UMass Football News--December 31st, 2019

Coach Bell said when he arrived that recruiting was all about having a "relationship" with the recruit. With the minimal time he has had for 2019 recruiting, he seems to have done pretty well.

According to the 247Sports recruiting page (I'm a subscriber), UMass has 196 offers out for 2019 (if I counted right). Many of those might not be active as they were from the previous staff.

Coach Bell has 150 offers out for 2020 and 30 for 2021.

Those numbers are way too much for me to do recruiting posts on each. I'll stick to the "Top Target", "High Choice" and "Interested" categories.

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The Deseret News has the top plays from each of BYU's games in 2018.

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The Heights reviews Boston College's 2018 season.

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Roanoke.com has a profile of Military Bowl analyst Rene Ingoglia.

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Maine promotes from within to fill their head coaching position.

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OT, but:

Georgia coach Tom Cream credits sellout crowd for the Dogs win over UMass.

A UMass fan at the Georgia game sent me the image below.

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Dave Barry's (he cracks me up) Year in Review asks "Is there anything good we can say about 2018?"

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UMass Football Recruiting 2019--Josh Slay

Reggie Davis image

Josh Slay, a 6-1 215 pound OLB from Douglasville, GA has Tweeted he's received an offer from UMass.

247Sports page here.

Douglas County Sentinel Defensive Player-of-the-Year.

Hudl.com has senior highlights.

MaxPreps has stats.

Slay has 28 offers including Army, Navy, Georgia Southern, Charlotte and FAU from FBS. He will take an OV to UMass on January 25th.

UMass Football Recruiting 2019--Bryquice Brown II

247Sports image

Bryquice Brown a 6-0 180 pound Safety from Dorcester, MA has Tweeted he's received an offer from UMass.

I blogged about Brown back in October.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

MaxPreps has stats.

Brown will take an OV to Amherst on January 25th.

UMass Football News--December 28th, 2018

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a post on "Minutemen add a new defensive coordinator and more coaches to staff".

The Baltimore Sun also has a story on Abdul-Rahim moving to UMass.

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North Carolina Athletics image

Also joining the Minutemen will be Jason Tudryn. He was a four-year letter winner (1992, 93, 94 and 95) for the Minutemen as a Safety. Tudryn's North Carolina Bio.

Another North Carolina football staff member will be joining the Minutemen as Rory Pommerining will become general manager/assistant AD for football. Pommerining's North Carolina bio.

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My take is Coach Bell is building a strong staff. Abdul-Rahim is known as a strong recruiter, which is just what the Minutemen need. Football is roster driven and no amount of coaching can compensate for deficiencies in personnel.

Maryland finished 5-7 in 2018. However, the Terps recruit in a different universe that does UMass. Maryland's 2018 recruiting class was ranked 28th by 247Sports.

Let's hope some of that recruiting magic moves to UMass. The Minutemen can't win with bottom 10% recruiting classes.

Adding veteran defensive coach David Duggan is also a good move. His experience will help Abdul-Rahim as he's never been a defensive coordinator before

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Don Brown says there should be twelve teams in the college football playoffs.

There should be 16. The top four get byes in the first round. Of the remaining 12 teams five should be the Group-of-Five league champions and the rest drawn by the polls. The Power Five conferences would get 11 (usually) of the 16 slots.

Speaking of Don Brown, he said he'd listen if offered a head coaching job.

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Former UMass assistant coach Ted Roof joins Appalachian State as defensive coordinator.

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UMass Football News--Coach Bell expands his staff

Multiple additions to Coach Bell's staff:

247Sports image

Joining UMass from Maryland is Aazaar Abdul-Rahim. Terps Ace Recruiter Officially Moves on. Abdul-Rahim will be Co-Defensive coordinator at UMass.

Rahim's Terps bio. More on Rahim here.

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image credit unknown

Joining Rahim as Co-Defensive coordinator is David Duggan. He will also coach linebackers. Duggan went to UNH and has extensive New England roots.

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Jon Bills will coach TE's and be the Recruiting Coordinator. Bills was an offensive assistant at FSU.

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Fredi Knighten will be running backs coach. Was assistant QB coach at FSU.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2019--Dariyan Wiley

247sports image

Dariyan Wiley, a 6-3 200 pound Athlete from Douglasville, GA has Tweeted he's received an offer from UMass.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

MaxPreps has stats.

2nd Team All-Region.

Wiley has 24 offers including many Sun Belt teams, Navy and Kansas. UMass is the only offer from the Northeast.

247Sports has Wiley visiting Amherst on 01/25/19.

UMass Football Recruiting 2019--Malik Sanders II and Jaylin Bannerman II

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has two posts on recent letter-of-intent signees.

Mike's post on JUCO CB Malik Sanders is here. The Minutemen had three of four 2018 defensive back starters graduate. There should be plenty of playing time for the versatile Sanders.

