UMass Football Recruiting 2025--Romando Johnson commits to UMass

 

Romando Johnson, a 6-3 245 strong-side DE transfer from West Virginia has committed to UMass.

247Sports page here. 

Mountaineers bio here. 

Johnson could be the top transfer signing of this period. He was a high three-star player and was ranked a top-100 recruit in Florida.  He received 30 offers (!), including Boston College, Cincinnati, Florida, Louisville, Miami, Mississippi State, Penn State, Pitt, Purdue, Rutgers, Syracuse, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Wake Forest and Wisconsin.

Defensive end has been a long-time weakness in UMass' FBS era. Johnson could be an impact player for the Minutemen and in the MAC. 

UMass Football News--June 5th, 2024

 A Mississippi State site on 247Sports ranks the Bulldogs' 2024 opponents and has UMass behind FCS Eastern Kentucky.

Gotta love SEC guys.

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As you probably heard, former UMass HC Walt Bell has been hired as offensive coordinator for the Western Michigan Broncos.

Bell was fired about halfway through last season as OC of Indiana. After the season the Hoosiers also fired their HC and the rest of the staff. Indiana is currently ranked last in the new eighteen-team Big Ten. The down side of the super conferences is that teams like Indiana have to co-exist with Michigan, Ohio State, USC, Iowa and Penn State. The best the Hoosiers can hope for is a .500 Big Ten season.

Bell will have more talent at Western Michigan than he had at UMass. He inherited a depleted roster in the low 50's in scholarship players. 

At Western Michigan, Bell has transfer QB Hayden Wolff who has over 5,000 career yards and 30 TD's at Old Dominion. He also get MAC Freshman-of-the-Year RB Jalen Buckley who totaled over 1,000 yards in 2023. First Team All-MAC WR Kenneth Wolmack is also on the roster.

The Broncos also return four of five starting offensive linemen, which is always a good thing. The bad thing is the Broncos schedule. They open at Wisconsin and then Ohio State, which is a great way to get your team beaten up. Also, they only play five home games, so I don't expect Western Michigan to improve much on their 4-8 2023 record.

UMass and Western Michigan do not play in 2024, but the Minutemen and the Broncos should hook up shortly when UMass joins the MAC in 2025.

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The Big Ten's and SEC's plot to take over the college football playoffs seems on hold.

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UMass Football News--January 3rd, 2023

 Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has an interview with transfer OL Heston Edwards.

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Bowl games for 2023 UMass opponents continue not to go well.

A big, physical Penn State team was handled by Mississippi. Ole Mis rang up almost 600 yards of offense and the Nittany Lions trailed all game.

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Auburn was down 21-0 in the first quarter and was never in the game in a loss to Maryland.

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Oregon dominated Liberty in the Fiesta Bowl. A Ducks defender absolutely lit up Flames QB Kaidon Salter early in the game and he never looked the same after the hit.

After the game Salter also announced he would be entering the transfer portal.

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UMass Football News--December 5th, 2023

 

Former UMass CB Jordan Mahoney says he's not being overlooked any more.

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Dequan Finn, Toledo QB and MAC Player-of-the-year will enter the transfer portal. 

Finn is probably looking for a Power Five landing spot. UMass will play the Rockets again in 2024 on September 7th in Toledo. 

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2023 opponent Auburn will play Maryland in the Nashville Music City bowl. 

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Penn State, UMass' other 2023 Power Five opponent, will play #11 Ole Miss in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. The Nittany Lions ended up #1 in the country in total defense, first downs allowed, sacks and sacks per game.

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Reactions to Alabama getting in the playoffs over Florida State.

The coming 12-team playoff is not enough. FBS needs a FCS-style (and like DII and DIII) 16-team playoff. The five FBS league champs, plus the six Group-of-Five champs, plus five of the highest rated remaining teams. That would be a fan and media monster.. 

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UMass Football News--October 5th, 2023

 

The UMass-UConn game on 11/25/23 is looking like a really important game for both sides..

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Doc's Sports thinks UMass will cover the 20-point spread.

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Nittanylionswire.com has kickoff times and TV info for UMass-Penn State.

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The Daily Collegian says UMass plans to take it one game at a time as they prepare for Toledo.

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The NCAA makes changes to the transfer portal rule. This will probably cut down mid-season losses like UConn has suffered.

The NCAA has also made changes to FBS membership requirements. Note the $5 million fee for moving from FCS to FBS.  There has been talk of Delaware moving to FBS. On Hens fan sites there has speculation UMass and Delaware would try a package deal on a conference affiliation.

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UMass Football News--August 12th, 2023

 

The Hampshire Gazette says the UMass football team is making strides during preseason.

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New Mexico State's defense looks to reload with transfers from Penn State and Arizona. The Aggies defense lost nine starters to graduation and the transfer portal off season.

Mountain West Wire previews the 2023 Mexico State Aggies.

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The Fighting Irish Wire looks at the helmets of the four independents and decides UMass is the worst and Nortre Dame's the best. Go figure.

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2023 opponent Arkansas State holds the first full pad practice of Fall camp.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail previews the Arkansas State Red Wolves. 

