UMass has Episode 4 of "Coffee with the UMass coaches" up. In it Coach Bell reports this Spring the Minutemen will have 67 scholarship players and 90 to 95 players in the program. Note that we are effectively missing one entire recruiting class in respect to other FBS teams as we are still 18 scholarships under the FBS limit. However, this is a big improvement over last year. I don't know how they even ran a scout team in 2019. I think UMass will be much more competitive this year and the 2021 recruiting class will move us close to where UMass fans want to be.
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Which leads us to the consideration if there will actually be a 2020 season. I'm a life-long reader of science fiction and military Sci-Fi in particular. I read so many apocalypse stories I bought a book on viruses. The SARS epidemic of 2003 was a corona virus. It jumped to the human population in a wet market in China that year. It's symptoms were very close to Covid 19. It caused 8000 infections and 800 deaths in 29 countries (note the 10% death rate). Fortunately, it burned itself out quickly; it started in February and was over by July and did not return.
Right now I don't think anyone knows if colleges will open in September. If they don't college football is unlikely in 2020. If they open late, then there will likely be some sort of season. How that will work will be the subject of another blog post.
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MassLive has a story on Jack Driscoll's journey from UMass to a mid-round NFL pick.
Cleveland.com thinks Driscoll could be a player the Browns would choose.
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The Worcester Telegram has Massachusetts prospects in the 2020 NFL draft.
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Blue & Gold.com has a post on how many contributed to Neal Brown's coaching philosophy (mentions UMass).
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