UMass Football News--March 31st, 2021

Transfer QB Tyler Lytle/UMass athletic dept image

 Kyle Grabowski of the Hampshire Gazette reports on UMass' first spring practice in two years.

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Howard Herman of the Berkshire Gazette says Coach Bell is pleased after the Minutemen's first practice.

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The latest addition to the UMass coaching staff is Jamey McClendon who is replacing Cato June. McClendon had been a analyst at UMass and USF. No bio up yet on the UMass web site.

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Some video and still images from the practice over on the UMass Football's Twitter feed.

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UMass Football News--March 30th, 2021

 Howard Herman of the Berkshire Eagle has a post on UMass' Spring practice schedule.

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 UMass has named DT Billy Wooden as the recipient of the 2020 Michael Boland Inspirational Award.

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Today is the first day of the 2021 Spring Ball. This will be the first camp under Coach Bell that has enough depth (in most units) to provide some competition.

Hopefully, the school administration will allow fans at the Spring game. UMass a lots of new players including transfers Bryce Watts, Tyler Lytle, Kay'Ron Adams, Tray Pettway, Jonathan White and Darryl Munoz, 

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UConn shuts down its spring practices three sessions short due to positive COVID tests.

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2021 opponent Rhode Island gave up 551 yards of total offense in a home loss to Delaware Sunday.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2023--Malik Tullis

 

Hudl.com image

Malik Tullis, a 6-2 260 pound DE from Fairburn, GA has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

This article talks about his offer from Georgia Tech.

Besides UMass, Tullis has offers from Syracuse and Georgia Tech. UMass offers a Northeast education and chance to make an impact with the improving Minutemen defense.

 

UMass Football News--March 27th, 2021

 UMass Spring football gets pushed up a week.

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The Berkshire Eagle has a post on UMass' Pro Day.

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Former UMass assistant coach Jon Bills will be the HC of one of FAU's squads in their Spring game. 

Note to the UMass administration: the Owls are allowing fans for their spring game. I don't see how a couple of hundred UMass fans scattered about in the stands would be an existential threat to the university...

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UMass Football Recruiting 2022--Chase Belcher

Gerald Thomas III image

 Chase Belcher, a 6-1 215 pound athlete from Valdosta, GA has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

MaxPreps has stats.

This article from September 2020 mentions Belcher.

Belcher probably projects as a WR in college. There is a lot of room in Amherst for him to earn early playing time. Besides UMass, Becher has an offer from South Alabama.

UMass Football News--March 25th, 2021

 

Today is UMass' Pro Day. 

The Berkshire Eagle also has a post on the event. Participating will be Larnel Coleman, Jarvis Miller and Jarell Addo.

Draft Diamonds has a 2019 post about Addo.

Giants Wire has a story from 2020 featuring Jarvis Miller.

NFL Draft Buzz has a capsule on Larnel Coleman.

Titans Wire reports Coleman met with Tennessee.

Bolts from the Blue says the Chargers are interested in Coleman.

Draft Diamonds also has a post on Coleman.

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The Chicago Bears signed former UMass OT Elijah Wilkinson to a one year contract. 

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Former UMass assistant coach Cato June joins the Bowling Green staff. 

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UMass Football Recruiting 2021--Rico Arnold transfers to UMass

 Rico Arnold, a 6-1 184 pound WR from Charlotte University has joined the Minutemen via the transfer portal.

Arnold's 49ers bio here. He was a member of the C-USA's All-Freshman team in 2018 with 22 receptions for 302 yards and 1 TD. Had three catches for 43 yards vs UMass that year.

Sat out 2019 with a season-ending foot injury.

Arnold provides immediate help with the Minutemen's depleted WR corps. He has a big frame and could be the starting "X" or "Y" receiver.

UMass Football News--March 23rd, 2021

 Spring Football starts today! Priorities are:

1. Find a starting QB.

2. Find a running game. This is the Minutemen's eight year in FBS. We have yet to finish higher than #100 in rushing and are usually in the bottom ten. In 2020 we were #126 out of 127 FBS teams.

