Thursday--February 5th, 2015

Some takeaways from Coach Whipple's press conference:

UMass will have 20+ more players taking part in Spring ball. Close to a hundred players are on campus , which is a lot more than 2014.

Whipple is OK with Sosinski and Lynn being interested in basketball. He said "it's our scholarship, so basketball, will be happy." Sosinski was touted as a DI basketball prospect as a power forward. Sosinski's MaxPreps basketball page here. Matty Vautour has a post on Sosinski and Lynn's basketball interest.

Whipple said repeatedly that one goal of 2015's recruiting was more "length", which is the current coaching buzz word for tall players.

Spencer Whipple said UMass' pro-set offense is a recruiting tool in the fact that many colleges are going to the spread offense. UMass not only plays the pro-set "heavy" (with two backs), the Minutemen use NFL play terminology. Spencer Whipple related Sekai Lindsay came to UMass because he wanted to run from the pro-set.

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Dan Malone has a post on the seven UMass Spring Enrollees.

Dan also looks at the wide-ranging recruiting localities of this year's recruits.

Finally, Dan has five takeaways from this year's recruiting class.

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Matty Vautour looks at the 2015 Minutemen recruits.

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Max Moore of Hustle Belt says UMass signs an impressive class.

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The UMass Daily Collegian has two articles on Letter-of-Intent Day here and here.

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The Boston Herald says UMass prospects improve.

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The Boston Globe says UMass bolsters the offensive line.

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Nj.com has an article on kicker Mike Caggiano joining the Minutemen. The News-Transcript also has an article on Caggiano.

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MassLive has a story about offensive line recruit Michael Yerardi.

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The Boston Herald has a post about Xaverian players Joe Parsons and Kenny Kern joining the Minutemen.

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The Shreveport Times says Artayvious Lynn like snowball fights.

UMass football yesterday

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The TC Palm has some images, including Reche Thomas, during the Varo Beach signing day ceremony.

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St. Thomas Aquinas has 17 players, including James Oliphant, sign letters of intent yesterday.

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Buford HS had 15 signees, the most ever, including Brandon Mangram.

Access North Georgia has more on Buford's signees.

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The News-Herald says UMass recruit Andy Isabella set the Ohio state record in the 60-yard dash last week.

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Tomorrow, my thoughts on the 2015 recruiting class.

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Monday--January 26th, 2014 UMass gets seven verbals

Dan Malone reports UMass received seven verbals from it's recent campus visits.

The UMass Daily Collegian also has an article on the commitments.

Some are recruits I've blogged about before; four are new. On the ones previously covered click on the link for images, bios and other links posted at that time.

Verbaling were:

Michael Caggiano, a 5-10 kicker from Manalapan, NJ. See previous blog coverage. NJ.com has an article on Caggiano's verbal.

James Oliphant, 5-9 170 pound DB/Athlete from St. Thomas Aquinas Fl. See previous blog coverage.

Reche Thomas, a 6-4 325 pound OL from Varo Beach, FL. See previous blog coverage.

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New to the blog are:

Hudl.com image

Artayvious Lynn, a 6-6 200 pound TE from Bossier City, LA.

Lynn's 247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has highlights.

Rivals page here.

Was highly rated while participating in a national prospects camp.

Lynn chose the Minutemen over an offer from South Alabama.

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Hudl.com image

Arron Kinsey, a 6-4 225 pound weakside DE from Miami, FL

247Sports two-star player.

Hudl.com has 15 ways to kill a quarterback.

Rivals two-star recruit.

Chose UMass over an offer from UAB

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247Sports image

Sekai Lindsay, a 5-10 205 pound RB from Melbourne, FL

247Sports three-star player.

Hudl.com has video.

Originally verbaled to Pitt.

Chose the Minutemen over offers from Appalachian State, Cincinnati, FIU, Georgia Tech, Indiana, North Carolina, Pitt, South Alabama and Temple.

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Harley #15/ Patrick Johnson image

D'Shan Harley, a 6-6 220 pound OLB from Wichita Falls, TX

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

Max Preps has some stats and video.

The Time-Record has a story about Harley verbaling to UMass and some stats.

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This weekend's commits look like a good group. Michale Caggiano has a chance to be a four-year starter for the Minutemen. UMass fans hope he fixes a two-year train wreck in the UMass kicking game. Kicking is offense. Punting is defense. Caggiano has the potential to also be a strong punter.

