Showing posts sorted by relevance for query michael smith. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query michael smith. Sort by date Show all posts

Thursday, November 03, 2016

Recruiting 2017--Michael Smith

Xavier Mascare image
Michael Smith (good name), a 6-2 200 pound WR from Vero Beach, FL has Tweeted he's received an offer from UMass

247Sports page here.

HUdl.com has video.

This article from June features Smith.

MaxPreps has some stats.

This article from September mentions Smith's strong start to the 2016 season.

UMass is Smith's first FBS offer.

Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Recruiting 2017--Michael Smith II

I've blogged about Michael Smith, a 6-2 200 pound WR from Varo Beach, FL before.

This weekend, Smith received an offer from Norte Dame.

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Thursday, August 23, 2012

UMass Depth chart for UConn

UPDATE:  The 2012 roster is up.

UPDATE II: Ahhh, maybe somebody from football needs to compare notes with whoever is working on the roster. It does not list Blake Lucas or Rob O'Connor and most of the recruits and transfers have no bios.

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Matty V. has a post on UMass' depth chart for the UConn game.

The following is a cut-and-past from part of the article with links added by me.

"Offense

QB- Mike Wegzyn - A.J. Doyle will back him up.

WR- Alan Williams - He'll also play some running back, but he's a starter at receiver
WR - Deion Walker and Tajae Sharpe are still battling a bit to see who'll start, but both will play.
WR - Marken Michel - No surprise here.
TE - Rob Blanchflower - Derek Beck will be the No. 2 at least until Brandon Howard is healthy

RB - Chris Burns, Michael Cox and Jamar Smith are all in the mix to play at running back, which one will start has yet to be determined.

"Jamar Smith has really come on in the last couple of days," Molnar said. "He put himself in the competition. He deserves to have a shot to run out there for the first snaps against UConn."

C - Quinton Sales
Tackle - Nick Speller, Jamie Cassleberry and Stephane Milhim will all play tackle, which ones will start is uncertain.
Guards - If Milhim doesn't start at tackle, he'll start at guard. John Wallace and Michael Boland are competing for the other. Both will play.

DEFENSE

"We're rotating eight guys for the four spots on the defensive line. The four healthiest guys will probably start," Molnar said.

DE  - Stanley Andre, Ryan DeLaire, Kevin Byrne, Brandon Potvin will all see the field in some rotation.
DT - Chaz Thompson, Galen Clemons, Hafis Williams and Daniel Maynes - Same as at end.

LB - Perry McIntyre, Tom Brandt, Greg Hilliard will start. - Tim Brandt. D.J. Adeoba. Jovan Santo-Knox. Rob O'Connor, Leo Krizanovic could all see the field.

S - Darren Thellen, Christian Birt - Ed Saint-Vil is a likely backup here.
CB - Randall Jette and Antoine Tharpe will start. Trey Dudley Giles and D'Metrius Williams will play. "I can see all three of those guys playing."


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Some surprise missing names: Chad Hunte (58 TT in 2011) and Anthony Dima (11 games played in 2011). Hurt?

Eleven transfers or true freshmen mentioned in the above depth chart, if I counted right.

Thursday, June 26, 2014

Thursday--June 26th, 2014

Some of the changes from the latest UMass roster.

#2--Ross Comis will now share the number with Quayshun Smith
#6-Jamal Wilson switches from #22
#7--Blake Frohapfel shares with D'Metrius Williams
#8--Alex Kenney shares with Shane Huber
#14-Ryan Jacobucci switches from #5
#18-Andrew Verboys ex-Matt Quinn
#23-Charan Singh ex-Greg Oreoya
#26-Jarell Addo ex-Quayshun Smith
#27-Jesse Monteiro ex-Nick Valles
#30-Zeke Edmonds ex-Michael Rapoza
#32-Matt Tuleja ex-Arthur Williams
#37-Andrew Libby ex Tom Brandt
#39-Jordan Fiske ex-Eduardo Cruz
#40-Jon Lucier ex-Dillon Tighe
#41-De'Sean Downey ex Jeff Strait
#43-Matthew Wylie shared with Shadrach Abrokwah
#48-Michael Grasis ex-Vance Barton
#49-Jeremy Rodriguez ex-Galen Clemons
#50-Jack Wynne ex-Justin Anderson
#61-Joe Previte ex Aaron Oberst
#62-Emmett Odegard not assigned last year
#63-Dmitri Angelas not assigned last year
#66-Anthony Fernandez ex Costa Toubelis
#67-Dan DiNicola ex Will Giggi
#70-Ryan Johnson ex Anthony Dima
#71-Basit Dennis not assigned last year
#74-Liam Porter ex Terrel Correia
#79-Jake Largay ex Vincent Westcarr
#82-Connor Lemieux ex #27
#84-Alfred Adarkwah ex E.J. Burston
#87-T.J. Kelley ex Rob Blanchflower
#89-Jon Denton ex Derek Beck