3. Find an offensive line. UMass lost both 2020 starting offensive tackles and the starting center. Finding a running game is dependent on a much more productive OL in 2021.

4. Continue the resurrection of the Minutemen defense. UMass finished #118 in total defense in 2020, which was a big improvement from 2019. The Minutemen defense gave up 561 yards per game and 7.7 yards a play in 2019. In 2020 the totals were 482 yards a game and 6.91 yards a play. UMass needs to replace two of the three starting LB's from 2020.

Hopefully, UMass will allow some spectators for the Spring game!

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Maine beat Stony Brook Saturday 35-19. The Black Bears are 2-1 this season and the victory over Stony Brook pushed Maine into the FCS Top-25.

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Rhode Island beat Albany in overtime Saturday. That was the second game in a row the Rams beat a Top-25 FCS team. 

Rhode Island is currently #9 in the FCS rankings, which is the highest in decades.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2022--Adarrius Harshaw

 

Twitter image

Adarrius Harshaw, a 5-10 155 pound WR from Canton, GA has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

MaxPreps has stats. 1,497 receiving yards and 14 TD's in two years.

First Team All-Region.

Besides UMass, Harshaw has offers from Charlotte, Eastern Michigan, Kent State and USF. Wide receiver is a position where UMass has some needs. Harshaw could play early and often in Amherst.

UMass Football Recruiting 2022--Mikal LeGall

 

Connection Newspapers image

Mikal LeGall, a 6-0 215 pound RB from Chantilly, VA has a UMass offer.

247Sport page here.

Hudl.com has video.

Ran for 1001 yards and 23 TD's in 2019.

Also can play defense.

UMass is the first offer for LeGall. Also showing interest is Syracuse, Coastal Carolina, East Carolina and Kent State.

UMass Football News--March 19th, 2020

 Athlon Sports has a post that mentions former UMass player Liam Coen as the new OC at Kentucky.

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Chase Sutton image

 This article covers Penn's assistant coaches including former UMass head coach Kevin Morris who is OC and QB coach for the Quakers.

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Former UMass RB Kevin Brown is sparking a renaissance at Rhode Island.

Quote from Rhode Island coach John Fleming:

“Kevin, I have a hard time even looking at as a transfer because we had really had him committed for two years before he made the egregious error of going and testing the waters at UMass for whatever reason.”

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I was watching Idaho-Eastern Washington on YouTube a couple of days ago. Former UMass coach Charlie Molnar is in his seventh year with the Vandals.

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Recently I wondered on the blog when was the last time a UMass team had beaten a #1 team. Was it in this century? A blog reader e-mailed me to say it was just last year when UMass Lacrosse beat #1 Yale. 2020 is kinda blur for me...

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UMass Football Recruiting 2022--Jahsin Jacobs

 

Twitter image

Jahsin Jacobs, a 6-1 290 pound DT from Paterson, NJ has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

This article mentions Jacobs.

First Team All Passaic County.

UMass is the first team to offer Jacobs. Rutgers also showing interest. Jacobs could be a valuable addition to the improving Minuteman defense.

UMass Football Recruiting 2020--Cole Spence

 

247Sports image

Cole Spence, a 6-6 220 pound TE from Alpharetta, GA has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

MaxPreps has stats.

Scoutrout.com has a page with a lot of detail on Spence.

This article by a Vanderbilt site on 247Sports covers his offer from Vandy. 

Spence has 23 total offers including Buffalo and Liberty. Power Five Vanderbilt has also offered. UMass offers a high-quality Northeast education and a chance to play early and often in Amherst.

UMass Football Recruiting 2022--Landry Lyddy

Crescent City Sports image

 Landry Lyddy, a 6-1 191 pound pro-style QB from Shreveport, LA has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

MaxPreps has stats. 4,037 passing yards and 47 TD's.

All-State in 2020.

Had 464 passing yards in the Class IV State Championship game.

Lyddy also has an offer from UAB. He'd be a good fit in the UMass offense.

UMass Football News--March 15th, 2021

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a post on updates to the Spring football roster.

