2005 MAC Championship Game
Akron beats Northern Illinois 31-30 at Ford Field for the program's first-ever conference title
Program prestige
Zeitgeist statureRegional Program VProgram outlook
Program outlook
Akron produced a first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer. In 2025, the program still made national news for a completely different reason — the first FBS team barred from the postseason over academics since 2014.
Since Jul 3: L 23-25 vs Eastern Michigan; L 14-34 at Miami (OH); L 20-35 at Kent State; L 20-28 vs Ohio. 1-8 this season.
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Start with the real thing: Jason Taylor started at Akron from 1993 to 1996, still holds the program's all-time sacks record, and went on to fifteen NFL seasons, mostly with the Miami Dolphins, before a first-ballot 2017 Pro Football Hall of Fame induction — the first and only Akron player enshrined in Canton, with a 2026 MAC Hall of Fame induction still to come. It's as good a credential as any MAC program can claim.
The team-level peak came almost a decade later and hasn't repeated since: 2005, J.D. Brookhart's second season, a 31-30 win over Northern Illinois at Ford Field for the program's only MAC title, followed by a 38-31 loss to Memphis in the Zips' first-ever bowl game. Twenty years on, it's still the ceiling.
2025 gave the program a stranger kind of headline. Joe Moorhead's fourth year produced a 5-7 record, but the season's real story broke before it even mattered on the scoreboard: Akron was ruled ineligible for the postseason regardless of its final record, over an insufficient Academic Progress Rate — the first FBS team to face that specific penalty since Idaho in 2014. The Zips also lost the Wagon Wheel back to Kent State in overtime, a year after winning it 38-17. Between a genuine Canton legend and an academic-eligibility headline that traveled further than the win-loss record, 2025 was a season that said more about the program off the field than on it.
On the field
A program whose defensive standard was set by Jason Taylor's era and has been chased, with mixed results, by every staff since — no fixed modern scheme identity has stuck across the coaching changes between the 1990s peak and now.
Akron has won 36% of its games since 1913 — 50% at home, 24% on the road.
187-327-4 all-time · 64 seasons · 1913–2026
Home
116-116-1
Away
68-209-3
Neutral
3-2
1 g
1910s
1 g
1930s
1 g
1940s
5 g
1960s
44%
1970s
48%
1980s
36%
1990s
43%
2000s
30%
2010s
23%
2020s
The CFP era
13 seasons inside the CFP era, no bids yet — the era the program is still trying to break into.
Trajectory · quality-score line · AP rank dotted · CFP bids marked · coach regimes ribboned
Program quality
AP rank (inverted)
CFP appearance
Swipe left for earlier seasons
Akron’s 2014–2026 record is 46-104.
Joe Moorhead
Joe Moorhead has held the program for 5 seasons — the era is established.
Era Joe Moorhead · 2022–presentPrev: Oscar Rodriguez (2021)DC: Tim TibesarPrev DC: Matt Feeney (2019–2021)
5
years · era
Akron and Kent State, meeting by meeting
Akron leads the series 26-20-1 (since 1972); in the last 10 meetings, Akron is 4-6
2026: Kent State won 35-20. After this game, Akron led 26-20-1.
Last 25 meetings: ▲ Akron won, ▼ Kent State won, by how much
Each step is one meeting: up when Akron wins, down when Kent State wins, flat for a tie. Counts every game in our records since 1972. Tap the line for any season.
Moments in Akron history
- Kent State 42, Akron 35Nov 11, 2025
- Indiana 29, Akron 27Sep 23, 2023
- Akron 31, Kent State 27Oct 1, 2016
On this date, Nov 4, 2021: Akron and Tom Arth part ways
What this program never forgets
Most weeks vanish. These didn’t.
2005 Motor City Bowl
Akron's first-ever bowl appearance ends in a 38-31 loss to Memphis
Heartbreak
2017
Jason Taylor’s Hall of Fame induction
Taylor is inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on his first ballot, the first Akron player ever enshrined
2025 APR postseason ban
Akron becomes the first FBS program since Idaho (2014) ruled ineligible for the postseason over Academic Progress Rate, regardless of its 5-7 final record
Wound
Moment of the year · 2026
Won 45-10 vs Robert Morris
Week 2 of 2026. A statement margin. Recruiting boards re-rendered overnight.
More in this tab
Ladder finish
Season standing · 2026 · 1-8
Season standing · 2026 · 1-8Akron is 1-8 — below .500 in FBS.
Below .500 in FBS play. The rebuild bar.
FBS sub-.500
Sub-FBSBuildingBowlRankedContenderPlayoff
Conference
Mid-American standing · 2026
13th in the Mid-American
Akron is 13th of 13 in the Mid-American at 0-5. The path to the title is steep — the focus is on bowl access and rivalry wins.
| # | Program | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ohio | 5-0 |
| 2 | Buffalo | 4-1 |
| 3 | Western Michigan | 4-1 |
| 4 | Toledo | 3-1 |
| 5 | Eastern Michigan | 3-2 |
| 6 | Miami (OH) | 3-2 |
| 7 | Ball State | 2-2 |
| 8 | Bowling Green | 2-3 |
| 9 | Kent State | 2-3 |
| 10 | Central Michigan | 1-3 |
| 11 | Massachusetts | 1-3 |
| 12 | Sacramento State | 1-5 |
| 13 | Akron | 0-5 |
Coaching history
Coaching history
- Hired Joe Moorhead
- Hired Oscar Rodriguez
- Tom Arth departs
- Oscar Rodriguez departs
- Hired Tom Arth
- Terry Bowden departs
- Hired Terry Bowden
- Rob Ianello departs
Coordinator lineage
Akron’s offense and defense, by coordinator
FBS-relative efficiency percentile per season (2014–2026), same population as the Coordinator Mirror board. Dashed vertical lines mark a coordinator change.
Offense2014–2026
2014–2018 · A. J. Milwee2019 · Tommy Zagorski2020 · Tommy Zagorski / Bryan Gasser (co)2021 · Tommy Zagorski2023 · Billy Fessler
Defense2014–2026
2014–2017 · Chuck Amato2018 · Todd Stroud2019–2021 · Matt Feeney2022–2026 · Tim Tibesar
Elite (≥70th pct)AveragePoor (≤30th pct)
Gameday customs
Rituals
Three gameday rituals — the ones outsiders never quite catch.
Jason Taylor’s Hall of Fame Legacy
since 1993
more
Jason Taylor started at Akron from 1993-1996, still the program's all-time career sacks leader (21), before a 15-year NFL career mostly with the Miami Dolphins. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2017 on his first ballot -- the first Akron player ever enshrined in Canton -- and is set for the 2026 MAC Hall of Fame as well.
The 2005 MAC Championship
since 2005
more
In coach J.D. Brookhart's second season, Akron won its first-ever MAC title and first-ever bowl berth -- a 31-30 win over Northern Illinois at Ford Field in Detroit, followed by a 38-31 loss to Memphis in the 2005 Motor City Bowl. It remains the only conference championship in program history.
Zippy
since 1953
more
Zippy, a female kangaroo mascot, is one of the few female mascots in college athletics -- symbolizing the Zips' agility, distinct from nearly every other program's mascot conventions.
Cultural identity
2017 L
2015 W
2005 LReddit blowups
r/CFB moments
247
[Postgame Thread] Buffalo Defeats Akron 23-22
189
[Postgame Thread] UAB Defeats Akron 31-20
170
[Postgame Thread] Akron Defeats St. Francis 30-23 (OT)
139
[Postgame Thread] Akron Defeats UMass 44-10
All-time top community posts
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