UMass Football News--December 31st, 2025

 The Flagship Podcast talks about UMass QB recruit Aedan McCarthy and potential free agent transfer portal QB Pop Watson.

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 UMass adds Stonehill to it's 2026 schedule. UMass plays @ Rutgers, @UConn and @Hawaii in 2026. Teams playing at Hawaii have the option to play a 13th game. 

The Skyhawks went 4-8 in 2025, but they did beat Maine up in Orono. 

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The Greenfield Recorder reports changes are afoot for UMass ahead of the looming transfer portal.

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Ohio hires John Hauser as HC after Brian Smith was fired for "serious personal misconduct". 

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UMass Football News--December 30th, 2025

 The transfer portal officially opens at Midnight on Friday.

UMass definitely needs some portal help for 2026. I think coach Harasymiak and staff have recruited well so far, but we need some (a lot) of transfer talent to bridge the next year.

UMass needs:

#1 A dual-threat QB. Right now my roster top guy is true freshman Adean McCarthy. 

#2. A FBS-level RB. See above: right now top RB on roster is true freshman TK Davis. 

#3 At least one MAC-level WR. Last year the injury to T.Y. Harding brought the UMass passing game to a screeching halt. UMass had zero deep threats. TE Max Dowling had the longest reception of the year at 77 yards. Right now on the roster, true freshmen David Moore and Kai Owens would be my top guys.

#4 Offensive line. In five years in the MAC the Minutemen have had one third-string All-MAC lineman. Last year, we did not dominate the line of scrimmage against 3-8 FCS Bryant, let alone anyone else.

#5 Defensive line. Nearly every MAC team, including the very bottom of the MAC, ran right up the middle against the UMass defense. The current roster best player is true freshman Samuel Mulbah. 

 #6 Cornerbacks. Last year some teams didn't bother throwing the ball (Missouri, Central Michigan, Ohio and Northern Illinois). But those who did, could pass at will. In 2025 UMass had 8 passing TD's. Opponents had 29. As of today, my top-two corners would be true freshmen Kareem Pruitt and Corey Warner.

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Speaking of the transfer portal:

Iowa State loses 16 starters to the transfer portal. 

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Boston College DE Jayden Fry announces for the transfer portal. 

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Boston College RB Turbo Richard (good name) is entering the transfer portal. 

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 Virginia Tech QB (and Springfield, MA native) Pop Watson is entering the transfer portal.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2026 --Seamus McIntyre signs with UMass

 

Seamus McIntyre, a 6-2 225 pound Kicker from New Hampton, NH signed with UMass on LOI day.

247Sports page here. 

15th ranked kicker in the country. 

Kohl's Kicking has  a bio on McIntyre. 

The Minuteman Command had a story on McIntyre's commitment to UMass back in July.

My local TV station here in Milford, NH ran a story on McIntyre just two days ago. 

Kicking has been a thorn in the side of UMass fans for a long time. Last year, Derek Morris broke the bad streak by making some outstanding kicks.  Hopefully McIntyre will keep the improvement going and be a fixture on UMass special teams for a number of years.

UMass Football Recruiting 2026--Kareem Pruit signs with UMass

 

Kareem Pruit, a 6-3 175 pound Athlete from Orchard Lake, MI signed with UMass on LOI day.

247Sports page here. 

Hudl.com has video. 

The Minuteman Command had an interview with Pruitt back in June. 

MaxPreps has stats. 

Pruitt had seven offers out of HS including Power Four Kentucky. Temple, Bowling Green, Eastern Michigan and Miami offered from the Group-of-Five. Pruitt projects as a Safety in college. He can also return punts. At 6-3, he has a pro-sized frame and should gain weight and strength on a college weight program. He has a big upside and should contribute early for the Minutemen. 

UMass Football News--December 26th, 2025

 I watched Ohio's win over UNLV on the treadmill Christmas morning. The Bobcats won their seventh bowl win in a row with a strong running game. Over the season, Ohio ran for 3178 yards and 32 (!) rushing TD's.

Another factoid was Ohio was one of nine college football teams to have every offensive lineman play every snap in 2025. 

In 2025 UMass rushed for 989 yards and 6 rushing TD's (2 of the 6 were by QB Grant Jordan). I have no idea how many offensive line combinations we used.

In UMass' 1998 national championship the Minutemen rushed for 3024 yards and 32 rushing TD's.

In 1998 the UMass OL was:

LT Bolden, LG Wynne, C Hagood, RG Lauback, RT Hill.

