Recruiting 2018--Jehlani Galloway

Twitter image

Jehalani Galloway, a 6-1 175 pound WR from Providence, R.I. has Tweeted he's received an offer from UMass.

Hudl.com has video.

MaxPreps has stats.

Rivals.com page here.

247Sports page here.

Besides UMass, Galloway has offers from BC and Army.

Tuesday--February 28th, 2017

Congrats to the Fall sports programs!

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Mississippi State gives HC Dan Muellen a four-year contract extension.

The Bulldogs QB Nick Fitzgerald will be All-Sec in 2017 reports a SEC analyst. UMass meets Mississippi State in Starkville on November 4th.

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SB Nation has the Spring practice start date and Spring game dates for about half of the Minutemen's schedule.

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Recruiting 2018--Ryan Betro

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Ryan Betro, a 6-4 280 pound OG/DT from Lawrence Academyin MA has Tweeted he's received an offer from UMass. Betro was on campus this weekend for UMass' Junior Day

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

This article features Betro.

Betro holds an offer from Syracuse. This article on Syracuse recruiting mentions him.

Partial quote from a Scout.com article dated 02/06/17 by Brian Dohn:

"Groton (Mass.) Lawrence Academy's Ryan Betro already has holds offers from Syracuse and Sacred Heart, and he is getting interest from Boston College and Connecticut. He made recent unofficial visits to Syracuse and Boston College."

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Monday--February 27th, 2017

UMass has a Junior Day in Amherst yesterday. A number of recruits picked up UMass offers. I'll start covering the offers this week.

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has written he'll provide a list of the attendees.

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Phil Steele has a list of returning starters on all FBS teams. The Minutemen are in the middle of the pack with 6 offense and 8 defensive starters returning.

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In 2017, hopefully the "Didgeridude Guy" will actually come to the stadium and play his instrument.

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iSportsWeb.com says Victor Cruz makes sense for the Patriots.

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Saturday--February 25th, 2017

UMass formally announces Ed Pinkham joins the Minutemen staff as defensive coordinator.

I'll add more updates as they happen.

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OT, but the Old Chapel is finally open. I plan on taking a look when I'm on campus this fall.

Recruiting 2018--Jordan Fredericks

Daily Orange image

Matty Vautour reports former Syracuse RB Jordan Fredericks officially visits UMass this weekend.

Fredericks was a three-star RB from Inwood, NY.

247Sports has his rushing stats for Syracuse.

A Syracuse fan site discusses his leaving the Orange.

Recruiting 2018---Finn Dirstine

Rivals.com image

Several recruiting services indicate UMass has offered to Finn Dirstine, a 6-5 320 pound OG from Lawrence Academy in MA.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video. Note the 4.8 forty for a 320 pound OL.

Partial quote from a 02/06/17 Scout.com article by Brian Dohn:

"Finn Dirstine, an offensive guard from Groton (Mass.) Lawrence, holds a handful of offers, including one from Boston College. Beating the in-state Eagles is always tough for schools, but Illinois, Miami, Syracuse, Massachusetts and Yale each offered. Dirstine plays with power and a low pad level."

Rivals.com four-star prospect.

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Friday--February 24th, 2017

This article lists Adam Breneman as one of the top five returning TE's in college football for 2017.

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BYU, who plays UMass in 2019 adds Tennessee to their schedule. UMass will visit Neyland Stadium on September 23rd. Mrs Blog and I already have plans to attend. The Minutemen will end their 2017 season against BYU on November 18th.

University Tennessee image.

Click on the image and Blogger displays a larger view.

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Speaking of 2019, this year's October 21st opponent Georgia Southern will add Maine to their schedule that year.

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Gator WR Dre Massey, who tore his ACL against the Minutemen last year, returns to practice.

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Ed Pinkham, our new defensive coordinator, Tweets he had a good time meeting UMass fans last night at the UMass Club.

