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Originally committed to South Alabama.
Tucker has 17 offers including Buffalo and Temple from the Northeast. He also has Power Five offers from Kansas and Arizona State. He could be an instant starter off the edge in Amherst and would have a lot of fun in Brown's attacking defense.
Penn Live has a story on his transfer.
Rudolph was a four-star recruit out of HS. He's graded as a three-star transfer by 247Sports. He played for new UMass coach Jeff Moore at Loomis Chaffee in CT. The Minutemen defense needs a total rebuild. Hopefully, Rudolph will be one of the building blocks. He has three years of eligibility left.
Coach Brown adds to his new staff.
The CT Post has an article from 2018 saying Jeff Moore turns St Thomas Moore into a powerhouse.
He was hired from Loomis Chaffee in CT.
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Perkins was last at UConn as defense backs coach.
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Howard Herman of the Berkshire Eagle reports with Brown at the helm, UMass football moves forward.
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The Hampshire Gazette says the Minutemen's football staff is growing.
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Lots of football on TV today. Toledo plays Middle Tennessee State at noon and Coastal Carolina meets Northern Illinois at 6:00, both on ESPN video.
Good FCS game at 7:00 pm as James Madison meets Montana in a FCS quarterfinal game on ESPN2.
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Brower lettered for UMass four straight years 2000 to 2003. He was first team All-A10 in 2001, '02 and '03. Second team All-American in 2003.
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Mark Whipple joins Nebraska's staff as offensive coordinator and QB coach.
Whipple will be operating without Huskers QB Adrian Martinez, who entered the transfer portal. Martinez was three-time captain and had 38 starts for Nebraska.
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The Bahamas Bowl will play tomorrow at noon. Toledo vs Middle Tennessee state.
Yahoo Sports predicts a Rockets victory.
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Tucson.com has a short post on Dudzinski's leaving for Amherst.
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Mark Whipple resigns from Pitt the day after Kenny Pickett is name a Heisman finalist.
Pat Narduzzi comments on Whipple's leaving.
Omaha.com reports Nebraska was close to signing Whipple as offensive coordinator.
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The Daily Hoosier reports former UMass coach Walt Bell has been hired as offensive coordinator for Indiana.
MassLive also has a post on Bell's hiring.
The Hampshire Gazette also has a story on Bell becoming Indiana's OC.
As the stories relate, this is good news for UMass as Bell's earnings will offset the cost of his buyout. Which, in turn means there will be more funding available for Brown's new staff.
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If you missed it, Pitt beat Wake Forest 45-21 to win it's first ACC championship. I watched the game and Coach Whipple got a lot of air time during the broadcast.
In addition, Pitt QB Kenny Pickett is a finalist for the Heisman Trophy.
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Toledo will play Middle Tennessee on 12/17/21 in the Bahamas Bowl. The Rockets have been bowl eligible for eleven straight years.
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Besides UMass, Unamba has offers from Maryland, UTEP and Texas Southern.
Howard Herman of the Berkshire Eagle asks: Can Don Brown get UMass on the right track?
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Avien Peah declares for the NFL Draft.
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Evan Deckers enters the transfer portal.
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Dalton Tomlinson enters the transfer portal.
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Harding also drew interest from Arkansas State and Harvard.
Jalen Stewart, s 6-1 225 pound LB from Monroe College in Pennsylvania has committed to UMass.
This Q & A from 2018 features Stewart.
UMass needs LB help badly. Stewart should in the mix early in Amherst.
Brown seem to say he was going to hit the transfer portal to fill in some immediate gaps in the roster.On defense UMass needs linebackers, defensive ends and a pass rush specialist. UMass averaged less than one sack/game in 2021.
Brown said he would keep Alex Miller as offensive line coach. No decision on the other coaches yet.
The entire press conference is available here.
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MassLive reports Brown is eager to build on his legacy in Amherst.
The Hampshire Gazette says Don Brown is a UMass football guy.
The Gazette also reports it's been a full circle for Coach Brown.
The Boston Herald says Brown is upbeat.
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MassLive reports former UMass A.D. Ian McCaw believes Don Brown is the right coach for UMass.
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UMass and UConn complete their 2022 schedules by scheduling a November 5th, 2022 game at UConn.
UMass' 2022 schedule:
09/03 - at Tulane
09/10 - at Toledo
09/17 - Stony Brook
09/24 - at Temple
10/01 - at Eastern Michigan
10/08 - Liberty
10/15 - Buffalo
10/29 - New Mexico State
11/05 - at UConn
11/12 - at Arkansas State
11/19 - at Texas A&M
11/26 - Army
UMass could have a chance of winning against Tulane (2-10), Stony Brook (5-6), New Mexico State (2-10), UConn (1-11) and Arkansas State (2-10).
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Minutemen CB Bryce Watts declares for the NFL draft.
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Thanks to the blog reader who pointed me to Isaiah Rogers 101-yard kickoff return Sunday.
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Khari Samuel was one of the best UMass linebackers in my 40+ years of following the team. Samuel had 160 TT (3rd all-time single season) and 113 UT (2nd all-time single season) in 1998. He's 2nd all-time in career UT's (326) and 2nd all-time (495) in TT. Samuel is #1 in career FF (17). He's in UMass' top-ten all-time in just about every defensive career stat.