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How Michigan's greed alienated its fans. My first thought when the "Big Five" said they wanted to leave the NCAA and form their own division was this was going to cost their fans an arm and a leg. Paying players and other planned perks is going to be big money. It's going to have to come from somewhere. Tickets, "seat licenses , parking and mandatory contributions to the athletic fund are going to increase.

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Central Michigan will provide $18.5 million to athletics from the general fund.

 Syracuse will only pay the Chippewas $550,000 for a game at the Carrier Dome, but the Orange will play at Central Michigan this year.

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Davon Jones, a DB form St. Johns Prep in MA, verbaled to Boston College yesterday. He was a teammate of current Minutemen players Shadrach Abrokwah and J.T. Kelley.

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Wednesday, August 06, 2014

August 6th, 2014

The UMass website has video and still images from the first day of practice.

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Dan Malone has A.J.Doyle is ready for yet another quarterback competition.

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Smith #77
Dan also continues his UMass Top-25 players for 2014 with Tyrell Smith (good name). In Whipple's first era with the Minutemen, he like big and durable offensive linemen. Not many OL get the chance to start all four years. Smith has that chance. At 6-5 295 he also has the size Whipple (and the NFL) are looking for. In the Spring game, the D-line controlled the line of scrimmage.

The new pro-style offense will only go as far as the offensive line takes it. If you watched Sunday's Hall-of-fame game former UMass RB Michael Cox looked good when he received some blocking, but he was hit in the backfield at least twice and bottled up three or four more times because there were defensive players on top of him as he took the handoff.

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Malone looks at two transfers Jalen Williams and Alex Kenney who hope to make an impact with the Minutemen WR corps.

Williams UMass bio. Kenney's UMass bio.

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Matty V. has Drew Harris is excited to start his college football career. Harris' UMass bio.

Matty also has the young Minutemen defensive hopes to jell quickly. In the last line of the article, Matty reports UMass will play in Maroon & White in 2014.

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The Daily Collegian says UMass is anxious to play aggressive defense.

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Jesse Allen of Hustle Belt previews the 2014 Minutemen.

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All of CBS Sports writer predict UMass last in MAC

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Boston College will start a new QB when they face UMass on August 30th.

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A Bleacher Report writer says Rob Blanchflower has struggled with an injury during the Steelers training camp.

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Saturday, March 12, 2016

Saturday--March 12th, 2016

OK, I'm back. Let's start catching up. Some of this you probably already read while I was gone, but we'll see.

Dan Malone on start of Spring practice. Dan has some notes from the first two practices.

Matty Vautour has a post on the start of Spring practice.

Maybe the most interesting stuff so far is the injury report. Whipple said (reading between the lines) back, but limited in Spring ball, are:

Tyshon Henderson SR OT

Lucas Kotler JR OG

Khary Bailey-Smith RS SR

Sekai Lindsay SO RB

The Following is the two-deep offensive line for Buffalo on 11/23/15

LT Tyrell Smith (declared for the NFL draft)
LT Tyshon Henderson (broken ankle)
LG Fabian Hoeller
LG Lucas Kotler (knee Injury)
C Matt Sparks (graduated)
C Josh Bruns (graduated)
RG Michael Boland
RG Derek Dumais (redshirted 2015)
RT Elijah Wilkenson
RT Jack Driscoll (mentioned by Whipple as having a good day at practice)

Boland, Henderson and Hoeller are sure starters. The left side of the line needs to be rebuilt and we need a starting center and backup. Dan DiNicola had a strong game against Buffalo and should be in the mix.

Khary Bailey-Smith and JUCO Teddy Lowery would be my picks as the safeties starting against the Gators.

With Jamal Wilson, Lorenzo Woodley, Shadrach Abrokwah, Manwon Brisbane and Andy Isabella (moved to WR) gone, Sekai Lindsey and Marquis Young are the likely one-two at RB for the Minutemen.

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Victor Cruz is staying with the Giants abet with a big pay cut.

The NT Post has some quotes from Cruz.

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Saturday, August 25, 2012

Saturday -- August 25th, 2012

Our season tickets came in the mail yesterday.

