One week to letter-of-intent day

One week to go until the 2007 class of recruits is signed.

UMass picked up what could be the top recruit in I-AA when Matt Vautour confirmed that Navy safety Jeromy Miles has transferred to UMass (scroll to middle of article). I've blogged about him before (scroll down).

UMass will use another scholarship on 6-7 270 pd Ben Coblyn who has transferred from BU.

Also re-joining the Minutemen this year is Bryan Smith. He was a highly rated recruit who had received a number of I-A offers.

Not listed on this year's roster is Victor Cruz, who was ineligible last year. If he returns, he would be an impact player for the 2007 Minutemen. Originally recruited in 2005, he was probably the top-rated recruit of that class.

I-AA allows 63 scholarships spread over a maximum of 85 players, so the "ideal" class is 17 recruits. Next week at this time, we will know how Coach Brown spent his remaining scholarships.

UPDATE: As you know, I have only one non-football site in my "links" sidebars. It's Dave Berry's website. Please read this story because A -- it's about football and B-- he still cracks me up. Dave Berry goes to Super bowl Media Day .

Great Performances 2006---- Liam Coen

In the race to the National Championship game, it was easy to loose track of individual performances in 2006.

Our QB Liam Coen had a banner year. The following statistics are unofficial . Remember he's just a sophomore...

• Threw for 3,016 yards in 2006 (3rd all time for single season yard--dropping Jeff Krohn's 2961 in 2003 to 4th place)
• 5,191 Career yards places him 3rd in total career yards passing ---behind Dave Palazzi's 5,402 career yards)
• 65.0% completion average places him 1st in season average---he also holds 2nd place 63.9% in 2005)
• 217 Completions in 2006 places him 4th---- just ahead of Tim Day's 194 in 2004)
• 160.52 Efficiency rating places him 1st-----by a large margin over Greg Landry's 145.4 in 1965)
• 26 TD Passes in 2006 makes him 3rd all time single season---behind Jeff Krohn's 28 in 2003)
• 36 Career TD's places him 4th all time----behind Peil Pennington's 38 in '71-73
• 1st in yards passing by a sophomore----destroying Tim Bryant's 1,430 in 1986
  

Hopefully he'll have another great season in 2007!

Moreshead verbals to UMass

Ryan Moreshead a 6-2 230 pd LB has verbaled to UMass. I previously blogged about him on Jan. 11, 2007.

Moreshead was an All-Scholastic, Defensive MVP of the Hockomock League and a member of the "Coaching Top-26" given to the best 26 players in Mass.

Chose UMass over Delaware, Hofstra and URI.

Welcome to UMass Ryan. You made the right choice!

Mark Whipple let go by the Steelers

Former UMass head coach Mark Whipple was replaced as QB coach of the Steelers earlier this week.

Whipple's UMass bio is here . As usual, Matty Vautour has the best take on Whipple's situation (along with some UMass football news) here .

Whipple has stated that he considers Arizona his home. This Blog thinks he would like to land a head coaching or OC job at with PAC1o team

Football Gathering a success

A large and enthusiastic group of UMass Football fans gathered at the UMass Club in Boston last night to celebrate the success of the UMass Football team in 2006.

Coach Brown spoke as did UMass President Wilson. Also speaking with the Chairman of the Board of Umass Trustees. UMass players in attendance were Liam Coen, Matt Austin, Charles Walker, Mike Meggett and John Hatchell (hopefully I didn't miss anybody). As I have said before, the UMass players are impressive young men to talk to.

It was wonderful to meet and talk with other UMass fans and members of the UMass administration.

This blog encourages all UMass Football Fans to join the UMass Friends of Football and the UMass Alumni Association. It's not just the $$$, it's the support that those organizations can point to in the on-going struggle to make good things happen for the team and the University.

It costs $900 for two season tickets to Montana football (cost of tickets and a large mandatory contribution to the athletic dept). UMass fans can make an impact for far less...

UPDATE: I forgot. Coach Brown brought a 2006 highlight film produced by the same people that do NFL Highlights. It was great. Brown said it would be shown to all the 2007 recruits.

Hopefully, the athletic dept will make it available to UMass fans. I would certainly make a donation to the athletic fund for a copy.

UPDATE II: The Alumni Club has some images here .

Boston Media reports the 2007 UMass-BC Game

Without comment we give you the Boston Media reports of the release of Boston College's 2007 schedule.

The Boston Globe is here . "The University of Massachusetts, which lost the Division 1-AA championship game, visits The Heights Sept. 29."

And the Boston Herald is here . "UMass, coming off a trip to the Division 1-AA championship game, will be at Alumni Stadium for the second time in four years on Sept. 29. "

UPDATE: A Eagles blogger comments ...

UPDATE II: College Football News has BC rated #19 in their early 2007 ratings.

Jeremy Cain signs with the Eagles

Former UMass LB Jeremy Cain has been picked up by the Philadelphia Eagles after being released by the Chicago Bears.

His NFL page is here.

Jeromy Miles---- Possible Navy Transfer

Sources say Jeromy Miles a 6-2 189 Safety from Navy is considering transferring to UMass.

