Kentucky football: Five things to know about the Akron Zips

Five things to know about the Akron Zips, Kentucky football’s opponent Saturday night at 7:30 at Kroger Field.

1. Akron is “The Rubber City”

What do you think when you think Akron? You think Firestone. You think B.F. Goodrich. You think Goodyear. You think General Tire. And you’d be correct. Over the years, Akron has been home to those major tire manufacturers, which is why it is known as “The Rubber City.”

Located about 45 minutes south of Cleveland, Akron has branched out into other things. It is now known for polymer research and development. What is polymer, you ask? The Britannica site defines it as “any of a class of natural or synthetic substances composed of very large molecules, called macromolecules, which are multiples of simpler chemical units called monomers. Polymers make up many of the materials in living organisms and are the basis of many minerals and man-made materials.”

Mainly, plastics and resins are made of polymers. The University of Akron has a Goodyear Polymer Center which studies polymer.

The University of Akron was founded in Akron in 1870. It offered the first classes in rubber chemistry. As of 2022, it had 10,378 graduate students. Fittingly, the Zips played in a stadium known as the Rubber Bowl until a new stadium was constructed in 2009. It’s called InfoCision Stadium.

One other “rubber” reference: Instead of a turnover chain, when Akron football forces a turnover, it celebrates with a “Turnover Tire.”

2. Yes, Akron’s nickname is the Zips

There are plenty of college football teams called the Wildcats, or Tigers, or Bulldogs, or (Nittany) Lions. There is only one team called the Zips. The Akron Zips.

The nickname is short for Zippers. According to the school, a campus-wide survey was conducted in 1927 to choose a nickname for Akron’s athletic teams. Margaret Hamlin, a student at the school, suggested “Zippers,” after a popular rubber overshoe sold by Akron’s B.F. Goodrich Co. The nickname was shortened to “Zips” in 1950 by then athletic director Red Cochrane.

Akron’s mascot “Zippy” is dressed as a kangaroo. “Zippy” was officially declared UA’s mascot on May 1, 1953. Dick Hansford, a student council adviser at the school, recommended the kangaroo, which was approved by the council.

3. There are some famous natives of Akron

There aren’t a ton of famous University of Akron alumni — other than retired Herald-Leader sports writer and track and field aficionado Mark Maloney — but there are plenty of famous Akron natives. Here are a few:

▪ LeBron James: The current Los Angeles Lakers star is easily the most famous, and the most heroic after leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to their only NBA title in 2016.

▪ Stephen Curry: The current Golden State Warriors star was born in Akron on March 14, 1988, while his father Dell was playing for the aforementioned Cavaliers. The following season, Dell Curry was taken by the Charlotte Hornets in the expansion draft.

▪ Chrissie Hynde: The lead singer of the Pretenders was born in Akron on Sept. 7, 1951. Hynde wrote a song about her hometown titled “My City Was Gone.”

▪ Thurman Munson: The star New York Yankees catcher was born in Akron on June 7, 1947. Tragically, Munson died in nearby Green, Ohio, on Aug. 2, 1979, when the plane he was piloting crashed on the runway.

▪ Mike Vrabel: The Tennessee Titans head coach was born in Akron on Sept. 14, 1975. He went on to play for Ohio State and then the NFL’s New England Patriots.

Honorable mention to Dan Auerbach of the The Black Keys, who was born in nearby Wooster, Ohio, on May 14, 1979, and is the proud owner of the Akron Analog Recording Studio in Akron. Auerbach moved from Akron to Nashville in 2010, where he has famously feuded with Jack White.

4. Kentucky knows Akron coach Joe Moorhead

A native of Pittsburgh, Joe Moorhead played football at Fordham before a brief non-NFL pro career. He then entered into coaching where he was an assistant coach at Akron from 2004-08. He became head coach at Fordham in 2012, where he went 38-13 over four seasons before leaving to take the offensive coodinator job at Penn State.

In 2018, Mississippi State hired Moorhead to replace Dan Mullen, who had taken over at Florida. Moorhead went 8-5 his first year in Starkville, but just 6-7 in his second. He was fired by former UK baseball coach John Cohen, then the MSU athletic director. Cohen hired Mike Leach as Moorhead’s replacement.

BallcoachJoeMo, as is his Twitter handle, was 1-1 against Kentucky during his time at Mississippi State. UK beat the Bulldogs 28-7 in Lexington in 2018. Moorhead returned the favor with a a 28-13 victory in Starkville in 2019. Kentucky’s coaches have talked about how creative Moorhead was offensively at Mississippi State. In fact, UK defensive coordinator Brad White said this week that Moorhead “ate my lunch” in that 2019 game.

After two years as the play-caller at Oregon, Moorhead returned to Akron as the head coach in 2020. He’s struggled to get the Zips going. After a 2-10 record last season, Akron is currently 1-1 and needed a late scoop-and-score to beat FCS member Morgan State last week.

5. Don’t forget Gerry Faust

An incredibly successful high school coach at Cincinnati Moeller, Gerry Faust was named head football coach at Notre Dame in 1981 in what was called “The Bold Experiment.” Unfortunately, the experiment failed. Faust went 30-26-1 and was fired after five seasons.

In 1986, he took over at Akron. He lasted nine seasons there, going 43-53-3 before being fired after a disastrous 1-10 season in 1994. He never won more than seven games in any season as a college coach.

The 88-year-old Faust lives in Fairlawn, Ohio, and still attends Notre Dame games. Famously positive in attitude, Faust said of his experience in South Bend, “I had only 26 miserable days at Notre Dame; that’s when we lost.”

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