RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Did you ever stand in your living room, yell at the TV after a busted play, and insist you could call plays better than the coach paid to call plays ?
Akron athletic director Andrew Goodrich is counting on that.
Akron plans to let one lucky fan find out: Are they actually any good at calling plays?
Just when you thought you’d seen it all, the Zips uncorked a promotion unlike any other. Akron will select a fan to call plays for a portion of one game this season.
You read that correctly.
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A Division I football team will appoint a fan as its “Offensive Coordinator” for a game that counts on the record.
“This is fun,” Goodrich told USA TODAY Sports. “College football is fun. We are having fun.”
Fun is one word for it.
Unique. Bold. Risky. Zany.
All of the above.
When Goodrich brought the idea to Akron coach Joe Moorhead this summer, another word popped into Moorhead’s mind. Well, two words.
“Utterly ridiculous,” Moorhead said. “That was my knee-jerk reaction.”
The more Moorhead learned about the plan, the more he warmed up to it. Now, he’s on board.
“Listen, it’s boom or bust,” Moorhead told me, “and I’ve kind of leaned into this thing.”
OK, let’s back up and establish what this is and what it isn’t.
Moorhead won’t surrender his headset and venture into the stands while a fan takes the reins of his program. He’s still firmly at the wheel, but it is true Akron will select one lucky season-ticket holder to help script and call plays — either from the sideline or the booth — for Akron’s opening drive against Robert Morris, an FCS opponent, on Sept. 12.
For one drive and one drive only, a fan will go from yelling at the play-caller to learning what it’s like to be the play-caller.
And if the first play of the opening drive is a pick-six? Well, that’s that.
“I will be saying my prayers that (the first drive) goes well,” Goodrich said. “It does have genuine risk involved.”
There’s also genuine reward.
The promotion went viral on social media. A program that typically operates in the shadows of the Cleveland Browns and Ohio State attracted some limelight.
Make history and be the lucky season ticket holder to design the opening drive of the home opener when @ZipsFB hosts Robert Morris‼️ 🗞️ https://t.co/G5aTUlVpzT #GoZips 🦘 #MakeTheClimb pic.twitter.com/Qzu1w0R29O
— Akron Football (@ZipsFB) August 4, 2026 Season-ticket sales surged . Akron sold out its stadium suites for “perhaps the first time ever,” Goodrich said. As of the middle of last week, 40% of Akron’s season-ticket sales came after the school announced the promotion on Aug. 4.
"This would probably be a bad idea for the AD of Alabama," Goodrich said, "but it’s a good idea for the AD at the University of Akron."
You might be wondering, how does someone come up with an idea like this? He heads thousands of feet into the air for some blue sky thinking.
How Akron came up with idea to let a fan call plays
Akron basketball sold out its ticket allotment for its first-round NCAA Tournament game against Texas Tech in March. The Zips lost, but the fan enthusiasm surrounding the event motivated Goodrich to question: How can Akron rekindle that energy during football season?
He started brainstorming with his staff on the flight home from Tampa, Florida, after that March Madness exit.
One early idea that emerged: What about a ceremonial offensive coordinator?
Akron doesn’t employ an offensive coordinator. Moorhead, a former offensive coordinator who previously coached Fordham and Mississippi State, calls the plays.
So, Akron could explore appointing an honorary offensive coordinator, sort of like teams have honorary captains for the coin toss.
That's too bland, Goodrich and his team decided. A purely ceremonial OC wouldn’t cause even a ripple of excitement.
Goodrich upped the ante: Could Akron let a fan call plays for a full game?
Terrible idea, his staff told him.
Fair enough. Allowing a fan to call plays for a full game would be beyond the pale.
Senior deputy AD Matt Pottorff suggested a compromise: Select a fan to call one play — the first play — of a game.
Not a bad idea, but it seemed “very, very, very safe,” Goodrich says, as he reflects on it now.
“If we’re going to do something,” Goodrich said, “we’ve got to do something pretty bold.”
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By the time they landed on that flight from Tampa, Goodrich and his team had settled on an idea: Select a fan to help script and call plays for one full drive.
Sufficiently bold, but not off the rails.
But, would Moorhead go for it?
Joe Moorhead gets on board
Goodrich sat on the idea for a while before he and Pottorff took it to Moorhead this summer.
And, well, that conversation — hey, coach, we want a fan to help you call plays — went about like you’d expect, at first.
“He had a very respectful amount of hesitation,” Goodrich said. “I think he thought this was crazy.”
They hashed out Moorhead’s concerns.
Bring them under your wing during the week , Goodrich suggested. Have a conversation. Talk. Script a plan .
The idea would generate eyeballs, ticket sales, and, yes, it would infuse revenue into a football program starving for it.
Moorhead agreed. He wouldn’t let this become a circus, or do this in a way that disrespects his team or its opponent, but he’d do it.
“When you get the answer you want, you get out of the room,” Goodrich said, recalling the moment Moorhead said yes. “I grabbed Matt (Pottorff) and said, ‘Get out of here, let’s go.’”
How will Akron select winning fan?
The promotion caught the attention of celebrities like ESPN’s Pat McAfee . Yes, a celebrity who buys...
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