the ranks. He lands a spot as the head man in his first job, following the quick route to the head coaching ranks, taking over the UAB Blazers is new head coach Corey Warby. Warby graduated from Texas Tech and was a graduate assistant for the Texas Tech Red Raiders before branching out to Texas A&M Commerce where he was an offensive coordinator than interim head coach in the most recent season. This past season as an interim he took over an 0-5 team and proceeded to win 5 games over the rest of the season, and while Texas A&M Commerce decided to look elsewhere to fill their vacated head coaching position, Warby opted to look for a job elsewhere. Reaching out in his home state didn't yield many results despite turnover in the lower Texas schools, it wouldn't be until he reached a little further and interviewed for the UAB position that he was brought on to be the head man. UAB finished last season 3-9 under new head coach Glen Spencer whom was let go in the offseason after losing the locker room.

Warby brings in a Texas Tech offense and a variety of looks on the defensive end. His offense predicates on air mobility and will he a clear emphasis on pass and catch football with the run game taking the back seat. Warby had success at lower levels and was a student of the game out of college, and his emphasis on offense definitely will show. His defense thrives on moving pieces and players that can slide to various positions on the football field, they don't stick with just one set, rather choosing to diversify their play calling based on whatever the situation on the field calls for.

Corey Warby - Head coach of UAB Blazers

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Akron Zips 2016 Season Review

The Akron Zips 2016-2017 season concluded with ten straight victories as the Zips finished with the program's best ever finish and a victory over two consecutive ranked opponents to take home their second MAC Championship and first Go Daddy.com bowl victory. The Zips had a season for the ages and one star on offense and defense were responsible for this.

Jeff Parker on offense had a season that will be remembered for years in Akron. 96 Receptions with 1650 Receiving Yards and 15 touchdowns. His receptions and yardage led all of college football this season while his 15 touchdowns were good for a tie for second in the country, joining Cameron Echols-Luper of TCU with that mark. Both were bested by Dorial Green-Beckham who had 19 for the top mark. Beckham won the Fred Bilentikoff award for best receiver in college. Parker will figure to be around a fourth round draft pick in the NFL, mostly due to where he played, his talent level was incredible. He single handedly took over games at times and was a receiver that caught virtually everything that came within arms grasp and than some.

On the defensive end, Ahmad Watts finished with 95 tackles on the season, Watts also had 34 tackles for a loss (2nd), 11 sacks (2nd), 3 interceptions, 4 forced fumbles (2nd), 2 fumble recoveries, and 1 defensive touchdown. Watts had a surreal season after a strong showing in his freshman year, he only improved with age and was winner of the Best LB award, along with several other awards including the Nagurski and Bednarik while also being named to the All-America team. A lot of his sacks were coverage sacks and plays where the quarterback took off to run and he got caught in the backfield, but none the less his totals are spectacular and he'll be a leader of this defense for the next two years. At his present size, he doesn't project to be a high NFL draft pick, but he definitely should see his rank rise as his career continues.

The Zips started their season 1-3, falling to UCLA, Ohio State and Indiana with a lone victory against Hawai'i breaking up the three losses. Looking back two of the four teams played in the playoffs which is a tremendous accolade for this teams strength of schedule and Indiana finished the season ranked at #24. The Zips would rattle off ten consecutive victories to finish the season at 11-3 and #22 in the national polls, the first time this Akron Zips team has ever been ranked.

"It's been a tremendous year, a lot of people wrote us off after those first three losses, ignoring our previous body of work and our boys went out there, bested the adversity and claimed victory. I'm proud of each and every one of them, they are a part of history at this program and no one will ever be able to take that away from them. Next year will be even better." - Tyler Kozlov.


Stats

Spoiler

[TheOtherPotterGuy]

Re: The Legacy of Tyler Kozlov

Nice bowl win! Y'all have had an incredible season. I am curious to see where Kozlov goes if he decides not to coach at Akron.

Coach Warby going to UAB! That is going to be a hard task but I can't wait to see how they do using an Air raid offense!

[thesportsguru11]

Re: The Legacy of Tyler Kozlov

Agree with the above, a great season for you. Even with a UMass transfer in Blyden......

Tough to see 12 L's for the Minutemen this year, but Abrokwah killed it by the looks of it and we hung competitive for the most part with everyone. Thanks for keeping me there, we're going places!

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Nice bowl win! Y'all have had an incredible season. I am curious to see where Kozlov goes if he decides not to coach at Akron.

Coach Warby going to UAB! That is going to be a hard task but I can't wait to see how they do using an Air raid offense!

It was a great season, a lot of hard fought games that swung in our favor! It'll definitely be something to look for to see if he leaves, I may have it typed up tonight, going to be the first update that gives a little backstory on the coach!

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Agree with the above, a great season for you. Even with a UMass transfer in Blyden......

Tough to see 12 L's for the Minutemen this year, but Abrokwah killed it by the looks of it and we hung competitive for the most part with everyone. Thanks for keeping me there, we're going places!

Abrokwah was a force this year and he really came on late, the team wasn't great but Massachusetts was better than their record they could've stole a few in the American, but I'm sure you'll get them going!

[RaiderAid89]

Re: The Legacy of Tyler Kozlov

Let's Go Warhawks!

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All coaching posts are updated with their pages now, the website may be up and down, still working on it, some issues with getting this season to link up.