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MaxPreps has some stats. 42 UT in seven games.
First Team Liberty White Division All-Conference in 2020.
Besides UMass, Louis has an offer from Temple. The Minutemen are light on linebackers and Louis could find a lot of playing time in Amherst.
The big news is Boston College will play at UMass for the first time since 1982. I was at the 1982 game. The game was a near sellout with over 16,000 fans attending. The game was close for three quarters with UMass losing 34-21. Everyone was predicting a BC blowout as UMass was 3-5 going into the contest. The Minutemen had been crushed 42-6 at BU two weeks earlier.
After 1982 BC announced they were dropping UMass from their yearly schedule and the two teams would not play again until the 2000's.
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Sports Illustrated looks at BC's 2021 schedule.
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The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette looks at Pitt's 2021 season.
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Chop Chat, a Florida State blog has some thoughts on FSU's 2021 season.
College Football looks at the best case-worse case outcomes for the Seminoles in 2021 and thinks FSU beats UMass either way.
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In 2021 UMass will play:
9/4 - @ Pittsburgh
9/11 - vs Boston College
9/18 - vs Eastern Michigan
9/25 - @ Coastal Carolina
10/2 - vs Toledo
10/9 - vs Connecticut
10/15 - BYE WEEK
10/23 - @ Florida State
10/30 - @ Liberty
11/6 - vs Rhode Island
11/13 - vs Maine
11/20 - @ Army
11/27 - @ New Mexico State
This is a tough schedule for the Minutemen. UMass plays three Power Five teams. In addition, many predictions have Coastal Carolina and Liberty in the preseason Top-25.
UMass gets UConn and Eastern Michigan at McGuirk. The Minutemen should beat the two FCS schools. A road win over New Mexico State could give UMass a 3-1 record over the last four games and some moral-boosting for the battered egos of Minutemen fans.
Best case 5-7 with wins over Eastern Michigan, UConn, Rhode Island, Maine and New Mexico state.
Worst case 2-9 as UMass loses to Maine and squeaks by New Mexico State.
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I blogged about Parish back on January 18th.
Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a post on Parish's transfer to the Minutemen.
Parish is the sixth transfer to sign with the Minutemen in the 2021 class (three offense and three defense).
Parish has the potential to step in and be the starting LT replacing Larnel Coleman who elected to declare for the NFL draft.
2021 is an unusual class as players can transfer without sitting out a year and are also immediately eligible. Coach Bell apparently took the opportunity to add some experience to a young Minutemen roster and possibly do some upgrades. Five of the six transfers are from Power Five schools.
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Had 13 INT's 29 UT's and 3 TFL in 2019.
This short article from October of 2019 features Huskey.
UMass is the first offer for Huskey. He could find a lot of playing time early in Amherst.
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Hudl.com has junior highlights.
This article covers Moore's recent offer from Virginia Tech.
UMass was the first offer for Moore. He also has a Power Five offer from the Hokies.
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Hudl.com has video highlights.
This article from August of 2020 features Oben.
Besides UMass, Oben has northeast offers from Syracuse and Temple.
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Hudl.com has junior highlights.
Slade gets a mention in this article from October 2020.
Besides UMass, Slade has FBS offers from Liberty, Missouri, Toledo and Tulane. The Minutemen are light on running backs and Slade could find lots of playing available in Amherst.
As I mentioned in my previous post Huggins is an alum of New Jersey power St. Peter's Prep.
According to 247Sports he's already offered to two St. Peters Prep prospects for the 2022 season. I'll be doing a post on them shortly.
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The Jacksonville Jaguars have hired former UMass player and coach Joe Cullen as defensive coordinator.
Cullen lettered for the Minutemen in 1986,'87,'88 and was captain in 1989. Cullen was All-Yankee Conference for three years. He was UMass DL coach in 1991 under Jimmie Reid.
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Former Buffalo graduate assistant Savon Huggins has joined UMass as running backs coach.
This article from Scarlet Nation features Huggins and his hiring by the Minutemen.
Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" also has a post on Savon Huggins and A. T. Turner joining the Minutemen staff.
This should be a good hire for UMass. Huggins is from New Jersey playing at powerhouse St. Peters Prep. He should have good connections to an area the Minutemen want to recruit.
Fixing the UMass run game needs to be a top priority for 2021. The Minutemen were next to last in FBS football in yards/carry in 2020.
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Meanwhile, the fecal particulate hit the rotary oscillator in Tennessee. The Vols and the Minutemen inhabit different football universes, but some of the Tennessee players hitting the transfer rolls could draw interest in Amherst.
