Akron Coach Joe Moorhead Explains Why They're Letting A Fan Call Plays!

The University of Akron is running an unheard-of promotion -- they're going to allow one special season ticket holder a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to call plays in a real game -- and head coach Joe Moorhead is explaining how it'll all go down!

TMZ Sports talked to Moorhead on Monday, who said the idea -- which rocked social media -- came straight from the athletic department ... who knocked on his door a few days ago with the wild proposal.

“I was busy, unironically enough, scripting some plays for fall camp practice and came to me with the idea of a promotion that would allow a raffle winner to be a part of our game planning process," Moorhead told us.

“And, you know, obviously I was a bit hesitant and skeptical, not having heard this before, but the more we talked about it, you know, we decided to give it a go.”

The lucky season ticket holder will help call the plays on the Zips’ opening drive of the season opener.

Contrary to what the internet believes, it’s a collaborative process with the coaching staff rather than Madden in real life ... but it's still an unheard-of step for a Division I program.

Moorhead said the reaction has been huge.

“I think the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive," coach told us.

"Not surprisingly, I’m sure there’s a certain faction of social media that’s going to troll and turn it into something negative. But at the end of the day, when you get 15 million views on one Twitter post on your social media account in an age where student-athletes and fans and the general college football public look to for their content, you know, they say any publicity is good publicity, and this has been overwhelmingly positive.”

The lucky fan will have a few weeks to gameplan ... they'll call plays September 12 vs. Robert Morris, Akron's first home game.