UMass Football News--February 12th, 2018

Some non-seniors missing from the 2018 Spring roster:

Cycoby Burch RSFR Safety.

Domenico Cipriani RSFR DL

David Weinstock FR OL

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Roto World says scouts still expect Adam Breneman to be drafted late in the third day of the NFL draft.

Matt Miller of Bleacher Report says Breneman was the biggest snub of the NFL combine (at the very end of the article).

Sports Day also has Breneman as one of the biggest NFL Combine snubs.

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Robin Jutwreten, a Swedish 6-4 240 pound DE took a visit to UMass. He ended up signing with Rutgers.

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UMass football News--Saturday July 1st, 2017

Penn State's Daily collegian expresses surprise Adam Breneman did not make Sports Illustrated's Top 100 college players list.

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Marken Michel scored a TD in his first CFL game. Michel's Stamps bio.

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UMass DC Ed Pinkham hosts UMass' safeties. Stats from 2016:

Patrick Amara, #25 S 6-2 208 RSJR (transfer from Pitt)
Cycoby Burch #36 S 5-11 182 RSFR
Zeke Edmonds #2 S 6-0 207 RSJR 10-7 GP-GS 19-25 UT-AT 44 TT 1 TFL 5 PD
Bakhari Goodson #14 S 5-10 167 SO 10-0 GP-GS 8-6 AT-UT 14 TT 1 PD
Martin Mangram #29 S 5-11 182 SO 12-0 GP-GS 5-5 AT_UT 10 TT
Jesse Monteiro #27 S 5-9 179 RSSR 12-8 GP-GS 45-28 AT-UT 73 TT 5.5 TFL 4PD
Micah Morel #15 S 5-11 195 RSSO 8-0 GP-GS 1 UT 1 TT

Most of the preview magazines have Pitt Transfer Patrick Amara penciled in as the starter at Strong Safety. He played in 22 games for the Panthers and had 32 TT's. He was rated as the #20 ranked recruit in PA in his senior season in high school.

Former walk-on Jesse Monteiro started the last three games of 2016 at FS. He was the second leading tackler on the team.

Martin Mangram was a highly-touted three star recruit from the 2016 recruiting class.

Cycoby Burch was red-shirted, but had a stand-out effort in the Spring game. He was also a three-star recruit.

UMass returns five safeties with game experience.  It appears we add two excellent players with Amara and Burch. The Minutemen were #120 in pass defense efficiency in 2016. We played pretty well against the SEC opponents, but got smoked by Troy and Louisiana Tech. We gave up some long completions in winnable games against Tulane and Hawaii. I think Ed Pinkham was a strong hire and the UMass will play better in 2017.

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Saturday--April 22nd, 2017

Spring game highlights. Be sure to watch the opening two plays: Ford to Brennon Dingle. Also see Cycoby Burch's NFL-style toe tap his second INT.

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Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a nice write-up on the Spring game.

The UMass Daily Collegian also has a post covering the game.

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Chris Berman's visit made ESPN.

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Thanks to the UMMB for attending the game. I like the band music better than the canned stuff the speakers play.

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Friday--April 21st, 2017

#10 Brennon Dingle

#36 Cycoby Burch

Click on the images and Blogger displays a larger view.

Dan Malone has a post on the Spring Game.

Matty Vautour covers the Spring Game. Matty also has Chris Berman enjoyed coaching the Spring Game.

UMass's write-up on the game here.

I'll have a web album up in a day or so.

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As both Malone and Vautour said, with a split squad it the game was more of less a scrimmage.

However, I thought a couple of players stood out. We've been hearing Brennon Dingle was good. In the Spring game he was the best offensive player on the field. He went 8-109 including a nifty opening series from Andrew Ford. UMass fans are going to like him.

On defense, I thought Cycoby Burch stood out. He's another three-star recruit who redshirted last year. Burch finished the night with 2 INT's 4 UT's and 1 BKUP. The Minutemen defensive secondary was a liability last year. Burch looked like an impact player among defensive backs.

Marquis Young looked bigger and stronger running the ball. JUCO QB Michael Curtis and Randall West floated some passes that led to interceptions. Ford only played one or two series. Many potential starters sat out the game or played only a little.

Nobody got hurt.

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Earlier in the day Adam Breneman and Steve Casali were named recipients of the new Michael Bowland Award

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How Kansas State's Bill Snyder's unconventional recruiting strategy keeps the Wildcats competitive. UMass' situation is similar to Kansas State's. Both schools need all the recruiting streams they can manage.

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Saturday--February 6th, 2016

SB Nation looks at returning experience and production for 2016 and finds UMass dead last in college football.

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Cycoby Burch makes one writer's best names team.

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ODU announces its 2016 and the article reminds Minutemen fans of a painful episode.