Western Mass season ticket holders have an opportunity for bus service from  McGuirk to Gillette as per the following e-mail I received.

Valued Season Ticket Holder,

As many of you may know, UMass Athletics has teamed with Worldtek Travel Management to provide round trip transportation between Amherst and Gillette Stadium for football home games.  Buses will depart campus 3 hours prior to game time and will return immediately following each game.  Please visit https://ems.resrunner.com/umassfootball or call Worldtek at 1-800-879-6176 to purchase your transportation today.


Go UMass!!!

UMass Athletic Ticket Office
1-866-UMASS-TIX
umasstickets@admin.umass.edu


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CBS Sports has a best-case, worse-case scenario for Vanderbilt. Both cases assume a win over UMass.

Vandy may drop its game against Ohio State next year to open with a SEC game.

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After a year off, UConn WR Michael Smith is back on the team.

Michigan is still trying to move their 2013 game against the Huskies to MetLife.

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LaRon Landry will not be fined for his big hit on Victor Cruz.

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Michigan makes $7.1 million per game at the Big House----- and that's before concessions. If I remember right a Coke was $5 from a soda guy.

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Jeromy Miles draws praise for Bengal's coach Marvin Lewis.

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Where we were: Phil Steele's FCS Top 40.

BTW, the CAA has asked Rhode Island not to drop to Northeast Conference.

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Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Tuesday--March 26, 2013

Yesterday I mentioned I would have some UMass historical scans on today's blog. I'm going to push that back a day or so as I have some material to work with today. A football blogger in March or April is always scratching for any scrap of news.

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UMass Spring practice starts today. Harry Plumer says UMass is going back to fundamentals.

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Matty V has a story on Spring Practice here (paywall, but you can register and get five views a month). News includes offensive linemen Michael Bowland and Jamie Casselberry have left the team for health reasons. Marken Michel has also left.

The offensive line was major problem for the Minutemen in 2012 and looks like it will be trouble again this year. The Minutemen simply do not have many bodies at that position. UMass may again be playing at least one true freshman, a circumstance that make most OL coaches shudder.

Gone from 2012:

Returning or added this Spring:
OL recruits arriving in Fall:
  • Terrell Correia 6-7 280 ESPN two-star recruit
  • Tyshon Henderson 6-7 315 ESPN two-star recruit
  • Fabian Hoeller 6-3 301
  • Jordan Page 6-5 300 ESPN two-star recruit
  • Rich Queen 6-3 275 ESPN two-star recruit
Freshman bios are in the recruiting page.


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Former UMass QB Scott Woodward has been named offensive coordinator at Fairleigh Dickinson. Scott has been QB coach at Westfield State for the past three years. The news report is in the Monday section of Football Scoop.

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Ball State opens their Spring practice with a “Anything, Anytime, Anywhere” attitude.

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Old FCS foes Appalachian State and Georgia Southern are moving to the Sun Belt conference according to this report.

This report asks what will happen to FCS if more of the top teams leave?

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Twelve of the 64 teams in the NCAA March Madness do not have football. Three of those teams made the Sweet Sixteen this year. Marquette was a three seed, but Witchita State and LaSalle were #9 and #13 seeds respectively.

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Former UMass coach Bob Shoop says run defense is the key to championships.

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Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Wednesday--October 16, 2013

The Bulls website has a 30 minute video press conference about the upcoming UMass-Bulls game.

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Rob Blanchflower has been named to the mid-season Mackey Award Watch List.

Dan Malone has more on Blanchflower's award. To me, it seems if Blanchflower is still showing some rust from his long injury layoff. He has dropped some balls and seems a half a step slower than last season. Hopefully, he will continue to heal; he adds a third dimension to the UMass offense when he's out there.

Blanchflower and Bailey-Smith both were mentioned in College Football Weekly Performance list.

The whole UMass defense was named  the Minutemen Athlete-of-the-week.

University of Buffalo image
Dan Malone says stopping Khalil Mack will be the UMass offensive line's toughest challenge so far. Mack has lived up to his preseason billing as the top NFL prospect in the MAC.

Controlling Mack will not be easy for UMass. Except for Blanchflower, the Minutemen do not have another big TE to block Mack. Dereck Beck is 205, Sharif Custis is 215, Brandon Howard is 250 and Ricardo Miller is 226.You wouldn't want Blanchflower tied up with blocking Mack because of Blanchflower's importance to the Minutemen's anemic offense. Mack eats up TE's anyway.

