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A collage shows Akron Zips football coach Joe Moorhead and Barstool Sports employee Dan "Big Cat" Katz
The Akron Zips announced the 10 finalists for its unique play-calling raffle on Wednesday, and the names, including multiple famous media personalities, are raising some questions over the validity of the whole thing.
Earlier this month, Akron introduced a first-of-its-kind raffle that would allow one season-ticket holder to call plays for the first drive of the team’s home opener against Robert Morris.
The creative idea quickly paid dividends, as the Zips set records for season-ticket sales, including a number of celebrities and content creators who wanted to get in on the action, despite the fact that it came with some guardrails.
Akron’s school of accounting handled the official draw in order to avoid any allegations of collusion. However, the results didn’t help their cause.
Akron just announced the 10* finalists for the first-drive offensive coordinator position.
They include @BarstoolBigCat and @bordeauxyoutube. Akron said the 10th finalist pulled out so it’s only 9 finalists.
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) August 19, 2026
Barstool Big Cat And YouTuber Bordeaux Among Finalists For Akron Play-Caller Duties
Originally, the school announced 10 finalists, with one opting to drop out of the running, bringing the number down to nine.
Among those nine finalists are Barstool Sports personality Dan “Big Cat’ Katz and YouTube college football content creator Bordeaux, both of whom have giant social media followings.
Unsurprisingly, that result immediately drew into question the validity of the drawing, given that more than 10,000 names were included.
“Thousands of people entered, and two of them just happen to be prominent college football personalities,” one person posted on X.
“Amazing, what are the odds that two influencers/media personalities are finalists? What a great, fair competition,” joked another.
Now, there is a catch. Entries into the raffle were given for each season ticket purchased, and Katz reportedly purchased 18 tickets, improving his chances. On top of that, he and Bordeaux are only finalists.
The final drawing will take place on Tuesday, Aug. 25. That means they have just a combined 22.2 percent chance of actually winning.
Still, if they do, you can imagine that a lot of the goodwill Akron garnered from the promotion will be flushed down the drain.