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IN A PANDEMIC YEAR, IT'S REASSURING THE UNIVERSITY IS STILL FUNCTIONING.
A UMass biologist is helping analyze a fossilized dinosaur butthole.
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The Pro Football Writers of America have named former UMass CB Isaiah Rogers to the NFL All-Rookie Team.
Congrats to Rogers! Hope he has a great career with the Colts.
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Everyone probably knows former UMass coach Don Brown has been hired as defensive coordinator for the University of Arizona.
Thanks to the blog reader who brought to my attention that former UMass defensive coordinator Keith Dudzinski has joined Brown in Arizona.
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Decommitted from Arizona back in October.
Parrish has 10 offers including Arizona, Hawaii, Oregon State, Liberty and more.
Mrs Blog and I have actually walked around the campus of Snow College. At one time we were looking at property in nearby St. George. UMass offers a quality East coast education and a chance to play early and often in rural western Mass.
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This article covers Parish's transfer recruiting.
Parish's 2017 recruiting profile from 247Sports.
Parish had four FBS offers out of HS. He should have two years of eligibility and could be fighting for a starting job right away in Amherst.
UMass added two Power Five transfers with QB Tyler Lytle (Colorado) and DB Bryce Watts (North Carolina) joining the Minutemen.
This article from February of 2020 features Lytle.
This article covers his entering the transfer portal.
Lytle had 26 offers coming out of HS. He had Power Five offers from Colorado, Indiana, Arizona State, Baylor, BC, Cal, Illinois, Miami, Pitt, Purdue and Vanderbilt.
With two years of eligibility, Lytle can provide some breathing room to develop or recruit QB's already on or to the roster. He should be in the mix to start immediately.
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Bryce Watts is a 6-1 175 pound DB from North Carolina.
Before North Carolina, Watts played two seasons for Virginia Tech. Watts Hokies bio. (with some stats)
This article covers his decision to leave Virginia Tech.
Watts had 10 offers in HS including northeast Power Five teams Rutgers, Virginia Tech, BC, Pitt and Syracuse.
Watts is the third transfer on the defensive side of the ball. He should help continue the resurgence of the Minutemen defense.
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I was hoping for a hire from FBS and from a Power Five team. The Minutemen have one of the better performance centers in the Group-of Five and UMass needs all the leverage we can get for recruiting and on the field performance.
Coach Turner recently authored an article on the "Importance of a disciplined Team"
The assistant strength and conditioning coach for football is Joel Reinhart who was hired in 2019.
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Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a post on coaching changes in Amherst.
I've already done a blog post on Alex Miller joining the Minutemen as OL coach and run game coordinator.
UMass was #126 (out of 127) in rushing offense with 67.2 yards/game in 2020. A good running game usually means an effective offense and also makes a quarterback look good. When the opposing defense knows you can't run the ball, it makes defending the pass a lot easier. When a quarterback is usually facing third-and-long, it doesn't do anything for his stats either.
The Minutemen did not get good run blocking in 2020. In addition, even Group-of-Five teams have four or five scholarship running backs. UMass currently has two and a transfer coming in. The Minutemen were dead last (#127) in total offense this year. We need to fix the run game to improve in 2021.
Mike also reports UMass strength and conditioning coach Matt Shadeed has left to join the South Alabama staff.
In Neolithic times (say back in the 1970's or earlier) strength and conditioning was not a factor at most teams. Legendary coaches like Vince Lombardi discouraged weight training as it was supposed to make people slow and nonathletic. Then came Nebraska...
For about four or five years until everyone caught up, the Huskers just blew away everyone physically.
The strength coach probably spends more time with the players than any other coach. The strength and conditioning coach is an important hire in 21st century football.
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Rutgers bio here. Adams averaged 4.54 yards/carry for the Scarlet Knights.
This article features one of Adams' games for Rutgers.
Adams had eleven offers coming out of HS including Power Five offers from Iowa and Rutgers. With the Minutemen only having two recruited RB's (Rutgers has eight) Adams could be in the mix early in Amherst.
In addition Dan Carrel has been promoted from defensive analyst to linebackers coach.
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Financial guarantees might run lower during the aftereffects of COVID. It's probably going to take a number of years for attendance to return to pre-2020 levels.
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How former UMass TE Adam Breneman came to be hired as TE coach at Arizona State.
Breneman's Sun Devils bio (still with his old title).
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Mike Traini has a post about New York RB Xavier Lee decommitting from UMass.
