Barstool Sports’ Big Cat closing in on Akron’s honorary offensive coordinator gig
· Yahoo Sports
Dan “Big Cat” Katz might be scripting a college football drive next month for the Akron Zips.
The Barstool Sports personality and Pardon My Take co-host is one of 10 finalists for Akron’s “Offensive Coordinator of the Game” promotion. The sweepstakes lets one season ticket holder help create the first-series plays for the team’s home opener.
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Big Cat among Akron’s 10 finalists
Dan “Big Cat” Katz is one of 10 finalists who have a chance to call Akron’s first offensive series during the team’s home season opener.Akron picked the finalists through a random drawing. The finalist list included Katz as the second name drawn and also included EA College Football streamer James Bordeaux. Both sports figures have social media followings of over 120,000, with Katz reaching one million on Instagram.
That overlap between celebrity and coincidence did not sit well with everyone online. Akron’s Offensive Coordinator of the Game contest drew “rigged” claims after two creators, including Katz, reached the final group of contenders. Akron says the George W. Daverio School of Accountancy, rather than the athletic department, handled the drawing. Fans were not fully convinced, with one fan writing, “I want a refund. Rigged a– celebrity contest.”
Katz bought 18 tickets for a shot at the job
Katz has not shied away from the attention. He previously said it would be “so fun” to take part in the contest, which lets the winner script Akron’s opening drive against Robert Morris at InfoCision Stadium on Sept. 12. When a user on X suggested the promotion could look rigged if he won, Katz wrote, “Yes… I ended up buying 18 season tickets. I want to see shark wheel right in Robert Morris’s face.” Front Office Sports reported a lower number, saying Katz purchased eight Akron season tickets.
Katz said he is donating his unused tickets to a nonprofit called “Tickets For Kids,” adding, “I do want to get to a weekday game, but all unused are going to them.”
He is not the only famous face who bought in. Nationally syndicated radio host Bobby Bones and college basketball analyst Dan Dakich also purchased season tickets once the promotion started making the rounds online.
How the promotion came together
Akron Zips athletic director Andrew T. Goodrich reacts while visiting The B.F. Goodrich Museum in Canal Place.The concept came from athletic director Andrew T. Goodrich and senior deputy athletics director Matt Pottorff while the two were flying home after Akron’s men’s basketball team played Texas Tech in the NCAA Tournament. Goodrich asked Pottorff a simple question. “What happens if we could name a random fan the offensive coordinator of the game?” Pottorff hesitated, joking, “I’m pretty sure we’re going to get fired if we do that.”
They scaled the idea down to just the opening drive, then took it up the chain. Akron president R.J. Nemer thought it was “a really cool idea,” and head coach Joe Moorhead had to sign off too. Moorhead had questions at first. He told TMZ Sports, “I was busy, unironically enough, scripting some plays for fall camp practice, and they came to me with the idea of a promotion that would allow a raffle winner to be a part of our game-planning process.”
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Promotion has already paid off for Akron
Akron Zips head coach Joe Moorhead walks off the field before the game against the Kentucky Wildcats at Kroger Field.The response has gone well beyond what Akron expected. Officials told ESPN the department originally believed one million impressions would represent a successful campaign. Front Office Sports reported that Akron sold out its football suite inventory for the first time in program history. The school surged past its annual ticket sales goals with several weeks still to go before the season.
Akron picked the winner in a random drawing on Aug. 19. The winning fan will meet with Moorhead ahead of the season opener. Together, the fan will help script the plays for the Zips’ opening drive. Whether it is Katz or one of the nine other finalists, someone outside the football building is about to get a real say in how Akron opens its season.
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