Quote from Malone's article:"Khalil got triple-teamed 13 times, and 17 times got double-teamed," Buffalo coach Jeff Quinn said of Western Michigan's game plan in the Bulls' 33-0 win Saturday. "He was either triple-or double-teamed 30 times in that game, and he still had six tackles, one sack, three pressures, a couple tackles for a loss, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and a pass breakup."

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Jimmy Kelly of Hustle Belt has a Q-and-A session with Buffalo blogger Bull Run.

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Former Bulls receiver Courtney Lester has caught on at defensive back.

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Hustle Belt also has the MAC Week #8 odds.

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The MAC Report Online has Week # 8 power ratings. UMass is not last.

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Michael Cox might start for the Giants against the Vikings. Good Luck Michael!!

The Washington Posts says Cox is the Giants only healthy running back.

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Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Wednesday--December 10th, 2014


Dan Malone reviews the 2014 Minuteman offensive line.

At the end of the season the starting line was:

LT Tyrell Smith SO GP-GS 12-12
LG Fabian Hoeller SO GP-GS 12-12
C Matt Sparks JU GP-GS 12-12
RB Michael Boland GP-GS 12-6
RT Elijah Wilkinson GP-GS 12-12

In the rotation:

Josh Bruns JU GP-GS 12-6
Lukas Kolter FR GP-GS 11-0
Tyshon Henderson SO GP-GS 11-0
Ryan Johnson JU GP-GS 11-0

Reserves;

Cameron Mock RSFR
Sam Zeff RSFR
Rich Queen RSFR
Dimiti Angelas FR
Dan DiNicola FR
Anthony Fernandez FR
Femi Oyewole SO

2015 recruits

Joe Parsons
Michael Yarardi
Jack Driscoll
Derek Dumais

Without game tape its useless to try to grade offensive linemen. The OL's stats show up on other players. Blake Frohnapfel's mammoth season was partially a product of the OL's play. UMass was 11th in sacks against, but UMass was 3rd in pass attempts so some of that was because the offense was so pass heavy.

UMass did less well in rushing. The Minutemen were 11th in the MAC in rushing offense (109.3 yards per game). UMass averaged 3.4 yards per rush. In a couple of game (Penn State and Kent State), the opposition pretty much controlled the line of scrimmage.

With 20 offensive linemen on the squad in 2015, there should be plenty of competition for the first and second team. The position should be a strong one for UMass in the future.

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Ron Chimelis says uncertainty in the AD position provides UMass football with another challenge.

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This is very cool. Tightrope Media Systems will provide a UMass Football Historical kiosk in the new UMass Performance Center. It will have 130 years of searchable historical data on the team.

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A Penn Live writer wonders what would have happened if Joe Paterno's proposed Northeast Conference had come to fruition (with UMass included).

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Former UMass QB Vito Campanile (1993, 1995) has been named NY Jets HS Coach of the Year.

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Sports Edge.com says UConn should leave the ACC and rejoin the Big East.

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Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Wednesday--February 13, 2013

I missed the UMass Football Banquet because of my trip, and I haven't seen a write-up on it anywhere, so I'll post Coach Molnar e-mail newsletter. Note that the original e-mail contained Greg Landry's e-mail address, which I redacted.

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Dear Minutemen,
Here's some of the latest news about your UMass Football Family:

On February 4th, the 2012 UMass Football team held its annual banquet.  Not only were the 2012 Seniors honored with a gift of their home game jersey, but a number of awards were presented to a group of very deserving players.

2012 SENIORS
DJ Adeoba Sr. Hollywood, FL
Tim Brandt Sr. Natick, MA
Chris Burns Sr. Wilmington, PA
Julian Colarusso Sr. Quincy, MA
Michael Cox Grad. Dorchester, MA
Perry McIntyre Sr. Royal Palm Beach, FL
Stephane Milhim Sr. Pembroke Pines, FL
Rob O'Connor Sr. Westborough, MA
Quinton Sales Sr. Fort Washington, MD
Ian Shultis Sr. Thousand Oaks, CA
Nick Speller Sr. Baltimore, MD
Darren Thellen Sr. Brockton, MA
Charles Thompson Sr. Teaneck, NJ
Deion Walker Grad. Christchurch, VA
Vincent Westcarr Sr. Miramar, FL
Alan Williams Sr. Framingham, MA
Hafis Williams Grad. Elizabeth, NJ
AWARDS PRESENTATION

ALL MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE
Perry McIntyre, First Team LB Sr. Royal Palm Beach, FL
Darren Thellen, Second Team DB Sr. Brockton, MA
Colter Johnson, Third Team Punter Warren, PA