Over 15 games that's 75 potential starts. How many UMass OL starts were missed?

One. Cliff Bolden missed the first UConn game.

UMass needs a bell-cow RB and offensive line talent and continuity in 2026. Fixing the run game needs to be a top priority for 2026.

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The MAC is in another bowl game today at 1:00 when run-heavy Central Michigan meets Northwestern. 

If you can run the rock, you've got a good lookin' offense.. 

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Christmas 2025

 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all blog readers and UMass fans.

May Santa bring us a better year than 2025! Like Linus' rant at the end of the "Great Pumpkin" I still believe.. 

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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UMass Footbal Recruiting 2026--Will McNamara signs with UMass

 

Will McNamara, a 6-5 275 pound OL from Colpoy's Bay, ON signed with UMass on LOI day.

247Sports page here. 

I blogged about McNamara back in June. 

Outside of Fanstake.com thinking UMass is FCS, this is a decent capsule bio of McNamara. 

On3.com has him as a top-11 player in CT. 

McNamara had six offers including an FBS offer from New Mexico. As college football fans know, the difference between FBS and FCS is usually the offensive and defensive line talent. UMass badly needs an upgrade on the O-line and I look forward to seeing McNamara being part of the improvement. 

 

UMass Football Recruiting 2026--David Moore signs with UMass

 

David Moore, a 5-11 180 pound Athlete from West Orange, NJ signed with UMass on LOI day.

 247Sports page here.

I blogged about Moore back on June 6th. 

MaxPreps has senior stats. 

Hudl.com has senior highlights. 

This article from December 10th mentions Moore. 

Moore had 15 offers including Duke, Pitt and West Virginia from Power Four. Central Michigan and Toledo offered from the MAC. JMU, Old Dominion and Temple offered from the Group-of-Five. Moore can play both ways, but will probably be tasked with making  the plodding UMass offense more explosive. The Minutemen need playmakers on offense and Moore should see early action. 

 

UMass Football Recruiting 2026--Justin Lewis signs with UMass

 Justin Lewis, a 5-10 195 pound RB from Santa Ana, CA signed with the Minutemen last week.

247Sports page here. 

I blogged about Lewis back on August 5th and August 2nd. 

Hudl.com has senior highlights. 

Lewis ended up with 13 offers including all three services academies from  FBS. He's pushing 200 pounds and should, along with fellow RB recruit Tauqueer Davis, provide a solid talent injection into the anemic UMass rushing attack. Lewis should have a chance to see some meaningful action in 2026.

UMass Football Recruiting 2026--Tauqueer Davis signs with UMass

 Tauqueer Davis, a 5-10 190 pound RB from Washington, DC signed with UMass last week.

247Sports page here. 

Hudl.com has video highlights. 

Took visits to Virginia Tech and Syracuse.

Davis had thirteen offers including Power Four Virginia Tech, Pitt and Syracuse. Akron, Buffalo, Kent State and Toledo offered from the MAC. UConn, Memphis and Marshall also offered. 

Davis could be the impact player of this recruiting cycle. UMass was last-in-the-MAC in rushing offense and #131 nationally. True freshman or no, he'd be my pick to start at Rutgers on September 5th, 2026. 

UMass Football Recruiting 2026--CJ Amobi signs with UMass

CJ Amobi, a 6-2 235 pound Edge from Upper Darby, PA signed with UMass last Wednesday.

247Sports page here. 

Hudl.com has senior highlights. 

Fanstake has a bio of Amobi that mentions UMass. 

This article features Amobi. 

Amobi had 14 offers including Cincinnati from a Power Four conference. Army, Navy and Air Force offered from the Group-of-Five. Amobi' forte is a powerful edge rush, something the UMass defense is in dire need of. He should see the field early. 

UMass Football Recruiting 2026--Terron Johnson signs with UMass

 Terron Johnson, a 5-11 165 pound CB from Oakdale, CT signed with the Minutemen last Wednesday.

247Sports three-star player and ranked #10 in the state of Ct. 

Hudl.com has senior highlights.

I blogged about Johnson back on July 1st. 

On3.com three-star player. 

This article has him in the top-13 players in CT. 

Johnson chose UMass over Power Four offers from Boston College, Duke, Minnesota and Syracuse. UMass really needs an upgrade in the defensive secondary and Johnson should supply immediate help. 

 

UMass Football Recruiting 2026--Corey Warner signs with UMass

 

Corey Warner, a 5-11 180 pound CB from Louisville, KY signed with UMass last week.

Warner's 247Sports page here. 

