Watch a dubious drive with an invested fan of a college football team and you're sure to hear some frequent refrains.
What are we doing?Why are we throwing short of the sticks on third down? I could call better plays.
One Akron supporter will get a chance to test out their play-calling chops this season as part of a new promotion. The Zips are selecting one season ticket holder as its "Offensive Coordinator of the Game," an opportunity to help script Akron's first drive in the home opener against Robert Morris.
The announcement includes a massive stipulation that the planning will be done alongside head coach Joe Moorhead: "This hasn't been done before but we're not crazy."
The Zips described the promotion as a first-of-its-kind experience. It's a clear ploy to gin up interest for season tickets for a struggling program. Akron hasn't made a bowl game in eight seasons.
Additional season ticket referrals give fans an extra entry into the contest. And packages for the Zips' seven-game home slate at InfoCision Stadium are going for as low as $75. That's a small price to pay for some input on the sideline.
"We're always looking for new ways to bring our fans closer to the program," athletic director Dr. Andrew T. Goodrich said in a release. "This is about giving one of our most loyal supporters a seat at the table, right alongside our coaching staff, on the biggest night of the season."
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The campaign has garnered outsized attention. As of Wednesday afternoon, the post had drawn 12 million views. Compare that to a few thousand for recent posts from the Akron football account, and one could argue the campaign has already been a rousing success from a visibility point of view.
Naturally, fans' imaginations ran wild with what they might do with the headset on. Fake punts. Fake field goals. Double flea flickers.
One promised not to punt and said they would not give up the headset if Akron scored a touchdown on that first drive. Akron responded "done."
All of this begs the question: Just how effective has Akron been on its first drive of its home opener in recent years? In short, not great!
The Zips were shut out in their home opener against Wyoming last season. Three weeks later, against Duquesne — an FCS program on par with Robert Morris — Akron was intercepted on its first drive.
Flash back to 2024, and the Zips went three-and-out on their first possession against Colgate, another FCS program.
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You have to go back to 2023 against Morgan State (another FCS team) to find a time when Akron scored on the first drive of its home opener. And that was just a field goal.
The Zips also settled for a field goal on their inaugural drive in 2022 against St. Francis, which is also on the FCS level. That was Moorhead's first game as Akron's head coach.
The last time the Zips scored a touchdown on the first drive of their home opener was in 2021 against Temple. (For what it's worth, Akron punted on its first possession a few weeks later against FCS Bryant.)
© Mike Cardew / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
In short, the Zips don't have a lot to lose based on their recent history in this specific scenario. However, there's a good deal to like about Akron's offense heading into 2026 and thus the likelihood of ending that touchdown drought on the first drive of the home opener.
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Running back Jordan Gant and wide receiver Marcel Williams were both named to Athlon's MAC All-Conference first team. Wide receiver Kyan Marshall earned a spot on the third team. Transfer quarterback Reese Poffenbarger landed on the fourth team. And offensive linemen Colin Lyons and Allen Jones Jr. landed on the second and fourth teams, respectively.
"I'm looking forward to collaborating with the season ticket holder who wins this contest," Moorhead said in the release. "This will give our fans a behind-the-scenes experience that has never been done before anywhere, so I'm excited to show them how to put together the opening script and see what they can do."
It remains to be seen just how much input the winner of the contest will actually have on the play calling. Don't be disappointed if you tune into ESPN+ on Sept. 12 at 3:30 p.m. ET and don't see a double flea flicker on the first snap.
On the other side of the coin, it's hard to imagine any better bulletin board material for Robert Morris head coach Bernard Clark than telling his team that their opponent is literally handing off play calling to a fan.
The winner of the contest will be announced on Aug. 19, giving Akron's first-ever "Offensive Coordinator of the Game" a little more than three weeks to scheme.