Remember when Don Brown had three or four defensive packages besides his base set? Brown loved DB's. You have to have more than just two guys who are ready to play. Did UMass play the Nickle in 2018? Did we have a Dime package? The new DC should have Isiah Rogers, Malik Sanders, Chris Hunt and Bakhari Goodson.

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Mike also has a story on JUCO signee Jaylin Bannerman. Bannerman fills a position the Minutemen did not possess in 2018--a rush defensive end. UMass finished next-to-last in the entire FBS in sacks last year. We actually tied for last in number of sacks. And it's a good thing that the NCAA apparently does not have an official "QB hurries" stat or we would be a trivia question for the foreseeable future.

At 6-5 240, the Minutemen do not have another player in his category. Bannerman probably will be the first UMass recruit since Blake Fronapfel  to have a green light from day one.

"Son, go in and do your thing."

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Christmas--2018

Mrs Blog and I wish all UMass fans, coaches and players a Merry Christmas and a happy holidays.

May 2019 bring us many excellent recruits and some victories. We deserve it.

UMass Football Recruiting 2019--Cletus Mathurin II

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a post and an interview with 2019 DL recruit Cletus Mathurin.

Mathurin is 6-2 290. UMass needs a huge upgrade in size, speed and athleticism in the defensive front seven. Out of a 129 FBS teams UMass finished 123rd in total defense, 125th in rushing defense, 126th in scoring defense and 111th in red zone defense.

The Minutemen also finished 128th in sacks.

In addition UMass loses defensive linemen Joe Previte (a Phil Steele All-Independent selection) and Basit Dennis to graduation.

I doubt Mathurin redshirts.

UMass Footbal Recruiting 2019--Taj Jones II

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a post and an interview with 2019 commit Taj Jones.

Victor Cruz was from NJ.  Let's hope fellow Patterson resident Jones is equally successful.

Coach Bell runs the spread offense. This will be the Minutemen's second stint with the spread offense as Coach Molnar ran the spread in his two years with UMass.

The UMass WR corps may be the Minutemen's deepest unit at this time. Jesse Britt has returned to the team. Sadiq Palmer, Brennon Dingle, Zak Simon and Samuel Emilus all did well in 2018.

The Minutemen have the receivers to make a smooth transition to the spread. Now we need a QB.

UMass Football recruiting 2019--Bryce Wade II

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a post on UMass OL recruit Bryce Wade.

Wade has two things you can't coach: length (6-7) and athleticism (former TE). He will have three years of eligibility with the Minutemen.

UMass loses both guards to gradation as 2018 was Jake Largay's and Lukas Kotler's last year.

2018 three-star recruit Joshua Jefferson could be in line for one of those positions. Wade is more of a OT type. He has an NFL frame, but needs muscle and weight.

UMass Football News--December 22nd, 2018

UnderDog Dynasty reports UMass lands eight during early signing period.

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UConn fires their defensive coordinator.

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The Breeze breaks down JMU's new assistant coaches including former UMass strength coach Brian Phillips.

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UMass QB Randall West helps UMass basketball edge Fairleigh Dickenson.

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UMass opponents continued their bowl win streak.

FIU edged Toledo 35-32 in the Bahamas Bowl.

BYU rode a big second half to blowout Western Michigan in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.

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UMass Football News--December 21st, 2018

Today is winter solstice. Tomorrow a new astronomical year starts as the days get longer. Hope UMass football has a new start in 2019.

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UMass recruit Kevin Brown has been rated three-stars by 247Sports.

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Josh Wallfish reports coach Bell is waiting for his new staff to take shape.

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The Berkshire Eagle reports coach Bell is happy but not satisfied over his first wave of recruits.

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WGME Sports reports Maine coach Harasymiak is leave to become an assistant at Minnesota.

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HERO Sports has a post on the youngest coaches in FBS. Walt Bell is third youngest.

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Catching up with UMass' opponents:

Ohio crushed San Diego in the Frisco Bowl.

USF started the season 7-0. They finished 0-6 as they lost to Marshall in the Gasparilla Bowl.

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UMass Football News--December 20th, 2018

UMass signs eight recruits in Coach Bell's first signing day.

Josh Walfish has a post on yesterday's recruits.

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The eight included a couple of recruits I haven't talked about.

Jaylen Bannerman, a 6-4 240 pound DE/LB from Arizona Western JUCO.

Bannerman's Tweet he's joining the Minutemen.

247Sports three-star player.

Hudl.com has video.

ACCAC has stats.

Chose UMass over FBS offers from Liberty, UTEP and Western Kentucky

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Keven Brown, a 6-0 225 pound RB from Everett, MA also joins the Minutemen.

Currently unrated by 247Sports, but probably will be two-stars shortly.

Hudl.com has video.

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Another addition is Helber Fagundes, a 6-5 290 pound OL who grayshirted last year.

I blogged about Fagundes back in Febuary of last year.

