Was a 247Sports two-star recruit.
This article discusses his HS recruiting.
Polgar was an academic All-MAC and started 11 games for the Bulls. He would be a good fit in Amherst.
The UMass assistant coaches are completed with the addition of Ben Albert.
Albert was most recently co-defensive coordinator and DL coach for Duke. His Duke bio.
Albert coached at Boston College and with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Albert was a four-year letter winner at UMass 1991, '92,'93 and was captain in 1994. He was first team All Yankee conference in '94. He worked with Coach Brown at BC and should be a valuable addition to the UMass staff.
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The Berkshire Eagle reports Coach Brown's staff is taking shape.
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Pitt QB Kenny Pickett is skipping today's Peach Bowl game against Michigan State.
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UMASS FOOTBALL NEEDS ONE OF THESE.
A t-shirt cannon that can shoot a t-shirt out of the stadium.
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This article from 2020 talks about his recruiting and his decision to commit to FIU.
Bryant had five INT's in his senior season as well as 1,000+ yards as an athlete on offense. He could be a steal for UMass and, in addition, since the Minutemen need help everywhere, he could play early and often in Amherst.
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Hollensteiner's Georgetown bio here.
YouTube has his video highlights.
Hollensteiner has an offer from Utah State plus multiple MAC teams. There should be a lot of playing time available in Amherst.
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Johnson gets a mention in this article.
Johnson would add some veteran experience to Coach Miller's offensive line. Johnson should be in line to compete for a starting position in Amherst.
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Was on the Buchanan Award watch list and twice Ivy defensive-player-of-the-week.
Mackie could see a lot of playing time in Amherst with Coach Brown's attacking defense.
Merry Christmas to all UMass fans, players and coaches. May this year bring us better football.
I'm amazed at Minutemen football fans. You people are hardcore. We really deserve something other than coal in our stockings.
I'm hoping Santa brings us a defense and maybe a Power Five dual-threat QB. Stay merry and bright and we'll see what happens in '22.
Best wishes from me and Mrs. Blog!
The UMass athletic dept has announced three assistant coaches have joined Coach Brown's staff.
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Hog Sports has a post on Caratan's entering the transfer portal.
Caratan played for new UMass coach Jeff Moore at St. Thomas More in Ct.
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Bohnenberger's Colgate bio here.
Originally from Mashpee MA, Bohnenberger will have two years of eligibility for the Minutemen. He chose UMass over offers from UNH and Buffalo.
This article from 2019 mentions Lua.
UMass need defensive help everywhere. Lua should be in the mix for 2022.
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De-committed from BC on 12/15/2021.
Hood has eleven offers, mostly from Power Five schools. UMass and Liberty have also offered. Hood would have an opportunity to play early and often in Amherst
Coach Brown has hired Steve Casula as offensive coordinator and QB coach.
Maize & Brew has a post on Michigan offensive analyst Steve Casula joining the Minutemen.
MLive also has a report on Casula being named offensive coordinator in Amherst.
Casula was OC plus TE's and RB's coach for Ferris State in their run to the National Championship. His Ferris State bio.
MLive has a post on his being hired at Michigan.
This looks like a good hire for the Minutemen. He does need more offensive weapons than just running Ellis Merriweather between the tackles to be successful.
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Coastal Carolina beat Northern Illinois for their first ever bowl win. This was a terrific college football game. Seven lead changes and Northern Illinois had a change to win with seven seconds left.
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Liberty ran all over Eastern Michigan 56-20.
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Toledo falls to Middle Tennessee State in the Bahamas Bowl.
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JMU lost to North Dakota State in the FCS semifinals.
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Eastern Michigan and Liberty hook up today at 4:45 pm in the Lending Tree Bowl.
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OT, but Coach Calipari organized a tornado relief telethon for Kentucky.
Coach Cal raised $3 million for the relief fund.
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Coach Dudzinski officially join Brown's staff.
