UMass Legend Jim Reid hired at Bucknell

Former UMass assistant and Head Coach Jim Reid has been hired as defensive line coach at Bucknell. Read the press release here . He was last working as defensive line coach at Syracuse.

Reid is a great guy and is remembered by the UMass faithful with affection. After nineteen total years at UMass, Reid still bleeds Maroon and White. He was slated to appear at the 3rd annual Friends of Football Golf Classic on August 1,2005. Now, he probably will be at Bucknell improving their defense.

Reid had a highly sucessful career at UMass. Among his accomplishments:

• 12 years as an assistant coach
• Head coach from 1986-1991
• Yankee conference champions three of the six years he was head coach
• 1988 Yankee conference Coach-of-the year, New England Coach-of-the-Year (UPS), New England Division I Coach-of-the-year (Gridiron Club of Boston)
  

The above image is a scan from the 1989 UMass Football Media Guide. Reid is posing with 1988 edition of the "Beanpot" the Yankee Conference Championship trophy.

Note that the Fanzone first read about Reid's hiring on Colgate 13's excellent blog The 13 Yard Line

Friends of UMass Football

The UMass Football Fanzone frequently hears other UMass faithful express variations of the following:

“I wish:”

• UMass football would win another National Championship
• Go I-A
• Beat the dog snot out of UConn/Boston College/Delaware

Well, the following are not ways to help.

• Never washing the UMass sweatshirt you wore during the National Championship game in 1998 (washing invokes demons of loss)
• Always driving the same route to the stadium the week following a win.
• Sitting on the visitor’s side and shouting comments at the opposing team designed to be hurtful to their self esteem

The real way to help is to join Friends of UMass Football. This is a group of UMass fans, former players and coaches that have joined together to promote UMass football. Among their accomplishments so far are:

• Raised over $300 K, every dollar of which went to improve UMass Football
• Purchased Pinnacle Video Training System (UMass is the first A10 team to have it)
• Represented a constituency for UMass football in the Byzantine world of campus politics *
• Helped complete the 9000 Sq/ft UMass weight training facility.

Every UMass Football fan should belong to Friends of UMass Football. For 2.7399 cents/day you can make a major impact. Click here for information about joining.

* To understand campus politics, it’s hard to beat F. M. Cornford’s 1908 classic Microcosmographia Academica . Read Higher Ed’s review first . Wikipedia has an article with a link to an on-line version. WARNING! If you have been exposed to academic culture, reading Microcosmographia Academica may cause loss of bladder control…

The Fall Two-Deep Depth Chart is out

The UMass preseason two-deep Depth Chart is out. See it here . The UMass Fanzone Blog thinks the two-deep is very close to what will be the starting lineup against Richmond on 09/01/05.

Below is the Special Teams. A * symbol denotes a returning starter. A number after the name () indicates a note.

Pos. No. Player Yr. Height Weight

PK 31 Armando Cuko Fr. 5-11 180 (1)

KO 31 Armando Cuko Fr. 5-11 180

H 10 Tim Day Sr. 6-0 210 *

P 13 Christian Koegel Jr. 6-0 185 (2)

LS 97 Jason Leonard RJr. 6-2 280

KR/PR 2 Steve Costello RSr. 6-0 190 (3)

Notes:

1 Armando Cuko was the subject of a previous blog (scroll down). He is a true freshman and the only kicker on the roster. Hey! The UMass Football Fanzone has achieves…

2 Christian Koegel was the subject of a 07/04/05 blog on this site. He also has his own blog here

3 Costello sat out 2004 with a medical redshirt.

Preseason Depth Chart (Defense)

The UMass preseason two-deep Depth Chart is out. See it here . The UMass Fanzone Blog thinks the two-deep is very close to what will be the starting lineup against Richmond on 09/01/05.

Below is the Defense. A * symbol denotes a returning starter. A number after the name () indicates a note.