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UMass commit Brady Olsen threw 4 TD's in Milford's 34-0 win over Attleboro.

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Former UMass assistant coach Ted Dasher has been hired as HC of the Hamburg (Germany) Sea Devils. Dasher was a defense secondary coach in Amherst from 2012-2014.

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Maine knocked off #13 Albany 38-34 and rang up over 400 yards of offense.

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Rhode Island had their best win in a decade as the Rams upset #6 Villanova in overtime.

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BTW, I've been meaning to congratulate UMass Hockey over their win against #1 Boston College. Another UMass fan and I have been talking off line about when was the last time a Minutemen team beat a #1 team. Was UMass and Marcus Camby in 1995 over Kentucky or were the Georgia Southern Eagles #1 in 1998?

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UMass Football Recruiting 2022--Caleb Wheatland

Twitter image

 Caleb Wheatland, a 6-2 235 pound LB from Chantilly, VA has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

This article July of 2020 features Wheatland.

Wheatland has FBS offers from Ball State, Utah State and Liberty. Linebacker is a position of need for the Minutemen and Wheatland could play early in Amherst.

UMass Football News--March 12th, 2021

The UMass 2021 Spring Roster is up. 

The coaching staff page has also been updated.

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 247Sports has a question-and-answer session with Villanova transfer Mike Ruane.

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UConn LB Jackson Mitchell is evolving into a student of the game.

The Huskies add a home-and-home against Ole Miss and a home game against Sacred Heart.

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247Sports also has a Q and A with Villanova potential recruit Octavian Smith.

I blogged about Smith back on February 13th.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2022--Vince Carpenter

 

Twitter image

Vince Carpenter, a 6-6 290 pound OL from Little Silver, NJ has a UMass offer.

247Sports three-star player.

Hudl.com has video.

2nd Team All-Division in 2020.

Received a recruiting call from Kevin Morris who is OC at Penn. 

Carpenter has 14 total offers including UConn and Buffalo from the Northeast. East Carolina, Houston, Kent State, Kentucky, Nevada and Virginia have also offered from FBS.

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 Recruiting 2022--Nick Bryan

 

Mike Darnay image

Nick Bryan, a 6-4 270 pound OL from Clairton, PA has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video highlights. 

This article from Pittsburgh Sports Now features Bryan and his recruiting.

Besides UMass, Bryan has FBS offers from Ball State, Kent State and Old Dominion. UMass offers a chance to play in games against Power Five opponents and the best food in college football.

UMass Football Recruiting 2022--Tristan Wilson

Hudl.com image

 Tristan Wilson, a 6-5 300 pound OG from Lebanon HS in MO has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video. 

This article from three days ago features Wilson's recruiting.

Wilson has 12 total offers with Kentucky, Baylor, K-State, Missouri, Arizona State, VA Tech and Illinois from the Power Five. UMass offers a high-quality northeast education plus a chance to play a lot of Power Five teams as an Independent.

UMass Football Recruiting 2022--Josh Hoover

Twitter image

 Josh Hoover, a 6-2 205 pro-style QB from Rockwell, TX has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

MaxPreps has stats. 6428 yards passing in two seasons.

This article from last month covers his recruiting.

Hoover has 13 offers including Power Five Arkansas. UMass and UConn have offered from the Northeast. He'd be a good fit in the Minutemen offense.

UMass Football News--March 5th, 2021

 Former UMass RB Jared Cole has committed to Virginia Tech as a PWO.

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This Twitter post links to a story (paywalled) is about Luke Kromenhoek a freshman QB at Benedictine Military School, Savannah, GA. His father and coach is Jon Kromenhoek who lettered for UMass as a DB in 1991,'92 and '93.

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DON'T SCHEDULE THESE GUYS AGAIN.

If you missed it, Southern Illinois decisively ended North Dakota State's 39 game FCS winning streak.

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A Bleacher Report writer has former UMass player and coach Neal Brown as one of FBS' coaches who are building their programs the right way.

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If you get NBC Sports Boston on your cable network you can watch Albany at New Hampshire tonight at 6:00 pm.