Miles is an outstanding player. He was the All-East Freshman-of-the-Year.Miles was also an Honorable Mention Freshman All-American .

Miles' stats for 2006 13 g 23 ST 33 At 61 TT 2.5 TFL 2-52 INT 1 BrUp.

He is also considering Bowling Green.

Jeromy! UMass has defensive genius Don Brown at Head Coach. Coaching defensive backs is Bob Shoop, former defensive back coach at Boston College and a former head coach at Columbia.

Hope you choose UMass!

UPDATE 1/25/07: It's official. He's been given his release by Navy. Article here .

UPDATE II: Our source, Adam Nettina runs a high-quality Navy Blog here . It's definitely worth adding to your "favorites" list.

Baylark in East-West Shrine Game Part II

A visitor named Football1 left a link to a recap of the Shrine Game on DraftDaddy.com on the other Shrine game article (scroll down) that pretty much matches what we were saying here. Nice to see draftniks discovering Baylark.

Baylark had an impressive game. The analysis on DraftDaddy does not mention how well Baylark can catch the ball out of the backfield. That gives him an extra dimension over some backs.

NY Giants Defensive Coordinator has UMass Roots

Eagles linebacker coach Steve Spagnuolo has been chosen as Defensive Coordinator by the NY Giants.

This article quotes former UMass DE and Assistant Coach Steve Telander about Spagnuolo.

The Boston Globe has a 2005 article about him as Eagles Linebacker Coach here.

This is Telander's bio from the 1983 UMass Press guide "Steve Telander graduated from UMass in January of 1979. During his four years at UMass he was named to the 1978 All-ECAC Team, All-New England in 1978 and All-Yankee Conference in 1975. He played Defensive end for the Minutemen. Since Graduation from UMass, Telander has been an assistant coach at Dartmouth and head football coach at Hanover High School."

Spagnuolo as a graduate assistant coach, apparently did not rate a bio in the then pretty sparse press guide. I believe both Telander and Spagnuolo followed two year UMass head coach Bob Stull to UTEP when he left.

Recruiting 2007 Zach Wilson and Roger Williams

The Cape Cod Online has a recruiting article here about local players being recruited by local colleges.

Several entries mention UMass:

"ZACH WILSON, Barnstable, senior - This fullback/defensive lineman is a repeat Old Colony League All-Star ... Big (6-4, 250) and strong ... Led Red Raiders with 700 rushing yards ... Led team in scoring with seven TDs ... Moved from linebacker to line when team needed him ... Also catches for baseball team ... Getting looks for football from UMass, Maine, Northeastern and Bryant, among others."

"ROGER WILLIAMS, Dennis-Yarmouth, senior - Atlantic Coast League All-Star ... Moved up from Louisiana as a junior after Hurricane Katrina ... Kicked school record 47-yard field goal, breaking his old mark of 40 set last year ... Kickoffs usually reach the end zone ... Good edge player on defense ... Being looked at by Albany, UMass, UNH and Maine for his kicking
ability."

And maybe a couple of two sport athletes?

"JAMES HAMILTON, Cape Tech/Harwich, senior - What more can be said about this Mayflower Large Schools All-Star and Boston Globe Div. 3A Player of the Year? ... A 5-10, 190-pound tailback who rushed for school records of 2,322 yards this season, 4,318 yards for his career ... Had 34 TDs and 214 points this season to lead division ... Averaged 9 yards per carry ... Very tough to bring down; rarely did first tackler do so ... Plays baseball and basketball ''¦ Pitched Harwich to state title last spring ... Choosing between UMass-Amherst and Eastern Connecticut for baseball."

The Pittsburg Post Gazette has an article here about Basketball recruiting.

"Steffphon Pettigrew, a 6-5 senior at Elizabethtown, Ky. who made a visit to Duquesne in the fall but didn't sign a national letter of intent, is the leading candidate for Mr. Basketball in Kentucky. He leads the state in scoring (35.6 ppg) and rebounding (14.3 rpg). Pettigrew set a school record with 54 points against John Hardin earlier this month and has scored more than 40 points in six other games. Duquesne, Bradley, South Carolina State and Western Kentucky have been heavily recruiting Pettigrew and New Mexico State, Mississippi and UMass have recently gotten involved. Kentucky has only offered him a chance to be a walk-on and Louisville is interested in him for football."

Baylark plays tonight in the East-West Shrine Game

Steve Baylark plays tonight at the East-West Shrine game at 7:00 on ESPN2.

His competitors teammates at RB on the East Squad are: Alonzo Coleman (Hampton), Tyrone Moss (Miami), fullback Jesse Allen (Virginia Tech) and Jason Snelling Virginia.

UPDATE: The UMass Athletic Dept has an article about Baylark and the game here . He will wear #23 in the Red uniforms.

UPDATE Sunday 1/21: Baylark had a great game! He led all East RB's with 7 carries for 32 yards 4.6 yards/carry. He also caught the only ball that was thrown to him for 10 yards and a first down. So Steve ended up with 42 total yards. The East run blocking stunk. Baylark had 27 yards one carry (I think the longest run by ANY TB in the game). He got about four yards on another run. He had ZERO blocking on his other five carries.

