The Mid-American Conference is great. It may not produce football national championship teams, but it is consistently produces some of the most fun football you will watch all season.
There is more to the conference than just fun games, though, and in light of Central Michigan left tackle Eric Fisher being selected first overall in the 2013 NFL Draft, let's take a look at the best moments in MAC history (see link).

10 of the greatest moments in MAC football history

Kent State completed its final football practice of the spring on Friday morning at Dix Stadium with a workout geared towards preparing the Golden Flashes for their individual work in the summer.

The spring football season officially ends on Saturday when the Golden Flashes hit the field for their annual spring game at 6 p.m. (see link).

Next up, Saturday's Spring Game

There's a chance that no Big Ten Conference player will be drafted in the first round. There's a chance the first player drafted will be from the Mid-American Conference (see link).




MAC will make draft history Thursday

"When we get the ball on the three-yard line, we are going to[/B] pound it in. That's how you do it, and we don't have that mentality right now." -- Coach Paul Haynes

As everyone knows football is a game of inches[/I] and you damn well better be able to get a first down when you need it during a potentially game winning drive. So tell me Flashes, what would you sacrifice for your team in order to gain that inch?

This post was edited on 4/23 12:57 PM by nashvillegoldenflash

In this video, Coach Haynes discusses what he saw in Saturday's Jersey Scrimmage and shares his thoughts on one of Kent State's biggest fans (see link).

Kent State Football Jersey Scrimmage 4/20/13

Kent State will conclude its spring football season with the annual Spring Game at Dix Stadium on Saturday. The game will feature the Golden Flashes' first team offense and defense battling the rest of the roster (see link).


Annual Spring Game on Saturday

Kent State's defense retained the right to continue wearing blue "home" jerseys in practice with a 50-24 victory over the Golden Flashes' offense during Saturday morning's Jersey Scrimmage at Dix Stadium (see link).


Defense Retains Blue Jerseys and Bragging Rights

By Stephanie Storm
Beacon Journal sports writer


KENT: Kent State football coach Paul Haynes doesn't want to talk about a starting quarterback just yet.
It's still spring practice, and that's why Haynes has not made his quarterback candidates available to the media.
Haynes isn't ready to talk about the Golden Flashes' quarterback options for the 2013 season following the graduation of four-year starter Spencer Keith, but that doesn't make it less of a hot topic.
Although Haynes said he doesn't plan on naming a starter until a week or so before the Flashes host Liberty in the season opener Aug. 29, here's a look at the players in the mix (see link).

Haynes won’t name starting quarterback until Aug.

By Stephanie Storm
Beacon Journal sports writer

KENT: It was just the second time Dri Archer had talked to his new coach, but he already had an idea he wanted to share about expanding his role.


Kent State's new football coach, Paul Haynes, was already well aware of Archer's role during the Golden Flashes' 11-win 2012 season as triple-threat - kick returner, running back and receiver. But this winter, Archer was asking to do more.
"Returning punts is something I'm very comfortable with, so it would just be another role for me this season," Archer said.
Soon, Archer had Haynes talking excitedly about expanding the senior do-it-all's presence even more.
Now that spring practice is here, how is Archer managing to be in four places at once? (see link)

Dri Archer looks to expand role to returning punts

Here is the latest video on spring football practice (see link).

Kent State Spring Football

By Stephanie Storm Published: April 15, 2013



Kent State's special teams experienced resurgence under former coach Darrell Hazell, a trend new coach Paul Haynes looks to continue.



"How many games have you watched where special teams changes the game?" Haynes said. "That's why it's so important, and we're putting a huge emphasis on it."



So much so, Haynes took a page out of former boss Jim Tressel's coaching book, naming each special team's units after military units, just to have the pride in each unit.



Thus, KSU's punt team is referred to as the SEALs, the punt return unit is the Rangers, the kickoff is called RECON and the kickoff return team is Delta (see link).


Spring Football Report

Kent State's football players received their Mid-American Conference East Division championship rings in a surprise ceremony following Saturday's spring kick scrimmage.

As expected, the sight of the first rings distributed to a Golden Flashes team since 1972 created some excitement in the Dix Stadium team room (see link).



http://www.kentstatesports.com/sports/fball/2013-14/releases/Kick_Scrimmage

Kent State spent most of the second half of Friday's spring practice at Dix Stadium working live in a scrimmage setting that included some third-down and red-zone work.

The more the spring season goes on, the more time the Golden Flashes will spend working live in a full-team setting. That's the way head coach Paul Haynes likes it (see link).

Spring practice

If the 2013 college football season started today, sophomore Anthony Melchiori would be the first Kent State specialist to hold the rare dual role of punter and placekicker since Anthony DeLeone handled both duties as a senior in 1984 (see link).

Melchiori Working on Expanded Role

The first full-pad practice of Kent State's spring season featured a spirited Oklahoma Drill on Monday morning at Dix Stadium.