UNH will play two of UMass' 2021 opponents this spring: Rhode Island on April 3rd and Maine on April 17th.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2022--Amari Jones

 

WCTV image

Amari Jones, a 6-4 205 pound dual-threat QB from Valdosa, GA has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

MaxPreps has some stats.

This article covers Jones' offer from Kansas.

Besides UMass Jones has offers from FIU, Kansas and UAB. He also has a Northeast offer from Dartmouth.

UMass Football Recruiting 2022--Kyle Lewis

 

Twitter image

Kyle Lewis, a 6-1 195 pound OLB/athlete from East Orange, NJ has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

First Team All-Division 2020.

MaxPreps has some stats.

Lewis has FBS offers from Buffalo, Kent State and Temple. He has a good-sized frame and would likely grow in a college training program. He can play multiple positions and UMass has lots of playing time available.

UMass Football recruiting 2022--Sam Martin Jr II

 

Twitter image

Sam Martin, Jr, a 6-0 190 all-purpose RB from Paramus, NJ has UMass in his final seven.

I blogged about Martin back on December 22nd. 

Updated 247Sports page here.

This article by Rivals.com has quotes by Martin about his top-seven schools including UMass.

UPDATE: SILive has a post on Martin selecting seven schools in his offer cutdown.

Martin has a list of some fine academic schools. At the Power Five teams he'd be joining a much deeper roster. In Amherst, he'd have a chance to play early and often.

UMass Football Recruiting 2021--Martin Latham, jr commits to UMass

 

Twitter image

Martin Latham Jr, a 6-2 200 pound WR from Holy Cross has announced he will transfer to UMass as a PWO.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video highlights.

Latham had FCS offers from Holy Cross and Cornell before deciding on the Minutemen. Hope he earns a scholarship and has a great career in Amherst.

UMass Football Recruiting 2022--Ashton Daniels

Twitter image

 Ashton Daniels, a 6-3 200 pound pro-style QB from Buford, GA has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

Led Buford to the 2020 AAAAAA state championship.

Daniels has eleven offers including UAB, Middle Tennessee State, Troy, FAU, FIU Charlotte, Bowling Green and Appalachian State. UMass is the only offer from the Northeast although Harvard is interested.

UMass Football Recruiting 2021--Cam Reirden commits to UMass

 

Cam Reirden, a 6-0 185 pound WR/S from Belmont Hill HS in Belmont, MA has committed to UMass as a PWO.

I blogged about Reirden back in December.

Hudl.com has video highlights.

Welcome to the Minutemen and I hope he has a highly successful career in Amherst.

UMass Football News--February 25th, 2021

 

UMass names Kyle Segler as TE's coach. He replaces Jon Bills.

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Speaking of TE's, Vols Wire has an audio interview with Coach Bell discussing his coaching career.

In the interview Coach Bell speaks highly of the Minutemen's tight end room and says UMass will be playing a lot of "12" offensive packages.

In package designations the first digit is the number of running backs and the second the number of TE's, so 12 means one back two TE's.

That also determines the number of wide receivers on the field (i.e. 11 players, five linemen + the QB minus the number of backs and TE's, so two WR's in a "12" package.

00-- no RB's, no TE's, five WR's

01--no RB's 1 TE, 4 WR's

02--no RB;s, 2 TE's, 3 WR's

10--1 RB, 0 TE's, 4 WR's

11--1 RB, 1 TE, 3 WR's

12--1 RB, 2 TE's, 2 WR's

13-1 RB, 3 TE's, 1 WR

20--2 RB's, 0 TE's, 3 WR's

21--2 RB's, 1 TE, 2 WR's

22--2 RB's, 2 TE's, 1 WR

23--2 RB's, 3 TE's, 0 WR's (usually called the "Jumbo" package)

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UConn is "amped" for Spring football and Coach Edsall is enthused about RB Kevin Mensah.

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2021 opponent Florida State is looking for their first winning season since 2017.