Pos. No. Player Yr. Height Weight

• LE 95 Keron Williams Sr. 6-1 254 * (1)
• DT 55 John Hatchell RJr. 6-2 270 (2)
• DT 97 Jason Leonard RJr. 6-2 280 * (3)
• RE 57 Justin Schweighardt Sr. 6-1 265 *(4)
• SLB 35 L.A. Love RSr. 6-0 245 *
• MLB 51 Serge Tikum RSr. 6-0 226 * (5)
• WLB 11 Charles Walker Jr. 6-1 220 *(6)
• CB 26 Tracy Belton Jr. 5-11 175 *
• SS 23 Brandon Smith Jr. 6-1 217 (7)
• FS 6 Shannon James RSR. 5-10 196 *(8)
• CB 2 Steve Costello RSR. 6-0 190 (9)

Notes:

1 Williams was All-A10 last year. With a stronger supporting cast, he could be an All-American in 2005

2 John Hatchell is a transfer from Lehigh. He is the brother of LB Jason Hatchell. John Hatchell set UMass bench press records in 2004. Hopefully he will make a major impact at DT for UMass

3 Leonard started in 2004. Separated his shoulder against JMU. He should regain his starting position in 2005

4 Schweighardt started at DT last year. He transferred from Ball State in 2003

5 Tikum is a Tri-Captain and the subject of a prior blog

6 Walker changed his number. He played as # 56 in 2004

7 Brandon Smith backed up James Ihedigbo RJr. 6-1 202*, who played well for UMass last year, but had several game suspensions.

8 Shannon James is a UMass Tri-Captain and an All-American. See a previous blog on him.

9 Steve Costello is a former starter. He sat out 2004 with a Medical Redshirt.

The Fall Two-Deep Depth Chart is out

The UMass preseason two-deep Depth Chart is out. See it here . The UMass Fanzone Blog thinks the two-deep is very close to what will be the starting lineup against Richmond on 09/01/05.

Below is the Offense. A * symbol denotes a returning starter. A number after the name () indicates a note.

Pos. No. Player Yr. Height Weight

• WR 81 Brandon London Jr. 6-4 210 (1)
• LT 77 Colin Stoetzel RSr. 6-6 290 * (2)
• LG 68 Matt Austin RSo. 6-5 285 (3)
• C 62 Alex Miller RJr. 6-2 300 *
• RG 73 David Thompson RJr. 6-3 310 *
• RT 72 O.J. McBride RSr. 6-3 298 *
• TE 44 Mike Douglas RSr. 6-2 246 *
• TB 5 Steve Baylark Jr. 6-0 225 *
• FB 49 Frank McDonald RJr. 6-0 235 (4)
• QB 10 Tim Day Sr. 6-0 210 *
• WR 3 R.J. Cobbs RSr. 5-11 190 (5)

Notes:

1. London should rotate with J.J. Moore RSo. 6-0 210. The Blog thinks Moore would start on the other side if Cobbs should be injured.

2. Stoetzel is one of the Tri-Captains and the subject of a previous blog.

3. The Fanzone Blog actually thinks Brent Caldwell Sr. 6-3 290, a transfer from Syracuse will start. Caldwell played very well in the spring game. He is the lone projected starter out of the six I-A players who transferred to UMass.

4. McDonald is a transfer from Northeastern who sat out last year. He is one of the two I-AA transfers who will start.

5. Cobbs is a former A10-Rookie-of-the-Year who has been moved from CB to WR. The Fanzone Blog thinks Dominique Stewart Sr. 6-0 180 will get a lot of time here.

UMass adds UConn transfer

UMass has added Matt Lawrence TB 6-1 195 a junior transfer from UConn. The official UMass notice is here .

This will help replace TB Bryan Smith, who was an academic casualty.

As for Lawrence, he was all state in CT and was MVP of the state championship game. Should give UMass some depth and competition at TB

Image link

2005 UMass Captains

The UMass team Tri-Captains have already been chosen.

One captain is Buchanan Award candidate Shannon James. Scroll down for an earlier blog on him.

A new Captain for 2005 is Colin Stoetzel who is a SR OT 6-6 290. Stoetzel has been a mainstay of the UMass offensive line since he was a redshirt freshman. His official UMass bio is here . Among his accomplishments are:

• Played in all 36 games of his career
• Started all games as a sophmore and junior
• Allowed only one sack in 2004
  
• Had team high 55 knockdowns

Repeating as UMass Captian is SR LB Serge Tikum 6-0 226. His official UMass bio is here . Tikum has had an excellent career at UMass.

• Started at LB in 2003 and 2004
• Team Captain in 2004 as a Junior
• Team high 82 tackles, 66 solo and 5 TFL in 2004
• Team leader on defense.

The two images below are UMass photos. I could not find a good color image of Tikum. The image shown is a scan from the 2003 UMass press guide. The image was unattributed.

Hopefully, James, Stoetzel and Tikum will lead UMass into the playoffs in '05!

2005 UMass Captain Colin Stoetzel lead the way-----UMass Photo by Karen Winger 

UMass 2005 Captian Serge Tikum----UMass photo 

Shannon James---- Buchanan Candidate

Senior UMass Safety Shannon James is a candidate for the Buchanan Award given to the best defensive player in I-AA. James has had a stellar career at UMass. Read his official UMass bio here . His official NCAA stats are here .