This leaves an already thin position at UMass really undermanned. The Minutemen only have two recruited RB's on the roster: Ellis Merriweather and Jared Cole.
WR Cam Roberson has functioned at the lead RB in a number of games.
Roberson is a senior and Merriweather is a junior.
UMass could try to add a JUCO or a transfer. Because of COVID and the new transfer rule there are an unprecedented number of transfers available.
The run game was probably the weakest section of the Minutemen team in 2020. Fixing that should be a top priority for the coaching staff.
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He also reports five Minutemen made Phil Steele's All-Independent team.
Samuel Emilus made First team as a punt returner. Emilus led UMass in receiving with 17 catches for 168 yards and had 3 punt returns for 46 yards.
Larnel Coleman was second team OL. Coleman will forgo his final year of eligibility and take part in the College Gridiron Showcase. Note: also taking part is former UMass OL Raquan Thomas-Ishman, who spent his last year at Buffalo.
2nd team were UMass LB Cole McCubery who led UMass with with 21 UT 12 AT 33 TT 1.5 TFL and 1 SACK. Also selected was DT Avien Peah who had 6 UT 13 AT 6 TFL (Led the team in TFL) and 1 SACK. Peah has said he will return for 2021 and could be a force if he can stay healthy.
Also 2nd team was CB Josh Wallace with 13 UT (tied for tops on the defense for UT's). Wallace also led the Minutemen with 5 BKUP's
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Ah, no UMass football news in the Media. There is no recruiting prospects that I have not covered. There have been no media stories relating to Minutemen football for about three weeks.
The NCAA has decreed it's Nth recruiting quiet period.
I'm thinking I don't have enough material for daily updates anymore.
So, I'll be doing future Blog updates when there is something to link to. Right now it looks like updates will be irregular for the foreseeable future.
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Hudl.com has video highlights.
Took part in a prospect clinic at AIC in September.
TE and DE are two positions the Minutemen need help. Fraser could be in the mix to earn a scholarship in Amherst.
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Hudl.com has video highlights.
Helped run a 45.16 4 X 100 relay in 2019.
UMass is the first offer for Foxworth. Drawing interest from Rutgers and Syracuse. WR is a position where the Minutemen need help. There will be a lot of playing time available in Amherst.
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This article features Ayomanor's offer from West Virginia.
This article from September features Ayomanor.
Ayomanor has FBS offers from UMass and the Mountaineers. He also has three Ivy offers. WR is a wide open position in Amherst. He could play early and often for the Minutemen.
The Berkshire Eagle has a post on Liam Coen's coaching journey as he is slated to become OC at Kentucky.
Kentucky won the recent Taxslayers Orange Bowl over #25 North Carolina State.
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The Eagle also considers the September 4th 2021 reunion between Mark Whipple and UMass.
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The current 2021 Minutemen schedule:
09/04 - at Pitt
09/11 - Boston College
09/18 - Eastern Michigan
09/25 - at Coastal Carolina
10/02 - Toledo
10/09 - UConn
10/23 - at Florida State
10/30 - at Liberty
11/06 - Rhode Island
11/13 - Maine
11/20 - at Army
11/27 - at New Mexico State
This is a difficult schedule for the rebuilding Minutemen. Three Power Five schools: Pitt, BC and Florida State. Coastal Carolina and Liberty are two of the best teams in the Group-of-Five. The Chants went 11-1 and the Flames went 10-1. Both were ranked in the Top-25 in 2020.
UMass should have chances to win with Eastern Michigan (2-4) plus UConn, Rhode Island, Maine and New Mexico State. The always tough Toledo Rockets went 4-2 in a truncated MAC schedule.
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The CAA's format for the 2021 spring season.
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Co-offensive line coach Jim Jackson was let go after the first game of the 2020 season. Current offensive line coach Micah James is going to Utah State.
Miller was a four-year starter for the Minutemen. He lettered in 2003, 04, 05 and 06. Miller was first-team All-CAA in 2005 and 2006. He was first-team All-America in 2006. UMass went 8-0 in the CAA that year and advanced to the FCS Semi-Finals.
The Minutemen run game certainly needs work. UMass rushed 117 times for 269 yards, which is a 2.3 yards/carry. The Minutemen had 0 rushing TD's in 2020 which has to be an all-time negative record.
Miller is very familiar with life in Amherst. Hopefully, he'll breath some life into the UMass rushing game.
Hurray! We made it through 2020! Best wishes to all for a better, healthier and happier 2021.