The East's offense stunk.They only had 60 yards of total rushing. The Associated Press box score of the game is here .

UNH's David Ball had three catches for 80 yards. He made one of his patented climb-the-ladder catches for the best catch of the game.

Delaware' TE Patrick was under unitized. He ended up with 2 catches for 27 yards. The I-AA contingent seemed to be QB'd mostly by Gutierrez from Idaho State and he did not have a good game going 8/19 67 yards. He found Patrick for a catch more or less by accident. Baylark was open out of the backfield on nearly every play. On his only catch, he clapped his hands to attract Gutierrez' attention...

Brown's Zac Deozzie had an excellent game. He was a star on special teams and was around the ball all day on defense.

Be still my heart!!!

Be still my freakin' heart.

Relevant quote from the article:"Now, as UMass seeks to replace and renovate aging classroom and research buildings and possibly build a new football stadium if a move to take the Division 1-AA Minutemen into big league Division 1 gathers momentum, university officials are more confident than at any time in recent history of more support from the state."

One week until football gathering at the UMass Club in Boston

On January 18 the UMass Club will be hosting the Boston UMass Alumni chapter to honor Coach Brown and the team.

The alumni association press release is here . Register here .

Complimentary wine, beer and hors d'oeuvres will be served (very good the last time I was there).

This blog will be there. Please all local UMass fans make an effort to be there to support Coach Brown and team.

A couple of new UMass football items in the Campus Store

The online UMass store has two new UMass football items. The National Championship t-shirt is different from the one I bought in Chattanoogna, but still nice.

There is a UMass hoodie sweatshirt that I'll pick up on my next trip to Amherst.

Show your UMass football colors!

Meanwhile ---- in the rest of the A10/CAA

Hofstra verbaled the highest rated QB to sign with a I-AA team so far t his year.

Delaware has six verbals .

James Madison has one .

New Hampshire has four .

Rhody Island has one .

Richmond has one .

Towson has a two star QB .

Villanova has six verbals w/four two star recruits .

William & Mary has two verbals .

UMass, Maine and Northeastern have none listed so far.

Recruiting 2007 -- Tremayne Graham WR/CB

UMass is recruiting Tremayne Graham a wide receiver/Defensive back from Parkview Panthers High School (check out their weight room in the gallery section). Story here .

He was a CSS/Chevy All-Georgia DB.

Also being recruited by Chattanooga and Richmond.

Tremayne, we hope you choose UMass. The minuteman have one of the best DB coaches in football with Bob Shoop .

The Return of Bryan Smith

Matt Vautour has reported the return of Bryan Smith TB to the UMass football program. He played one season for UMass in 2004.

Bryan is the twin brother of Brandon Smith who had an excellent career as a free safety for the Minutemen.

When Bryan was originally recruited, he was the higher rated player. He received offers from several I-A schools.

This is a cut-and-paste from the original UMass recruiting press release.

"Bryan Smith Fr. TB 6-2 190 Bayonne, N.J. / Bayonne H.S. He enrolled at UMass for the spring semester, and will take part in spring practice ... Played for coach Ricardo Rodriguez at Bayonne High School, in Bayonne, N.J. ... Rushed 208 times for 1,687 yards and 26 touchdowns during his senior season, averaging 8.1 yards per carry ... Also intercepted three passes as a defensive back, returning one for a touchdown ... Had career totals of 3,336 rushing yards and 52 touchdowns ... Served as team captain during senior year, when team won the New Jersey Group 4 Section 2 championship ... Named Hudson County Running Back of the Year as a senior ... Earned third team All-State honors from the Associated Press ... Named to the Tri-State Select 22 High School Heisman Team ... Selected All-Hudson County and All-Conference following junior and senior seasons ... Also played basketball at Bayonne, averaging 19 points per game as a junior ... Identical twin of UMass freshman Brandon Smith. "Bryan is another outstanding running back from New Jersey, who we feel can make a major impact on our program. He is an outstanding athlete, like Marcel Shipp and R.J. Cobbs, but has more height and speed. Bryan is a very natural runner who sets up his blocks very well with his patience and outstanding vision. He is a home run hitter, who is a legitimate threat to score every time he touches the ball." - UMass running backs coach Mike Cassano "

If Smith can return to the form he had when we initially recruited him, he would be an impact player for UMass.

Welcome back Bryan!

Recruiting 2007--- Ryan Moreshead LB

Interested in UMass is Ryan Moreshead, a 6-2 230 pd LB from Foxboro. The Boston Herald bio is here .

Moreshead had 302 career tackles, 12 sacks and 5 INT. Being recruited by UMass, Hofstra, Delaware and URI.

This article mentions him (at the end). He was also a member of the Herald's All-Eastern Mass team.

Ryan, hope you play for the home team!

Recruiting 2007-- Will Nagle OL/DL

Being recruited by UMass is Will Nagle a 6-4 260 pd OL/DL from Marshfield.

Start here with the Boston Herald.

Articles mentioning him are here and here (Herald's All-Eastern Mass team).

Will---hope you choose the Minutemen!

Besides UMass, Nagle is being recruited by a number of A10 schools.