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College Football News has UMass #130 in power ratings going into Spring ball.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2020--Kevin Lemieux II

Syaracuse.com image

 Kevin Lemieux, a 6-4 252 pound DT from Syracuse has entered the transfer portal. He's from Ashburnham, MA.

Lemieux's Syracuse bio here.

I blogged about UMass offering Lemieux back in February of 2019.

Lenmieux redshirted in 2020 so he should have four years of eligibility. He's the eleventh Orange player to declare for the transfer portal this year.

UMass Football News--February 23rd, 2021

 Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has another UMass sports update with some football coaching changes.

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UMass Football blog image

Former UMass player and coach Charles Walker joins the Atlanta Falcons coaching staff. 

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Could UMass' Cato June be a candidate for LB coach at Michigan?

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Fellow Independent New Mexico State was crushed by FCS Tarleton State 43-17 in its Spring opener.

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How hardcore "NCAA Football 14" fans have kept the game alive for the past eight years.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2022--Willensky Nicolas

 

Hudl.com image

Willensky Nicholas, a 6-1 180 pound athlete from Brooklyn, NY has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

This article from September 2020 features Nicolas.

Also ran track.

UMass is the first offer for Nicholas. Also drawing interest from Northeast schools Syracuse, Buffalo and BC.

UMass Football Recruiting 2022--Frankie Richardson

Richardson center blocking/Darryl Wheller image

 Frankie Richardson, a 6-5 300 pound OL from Gettysburg, PA has a UMass offer.

Hudl.com has video.

There are several articles mentioning the UMass offer. The Gettysburg Times has articles here and here.

Besides UMass, Richardson has an offer from Coastal Carolina. Also drawing interest from a number of FCS schools including Ivies.

UMass Football News--February 19th, 2021

 

Frederick Walker joins the Minutemen staff as quarterback coach. He replaces Angelo Mirando, who left to pursue private interests.

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UConn finalizes its 2021 schedule. Note it is likely UMass-UConn in 2022 will be in November.

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Former UMass LB Xavier Steele lands at Arizona State.

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Spring football for FCS teams starts tonight, but it looks like most will be on the for-pay ESPN+ service.

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If you didn't see the Notre Dame-Clemson game in November, YouTube has a commercial-free full game replay. If you like college football, this is a great game.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2022---Johnny Garrett

Twitter image

 Johnny Garrett, a 6-5 265 pound TE/DE from Scituate, MA has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here. 

Hudl.com has video.

TE is a position where the Minutemen need players. Garrettt could see playing time early in Amherst. Besides UMass, he has offers from Dartmouth and Boston College.

UMass Football News--February 17th, 2021

 Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a post that includes some coaching changes at UMass football and more.

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Former UMass RB Jared Cole gets a PWO offer from Virginia Tech.

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UConn will play Yale this year for the first time since 1998. The Huskies beat Yale 63-21 that year. UMass fans remember UConn beat UMass twice in 1998, our National Championship year.

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Business Journal says the return of EA Sports College football will be a big boost to the Orlando economy.

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FCS football returns this weekend with a number of games mostly on ESPN+. No CAA games.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2022--Jaylen Nobles

Hudl.com image

 Jaylen Nobles, a 6-1 210 pound RB from Slocomb, AL has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

MaxPreps has some stats. 3618 rushing yards and 57 rushing TD's in three years.

WTVY Player-of-the-Year.

UMass is the first offer for Nobles. Drawing interest from Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Toledo and Troy.

UMass Football Recruiting 2022--Xavier Scott

Drew McDonald image

 Xavier Scott, a 6-0 180 pound athlete from Palm Beach Gardens, FL has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here. 

Hudl.com has video.

Sun Sentinel All-Palm Beach 8A-6A first team offense.

From the above article:

"Scott was a jack-of-all-trades for the Panthers. He ran the ball 10 times for 121 yards and two touchdowns. He caught 13 passes for 239 yards and another three touchdowns. He added 109 kickoff-return yards and had a touchdown. On defense, he had 17 tackles and four pass deflections."

This article features Scott. 

Besides UMass, Scott has FBS offers from FAU and Pitt. He could follow Isaiah Rogers from UMass special teams to the NFL.

