Recruiting 2018--Bryson Richardson

Hudl.com image

Bryson Richardson, a 6-0 185 pound Safety from Buford, GA has Tweeted he's received an offer from UMass.

247Sports three-star player.

Hudl.com has video and some stats.

Previously committed to Tennessee.

Richardson currently holds nine offers, with UMass as the only team from the Northeast.

Tuesday--February 14th, 2017

UMass AD Ryan Bamford Tweets we'll have a new defensive coordinator by Football Night in Boston.

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FanRag.com discusses Mississippi State's top issues for 2017. Giving up 35 points to UMass last year is one of them.

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Rutgers signs a six-year deal with Adidas. Note UMass is one of 25 other teams with contracts with Adidas.

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The Giants release Victor Cruz. Stories from NFL.com and the NY Post.

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Recruiting 2018--Elija Godwin

Twitter image

Elija Godwin, a 6-1 190 pound DB from Alcovy HS in Covington, GA has Tweeted he's received an offer from UMass.

Hudl.com has video.

MaxPreps has some stats.

Also ran track.

UMass appears to be the first offer for Godwin.

Recruiting 2018--Christian Jackson

Scout.com image

Christian Jackson, a 6-1, 185 pound DB from Marietta, GA has Tweeted he's received an offer from UMass.

247Sports three-star player.

Hudl.com has video.

Jackson has 10 offers including Michigan and Michigan State. UMass is his only offer from the Northeast.

Recruiting 2018--Joe Foucha

Amos Morale III image

Joe Foucha, a 6-0 190 pound CB from New Orleans has Tweeted he's received an offer from UMass.

247Sports three-star player.

Hudl.com has video.

Partial quote from a 01/15/16 Scout.com article by Andrew Hattersley:

"I’m going to be looking at how the school is, their environment, the coaches, the players,” Foucha said. 

So far the Louisiana safety has offers from Auburn, Memphis, Mississippi State, SMU, Texas A&M, Ball State, Cincinnati, Arizona, UMass, Texas, Arizona State, but has also been hearing from LSU, ULM and others. 

The 6-0, 190 safety is content to let the process play out and has no plans to cut down his list anytime soon. That said, there are a few schools that have impressed him so far with how much they’ve kept in contact with him. "

Foucha has 16 offers mostly from Power Five schools. UMass is his only offer from the Northeast.

Saturday--February 11th, 2017

UMass signing day video.

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A 247Sports writer breaks down Temple's 2017 schedule.

CSN Philly.com also contemplates the Owls's 2017 schedule.

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A SB Nation writer comments on Bryton Barr's seven years of eligibility.

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Old Dominion's plan to tear down and rebuild its stadium is getting positive feedback from the state assembly.

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Recruiting 2018--Jamarcus Chatman

Scout.com image

Jamarcus Chatman, a 6-3 261 pound DE from Rome, GA has Tweeted he's received an offer from UMass.

247Sports three-star player.

Hudl.com has video.

Scout.com four-star player.

Partial quote from a 01/29/17 article on Scout.com by Chad Simmons:

"Chatman is still waiting on his first SEC offer, but expect it to come soon.  He is a prospect in the Peach State that is definitely on the rise.  He is very strong, he plays with leverage, he is a high-motor kid on the field and he is one who could project as a five or three-technique on the next level.

He would like to commit this spring."

Chatman has 15 offers including from a number of Power Five schools. Besides UMass only Rutgers has offered from the Northeast.

Bryton Barr transfers to UMass

Towson University image

Thanks to "Chizzle" who first mentioned this in the comments.

Bryton Barr a 6-0 220 pound LB from Towson has transferred to UMass. PennLive.com has a story about Barr and his long journey to UMass. (fixed link)

Barr's Townson bio.

This article from Pressboxonline.com talks about his history of injuries.

Barr was a 247Sports three-star player coming out of HS.

Thursday--February 9th, 2017

Mark Chiarelli of MassLve has a post on the passing of Michael Boland, Jr with lots of quotes from his teammates.