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Fox Sports looks at the over & under and win totals for UConn. The Huskies play four Power Five opponents: North Carolina, Duke, BC and Tennessee. UConn plays James Madison (8-3 last year), Sacred Heart and UMass in their last three games. Going 3-0 will probably give the Huskies another bowl game.

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A 247Sports writer says the era of transfer quarterbacks is upon us.

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UMass Football News--May 16th, 2023

 

Ellis Merriweather signs with the New Orleans Saints. If Merriweather is healthy, I would not be surprised to see him stick with an NFL team.

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a post on Merriweather's signing. 

MassLive has a story on Merriweather's contract. Not paywalled, amazingly.

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Penn State's running back duo ranked among the nation's best by 247Sports.

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2023 opponent Arkansas State adds a DL transfer from Princeton. 

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The PAC-12 may be adding a team shortly.

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UMass Football News --Ides of May 2023

 Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a post about recent 2024 commit Tanner Burlingame. 

I don't think I included this short question-and-answer with Burlingame in my blog post about him verbaling. 

Coach Brown has made some impressive  improvements to the Minutemen's talent and roster depth. Offensive line remains maybe the main on-going project. Burlingame is an athletic big man and hopefully he will have a rewarding career with UMass.

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UConn's head coach says the transfer portal "is a challenge for us".

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2023 opponent Penn State is planning a $700 million makeover for Beaver Stadium. 

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Killer Frogs predicts 2023 MAC opponent Toledo to win the MAC championship.

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UMass Football News--May 13th, 2023

 Josh Screiber from WMUA sports and also broadcaster for the UMass Women's basketball basketball network breaks down UMass QB Carlos Davis.

One of the many great things about college football---arguing about who should start at QB :)

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Outkick predicts 2023 opponent Auburn to have 6.5 wins this year. 

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Yard Barker has Penn State as #5 in a 2023 preseason ranking.

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Miami Ohio (UMass' 2023 home opener opponent) adds a WR transfer from Michigan State.

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College Football News previews the 2023 Eastern Michigan Eagles and predicts seven wins. 

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UMass Football News--Febuary 3rd, 2023

 The UMass Daily Collegian says Don Brown leaned heavily on the transfer portal for his second recruiting class.

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FBS Schedules reports UMass officially announces its 2023 schedule. 

UMass official announcement here.

2023 Football Schedule
Aug. 26     at New Mexico State 
Sept. 2     at Auburn 
Sept. 9      Miami (Ohio) 
Sept. 16     at Eastern Michigan 
Sept. 23     New Mexico 
Sept. 30     Arkansas State  
Oct. 7      Toledo 
Oct. 14      at Penn State  
Oct. 28     at Army 
Nov. 4     Merrimack 
Nov. 18     at Liberty 
Nov. 25     UConn  

UMass has two byes: Oct 21st after Penn State and November 11th after Merrimack. The bye after Penn State should help in recovery and bye after Merrimack comes before the last two games of the season and winning one of them would help morale.

The Minutemen should be competitive with New Mexico State, Miami (Ohio), Eastern Michigan, New Mexico, Arkansas State, Merrimack and UConn.

Toledo competes for the MAC crown nearly every year and Liberty should be (again) one to the Group-of-Five's top teams.

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2023 opponent Merrimack adds Virginia-Lynchburg to its schedule.

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Meanwhile, Boston College fires their OL coach.

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UMass Football News--January 21st, 2023

Twitter image

 Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a post and interviews with senior transfer LB Jerry Roberts.

The UMass defense made a remarkable turnaround under Coach Brown last season. Still, the Minutemen could use experience and athleticism everywhere. Roberts, with 18 starts for a Power Five school brings another dimension to the UMass defense. He's played for Don Brown before and being a senior adds maturity and judgement to his play. He should be able to showcase his talents in Brown's attacking defense.

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UConn lands Maine transfer QB Joe Fagnano. He went 16-27 209 yards and 2 TD's in the Black Bears's 35-10 win over UMass in 2021.

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The Victory Bell Rings has three reasons why 2023 opponent Penn State will make the CFP. 

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College Football News has UMass last in its 2023 preseason poll.

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UMass Football News--January 9th, 2023

 

Arizona athletic dept image

Mike Traini, of "Fight Massachusetts" has an interview and post about transfer LB Jermaine Wiggins.

During UMass' tenure in FBS, we've had an effective offense for about four of those years (during Whipple's coaching), but the UMass defense has not been even MAC-level. This despite the fact that most of our wins were defensive grinds.

Coach Brown is building a defense that compete in FBS. Jermaine Wiggins is a 6-3 230 pound DE/LB that has Power Five ability.

He should be a good fit and he is familiar with Coach Brown and Coach Dudzinski. With four years of eligibility he is in the position to make an impact and have his career remembered by UMass fans. I've been ranting here for years about UMass' lack of contain on the defensive ends. I'm looking forward to seeing him play for the Minutemen.

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Former UMass OL Max Longman joins coach Bell at Indiana.

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The Action Network has 2023 opponent Penn State as #7 in an early pre-season power ranking. 

