UMass Football News--December 24th, 2025

 

UMass signs with UpNext, which is a transfer portal advisory service. I was actually wondering if such a service existed. If it does, then I was thinking it would make sense for the Minutemen to get some help in evaluating transfer talent. Harasymiak and staff hit home runs with Timmy Hinspeter, Jovoni Borbon, Keegan Andrews and Derek Morris, but the result at quarterback and running backs was not as good.

I think the high school recruiting is going well, but UMass definitely needs some transfer portal help in 2026. 

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Toledo and Louisville hooked up in a highly entertaining Boca Raton Bowl yesterday. 

The Rockets were playing without their HC and starting QB.

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Ohio won it's seventh straight bowl game against Nevada Las Vegas in the Frisco Bowl. 

The MAC is currently 2-1 in bowl games. 

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UMass Football Recruiting 2026--David Chiavegato signs with UMass

 David Chiavegato, a 5-11 190 pound Athlete from Xaverlan Brothers HS and Westwood, MA signed with the Minutemen on LOI day.

247Sports page here. 

Hudl.com has senior highlights. 

The Minuteman Command did a post on Chiavegato back in May. 

MaxPreps has stats. 

Chiavegato had offers from Army, Navy, Air Force and Coastal Carolina. He can play both ways, but projects as a DB in college. The Minutemen desperately need more  talent in the defensive backfield and Chiavegato should make a difference early.

UMass Football Recruiting 2026--Donovon Murphy signs with UMass

 Donovan Murphy, a 6-4 230 pound Edge from Bishop McNamara HS in District Heights, MD signed with UMass on LOI day.

247Sports page here. 

The Minuteman Command did a post on Murphy back in June. 

Hudl.com has senior highlights. 

Top-50 player in Maryland by 247Sports, On3 and Rivals. 

The UMass defense needs a pass rush and edge contain badly. Murphy should be in the DL mix early in his career with the Minutemen. 

UMass Football News--December 20th, 2025

 If you missed it, Western Michigan won the Myrtle Beach Bowl over Kennesaw State 41-6.  Of all the bowls, only the Myrtle Beach Bowl matched two conference champions. The Broncos got the MAC off to a strong start in the bowl season with a dominate win over the Owls.

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Keegan Andrews was named (so far) to two All-America teams.

 

 Lost in all the losing was the fact that Andrews and Derek Morris were, by far, the best kicking combo in our FBS era. Morris could have been even more of a weapon with a better offense. He went 10-16 for the year, but 2 of his misses were from 40+ yards and 3 were from 50+

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Long snapper Jovoni Borbon was also a PFF All-American.

 Long snapping is often overlooked, but it makes a big difference to the kicker and punter. Borbon was a big part of the most effective kicking game in decades..

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UMass Football Recruiting 2026--Robert Ekins signs with UMass

 Robert Ekins, a 6-2 260 pound Edge from Don Bosco Prep and Ramsey, NJ signed with UMass on LOI day.

247Sports page here. 

I blogged about Ekins almost a year ago. Wow, that went fast..

Hudl.com has senior season highlights. 

MaxPreps has stats. 

First Team All-Defense United Red Division in 2025. 

First Team All-Bergen County defense in 2025. 

Ekins also had an offer from Army. Ekins has a strong motor and UMass is in dire need of DL talent. I look forward to seeing him play for the Minutemen. 

UMass Football Recruiting 2026--Matthew Tybor signs with UMass

 Matthew Tybor, a 6-4 240 pound TE from Lawrence Academy and Groton, MA signed with the Minutemen on LOI day.

247Sports page here. 

I blogged about Tybor back in March. 

Hudl.com has senior video highlights. 

MaxPreps has stats. 

Tybor chose UMass over FBS offers from Army and Liberty. In addition he had eight offers from FCS schools. The Minuteman TE room is one of the better groups on the roster. Tybor is a big in-state recruit and should be a force in future years. 

UMass Football News--December 17th, 2025

 Taking a break from recruiting for a day.

If you've not heard the December 11th Planting the Flag podcast, it's well worth your time. The interview with coach Harasymiak is very interesting. He gives some details of recruiting and  roster structure as he goes into his second season. Harasymiak said he want two dual-threat QB's. I totally agree. quarterback has been a long time deficiency in the FBS era. Except for Andrew Ford and Blake Fronapfel in the Whipple era, we have not had FBS-level QB's. We do not have (yet) the offensive infrastructure for a pocket passer, i.e. the O-line and wide receivers. He also says he wants to build from the inside out. Most sports gurus believe the big difference between FBS and FCS is offensive and defensive line talent.

I've said several times before in our first stint with the MAC, in four years, we had one third string All-MAC offensive lineman. That record still stands as we had none in 2025.

One more first down (when we needed it) would have won the Buffalo and Bryant games. Improving the offensive line production should be a major focus in 2026.

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Hustle Belt has one story line for each MAC 2025 bowl game.

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Three MAC defensive players made the AP All-America team.

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