UMass Football Recruiting 2022--Octavian Smith, Jr

George C. Smith image

 Octavian Smith, Jr (good name), a 6-1 170 pound athlete from Burtonsville, MD has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

MaxPreps has some stats.

Ran a 4.32 (stopwatch) in November 2020.

Smith probably projects as a WR/CB in college has offers from Air Force and Old Dominion. He's a versatile athlete who could play on either side of the ball in Amherst.

UMass Football Recruiting 2022--Jaylen Sanchez

 

Twitter image

Jaylen Sanchez, a 6-1 190 pound WR from St. Peter's Prep in New Jersey has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video highlights.

MaxPreps has stats.

Sanchez has eight FBS offers. UMass, UConn, Buffalo, Central Michigan and Old Dominion from the Group-of-Five and Power Five offers from Syracuse and Indiana. Sanchez is a pro-sized WR who could play early in Amherst.

UMass Football News--February 11th, 2021

 College Football News has the 2021 Independents composite schedule.

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The Maine Black Bears will receive $300k for their visit to McGuirk in November.

“We go into those games looking to win,” UMaine head coach Nick Charlton said. “We won a game a few years ago and have been competitive in others.”

UMass is 1-1 against Maine since the Minutemen moved to FBS.

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College Football News looks at New Mexico State's 2021 schedule.

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CFN looks at Army's 2021 and expects the Black Knights to be bowl eligible.

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CFN also looks at UConn's 2021 season and says at UMass is a "must win" game.

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Former UMass QB Scott Woodard joins Liam Coen on Kentucky's staff.

Woodard lettered with the Minutemen in 2006, '07,'08 and 2009.

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UMass Football News--February 10th, 2021

 A petition has been started to allow UMass athletes to practice and have their season.

The Minutemen athletes have been among the best in the nation in managing their COVID exposure. Punishing them for other students bad behavior is just wrong. This blanket policy should be amended to allow UMass athletes to practice and play.

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Army announces their 2021 season. UMass plays at the Black Knights on November 20th.

Record Online previews Army's schedule including a capsule on each opponent.

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A Sea of Red reports the Flames are ranked #43 in a preseason power ranking.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2022--Nick Del Grande

Twitter image

 Nick Del Grande, a 6-4 260 pound OT from Landisville, PA has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video highlights.

MaxPreps has some stats.

2020 All-State at linebacker.

Del Grande, an athletic big man, has offers from Army, Coastal Carolina, Kent State and Navy. He would find the best food in College football and a chance of a lot of playing time in Amherst.

UMass Football News--February 8th, 2021

 

Well, this sucks, --- and to me does not make a lot of sense. UMass athletics seems to have done an excellent job managing exposure to the virus. One of the best in the nation in fact.

I would think having the athletes working in their normal routine, supervised by the coaches would create less risk than returning them to regular student venue. They all want to play, or prepare for spring ball in the case of the football team. Peer pressure would help the players behave responsibly and be careful in their activities.

In December I came across an article that stated there had not been one documented case of COVID transmission on the football field. I meant to link to that article and now I can't find it again.

So all those bitter hysterical articles over the summer on how school athletics departments were sacrificing players safety because of greed were flatly wrong. If there had been on the field transmission, we could be sure the media would be trumpeting it to the high heavens. 

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Meanwhile, EA Sports may be bring back College Football. Hopefully, UMass will have the brains to allow the Minutemen to be included. 

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UMass Football News--February 6th, 2021

 Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has what we learned from UMass' National Signing Day 2021.

I like the fact Coach Bell and and his staff used COVID chaos to bring in some Power Five transfers. In addition, his 2019 class will be in their third year in the program. I would like to see some progress this year. UMass should beat the two FCS teams. We should be competitive with the Group-of-Five FBS programs. No more 40-0 blowouts. 

UMass plays three Power Five teams (Pitt, BC and Florida State). We also play the two best teams in the Group-of-Five (Coastal Carolina and Liberty) away. Of the remaining seven games, going 3-4 is not unreasonable. Since we get Eastern Michigan (2-4 in 2020) and UConn (DNP in 2020) at home, beating at least one of them should be possible. New Mexico State DNP in 2020. The Aggies will play a somewhat strange (Division II?) schedule this spring.