2017 Globe All-Scholastic.

Quote from the article:

"Standing 6-5 and 300 pounds, the senior is an imposing linemen. Everett coach John DiBiaso calls Fagundes the best offensive tackle in Massachusetts, a claim backed by the Tide’s dominant rushing attack that resulted in 41.8 points per game."

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UMass did lose one committ when Mike Ciaffoni flipped to Boston College.

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My take on Coach Bell's first recruits:

I think UMass fans should be excited about Bell's first efforts. With only two weeks to make offers and a very short staff, Bell landed five three-star recruits and filled some obvious needs. Four of the seven are defensive players including two DL, which was a huge need for the Minutemen. Three of the players are JUCO's designed to fill immediate needs. While I would love UMass recruit mostly four-year players, the Minutemen need to bring in some JUCO's and transfers every year.

Consider Mike Ciaffoni flipping to BC. Boston College is a freaking Power-Five school and they made the effort to flip a lightly recruited OL. It shows how scarce FBS recruits are in New England.

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UConn signs twelve players.

Boston College signed 18.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2019--Malik Sanders verbals to UMass

Hudl.com image

Malik Sanders, a 5-11 175 pound CB from Northwest Mississippi Community College has committed to UMass.

247Sports three-star player.

Hudl.com has video.

MaxPreps has stats.

Chose UMass over seven other offers all from FBS.

With Sanders verbal, Coach Bell has signed seven recruits, six of which are three stars. That ties the total for the entire 2018 recruiting cycle.

UMass Football News--December 19th, 2018

The Manganaro Family donates $500k for McGuirk improvements. The funds will be applied to a new high-definition video board. I watched Paul Manganaro play back in the day. He lettered in 1982, 83, 85 and was captain in 1986. Manganaro was All-Yankee Conference in 1985. With the new bubble practice facility coming, things are lookin' up at McGuirk.

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Andy Isabella adds his ninth post season award as he is named First Team All-America by Phil Steele.

Nine Minutemen made Steele's All-Independent team for 2018. Andrew Ford, Marquis Young, Jake Largay, Bryton Barr and Isiah Rogers made the first team. Sadiq Palmer, Ray Thomas-Ishman, Joe Previte and Lee Moses made the 2nd team. Marquis Young made the second team as kick returner.

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UMass adds former San Diego (FCS) coach Jim Jackson as OL coach. Jackson's San Diego bio.

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Josh Walfish report Coach Bell has a plan for recruiting.

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The Bangor Daily News reports Maine's  Joe Harasymiak is the CAA's lowest paid coach, but he's in line for more lucrative offers.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2019--Samuel Okuayinonu II

I've blogged about Samuel Okuayinonu before.

The 6-3 270 pound JUCO DE visited UMass last weekend. His current 247Sports page has him leaning towards UMass.

Okuayinonu also has offers from Oregon and Maryland. Oregon has the best uniforms in FBS, but the Ducks already have one five-star and two three-star DE's in their 2019 recruiting class.  I would think he would be in line for far greater playing time with the Minutemen. Okuayinonu would be an instant starter in Amherst.

UMass Football News--December 18th, 2019

UMass DT verbal Cletus Mathurin has been rated three-stars by 247Sports. That makes five out of six 2019 recruits three-star rated. The Minutemen only signed six three-star recruits for the entire 2018 recruiting cycle.

Top Group-of-Five schools typically sign 20 or so three star recruits.  Temple, for example has 20 out 21 2019 recruits with a three-star rating. Middle of the road Group-of-Five teams sign in the middle teens. Sub-ten three-star recruits will get the coaching staff fired.

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Five-start Georgia QB Justin Fields is looking for a new home. I wonder if Coach Bell will give him a call. Fields played against UMass in November.

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UMass' strength and Conditions coach Brian Phillips moves to James Madison. Not sure if he was not retained by the new staff or he left on his own.

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Flordia State QB Deondre Francois might stay with the Seminoles if Walt Bell recruit Sam Howell decommits.

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UMass Football News--December 17th, 2018

Well, the big news is the successful recruiting session held this weekend by Coach Bell.

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a post on the signings.

This is excellent results for Coach Bell who does not even have half a staff yet. Four of the six verbals are defensive players, a major UMass need. Jermaine Johnson could also play WR..

I doubt any of the defensive players will redshirt. Xavier Gonsalves and Mike Claffoni were both recently named Herald All-Scholastics.

Of the six 2019 commits, four are three-star players. UMass only signed six total three-star recruits for the entire 2018 recruiting cycle.

All in all, a very promising start to Coach Bell's tenure in Amherst. 

Still needed for the 2019 recruiting class are TE's, running backs and more of every position on defense.

UMass Football Recruiting 2019--Cletus Mathurin verbals to UMass

Cletus Mathurin, a 6-2 290 pound DT from Cheshire Academy, CT has Tweeted he's committed to UMass.

247Sports page here.

Mathurin chose UMass over FBS offers from Buffalo, Army, Navy and Old Dominion.