Arizona Desert Swarm has a post on Dudzinski joining the Minutemen.
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The Hampshire Gazette reports Coach Brown's recruiting efforts leads to nine additions to the UMass roster.
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Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has "What we learned about UMass' early signing period".
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Toledo plays today against Middle Tennessee State in the Bahamas Bowl.
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Coastal Carolina plays Northern Illinois at 6:00 pm in the Tail Greeter Cure Bowl.
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Thanks to the Blog reader who sent me the link to this Tweet saying Penn offensive coordinator Kevin Morris will not return next year.
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Included in yesterday's early signing class was Tyler Leinberger, a 6-5 310 pound OL from Chester, VA.
This article relates how Leinberger used the COVID shutdown to make himself into a Division I football player.
Leinberger originally committed to East Carolina, but reopened his recruiting. He should be a nice addition to the Minutemen offensive line.
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Also joining this year's class as a PWO,Luke Dobson, a 5-10 165 pound kicker/punter from St. Vincent HS in Ohio.
Named one of the top players in the Cleveland-Akron area.
Kornblue kicking camp video here.
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Today is the first day of the early signing period. The window is open for 72 hours, which means Friday. The regular signing day is Feb 2nd, 2022.
247Sports currently has UMass with six hard commits and two transfers.
On offense the Minutemen need a starting QB and running backs. On defense, UMass needs size, athleticism and speed everywhere.
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Sports Illustrated asks if this will be the last early signing day.
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UMass met its goal for raising $1 million for the football improvement fund.
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I'll do some updates later today and again tomorrow.
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Bob McGovern, who was one of the best UMass reporters, has a guest report on the "Fight Massachusetts" 247Sports site. Bob talks about the various Minutemen powers-that-be supporting UMass' search for conference affiliation.
IMHO, the UMass administration needs to grab any offer to join a conference. Right now the Minutemen have no bowl tie-ins, no TV package and no income from the FBS playoff revenue sharing.
I don't think there are any conceivable circumstances where UMass would get an offer from a Power Five conference. Look at UConn. The Husky fabulously successful basketball programs, both male and female, got UConn absolutely nothing in regards to a Power Five offer.
Should UMass consider an "all-sports" offer if that is what it takes to join a conference? The only sport that would really be affected is basketball. The current A10 roster is definitely not the old Atlantic Eight with UMass playing Penn State, Rutgers and Pitt every year. I don't think leaving the A10 would make much of a difference to UMass hoops fans.
We'll have to wait and see what shakes out.
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Meet Walt Bell, the man charged with fixing Indiana's offense.
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UMass ended up playing six bowl teams in 2021. Toledo, Eastern Michigan, Army, Boston College, Pitt and Coastal Carolina are all going to bowls. Florida State ended 5-7 and is not bowl-eligible.
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This article describes his entering the transfer portal.
Was a Top-40 football recruit (last twenty years) from Massachusetts.
Igwenagu had a UMass offer back in 2018. Rutgers had him playing TE last year, but I would think he would go back to defense for the Minutemen.
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Originally committed to South Alabama.
Tucker has 17 offers including Buffalo and Temple from the Northeast. He also has Power Five offers from Kansas and Arizona State. He could be an instant starter off the edge in Amherst and would have a lot of fun in Brown's attacking defense.
Penn Live has a story on his transfer.
Rudolph was a four-star recruit out of HS. He's graded as a three-star transfer by 247Sports. He played for new UMass coach Jeff Moore at Loomis Chaffee in CT. The Minutemen defense needs a total rebuild. Hopefully, Rudolph will be one of the building blocks. He has three years of eligibility left.
Coach Brown adds to his new staff.
The CT Post has an article from 2018 saying Jeff Moore turns St Thomas Moore into a powerhouse.
He was hired from Loomis Chaffee in CT.
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Perkins was last at UConn as defense backs coach.
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Howard Herman of the Berkshire Eagle reports with Brown at the helm, UMass football moves forward.
