Akron was the first to jump to the FBS. Going into its 40th season, the payoff is still elusive

AKRON, Ohio (AP) — Former president William Muse said the University of Akron was “one of the largest unknown universities in the United States” when it decided to move the football program up to Division I-A in 1987.

The Zips are still fighting for relevance as they prepare for their 40th season in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

Akron made history as the first school to move from Division I-AA (now known as the Football Championship Subdivision) to Division I-A (FBS). With North Dakota State and Sacramento State making the move this season, 35 programs have followed the Zips, who won't have much to show for it.

Akron has a .353 winning percentage as an FBS program, going 159-288-3. There have been only eight winning seasons, none since 2015, and three bowl trips, the last being a 50-3 loss to Florida Atlantic in the 2017 Boca Raton Bowl.

This decade has been particularly tough. The 16-62 record is the second-worst among FBS programs. Of the nine coaches Akron has had since 1987, none have left with a winning record. Its biggest claim to fame is defensive lineman Jason Taylor, who was a three-year starter from 1993-95 before a Pro Football Hall of Fame career.

“We just haven’t been able to win consistently. And the people that have come and gone have had a limited amount of time to stay here and try to cultivate it,” said Mark LaRose, a commentator for Akron radio.

Thing is, Akron isn't going to change now. There are no plans to rethink the move to the FBS and there are some reasons for optimism. Steady progress has been made under coach Joe Moorhead, including a 5-7 record last season despite being under NCAA academic sanctions . Akron’s promotion for the Sept. 12 home opener against Robert Morris, in which a fan gets to serve as offensive coordinator for the first series, went viral, garnering more than 23 million views on social media.

“There are high expectations for football in this region,” athletic director Andrew Goodrich said. “We’ve got to play at a high level to get that respect. And we’re working on it.”

Besides being 115 miles north of Columbus and in the long shadow that Ohio State casts, Akron has to compete with three other programs within a one-hour drive up Interstate 76: chief rival Kent State, Mount Union — which has won a record 13 Division III championships — and Youngstown State, a four-time FCS champion. All are draws for local football talent.

While Ohio State’s athletic department took in $336.1 million in revenue and turned a profit of $15.4 million, Akron’s revenues were less than one-tenth of that at $32.7 million with an operating loss of $1 million.

Akron also has the second-smallest budget among FBS public schools and the lowest in the Mid-American Conference. That is a primary reason Akron has one of the smallest coaching staffs in FBS and a recruiting department with one full-time person and a graduate assistant. Moorhead has only two graduate assistants on his staff; his analysts don’t receive a salary.

“You’ve got to look to hire older coaches who are maybe out of work or younger coaches where this is the best job that they can get. And then you got to develop them, and you’ve got to coach the coaches. We’ve got to wear a lot of hats,” Moorhead said.

Akron also faces the same challenge as any Group of Six school with constant roster turnover. The Zips lost 41 scholarship players after last season, with 11 of their 15 top players transferring to Power Four programs.

“I mean, we’re in the Etch A Sketch era. The season starts, you draw a picture, and it ends and you got to shake it up and draw it again,” Moorhead said. “It’s exacerbated by the institutional difficulties of budget and zero revenue-share money up until this December. And now we have a mere pittance, and it’s not even close to any other schools in the country. There’s a series of challenges that make it incredibly difficult, but that’s part of the thing that makes it exciting.”

Moorhead was an assistant with the Zips from 2004-08. After two years as the offensive coordinator at Oregon, he returned to Akron in 2022 and inherited a program that had gone 3-27 the previous three seasons. The Zips went 2-10 in 2022 and 2023, then 4-8 in 2024, and 5-7 last season.

Last season’s five wins were a huge step, considering it happened under NCAA sanctions for its multi-year Academic Progress Rate score falling below the minimum. In addition to a postseason ban, practice time was reduced. The ban was lifted this spring, making the Zips bowl-eligible if they can improve the wins total.

“That was huge because a lot of people had thought this was really the end (of the football program). They really can’t compete,” Goodrich said. “It’s really the student-athletes who fixed everything and did great in the classroom. It has breathed life into our fan base and especially our people on campus. These little victories are leading to bigger victories.”

Akron has had success in other sports. The men’s soccer program won the Division I title in 2010 and has been one of the nation’s top programs for many years, while men’s basketball became the first team to win the MAC tournament three straight years. The softball team reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time this past season.

According to a study of athletic programs by the consulting group Huron, Akron’s athletic program ranks ninth among public FBS schools in efficiency, generating $ 194,500 in competitive value per $1 million spent.

Goodrich was hired as Akron’s AD in May 2025, after four years at Gardner-Webb. Senior deputy AD Matt Pottorff, who oversees football, was hired last August. The two previously worked together at the University of Miami.

There were many gains during Goodrich’s first year. Akron averaged 7,729 for home games last year, worst in the MAC but a 21% gain. More important was that fundraising was up 109%, corporate sponsorships increased by 20% and more fans meant 20% more in ticket revenue, the school said.

Goodrich also turned in a balanced budget, which saw increased money for football for the first time in at least five years.

“Joe’s made improvements despite a budget that has decreased year over year until this year. He’s got a lot of built-in challenges, and it’s our job to overcome them now. And we’re working hard to give the team what they need to be successful," Pottorff said.

Even though the Zips were picked to finish 10th in the 13-team MAC, the improvement over the past couple of seasons and interest in the home opener have given Akron some hope.

“FBS is where we belong and where we need to stay,” Pottorff said. “Going FCS is absolutely not the right path for this university. It does not deliver the same return on investment or attract the same eyeballs. We’ve got better facilities than I would say so many of our peers. We absolutely belong. We deserve to be here, and it’s time to act like it.”

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