On3.com has him a top-10 player out of Kentucky. 

Hudl.com has video highlights. 

MaxPreps has stats. 

Warner had eight offers including Akron, Bowling Green Eastern Michigan, Miami and Ohio out of the MAC. Like most of 2026 recruits, Warner should have a chance to play early in a Minuteman defensive secondary that badly needs an upgrade. 

UMass Football News--December 8th, 2025

 Some MAC news:

Toledo loses their head coach Jason Candle to be HC at UConn. 

The Rockets also lost their defensive coordinator to Syracuse. 

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On 2026 recruiting or transfer portal: Why not a fullback?

The Minutemen could not move the ball in short yardage situations this year. And I spent 2026 watching UMass running backs get trampled by everybody's pass rush.

A 235 pound FB would help football's worst running game as a short yardage blocker or RB. In addition, it would be nice to have a big, solid blocker standing beside of our beleaguered QB in passing situations.

You remember Whipple used a fullback quite a bit. Whipple liked to pass to the fullback leaking out of the backfield sort of like another TE.

No recruiting site tracks fullbacks. 247 Sports (to which I subscribe) does not have a fullback page. ESPN does have a fullback page, but it's blank. 

I spent some time scrolling around various recruiting sites for available  plus-sized running backs and the only guy I found was Daniel Swinney, 5-10 225 from Iowa Case Western Junior College. 

Second-team All Kentucky. 

He has nine offers from Group-of-Five schools, so we're in his wheelhouse. 

Courier-Journal image

 

UMass Football Blog news--December 7th, 2025

 

Hey everyone. I've been cranking out posts seven days a week since August. Now that the season is over, I'm going to take Sundays off as I usually do in the off season.

Thanks for checking in and I'll see you tomorrow! 

UMass Football News--December 6th, 2025

 The Miami Redhawks and the Western Michigan Broncos meet today in the MAC Championship game.

The game will be televised at noon on ESPN.

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The All-MAC conference players list is out. Surprisingly, UMass was not at the bottom of the list.

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The Daily Collegian covers the 21 recruits signed on Wednesday.

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ESPN breaks down every conference championship game. 

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Tulane won the American Conference title and a trip to the college football playoffs.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2026--Kai Owens signs with UMass

 Kai Owens, a 6-2 165 pound WR from Carmel Catholic in Mundelein, IL signed with the Minutemen Wednesday.

His 247Sports page here. 

Hudl.com has video highlights.

Owens choose UMass over seven other offers including Ball State, Eastern Michigan, Kent State and Miami from the MAC. Marshall also offered. He is tied with 2025 recruits Jerry Washington and Dinos Drossos for the second-highest rated recruit in the Minutemen's FBS era. At 6-2 he has a pro-sized frame. Given the lack of production of UMass' wide receiver room in 2025, Owens should be in the mix to see playing time soon.  

UMass Football News--December 4th, 2025

 UMass inks 21 recruits on early signing day.

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 Coach Harasymiak's signing day press conference.

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The Hampshire Gazette reports UMass signs 21 recruits.

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Hustle Belt has Monday MAC Musings for the last week of the season. 

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If you missed it, Neal Brown has been named the new HC at North Texas. 

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The American Conference championship game will be played tomorrow. North Texas vs Tulane for a college football playoff bid.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2025--Corey Warner will sign with the Minutemen

 

Corey Warner, a 5-11 180 DB from Louisville, Ky will sign a LOI today.

I blogged about Warner back in June. 

This article from August 2025 features Warner. 

The Minuteman defensive secondary needs help immediately. Warner should have a chance to play early and often.

Samuel Mulbah commits to UMass

 Samuel Mulbah, a 6-3 260 pound DL from Camp Hill, PA has committed to UMass.

247Sports page here. 

Hudl.com has video. 

MaxPreps has stats. Five sacks and 13 TFL in his senior year.

PA Football News has a post on Mulbah's committing to UMass. 

Mulbah had FBS offers from Buffalo and Old Dominion. He also had six FCS offers.  Like many freshmen this year, he should have a good chance to start early.

UMass Football News--Ted Mondesir commits to UMass

 Ted Mondesir, a 6-1 185 pound Safety from Mercerville, NJ has committed to UMass.

247Sports page here. 

Hudl.com has video. 

MaxPreps has stats.

West Jersey First Team All-Capital Division (offense as Athlete). 

UMass needs all the defense it can get and Mondesir should be an excellent addition to the team. 

 UPDATE:

The Minuteman Command has a post on Mondesir's commitment with some quotes by him.