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Don Brown's "directed, pointed" coaching style was embraced by Arizona's defensive players.
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Magnificent Merriweather! He finished the season with 1,138 yards rushing. Merriweather was 21st in FBS football in rushing yards in 2021. UMass was 82nd in team rushing with 1,772 rushing yards.
Merriweather's rushing totals were impressive as most opposing defenses were set up to stop him because they knew we didn't have anything else. UMass finished #122 in total offense.
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Doug Martin is out as coach at New Mexico State. Matrin declined to take part in the Senior Day activities Saturday.
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Patriots Chase Winovich predicts good things for Coach Brown at UMass.
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Don Brown arrived yesterday and he's probably in his office looking at the 2021 transfer portal.
Rivals has the top 10 defensive linemen in the portal.
Rivals top 10 linebackers available in the portal.
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Well that's settled. We are the worst team in FBS. We certainly have the worst defense. Prior to yesterday's game, the Aggies had not scored a TD in three games. It took about 2.5 minutes to score against us. UMass gave up 623 total yards and 30 first downs to a 1-10 team. Brown will need a complete rebuild on defense to even be average. UMass has significant deficits in size, speed and athleticism. Hopefully, Brown brings about six defensive transfers with him.
UMass did manage 404 yards of offense and 281 yards rushing. However, we were a combined 7-17 on third and fourth downs. Merriweather ran for 168 yards and easily achieved a 1,000 yard season. The offense was competitive with a 1-10 New Mexico State team, but that is not saying much.
Hope to see a lot of UMass fans at Brown's reception...
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New Mexico State's write-up here.
UMass recap is not up.
Hampshire Gazette reports UMass ended the season with a loss.
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Pitt ran their record to 10-2 against Syracuse.
Boston College was crushed by Wake Forest 44-10.
Eastern Michigan lost Thursday to Central Michigan to finish at 7-5.
Coastal Carolina won in overtime to finish 10-2.
Toledo won big over Akron.
UConn put up a pretty good fight against a strong Houston team.
Florida State lost by three to Florida.
Liberty lost to Army 36-14.
Rhode Island's season is over.
Maine's season is over.
Army beat Liberty as above.
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Arizona held Arizona State to 314 total yards, but lost anyway 38-15.
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This is a game I've been dreading. Getting beat by a team as bad as New Mexico State would be the final insult in a miserable season. The Minutemen showed some life against Army last week. The defense played their best game of the season against the tough to defend Army option.
Coach Miller and the UMass offensive staff were able to squeeze out enough offense to keep the game competitive. UMass had 277 yards of offense and was able to convert 50% of their 3rd and fourth downs. If the Minutemen can stop turning the ball over, this could be a good game.
I'll be watching and cheering for the Maroon & White. Go UMass!
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Against All Enemies recaps the Army-UMass game.
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Yahoo Sport predicts an "easy" Aggie win 35-20.
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CBS Sports has game day info for the UMass-New Mexico State game.
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Still no game notes from UMass.
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Flo Football reports UMass and New Mexico State look to end the season on a high note.
Speaking of Flo Football, AFAIK, the only way to watch the game is through Flo Football. Join here if you want to subscribe for a month to see the game.
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The New England Football Journal has five reasons why Don Brown makes UMass better.
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ESPN says it's the Battle for the Bottom with UMass vs New Mexico State.
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Sports Illustrated has odds, plays and insights for the Minutemen-Aggies game.
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The Boston Herald says UMass closes out the season against New Mexico State.
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This Thanksgiving I'm thankful for family, friends, my country and ----- UMass football.
Having a top FBS coordinator like Don Brown returning to UMass is wonderful occurrence. We have not had a lot of breaks go our way recently. Hope coach Brown makes "UMass football fun again".
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New Mexico State has their game notes for UMass up.
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Matty Vautour says Brown has turned around doomed programs before.
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The Hampshire Gazette says UMass can take away some positives from the Army loss.
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Sports Illustrated has odds, plays and insights for UMass vs New Mexico State.
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Yahoo.com looks at Don Martin's legacy at New Mexico State.
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UMass has opened a Football excellence fund. Help Coach Brown right the program. Any amount helps. Your donation is a force multiplier for improvement.
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The Athletic has the 2021-22 coaching carousel. Perhaps the most surprising firing was Dan Mullen at Florida. He went to the SEC championship last year and had multiple 10-win seasons.
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New Mexico State may be targeting Jerry Kill as their next head coach.
The Spun reports the football world reacts to the Jerry Kill news.
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The Las Cruses Bulletin previews the UMass-New Mexico State game.
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Will powerful football programs force a split in the current FBS division?
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This article from Arizona Desert Swarm says Arizona assistant coach Keith Dudzinski is expected to follow Brown to Amherst.
Dudzinski is currently linebackers coach and assistant special teams coach with the Wildcats.
Dudzinski was defensive coordinator, defensive line coach and linebacker coach in two stints with the Minutemen from 1998-01 and 2004-2010.
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The Hampshire Gazette has a story about Brown being hired.
Lots of other story links, but they all just repeat the AP boilerplate.
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Sports Illustrated has odds, plays and insights for the Aggies-Minutemen game Saturday.
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Five things to know about Kentucky's 56-16 rout of New Mexico State.
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