ALL ACADEMIC MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE
Michael Cox, Honorable Mention Grad. Dorchester, MA
Matt Carini, Honorable Mention Jr. Franklin, MA

MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Colter Johnson

VERN SMITH LEADERSHIP AWARD
Darren Therein

OFFENSIVE SCOUT TEAM PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Kevin Lovaincy Fr. Cambridge, MA

DEFENSIVE SCOUT TEAM PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Johnny Bieren Fr. Nashua, NH

JAMES IHEDIGBO WALK-ON OF THE YEAR
Joe Colton Fr. Norwood, MA

BOB FOOTE OFFENSIVE LINEMAN OF THE YEAR
Stephane Milhim Sr. Pembroke Pines, FL

ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Rob O'Connor Sr. Westborough, MA

COACHES AWARD
Darren Thellen

IRON MAN AWARD
Jeff Straight Jr. Manheim, PA
Charles Thompson Sr. Teaneck, NJ

SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Colter Johnson

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Perry McIntyre

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Rob Blanchflower Jr. Leominster, MA

DEFENSIVE CAPTAIN FOR 2012
Perry McIntyre

OFFENSIVE CAPTAIN FOR 2012
Rob Blanchflower

I have a lot of information that I am going to share with you this spring; and a source of that info is our new feature, "MINUTEMAN UPDATE", highlighting what Minutemen of the past are doing now!

The first MINUTEMAN UPDATE highlights Massachusetts great, Greg Landry.  Greg writes "For the past decade, I have been working in the Detroit area as a Manufacturer Rep.  Companies that I represent produce metal and plastic parts.  My clients are primarily tier 1 suppliers to the automotive OEMs.  Last fall, I was inducted into the National Polish Hall of Fame.  I still have a relationship with the Detroit Lions, as a member of their Alumni group that does charity and good will events in the Detroit area.  My five children are working here in Detroit and in New York.  Jeannine and I are blessed with 4 grandchildren."

We are always trying to find ways to reach our most valuable resource -- the Minutemen who have gone before us, who have paved the way so future UMass Football teams have a legacy and a tradition to live up to.

Please send us the email address of any Minuteman who is not receiving our letters.  Over the last year, we have added over 100 football alumni to our database, but there are many out there who do not receive our letters.  Help us grow and stay together as a football family.

God Bless and Go UMass!


Charley Molnar, Head Football Coach

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Image credit unknown

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A Villanova hoops blog looks at possible additions to the Catholic Seven, including UMass. If the Minutemen were picked for that league, we might choose to stay in the MAC in football.

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The Big Ten is moving to 9-10 league games by 2014. That might impact the number of OOC games with the MAC. Playing a Big Ten team is a big deal for the Ohio and Michigan based MAC teams, but UMass probably won't care.

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Sports Illustrated has a story about the Big East moving to a NBC Sports TV deal.


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Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Tuesday--August 26th, 2014

I don't know about you guys, but I'm starting to get excited---and nervous. I want to see UMass do well.

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Two articles on the Minutemen's first official two deep: Dan Malone and Matty Vautour.

I'd take the two-deep with several grains of salt. I doubt UMass would break true freshman J. T. Blyden's redshirt just to return kicks. Ryan Johnson, Jean Sifrin and Shane Huber could start later in the season.

QB- Blake Frohnaple, A.J. Doyle

Austin Whipple would be the 3rd QB

RB- Jamal Wilson, Lorenzo Woodley
FB-Rodney Mills, Daquan Mack

Mills at 6-1 215 would likely be another receiver out of the backfield

WR- Tajae Sharpe, Shakur Nesmith
WR -Jalen Williams, Alex Kenney

Marken Michel will also see a lot of snaps

TE: Brandon Howard, Jon Denton

LT-Tyrell Smith, Tyshon Henderson
LG-Fabian Hoeller, Michael Boland
C-Matt Sparks, Rich Queen
RG-Josh Bruns, Lucas Kolter
RT-Elijah Wilkinson, Cameron Mock

Hoeller would probably backup Sparks. Henderson will probably back up both tackle spots.

Defense

DE-Peter Angeh, Enock Asante
NT-Robert Kitching, Daniel Maynes
DT -Sha-Ki Holines, Leo Krizanovic


OLB -Kessan Messiah, Lucas Amato
ILB-Stanley Andre, John Robinson Woodgett
ILB-Jovan Santos-Knox, Steve Casali
OLB-Trey Seals, DaSean Downey

Along with WR's, this is a deep unit.