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UMass Football News--December 29th, 2022

Princeton athletic dept image

 Connor Scaglione, a 6-4 305 pound transfer OL from Princeton has a UMass offer.

Scaglione started all ten games in 2022 for the Tigers. Also 2022 All-Ivy. 

He has one year of eligibility and would provide some senior leadership and experience to the Minutemen offensive. Plus a chance to play against Auburn and Penn State..

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Did Notre Dame tamper with Sam Hartman?

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UMass Football Recruiting 2022--Cam Sullivan-Brown transfers to UMass

 

 

Cam Sullivan-Brown, a 6-1 180 pound WR from Penn State has transferred to UMass.

247Sports page here.

Penn State bio here. 

This post by Nittany Lions Wire covers his entry into the transfer portal.

Sullivan-Brown is a six-year "Super Senior". He should supply some leadership to a very young Minutemen team. He could also bring some spark to a UMass offense that struggled mightily in 2021.

UMass Football News--April 4th, 2022

 

UMass Athletic Dept image

UMass has Spring Practice Notebook #1.

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The latest version of the Spring roster is up.

Transfer numbers:

Marcus Cushnie DL from Florida State is wearing #0.

Greg Desrosiers RB from Rutgers is wearing #36.

George Johnson WR from Michigan is wearing #4.

Darius Gooden DB from Rutgers is wearing #28.

Isaiah Holiness WR from San Jose State is wearing #84.

Marcus Bradley DL from Vanderbilt is wearing #1. 

Zukudo Igwneagu LB from Rutgers is wearing $10.

Tyler Rudolph S from Penn State is wearing #2.

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Penn State transfer QB Ta'Quon roberson wants to start for UConn.

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UMass Football News --January 22nd, 2022

 Taking OV's to UMass this weekend will be Minutemen commits CB Cornelius Wright and RB Donta Whack.

Also visiting will be OT Nikko Pohahau from City College of San Francisco. Pohahau has a UMass offer, but has not committed so far.

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This article mentions incoming Penn State transfer Tyler Rudolph.

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UMass adds Mike Livingston as a defensive analyst and special teams coach.

The Minutemen also adds Matt Zanellato as a offensive analyst and assistant wide receivers coach.

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College Football News has UMass last in their 2021 final power rankings.

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UMass Football News--January 19th, 2022

 The Manteca Bulletin has a post on JUCO QB Gino Campiotti joining the Minutemen.

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Inside NU previews four transfer portal players to Northwestern including former UMass DL Taishan Holmes.

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247Sports has a post on former UMass LS Evan Deckers joining Duke. 

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Virginia Tech adds former UMass assistant coach Brian Christ to their football staff. Christ coached WR's and TE's in two stints with the Minutemen 1996-2001 and 2007-2011.

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The Centre Daily has a mention of Penn State incoming and outgoing transfers including UMass commit Tyler Rudolph.

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UMass Football News--March 10th, 2021

 Penn Lives reports former All-American TE Adam Breneman is a rising star as an assistant coach at Arizona State.

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2021 opponent New Mexico State scored with 21 seconds left to defeat FCS Dixie State 36-29. The Aggies are 1-1 in Spring football.

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2021 opponent Maine got shellacked by Delaware 37-0 in the Black Bears opening Spring game.

2021 opponent Rhode Island opens this Saturday at Villanova.

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UConn starts their Spring program after a winter of strength training.

The Hartford Courant says the Huskie defense, despite losing three of their top-10 tacklers  to the transfer portal, will be better this year.

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UMass Football News--May 7th, 2020

UMass Athletics inage

Colts.com wonders if Isaiah Rogers will be lighting in a bottle for Indianapolis.

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UTSA adds former UMass WR Brennon Dingle as a grad transfer.

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The Oakland Express thinks if college football returns in the Fall it will be have a patchwork of schedules.

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Penn State's HC James Franklin thinks even in-conference it'll be every school for itself.

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At least 18 schools with FBS football have taken cost-cutting measures to deal with the pandemic crisis.

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Temple, the team UMass would like to  emulate, had a record setting NFL draft.

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Liberty, a school with high athletic plans, continues to roll. The Flames won a bowl game in their second year in FBS. In addition, the Liberty men's hoops has won 59 games in the past two seasons.

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UMass Football News--February 4th, 2020

Tomorrow is LOI Day. I'm going to attend the UMass Signing Day event and I'll report on it latter in the week.

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College Football News ranks all college football coaches for the 2019 season.

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Former UMass coach Sean Spencer has joined the NY Giants coaching staff.

Sean Spencer's move to the NFL leaves a huge void at Penn State.

I've blogged about Spencer many times here. You can use the "search" box at the top right of the blog page to find posts about Spencer.

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Former UMass player and coach Ben Albert is a possible replacement for Spencer at Penn State. Same deal on the search box.

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Two dozen UConn players have left for the transfer portal since the end of the 2019 season.

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Last Word on Football reviews 2020 opponent Troy's last decade of college football.

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It was a tense year between New Mexico coach Bob Davie and the school's administration in 2019.

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