Moorhead to return to Akron as head coach
Oregon offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead will be the University of Akron's next football coach, according to multiple reports.
The announcement is expected to come sometime after Friday's Pac-12 conference championship game between the Ducks and Utah.
Moorhead would replace Tom Arth, who was fired Nov. 4 after compiling a 3-24 record.
Moorhead, 48, has steadily ascended the college coaching ranks, and he has ties to UA. The Pittsburgh native served as quarterbacks coach (2004-06) and offensive coordinator (2006-08) for the Zips under former coach J.D. Brookhart. He was assistant head coach, pass-game and recruiting coordinator in 2005 for the only Zips team to win a Mid-american Conference championship.
His other stops include Connecticut, Fordham (his alma mater) and Penn State, where in 2016-17 he transformed the Nittany Lions offense and was selected Sports Illustrated's and Yahoo's No. 1 rising college football assistant.
He served as head coach at Mississippi State from 2018-19 and left with a 14-12 record before landing with Oregon last season.
Moorhead would become the latest tasked with
turning around the moribund UA football program, which has not hurt for facilities in recent years but has been unable to use them to improve its fortunes.
On paper, Moorhead looks to have the ability to change that. He checks the boxes, having been successful wherever he's gone, but what sticks out is a winning record at an SEC school that plays perennial powerhouses Alabama and Georgia.
What may be most important, however, is Moorhead's offensive pedigree.
If there was one side of the ball that started to progress last season for the Zips, it was the offense. That came after the team settled on Zach Gibson as its starting quarterback. Gibson, though, entered the NCAA transfer portal earlier this week.