The Akron Zips football team has not had an overwhelming amount of success since it joined the FBS in 1987, winning just one MAC Championship and one bowl game in 36 seasons. Since then, the Zips have had just seven winning seasons total. These unfortunate statistics may lead us to forget about the school’s 19th century football success that included one of the most important seasons in all of college football history.
130 years ago Akron — then Buchtel College — struck gold when it hired John Heisman as its second head coach. The hire meant the first winning season in team history as Heisman used his football prowess to power the 1893 squad to five wins in a seven-game season.