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The Hampshire Gazette says the Minutemen's football staff is growing.
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Lots of football on TV today. Toledo plays Middle Tennessee State at noon and Coastal Carolina meets Northern Illinois at 6:00, both on ESPN video.
Good FCS game at 7:00 pm as James Madison meets Montana in a FCS quarterfinal game on ESPN2.
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Brower lettered for UMass four straight years 2000 to 2003. He was first team All-A10 in 2001, '02 and '03. Second team All-American in 2003.
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Mark Whipple joins Nebraska's staff as offensive coordinator and QB coach.
Whipple will be operating without Huskers QB Adrian Martinez, who entered the transfer portal. Martinez was three-time captain and had 38 starts for Nebraska.
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The Bahamas Bowl will play tomorrow at noon. Toledo vs Middle Tennessee state.
Yahoo Sports predicts a Rockets victory.
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Tucson.com has a short post on Dudzinski's leaving for Amherst.
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Mark Whipple resigns from Pitt the day after Kenny Pickett is name a Heisman finalist.
Pat Narduzzi comments on Whipple's leaving.
Omaha.com reports Nebraska was close to signing Whipple as offensive coordinator.
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The Daily Hoosier reports former UMass coach Walt Bell has been hired as offensive coordinator for Indiana.
MassLive also has a post on Bell's hiring.
The Hampshire Gazette also has a story on Bell becoming Indiana's OC.
As the stories relate, this is good news for UMass as Bell's earnings will offset the cost of his buyout. Which, in turn means there will be more funding available for Brown's new staff.
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If you missed it, Pitt beat Wake Forest 45-21 to win it's first ACC championship. I watched the game and Coach Whipple got a lot of air time during the broadcast.
In addition, Pitt QB Kenny Pickett is a finalist for the Heisman Trophy.
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Toledo will play Middle Tennessee on 12/17/21 in the Bahamas Bowl. The Rockets have been bowl eligible for eleven straight years.
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Besides UMass, Unamba has offers from Maryland, UTEP and Texas Southern.
Howard Herman of the Berkshire Eagle asks: Can Don Brown get UMass on the right track?
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Avien Peah declares for the NFL Draft.
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Evan Deckers enters the transfer portal.
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Dalton Tomlinson enters the transfer portal.
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Harding also drew interest from Arkansas State and Harvard.
Jalen Stewart, s 6-1 225 pound LB from Monroe College in Pennsylvania has committed to UMass.
This Q & A from 2018 features Stewart.
UMass needs LB help badly. Stewart should in the mix early in Amherst.
Brown seem to say he was going to hit the transfer portal to fill in some immediate gaps in the roster.On defense UMass needs linebackers, defensive ends and a pass rush specialist. UMass averaged less than one sack/game in 2021.
Brown said he would keep Alex Miller as offensive line coach. No decision on the other coaches yet.
The entire press conference is available here.
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MassLive reports Brown is eager to build on his legacy in Amherst.
The Hampshire Gazette says Don Brown is a UMass football guy.
The Gazette also reports it's been a full circle for Coach Brown.
The Boston Herald says Brown is upbeat.
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MassLive reports former UMass A.D. Ian McCaw believes Don Brown is the right coach for UMass.
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UMass and UConn complete their 2022 schedules by scheduling a November 5th, 2022 game at UConn.
UMass' 2022 schedule:
09/03 - at Tulane
09/10 - at Toledo
09/17 - Stony Brook
09/24 - at Temple
10/01 - at Eastern Michigan
10/08 - Liberty
10/15 - Buffalo
10/29 - New Mexico State
11/05 - at UConn
11/12 - at Arkansas State
11/19 - at Texas A&M
11/26 - Army
UMass could have a chance of winning against Tulane (2-10), Stony Brook (5-6), New Mexico State (2-10), UConn (1-11) and Arkansas State (2-10).
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Minutemen CB Bryce Watts declares for the NFL draft.
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