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Recruiting 2018--Erick Hallett

Scout.com image

Erick Hallett, a 5-10 170 pound DB from Cypress, TX has Tweeted he's received an offer from UMass.

247Sports three-star player.

Hudl.com has video.

MaxPreps has stats.

NCSA has some different stats.

This article from Scout.com dated June 2016 features Hallett.

Right now, Hallett only other offer is from FVS Stephen F. Austin. Drawing interest from Texas Tech, SMU and TCU.

Recruiting 2018--Matt Valecce II

USA Today image

I've blogged about Matt Valecce, a 6-5 205 pound pro-style QB from the Bronx, NY before.

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a post with quotes from Valecce about his being recruited by UMass.

Brown is currently Valecce's only other offer.

Wednesday--February 21st, 2017

UMass season tickets for 2017 go on sale today. UMass announcement.

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a post on the season ticket changes for 2017.

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Temple's plans for a new stadium may be on hold.

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USF, the Minutemen's October 14th 2017 opponent, is coming off the best season in its program history. The Bulls may be just as good this year.

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Appalachian State, a October 28th visitor to McGuirk, will have a new co-defensive coordinator.

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Recruiting 2017--Zachary Loane II

Hudl.com image

I've blogged about Zachary Loane, a 6-0 235 pound DE from Woodlands, TX before.

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a post on Loane with some quotes by him with his reasons for becoming involved with the Minutemen program.

Loane probably didn't get the attention he deserved because of his size. Some recruiting services had him as  shorter than six feet. However, a player's height does not measure the size of his motor. James Ihedigbo walked on to UMass and became an All-American and is still playing in the NFL.

Hopefully, Loane will be on the field making tackles against SEC teams and proving wrong all the Texas schools who didn't recruit him.

Recruiting 2018--Devin Hayes

Orlando Sentinel image. Photographer unknown

Several recruiting services report UMass has offered to Devin Hayes a 6-6 250 pound OT/DE from Orlando, FL.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

MaxPreps has some stats.

This article from the Orlando Sentinel features Hayes.

Partial quote from a 11/03/16 article from Scout.com by Corey Bender about Hayes:

"Hayes is fairly raw with limited go-to moves at his disposal, but fires off the ball with decent pad level. He holds his own and flashes the ability to shed blockers and put a hat on the football, but is still in the infantile stage of his development.

"My toughness, being physical, my speed, being a team player, and being a smart player on and off the field," Hayes said when asked about his strengths as a prospect."

Besides UMass, Hayes has offers from Bowling Green, FIU, Rutgers and USF.

Tuesday---February 21st, 2017

Saw these Instagrams both on Mike Traini's Twitter feed and Coach Joe Connolly's Instagram. Mostly Minutemen players doing some heavy squats.

BTW, I'm hoping to set the New Hampshire Master 4a squat record in the 83 kilogram weight class on April 29th in the New Hampshire State Championship Powerlifting meet.

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Boston College announced yesterday A.D. Brad bates will step down at the end of the academic year.

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University of Hawii opens Spring camp.

Coastal Carolina dismisses a potential starting QB.

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Victor Cruz visits the Carolina Panthers.

The NY Post has why Cruz's visit to Carolina makes sense.

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Monday--February 20th, 2017

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When new UMass DC Ed Pinkham was coaching at Rutgers, he nearly recruited Denver QB Trevor Siemian for the Scarlet Knights. The article says Pinkham mainly recruited Florida for Rutgers.

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This article from December 2016 reports P.J. Fleck let his defensive coordinator handle the "X's and O's".

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This story from 2013 relates how Pinkham introduced his defensive system to the Western Michigan players.

Quote from the article:

"The Broncos are hoping Pinkham can find the magic he had at Rutgers, where he was the Scarlet Knights’ defensive coordinator from 2009-10. In 2009, Rutgers led the nation in tackles for loss and was second in turnover margin. The program was also in the top 20 in the country in rushing defense, scoring defense and total defense."