CB-Randall Jette, Iric Harris
S-Joe Colton, Khary Bailey-Smith
S-Trey Dudley-Giles, Zeke Edmonds
CB-Jackson Porter, Jesse Monteiro

Monteiro would probably be the nickle back. Edmonds, a true freshman, has had a good camp.

Special Teams

K-Blake Lucas, Matthew Wylie
P-Brian McDonald, Logan Laurent
LS-Nick Berus, Emmett Odegard
H-Blake Frohnapfel
KR-Trey Dudley-Giles, J.T. Blyden
PR-Trey Dudley-Giles, Bernard Davis

Five freshmen in the two-deep. Seventeen new starters.

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Matty Vautour also has 2014 may be the most important season in UMass history. Just remember opening with four BCS teams does not really measure the progress UMass has made.

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UMass is picked last in the MAC preseason coach's poll.

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BC loses LB Tim Joy for the season. Always hate to see a player get hurt.

The Boston Herald says mystery awaits the Eagles in their opening game.

A writer on BC Interruption predicts Boston College's season.

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Another game Saturday with interest by UMass fans:

Idaho plays at Florida.

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Friday, April 14, 2006

2006 Umass Secondary------ Life after Shannon James




Perhaps the biggest change in the the 2006 Minutemen will be the loss of Shannon James and two other members of the defensive backfield. Along with James Starting corner and fifth-year senior Steve Costello. James' back-up at free safety Greg Scott also graduated. All three of those players were solid performers.

This article in the Springfield Republican by Jeff Thomas discusses the 2006 UMass secondary.

The article states that Senior Brandon Smith 27 GP 39 UT 17 AT 4 Sacks 4 INT should be the starter at free safety. Backing him will be highly rated Michael Meggett.

Costello's replacement will probably be junior Brandon Freeman 27 GP 46 UT 23 AT 1 Sack 2 INT. The third corner should be Sean Smalls, who is one of the best athletes on the team.

James Ihedigbo returns as the starting Strong Safety and will be backed up by Brian Ellis a converted linebacker. Ihedigbo is an All-A10 candidate and possibly an All-American.

Tracey Belton is back at one corner and will be backed up by senior Dominique Milton. Belton has been a fixture at CB for the Minutemen and Milton runs a 4.3 forty.

In the images Freeman is # 34 and Smith is #23.

All-American Shannon James will be a big loss, but the 2006 secondary looks like it has good talent and speed.

Friday, August 12, 2005

UMass Transfers

There has been a fair amount of speculation about the transfers that have come into the UMass Football program recently.

Here’s my take. Note that I do not have any special “insider” information. I do not even live in Massachusetts. And if the UMass Athletic Dept has noticed my blog, they’ve done an excellent job of containing their enthusiasm.

The ten transfers are:

Brent Caldwell OL Sr. 6-3 290 Syracuse
Jon Carnes OL So. 6-4 290 Rutgers
Shawnn Gyles DB Jr. 6-0 180 Northeastern
John Hatchell DL Jr 6-2 270 Lehigh
Taylor Humphrey QB Fr. 5-11 205 Hawaii
Matt Lawrence RB Jr. 6-1 198 UConn
Frank McDonald FB Jr. 6-0 245 Northeastern
Michael Meggett DB Fr. 6-1 205 West Virginia
Patrick Powell DE So. 6-4 265 Maryland
Justin Schweighardt DE Sr. 6-1 265 Ball State
Lateef Taylor DL So. 6-1 290 Cincinnati

I think their contributions this year will be as follows:

STARTERS

1. Schweighardt transferred in 2003 and started on the DL last year (25UT 10TT 35 TT 1Sack 1.5 TFL). He has been moved to DE this year.

2. Brent Caldwell played well in the spring game. Since he has only one year of eligibility left, why bring him in if he’s not going to play.

3. Frank McDonald transferred in 2003 and sat out the 2004 season. He started in the Spring game and probably will start in September.

4 Jon Hatchell transferred in 2003 and sat out the 2004 season. He has set several UMass bench press records and started in the Spring Game. The Fanzone expects him to start in September.

That’s it. Two I-A transfers starting and two from I-AA. Note that I think there will be only three new starters in 2005 and two of them will be from I-AA. Possibly the one new 1-A transfer starting will be an OG. There should be little fodder for comments that UMass won because we loaded up on 1-A transfers.

TRANSFERS WHO MAY SEE A LOT OF PLAYING TIME.

1. Matt Lawrence. UMass lost last year’s back up Bryan Smith because of academic reasons (he’ll be back next semester). Lawrence played well for UConn and would start if any thing happed to Baylark
2. Brent Caldwell is the backup center
3. Partick Powell is an awesome physical specimen and may push last years transfer Justin Schweighardt for playing time later in the season.

