Akron fan took delightfully expected route as surprise 'offensive coordinator'

Akron made good on its promise to allow a fan to call the offensive plays on the opening drive of their home opener against Robert Morris, and he came out of the gate firing.

Longtime season-ticket holder and Akron alum Marty Whims II won the contest, for which only season-ticket and suite holders were eligible. Whims wasted no time dialing up some no-huddle for the Zips.

That aggressive strategy was working, and the offense matriculated the ball down to the Colonials’ 37-yard line. Unfortunately, that was when Whims’ coaching gig came to an end as Akron fumbled the ball, ending the possession and, therefore, his brief tenure as play-caller.

Akron let this fan be the offensive coordinator for a drive 😂

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Immediately ran the no-huddle 😭 pic.twitter.com/Lb76gnu088

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 12, 2026

A frustrated Whims said after the game that he believes the Zips would have scored if they could have held on to the football.

“We moved the ball, got some first downs. I thought we were going to get a touchdown if we didn’t fumble,” Whims said, per the Associated Press.

While Whims’ drive didn’t end in the end zone, Akron didn’t ultimately have too much trouble scoring against the FCS opponent, pulling away to a 45-10 win in the second half.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Akron fan took delightfully expected route as surprise ‘offensive coordinator’