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Victor Cruz gets a mention from Denver.

Also drawing interest from the Carolina Panthers.

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UMass hires Ed Pinkham as defensive coordinator

Steph Anderson Chambers image

UPDATE: Ed Pinkham's Twitter feed lists him as "UMass defensive coordinator"

Matty Vautour reports UMass has hired former Western Michigan defensive coordinator Ed Pinkham for the same position with the Minutemen.

Kyle DeLuz has a post on the hiring at the UMass Daily Collegian.

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a report on Pinkham's hiring.

Pinkham's Western Michigan bio.

Was interviewed for the head coaching job with the Broncos.

Mentioned as an assistant who could move to the SEC.

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As it happens, Mrs Blog and I were talking about the potential defensive coordinator hire on the way back from Amherst yesterday. Good thing I'm not a hockey fan, between basketball and football, there have been a lot of long drives back to New Hampshire over the the last few years.

This seems to be a good hire. Pinkham was a FBS defensive coordinator for a successful team. Mrs Blog and I were speculating about a FCS guy or an internal hire. He is a veteran coach and UMass would have to pay more than for a younger man. I assume UMass AD Ryan Bamford was willing to make the extra expenditure.

Besides X's and O's, make no mistake what moved Western Michigan from 0-11 to 13-1 and a trip to the Cotton Bowl was recruiting. Hopefully, some of T.J. Fleck's recruiting prowess rubbed off on Pinkham. I have no idea what would lure recruits to Kalamazoo could be, but Amherst should be at least equal. Pinkham needs to identify and recruit defensive players for the Minutemen. The old saw is offensive sells the tickets, but defense wins the games. Tough to sell tickets for a 2-10 team. You probably get more bang for your bucks with defense.

Western Michigan was #15 in scoring defense in 2016 allowing 277 total points and 19.8 points per game. The Broncos were #26 in total defense last year and allowed 353.4 yards a game. Western Michigan was #25 in passing yards allowed with 200.1 yards a game. UMass was #106 and allowed a 64.5% completion ratio. Pinkham's pass defense completion was 56.2 %. The Broncos gave up 17 passing TD's; UMass gave up 27.

Hiring Pinkham looks to be a positive addition to UMass football. Welcome to him and Go UMass!

Recruiting 2018--Matt Valecce

Twitter image

Matt Valecce, a 6-5 205 pound pro-style QB from the Bronx, NY has Tweeted he's received an offer from UMass.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

MaxPreps has stats---almost 6,700 passing yards with 71 TD's.

UMass is Valecce's first FBS offer. Has an offer from Brown. Drawing interest from Ivy league teams plus Syracuse and Rutgers.

Recruiting 2018--Justin Johnson III

Scout.com image

I've blogged about Justin Johnson, a 6-7 340 pound OT several times before.

Johnson just added an offer from Michigan State.

Besides UMass, Johnson has offers from BC, Temple and Syracuse from the Northeast.

Recruiting 2017--Zachary Loane

Loane #90/Jason Fouchman image

Zachary Loane, a 6-0 235 DE from the Woodlands, TX has Tweeted he'll joining UMass as a preferred walk-on.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

Loane will join Michael Curtis, D'Shan Harley and Tedrick Lowery as Texas natives playing for UMass.

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Friday--February 17th, 2017

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has some news and notes about UMass football.

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Liberty University has received NCAA authorization to move to FBS. They'll be an independent like UMass. Right from the git-go, the Flames have said going FBS was a long term goal, and they've been planing for it right along. Should at least help UMass with scheduling. The more independents, the merrier.

The Washington Post has a piece that focuses on Liberty AD Ian McCaw.

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Art Stapleton joins Matty Vautour's podcast to discuss Victor Cruz and other UMass sports.

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Speaking of Victor Cruz, could he join Tajae Sharpe in Tennessee?

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The Yankees and the Red Sox go head-to-head to host the Army-Navy game.

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