INELIGIBLE THIS YEAR

1. Shawnn Gyles. Transferred this year and must sit out per NCAA rules (lateral transfers in the same division must sit out a year)

LITTLE PLAYING TIME THIS YEAR

1. Taylor Humphrey. Injured his shoulder in the spring. Will be in the mix next year after Tim Day graduates.
2. Michael Meggett. Highly rated safety will probably sit out a year to preserve four years of eligibility in UMass’ talent heavy secondary.
3. Lateef Taylor is still a work in progress. May play on short yardage situation.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Wednesday--April 25th, 2012

Matty V. has an article on the 2012 UMass receiver corps as well as details of the Saturday's Spring game.

The article mentions RS FR Marken Michel, Senior Chase Danska and FR Derek Beck. I'll make a WAG and predict Michael will end up as the "X" receiver, Beck as "Y" and Danska in the slot.

The article has Coach Molnar praising OL Quinton Sales, DB's Darren Thellen, Christian Birt and Ryan Carter. Galen Clemons gets a mention from the DL.

About 70 alumni are coming back for the game and 10 to 15 will play.

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Jeff Thomas takes a look at the changing roles for UMass running backs. Mentioned are RSSR Alan Williams, SR Chris Burns, SO Jordan Broadnax, RSJR Jamar Smith and RS FR Jamal Wilson.

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WEEI.com looks at some of the New England schools draft prospects. Mention are Emil Igwenagu and Julian Talley from UMass.

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Speaking of the NFL, the league just increased their roster limit from 80 to 90 players. That's going to help to free agent players like Talley make an NFL squad.

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A Bleacher Report writer says UMass does not have one starter on our roster who could play for Michigan.

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A York Dispatch.com writer says Penn State's propensity for signing home games with "Nobody's" like UMass should stop.

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Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Wednesday--April 10, 2013

Matty V. has a story (paywall) about Delvin Brown. Coach Molnar is quoted as saying Brown is the Spring's "most improved player".

Other players in the mix at safety are Joe Colton and Khary Bailey-Smith.

One thing I've been meaning to mention is Coach Elmassian's defense has not received a lot of the FBS-era recruits. Of the 46 "official" recruits (not walk-ons and additions) only 14 of 46 were recruited as strictly defensive players.

Even in the offensive-heavy MAC, Coach Molnar will have to load up on defensive recruits one of these years.

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Speaking of Coach Elmassian and his defense, the latest video update from Spring practice features defensive backs.

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Motivated by the Penn State sex abuse case, a Massachusetts lawmaker has introduced a bill to make reporting child abuse mandatory.

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USA Today reports the Detroit Lions worked out some potential free agents in the coming NFL draft including Michael Cox.

Mark Baer image
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The Orlando Sentinel has five story lines to watch in the MAC for 2013.

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The Boston College Blog "BC Interruption" talks about the Eagles keeping recruits in Massachusetts.

BTW, the Eagles got a verbal from dual-purpose QB Darius Wade. He held a UMass offer among others.

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Sunday, May 13, 2012

Sunday -- May 13th, 2012

MassLive's Jackson Alexander continues his series on the Minutemen; this time on the UMass running backs. He mentions SO Jordan Broadnax and RS SR Alan Williams.

He does not mention roster running backs Jamar Smith and Jamal Wilson. In addition, several sources have said RB  Michael Cox has transfered from Michigan.

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Mke Cardillo of the CTPost.com says UConn fans should relish a chance at a UMass rivalry.

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Sports Illustrated.com says Julian Talley showed the most speed of the Giants free agent WR's (at end of article).

NJ.com has a story with some quotes from Talley about the Giants.

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Football Scoop has some comment and a video by Indiana HC Kevin Wilson. The Hoosiers coach mentions their trip to UMass (about the six minute mark) and urges Indiana fans to make the trip.

You know, in most states, the flagship university moving to FBS would be considered a major chance to enhance tourism for the state. The state tourism commission would be all over it. The Governor would attend the first home game. But this is Massachusetts so it's like:


The Bay State is, of course, busily solving all the really pressing educational problems.
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This years OOC opponent Vanderbilt also has a pretty inspirational video. The Commodores are actually making some progress in the SEC.


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Sunday, October 28, 2012

Sunday-- October 28th, 2012

The game was by no means an artistic success for either team. Both teams had eleven penalties and Vanderbilt at one time called a time out after three straight mistakes on one possession.