Matty Vautour reports UMass will send a bus with coaches and players to Maryland so they will be able to Boland's funeral.

Yahoo Sports has a post on Boland's death.

The Spun.com has a story on the death of the former UMass captain.

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Former UMass recruit Antoine Webster was arrested for 2nd degree murder. Webster was part of 2016's recruiting class, but never joined the Minutemen. I blogged about Webster before.

More from the Miami Herald.

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a post on Webster's arrest.

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Ben Albert did not get the Georgia defensive line coach position.

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Wednesday--February 8th, 2017

UPDATE: UMass has a post and a video tribute to Boland on their website.

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Matty Vautour has a post on the death of Michael Boland.

Quote from the article by his father:

“Michael Jr. was a legend in DC sports as an All-Met football and basketball player. He scored 1000 more points than Roy Hibbert did at Georgetown Prep. Yet he was humble to the core,” his father said. “He wanted to help build UMass and feels the program will achieve great success if people are patient. Our great sadness is immeasurable but so has been the support of the school. Go UMass!”

Mark Chiarelli of MassLive has an article on Boland's passing and many Twitter comments by his teammates.

Andrew Cyr of the UMass Daily Collegian has a short notice of Boland's death.

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Because of the International Dateline, UMass-Hawaii will open the 2017 season, just beating Stanford-Rice in Australia.

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FB Schedules.com has seven teams that benefited from easier schedules in 2016. It would be nice if UMass was included in such an article some year.

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UMass ledgend Ben Albert is mentioned as a possible replacement for Georgia's defensive line coach.

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Michael Boland passes away

Michael Boland, 2016 UMass graduate and former starting OG for the UMass football team has passed away.

My sincere condolences to Michael's family and friends.

Image from the pregame huddle at Hawaii. Click for a larger view.

Tuesday--February 7th, 2016

SB Nation has a post about Coastal Carolina, our second game of the 2017 season. Mentions UMass.

One of the main reasons the Minutemen have been wrong-footed since moving to FBS is 2011. You will remember we were ineligible for the CAA title because we had too many scholarships. UMass finished 2011 at 5-6 and lost four of our last five games in FCS.

The Chants were ineligible for the Big South title in 2016. They finished 10-2 and were ranked on the top ten of FCS teams.

UMass should have had about 12-15 JUCOS and FBS transfers in 2011. Followed by 12 more in the first year of Molnar's era. Basically nothing worthwhile was done in 2011 to prepare for the move. That year is still haunting us.

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USA Today has the five-year recruiting averages for Group-of-Five teams. Boston College is second-to-last in the entire group.

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ONE WHO GOT AWAY

Maxi Hradecny, who had an offer from UMass, chose Duquesne University.

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CBS Sports says Superbowl LI would have been better with college football overtime rules.

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Monday--February 6th, 2017

The Worcester Telegram has a story featuring Rich Lewis, former Wachusett AD and former UMass football player. Richard Lewis lettered for the Minutemen in 1962 and 1965.

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Area coaches including Mike Hodges and Mark Whipple weigh in on Super Bowl predictions.

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The Worcester Sun has a post on Cole McCubery's signing with UMass.

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ONE THAT GOT AWAY-----TO RHODE ISLAND?

Ivory Frimpong signs with the Rams. Frimpong's Hudl.com page.

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UConn signed Villanova's defensive coordinator Billy Crocker. Villanova led the CAA in scoring defense.

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Saturday--February 4th, 2017

Well, we're heading into the "slow news" portion of the year. I've been cranking out posts seven days a week since August. Unless we sign a defensive coordinator or some other major news, I'm going to start to take Sundays off until things pick up.

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Former NFL player Wade Davis spoke about gender equality during a visit to UMass. He also spoke with the UMass football team.

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Former UMass QB Gary Wilkos is enjoying life after football. Wilkos was one of the most impressive freshman QB's the Minutemen ever had. IMHO, he would have been an All-American if he had not been injured.