The Oklahoma Drill is a head-to-head battle between two players that starts with the sound of a whistle and typically doesn't end until one player is on the ground.

Every school has its own variation of the drill that was developed first at the University of Oklahoma, and most like to rename it..

Former Kent State coach Darrell Hazell used to call it the Steeler Drill in part because the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers were known for holding some vicious Oklahoma's featuring former Golden Flashes' star James Harrison during training camp.

First-year Kent State coach Paul Haynes calls it the Board Drill, "but it's the same thing," he said.

Monday's drill infused some needed energy into the Golden Flashes' spring (see link).


Oklahoma Drill, or Board Drill

While most of Kent State's football players were hard at work on the playing field at Dix Stadium during Friday third practice of the spring, a small group of Golden Flashes spent the evening toiling in a very different way in the stadium's northeast corner.

Wide receiver Tyshon Goode, safety Calvin Tiggle, offensive lineman Terrell Johnson and a handful of other injured Flashes spent most of the session swinging sledge hammers, pulling sleds, and throwing jabs in the old 1-2-3 boxing drill (see link).

Spring Practice No. 3

The graduation of longtime starters at quarterback and along the offensive line will create the biggest question marks for Kent State heading into the 2013 college football season.

The answers to those questions were still a long way off for the Golden Flashes as they opened spring practice this week, but first-year head coach Paul Haynes doesn't appear to be overly concerned (see link).

Spring Practice No. 2

From KentStateSports.com:

The first day of spring practice saw some other familiar faces working out in new roles. Most noticeable was Dri Archer, who spent time working on fielding punts. Archer is one of the most electrifying players in the Mid-American Conference as a running back, wide receiver and kick returner, but he has seen very little time as a punt returner during his time in Kent.

That will change in Archer's senior season.

"If teams are going to stop kicking off to me, I have to find another way to get the ball," said Archer, who was an All-American kick returner last season when he averaged 36.9 yards per return with three touchdowns. "It's going to be harder for teams to punt away from me. I should get some more returns back there."

During Archer's senior meeting with Haynes, he asked the coach for the chance to get on the field during punts.

"He wanted to do it, and when you have a kid who wants to do it and has a passion for it, then it is all good," said Haynes. "It gives us another facet in the game where he can make a play. The game is field position, so now teams have to decide if they want to punt to him, punt away from him, or punt the ball out of bounds … I'm excited that he wants to do it."

Tuesday was the first of 14 practices culminating in the annual Spring Game on April 27 at 6 p.m. at Dix Stadium.

Hands-On Day for Haynes in Spring Practice Opener

Akron: April 2, Spring game April 27
Ball State: March 26, Spring game April 20
Bowling Green: March 13, Spring game April 12
Buffalo: March 12, Spring game April 20
Central Michigan: TBD, Spring game April 13
Eastern Michigan: March 12, Spring game TBD
Kent State: April 2, Spring game April 27
Massachusetts: TBD, Spring game TBD
Miami (OH): March 25, Spring game April 26
Northern Illinois: March 20, Spring game April 13
Ohio: March 13, Spring game April 13
Toledo: March 14, Spring game April 12
Western Michigan: March 19, Spring game April 20

MAC spring practice schedules

MAC rival Miami calls itself the Cradle of Coaches, but Kent State has a roster that is second to none. College Football Hall of Famer Don James, College Football Hall of Famer Lou Holtz, four-time national champion Nick Saban, 2000 National Champion Bob Stoops, Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel, Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers, New York Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell, Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Dean Pees (who just so happen to be the last three Super Bowl champions) all either played or coached at Kent State.
And none of them produced a season better than 2012.
The Golden Flashes set a school record with 11 wins and claimed the MAC East title in the process. With Darrell Hazell gone for Purdue, Paul Haynes steps in to lead the charge.
"(This program) was built on commitment, it was built on sacrifice. That's a strong foundation. We will continue to build on that foundation," Haynes said.

Here is another great video by Kent State Football TV (see link).ent State Football TV



KENT STATE FOOTBALL TEAM ON THE RISE

this is included in Akron's football schedule?

December 6 Marathon MAC Championship Detroit, Mich. Ford Field (see link)

Akron 2013 Football Schedule

After eight years with the Browns, the only NFL team he's ever known, return specialist Josh Cribbs is on his way to Arizona. As the news became official, Cribbs posted this inspirational collage to his Instagram account, to thank Cleveland fans for their support.
It's been a blessing to be in Cleveland, wishing the best to the city & the Team. If I could stay I would...[/QUOTE]


Josh Cribbs Bid Browns Fans A Heartwarming Goodbye

Kent State returns star power in Dri Archer, Trayion Durham and Roosevelt Nix. But turnover in both the coaching staff and on the field should ensure a slow start for the Golden Flashes in 2013. Schedule, roster, projections and more below (see link).

2013 Kent State football's 10 things to know

Here is the 2013 MAC helmet schedule for all 13 teams (see link).

2013 MAC helmet schedule