Again, the Minutemen played well in spurts. The UMass defense battled for most of the day. The turnover on the kick return seemed to take the wind out of the defense's sails.

The UMass offense again struggled. Passing by both Mike Wegzyn and A. J. Doyle was not very accurate. When UMass was able to hit our receivers, we moved the ball. UMass turned the ball over on downs three times at the end of drives near the Vandy Redzone. Both UMass QB's absorbed some heavy hits during the game.

I should say a few good words about Hafis Williams and Michael Cox. I don't know why they didn't get a lot of reps at their former schools, but both continue to play hard. Williams was encouraging his defensive teammates all day.  Cox ran hard despite the score and the fact he was not getting a lot of daylight.

They probably didn't mention it on the TV commentary, but Coach Molnar had the second offense in for the last series of the game. He could have left the first string in to try to make the score look a little better, but it gave the second string some game experience.

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Matty V. said UMass football continued to struggle.

Boston.com has UMass remains winless.

MassLive has Khary Baily-Smith becomes the latest freshman to play for UMass.

MassLive has UMass trounced by Vanderbilt 49-7

Fox Sports has UMass loses to Vandy 49-7, remains winless.

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The Tennessean said Vanderbilt breezes past UMass 49-7.

"Anchor of Gold" has Vandy routs UMass 49-7.

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The MAC conference continued knocking off OOC opponents as Ball State beat Army and Kent State knocked off unbeaten Rutgers.

UMass gets another very good team next week as N. Illinois beat Western Michigan 48-34 to run their record to 8-1 --and the one loss was by one point to Iowa.

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Sunday, September 02, 2012

Sunday--August 2nd, 2012

I was looking over the UMass roster and positional breakdowns from the UMass-UConn game notes.

The numbers show the Minutemen have only 87 players on the roster. Of particular interest is UMass is  carrying a meager 12 offensive linemen. That's not a lot of bodies for an FBS team. UConn dressed 98 players for Thursday's game. They also carried 16 offensive linemen.


UMass OL:

Quinton Sales RSSR
John Wallace RSFR
Dan Foesel RSFR (listed as a TE last year)
Anthony Dima RSJR
Malcom Speller SR
Tyrell Smith FR
Michael Boland FR
Nick Speller RSSR
Stephane Milhim RSSR
Jamie Casselberry RSFR
Matt Sparks FR
Vincent Westcarr RSJR

2012 recruit Cameron Mock does not appear on  the roster.

Four of the 12 UMass offensive linemen are seniors and three of the four start. UMass has five verbals from offensive linemen so far on the ESPN chart. We're going to need 'em.

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The MAC had a pretty strong Saturday as Ohio beat Penn State, Toledo took Arizona to overtime and Northern Illinois lost by one to Iowa.

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I watched the Indiana-Indiana State game on the Big Ten Network and the Sycamores game Indiana all they could handle.

CBS Sports has Indiana 24-Indiana State 17.

The Courier Press says Indiana still has plenty of work to do.

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The Boston Globe reports Alabama blew out Michigan .

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James Ihedigbo visited the Ravens.

Emil Igwenagu was signed to the Eagles practice squad.

Brandon London is looking to get into acting.

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Thursday, June 27, 2013

Thursday--June 27, 2013

UPDATE: NBC Sports Network will televise Brandon London and the  Alouettes  vs Winnipeg Blue Bombers tonight at 9:00 pm EDT. That's Dish Network channel 159 and Direct TV channel 220. Many other cable systems carry the network.

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The New Haven Register has a story on "guardian caps". Mentions UMass players wearing them during Spring training.

Tyrell Smith RSFR 6-5 285
Click on image and Blogger displays a larger view.
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The Giants Blog "Big Blue" looks at Michael Cox's chances to make the G-Men's 53 man roster. I think Cox has a good chance to make the Giants.

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ESPN's Big 12 blog previews Kansas State's OOC schedule.

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The MAC is offering fans a chance to be a "media guy" for a day at the league's football media day next month.

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BTW, Oregon dodged the bullet with NCAA sanctions. Losing one scholarship a year will have minimum affect on the Ducks.

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A CFL writer previews the Canadian Football league and mentions Brandon London and Anton McKenzie.

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The National Athletic Trainers Association has named UMass' Jennifer Brodeur as Assistant Athletic Traniner of the year.

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College football fans. We're different from other people. I recently ordered an item from a ham radio supply store in Alabama. I saved almost $16 dollars shipping by typing "Roll Tide!" in the remarks section of the online order form.

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