2019 Akron Zips football team


The 2019 Akron Zips football team represented the University of Akron during the 2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Zips were led by first-year head coach Tom Arth and played their home games at InfoCision Stadium in Akron, Ohio. They competed as members of the East Division of the Mid-American Conference.
The 2019 Zips lost every single game on their schedule, finishing with an 0–12 overall record and an 0–8 record in MAC play. They finished in last place in the East Division. CBS Sports rated Akron 130th in their ranking of all 130 FBS teams. The Zips were the only Division I FBS team to go winless in the 2019 season.

Preseason

Coaching changes

Following the firing of seven-year head coach Terry Bowden at the end of the 2018 season, Akron announced the hiring of Tom Arth on December 14, 2018. Arth had spent the previous two seasons as the head coach at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, leading them to records of 3–8 and 6–5 in 2017 and 2018, respectively. Before Chattanooga, he was the head coach at John Carroll University, where he led the team to an upset victory over No. 1 Mount Union to claim an Ohio Athletic Conference title in 2016 and was named D3football.com Coach of the Year.
Tom Arth announced the members of his coaching staff in January and March 2019. Among them were defensive coordinator Matt Feeney and offensive coordinator Tommy Zagorski, who both served in the same roles on Arth's staff at Chattanooga.

MAC media poll

The MAC released their preseason media poll on July 23, 2019, with the Zips predicted to finish in fifth place in the East Division.
East Division

Schedule

Akron's non-conference slate will consist of home games against UAB of Conference USA and Troy of the Sun Belt Conference, and road games against Illinois of the Big Ten Conference and UMass, a football independent.
In Mid-American Conference play, the Zips will play home games against Kent State, Buffalo, Eastern Michigan, and Ohio; and road games against Central Michigan, Northern Illinois, Bowling Green, and Miami. They will not play games against West Division members Ball State, Toledo, or Western Michigan as part of the regular season.
Source:

Personnel

Coaching staff

at Illinois

UAB

at Central Michigan

Troy

at UMass

Kent State

Buffalo

at Northern Illinois

at Bowling Green

Eastern Michigan

at Miami (OH)

Ohio