He has been listed as top safety in I-AA by the Sports Network. The Sports Network also picked him as a First Team All-American .

nfldraftscout.com lists him as the four highest pick in both I-A and I-AA.

Some of his stats and honors:

• Seven first team All-American selections in 2004
• A-10 Defensive Player-of-the-Year
• Led nation and I-AA in interceptions and interceptions per game
• Leads all active Division I players in career interceptions (16)
• 75 tackles (63 solo) in 2004
• Named tri-captain of the UMass team in 2005

Hopefully, James will close out his UMass career with an A10 Championship and a deep run into the playoffs.

The two images below are from the UMass photo gallery.

Shannon James closes for the tackle---UMass photo (photographer not listed) 

Shanno James runs back an interception against UNH------UMass image byKaren Winger 

Sports Network picks Baylark as Pre-Season All-American

The Sports Network has chosen UMass RB Steve Baylark Sr. 6-0 225 as a second team All-American for 2005. Read the original article .

Baylark has had an excellent career at UMass. Some of his accomplishments so far:

• 2,522 career yard (5th in UMass history)
• Led A10 in rushing in 2004 (1,138)
• 2004 Atlantic 10 first Team
• New England Sports Writers All-Star Team
• Gold Helmet Award in New England (10/25)
• MVP of New Hampshire game (Bill Knight Trophy)

His official UMass bio is here . His official NCAA stats are here .

Operating behind a veteran offensive line, Baylark should continue his run through the A10. The offensive line only looses one starter in 2005. The UMass offense really picked it up in the last five games of 2004. Baylark ran for over 100 yards in four of those games. Here's hoping he has another great year in 2005

The two images above and below are from the UMass picture gallery. Photographer Karen Winger.

Baylark runs through the line----UMass image by karen Winger 

Steve Baylark------UMass photo by Karen Winger 

UMass listed as #14 in preseason Sports Network Article

The Sports Network has an article by Matt Dougherty listing his preseason rankings for entire I-AA division. Read the article here . Note that this is not the Sports Network "official" preseason rankings. The article is a good read covering all 98 scholarship teams and it also ranks the non-scholarship "Mid-Majors"

The A10 does well in his article with five teams in the top 20.

• #3 James Madison
• #6 New Hampshire
• #11 William & Mary (not on this year's UMass schedule)
  
• #13 Delaware
  
• #14 UMass
• #17 Hofstra

The rest of the A10 is listed this way:

• #27 Villanova (not on this year's UMass schedule)
• #35 Maine
• #39 Richmond
• #49 Northeastern
• #62 Rhode Island
• #70 Towson (not on this year's UMass Schedule)

The non-conference portion of UMass' schedule is listed this way:

• #44 Colgate

In the Mid-Major section:

• #9 Albany

UMass' lone I-A opponent Army is not covered by the article, but Athlon Sports lists them as #101 out of 119 I-AA teams.

UMass QB Jerry Whelchel elected to UMass Hall-of-Fame

It was recently announced that former UMass QB Jerry Whelchel (1962-1965) was elected to the UMass Athletic Hall of Fame.

Whelchel certainly deserved to be included among the greatest players in UMass history.

Among his achievements were:

• 22-5-1 as a starting QB
• Led UMass to the 1964 Tangerine Bowl
• 1964 winner of the Bolger Lowe Award as top New England football player
• 1964 pass efficiency rating of 165.4 is the highest in UMass history
• His career 139.9 pass efficiency ranks him first in UMass history
• 14-1 as starter in Yankee Conference play
• Also was the team's kicker and went 30-45 in extra points and 2 for 2 in field goal attempts.

A post on the UMass Hoops board stated that Whelchel passed away several years ago. Several internet searches produced no information about his passing.

The image below is from the UMass athletic website. The official UMass press release is here

UMass Football legend Jerry Whelchel 

UMass Punter Christian Koegel

Check out UMass Punter Christian Koegel's Blog . He's in the middle of having a great career at UMass. Christian's official UMass bio is here. His official NCAA stats are here .

• Christian's 40.1 career punting average is second only to David Sanger (1999-2002)
• He has 5099 in career punting yards in only two years
• He's A10 Academic All Conference!

I've added a link to his site. Hopefully he'll keep it going and add some more insights into college football. How do punters make the ball spiral when they kick it anyway?

His image is the next post below.

UMass Punter Christian Koegel