The local flavor that permeates the University of Akron football team isn’t a matter of coincidence. Terry Bowden sounded like chef Michael Symon while extolling the virtues of home cookin’ when he arrived at UA.
Aware that this region — Northeast Ohio — is a hotbed for high school football and thus talent, Bowden said in his opening news conference that it would be a priority for him and his staff.
As the Zips (7-5) prepare to face Utah State (6-6) in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl on Tuesday, it is clear that he succeeded in that endeavor. Eight UA starters come from Akron and the surrounding area.
Bowden saw an issue in the way the football program interacted with local counterparts and sought to improve a stagnated recruiting base.
Look at the UA roster now and players from Green, Hudson, Canton, Massillon and Akron — including Firestone and St. Vincent-Mary high schools — represent the backbone of a team that has turned the program around.
“We had a problem here,” Bowden said bluntly as his team broke from practice recently. “We’ve lost so long that the good local players didn’t want to come to Akron. We can’t solve that problem if the program is so bad the good ones want to go where they are winning.”
There were exceptions. Senior offensive lineman Dylan Brumbaugh chose UA because of the outstanding facilities — which are still the best in the Mid-American Conference — and the proximity to home. Those are certainly acceptable reasons, but not the primary ones that anyone wants to hear.
UA was anathema to many local standouts.
Starting senior offensive lineman Quaison Osborne had orally committed to Youngstown State in November of his senior year of high school, despite offers from other schools, including UA.
John Nemec, director of player personnel for the UA football program, agreed with Bowden’s assessment. Nemec coached Kent Roosevelt for 29 years before joining the Zips’ staff. He said that while he was still coaching, Bowden and members of his staff visited his school within two weeks.
“I was very impressed with that because he said he wanted to meet the local coaches and get to know the local athletes,” he said. “He was the first Akron coach to visit our school in years.”
The lay of the land
Although no stranger to UA, Bowden had been away from the area and the school for three decades before being hired in December of 2011.
At the time of his hiring, it didn’t appear that local players were on the UA radar and vice versa. With eight starters this season from the area, that is obviously no longer the case and high school coaches see a difference.
“Since coach Bowden has been there, I think he’s embraced the local coaches a heck of a lot better than past coaches,” St. V-M coach Dan Boarman said. “It’s just been a much, much better relationship. I like to think that’s helped them get to where they are going now.”
Bowden’s philosophy in that regard is so simple that it’s crazy enough to work — and it has.
“You have to make the local coaches understand that you care about their players and their programs and that you won’t go further away until you look at the ones locally,” Bowden said. “We made a commitment to go as hard as we can to make sure we get the best local players.”
Reality check
Bowden is paid to win football games, so he doesn’t take just any local player. He knows that Ohio State, Michigan State, Notre Dame and a resurgent Michigan will get their pick of the top of each class. His competition is Toledo, Bowling Green, Kent State and the rest of the MAC.
“Since [former Zips coach Jim] Dennison, he’s the first one who’s really understood the Akron area and the quality of the Akron football players,” Boarman said. “In the past, a lot of our kids got bypassed. I used to laugh at some of the past coaches.
“They were going after the kid that Ohio State was going after and realistically, they’re probably not going to get them. They [never] understood that there were certain kids of ours who could help them that maybe weren’t rated as an Ohio State kid.”
Bowden recognized that fact based on advice he received from Dennison, and it has paid off most recently at St. V-M. A couple of the school’s recent standouts — fullback Newman Williams and defensive end-linebacker Travonte Junius — are now playing. UA now registers with local athletes.
It’s about people
“It’s an option now,” Williams said after a recent practice. “Back before, you didn’t really hear about many people coming out of St. V going to UA. You either heard them going [Division II] or someplace big like Ohio State or some place. Over the years, it’s become an option. UA has really turned around and more and more kids are really considering coming here.”
He cites one simple reason — the coaching staff.
Brumbaugh, recruited by former coach Rob Ianello, said one of the reasons he stayed was the coaching staff.
“Their coaching staff is very friendly. They have respect for you,” he said. “They’re very positive in the way they coach. When they started coaching, you could tell how positive they were. They reinforced their positive beliefs onto us. I thought they did a good job with that.”
Brumbaugh said that wasn’t the case with some on the former staff. The reason Hudson’s Osborne flipped his commitment was because Alan Arrington, the Zips’ late offensive line coach, made him feel like part of a family during one conversation.
“Coach Tank [Arrington] really had a big impact on me,” Osborne said. “My family liked his charisma, his character. He made us laugh, so it made me feel at home. He really inspired me to want to come here and change the whole face of Akron.”
That makes enough of a difference that those who’ve passed on UA the first time take a second look down the line.
Take Canton McKinley standout Se’Von Pittman, who was highly recruited by a number of Power 5 schools before choosing Ohio State in 2012. Things did not work out for him there, and he looked to transfer. He still had options — including offers from a couple of SEC schools. He chose UA instead, primarily because of defensive line coach Todd Stroud.
“I’m glad I came here. I’m still like, man, amazed because these guys are awesome,” Pittman said. “They really are.”
If the coaching staff can maintain that level of enthusiasm, the football program will only continue to grow.
George M. Thomas can be reached at gmthomas@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Zips blog at www.ohio.com/zips. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GeorgeThomasABJ.