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The Pilot Online previews Old Dominion's 2107 schedule and thinks the Monarchs will have a tougher game in Amherst.

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ONE THAT GOT AWAY

Dan McGeough signs with Army.

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Victor Cruz is uncertain about his future with the Giants.

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Friday--February 3rd, 2017

Howard Herman of the Berkshire Eagle on UMass' 2017 recruiting class.

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DA Online has an article on how coaches recruit with a backup plan. Mentions UMass recruit Chris Hunt.

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The Union Leader mentions UMass walk-on Jake Froehlich.

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The Telegram cover UMass signeee Cole McCubrey and has some video. Like the UMass banner in the background.

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SOME THAT GOT AWAY

UMass target Jaylen Hall signed with Western Michigan.

Gerrick Vollmer signs with Virginia.

Sekai Lindsay signs with DII Florida Tech.

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Thursday--February 2nd, 2017 The day after LOI Day

Dan Malone has a post on UMass' recruiting results from yesterday.

Dan also has a post on the recruiting rule change that allows a school to bring in a recruit's parents.

Matty Vautour has a story on the 2017 recruits.

Mike Traini has "What we learned on the 2017 National Signing Day".

Kyle Deluz of the UMass Daily Collegian has a post on the 2017 recruits.

The Boston Herald covers UMass' Signing Day.

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UMass OL recruit Brian Abosi is featured by Worcester Telegram.

No Group-of-Five team signed any of New Jersey's Top-50, but UMass grabbed two of the next group.

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Don Brown poached several top Connecticut recruits.

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MY TAKE ON THE 2017 RECRUITS

247Sports has the Minutemen's class at #108 out of 128. That would have put us 9th in the MAC and in the middle of most of the Group-of-Fives recruiting hauls.

Boston College signed 16 three-star recruits in their annual bottom-of-the-ACC ranking. So don't expect UMass to do much wining against Power Five squads.

The UMass defense finally receive a recruiting focus. Fourteen of the 22 recruits are on the defensive side of the ball. Six of the eight three-star players play defense. The Minutemen certainly strengthened their defensive backfield that was consistently beaten by Group-of-Five offenses. Three three-star linebackers should also help. The defensive line should also be deeper.

The Minutemen also filled a need at WR. Beyond Andy Isabella, UMass did not get a lot of production from their wide receivers. UMass added size with Jacoby Herring and Melvin Hill. Jesse Britt could help at slot receiver.

One thing that did not get fixed is UMass' #124 ranked rushing offense. The Minutemen only have two scholarship RB's and did not sign one yesterday. I would expect Whipple to add a RB in the Spring or before Fall camp. Both scholarship offensive linemen look to be projects.

All-in-all a solid FBS class. Eight three-star players is good for where we are now as an Independent. Adding a late three-star RB and maybe a OL fifth year transfer would push the class into the "very good' region.

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Alex Piechocki commits to UMass

Alex Piechocki, a 6-5 248 pound DT commits to UMass. I've blogged about Piechocki before.

This article from yesterday's Daily News features Piechocki's verbal to UMass.

J'yvon Brown commits to UMass

The UMass Twitter feed reports J'yvon Brown, a 6-4 190 pound Athlete from Irvington, NJ has committed to UMass.

I've blogged about Brown before.

Recruiting 2017--Chinedu Ogbona commits to UMass

Chinedu Ogbona, 6-3 200 OLB from Wheeler HS in Georgia has verbaled to UMass. I've blogged about Ogbona before.

Chose UMass over 11 other offers including Troy, Old Dominion and Tennessee.

February 1st, 2017--National Letter of Intent Day

UMass Twitter image

Today is the High Holy Day of College Recruiting.

Follow the recruits as their faxes arrive in Amherst on @UMass Football.

Today's a busy day for me (figures). I'll try to have some posts on players that just commit today or are new to the recruiting news.

In addition, UMass will have a live signing day show on ESPN3 at Noon EDT.

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