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College Football News has the best case-worse case season for the 2021 Minutemen. CFN says best case could be a 5-7 season; worse case 1-11.

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The Boston Herald reports UMass adds Colorado transfer Tyler Lytle on National Signing Day.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2021--Jonathan White signs with the Minutemen

 One player who signed with UMass on Wednesday was Jonathan White, a 5-10 205 pound RB from Hutchinson Community College. His commitment to the Minutemen had not been previously published on social media.

I blogged about White back in October.

White's UMass bio.

White's signing adds significant depth to a position that had only two recruited players. Joining White in this year's class is Kay'Ron Adams, a transfer from Rutgers.

They will join Ellis Merriweather and Jared Cole in the UMass backfield. I don't think either Merriweather or Cole had a chance to show what they could do in 2020. Hopefully, better run blocking will make the running game will make the strength this year.

UMass Football News--February 4th, 2021

 

UMass added seven players to the 2021 recruiting commits. 

Kyle Grabowski of the Hampshire Gazette has a post on the recruits.

Joey Aliberti of the Daily Collegian has what you need to know about yesterday's recruit signing. 

Howard Herman of the Berkshire Eagle reports UMass football and Coach Bell wrap up the 2021 recruiting season. 

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The Athletic Dept also announced the fall football schedule and Home game events.

UMass fans could see three or four home victories in 2021. Boston College and Toledo (the Rockets just signed their fifth straight best-in-MAC recruiting Class) will be tough. The Minutemen should be competitive with Eastern Michigan, UConn and Rhode Island and Maine.

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Browns Nation recaps the football career of UMass legend Milt Morin.

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Former UMass signee (2018) Josh Jefferson joins Grambling State. 

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UMass Football News--February 3rd, 2021

 UMass will have a Football Signing Show today at noon.

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a post on what to expect.

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This is an unusual year due to the COVID changes in recruiting. There were extended "quiet" periods and the NCAA is allowing transfers without penalty. It is uncertain if the turnover in rosters will be the "new normal". You will remember there were a large number of players in the transfer portal in 2019.

The UMass coaching staff stated they would take the full number of recruits allowed (25) in this recruiting cycle.

This class is unusual in the fact the Minutemen are taking six transfers as part of the 2021 class. Recruiting rating services rate by the number of recruits as well as the individual player rankings. They don't consider transfers in the rankings. Six transfer slots has reduced this year's 247Sports recruiting ranking down from last year's.

UMass' decision to take more transfers was probably related to the fact a lot more desirable players were available. The other consideration was probably the state of the UMass roster, which is very thin in upperclassmen. 

The regular recruiting class still has 13 three-star recruits, which was twice Whipple's last class. If UMass gets significant contributions from three or four of the transfers, this class will be a big help getting the Minutemen back to respectability.

It will continue to build the number of players on the roster. The Minutemen won't hit the NCAA FBS maximum of 85 this year, but they should get UMass out of the FCS-level number of scholarships. 

We'll all know how it went in a couple of years.

Go UMass.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2022--Lorenzo Vitti

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 Lorenzo Vitti, a 6-1 170 pound athlete from Dearborn, MI has received a UMass offer.

Hudl.com has video highlights.

This site has some recruiting quotes from Vitti.

All-Catholic league in 2020.

Honorable Mention Detroit Free Press All West High School for 2020. 

Vitti can play on either side of the ball, which should allow him plenty of opportunities in Amherst.

UMass Football Recruiting 2022--A.J. Swann

 

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A.J. Swann, a 6-2 200 pound dual-threat QB from Canton, GA has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video highlights.

MaxPreps has stats. 4764 yards and 43 TD's in three years.

QB hit list has some scouting on Swann.

This article mentions Swann.

Swann is a high three-star and has 10 FBS offers including one Power Five school. UMass offers a high-quality Northeast education and a chance to make an impact in Amherst.