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Victor Cruz discusses his future with the Giants.

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UMass ended up with 247Sports #78 ranking in college football recruiting. That's three notches behind Boston College.

Thought experiment. Here's BC's recruits. Would you take the Minutemen's or BC's?

BC ended up last in the ACC (by a fairly large margin).

Speaking of the Eagles, Paul Pasqualoni (former Syracuse and UConn HC) joins the Boston College staff.

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UConn ended up last in AAC (but it was close).

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College football considers expanding replay's for the targeting rule.

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Recruiting 2016--Optimus Prime weekend #1

Bob McGovern has a post on UMass' recruiting weekend event. I've blogged about most of the attendees.

Cut-and-paste from McGovern's article. Links are to my coverage in the blog.

Cycoby Burch (ATH), Oak Ridge (FL) - Committed 
Isaiah Rodgers (CB), Blake (FL) - Committed 
Tyshaun Ingram (RB), Winter Park (FL) - Committed 
Antoine Brooks (ATH), Duval (MD) 
Jesse Britt (ATH/WR/RB), Auburndale (FL) 
Tyrek Tisdale (RB), Oak Ridge (FL) 
Chris Tooley (CB), Oak Ridge (FL) 
Shakur Cooper (OLB/DE), Coral Gables (FL) 
Bakhari Goodson (CB), Wekiva (FL) 
Sadiq Palmer (WR), Red Bank (NJ) 
Taylor Riggins (RB/OLB), Aquinas Institute (NY) 
Charly Timite (DE), Simon Gratz (PA) 
Antoine Webster (ATH/S), American (FL) 
Jordan Young (QB), Coatesville (PA)

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Ricky Carioti image

Antoine Brooks is a 6-0 205 pound athlete from Duval HS in Maryland.

247 Sports page here.

Hudl.com has lots of video.

Suffered a compound fracture of his leg in October.

This article also covers his injury.

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Scout.com image

Jesse Britt is a 5-10 177 pound athlete from Auburndale, FL.

247 Sports page here.

Hudl.com has senior highlights.

Partial quote from a Scout.com article dated this Tuesday:

Britt has three final schools and is going to take a close look at each before deciding. 

“Right now, I’m looking at Arizona, University of Massachusetts and Western Kentucky," he said. "I like all three of those places and I’ve got a decision to make.

"The coaches are a big part of everything for me because all the staffs are great and they think I can play a lot of different positions because of my athleticism.”


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Orlando Sentinel image

Chris Tooley is a 6-0 180 pound DB from Oak Ridge HS in FL.

247Sports page here.

Hudl,com has video highlights.

This article from June 2015 features Tooley.

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247 Sports image

Shakur Cooper is a 6-0 200 pound OLB from Orlando, FL.

247 Sports page here.

Hudl.com has senior highlights.

This article from his junior season features Cooper.

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ESPN image

Bakhari Goodson is a 6-0 170 pound DB from Wekiva HS in FL.

Hudl.com page here.

MaxPreps page here.

Orlando Sentinel All-District.

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247Sports image

Antoine Webster, a 6-0 185 pound DB/Athlete from American HS in Florida.

247Sports three-star player.

Hudl.com has video.

Rivals.com three-star player.

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Ron Cortes image

Jordan Young is a 6-3 210 pound dual-threat QB from Coatsville, PA.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has senior highlights.

MaxPreps has stats.

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Recruiting 2016---Cycoby Burch III

I've blogged about Cycoby Burch, a 6-1 185 pound DB from Orlando Oak Ridge HS in Florida, a couple of times before.

The Orlando Sentinel reports Burch has been chosen to play on Team USA in the 2016 International Bowl.

Quote from the article:

Burch, a 6-foot-1, 185-pound defensive back who can play strong or free safety, is ranked No. 37 in the Sentinel's 2016 Central Florida Super60 and he is the No. 78-ranked safety in the country by 247Sports.com's composite rankings. He is a physical player who likes to come up on the run and also loves blitz packages, which will be a big plus in the UMass scheme.

Information about the International Bowl here.

Recruiting 2016--Cycoby Burch II

Orlando Sentinel image

On Tuesday I blogged about Cycoby Burch, a 6-1 190 pound safety verbaling to UMass.

Hustle Belt has a post on Burch's signing.

Burch was ranked #36 in the Orlando Sentinel's 2016 Central Florida Super 60.

Recruiting 2016--Cycoby Burch verbals to UMass

Burch #6/Don Montague image

Bob McGovern reports Cycoby Burch, a 6-1 190 pound safety from Oakridge HS in Orland, FL has committed to the Minutemen.

McGovern's story here.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

Burch was interested in Syracuse before the coaching change.

This article from Oakridge features Burch.

Burch had 17 offers including Power Five schools West Virginia, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Indiana and Syracuse.