Running back Sekai Lindsay is another player UMass fans hope pans out. Despite the fact the Minutemen had several three-star running backs on the roster, the last two years have finished with former walk-on Shadrack Abrokwah as the starting RB. The UMass ground game is nowhere at the level of the Blake Frohnapfel and the passing attack. UMass needs better production from the running backs to be even in the middle of the MAC for a quality running game.

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Boston College was the lone vote against cost-of-attendance for college athletes.

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Wednesday--February 4th, 2015 Letter-of-Intent Day

Lots more recruiting stuff tomorrow, pant, pant :)

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UPDATES:

Spring Enrollees:

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Marquis Young, 6-0 200 RB from Milford Academy. I've blogged about Young before.

Randall West, 6-4 220 pound QB from Lawrenceville, NJ. I've blogged about West before.

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Lamarriel Taylor, 6-3 WR from Chula Vista, CA. I've blogged about him before.

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Thomas Rodrick, 6-3 230 LB from Liecester, MA. I've blogged about him before.

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Morel #6/ Boston Herald image

Micah Morel, 6-0 190 pound Safety from Milford Academy.

ESPN describes him as one of the best safeties in MA in this 2012 article.

Hudl.com has video.

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Image credit as above

Darrian Josey, 6-2 165 pound WR from Boyton Beach, FL. Transfer from Hawaii.

Whipple said UMass recruited Josey last year. Whipple also said Josey ran the 2nd fastest 100 in the state of Florida in 2014.

Hudl.com highlights. This article from January 2014 features Josey. So does this article.

Rivals two-star player.

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247Sports image

Dejion Evans, 6-3 200 pound WR from Boston, MA.

Hudl.com video.

ESPN player page.

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OK, I've got to do a couple of things and then I'm going to drive down to Amherst to go the 3:00 PM press conference. More updates to the blog in the evening.

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Travis Reynolds joins the Minutemen. Apparently they play football in Australia (Reynolds video highlights)

Bayside Ravens Football Club.

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James Sosinski joins the UMass QB corps.

This article from MaxPreps features Sosinki.

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Boston Globe image

ESPN reports that Kenny Kern, a 6-0 227 pound fullback from Xaverian Brothers will join UMass as a preferred walk-on.

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Jack Driscoll joins the UMass offensive line

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Reche Thomas signs with UMass

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Artayvious Lynn joins the Minutemen

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247 Sports image

Sam Franklin, a 6-4 185 pound WR from Crystal River, FL signs with UMass

247Sports three-star player.

Hudl.com video.

Rivals two-star player with offers from Cincinnati, Indiana, Kentucky and South Alabama.

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Aaron Kinsey signs with the Minutemen.

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Mario Patton joins UMass.

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James Bowe signs with the Minutemen. I received an e-mail from a UMass fan in Georgia saying Buford is a powerhouse program that has supplied a lot of talent to FBS teams in the past.

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Mike Caggiano joins UMass.

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D'Shan Harley signs with the Minutemen.

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Sekai Lindsay joins UMass Football/

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Brandon Mangram signs with the Minutemen.

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Lee Moses joins UMass

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Hudl.com image

Marshall Robinson a 6-4 330 pound DL from Mars Hill, PA signs with UMass.

Robinson's Hudl highlights.

Also had offers from Temple and Bowling Green.

From the UMass feed:

Fun fact about Marshall Robinson - he can dunk a basketball from a standing position according to coach Sollazzo

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From John Sinnett's office:

Fans are invited to join UMass football Head Coach Mark Whipple and his staff for a College Football Signing Day Party tomorrow, February 4th at the Amherst Brewing Company starting at 5:30 PM. The event is free to attend and light hors d'oeuvres will be provided. The Amherst Brewing Company is located just off the UMass campus at 10 University Drive in Amherst.
Coach Whipple will highlight his incoming class of newcomers for the 2015 season and will be joined by his coaching staff to speak with fans about the newest additions to the UMass football family. The evening celebration will cap off what is sure to be a day of great excitement with players signing their National Letters of Intent beginning that morning.

SECOND RECRUITING EVENT CELEBRATION IN BOSTON

This event will be held at the UMass Club in Boston on February 26th, 2015. This is another opportunity to get to know the newest additions to the maroon and white family, and hear what Head Coach Mark Whipple and the UMass Football coaching staff have in store for the upcoming season.

To RSVP or for more information, please contact Jason Germain in the Minutemen Club Office at jag@admin.umass.edu<mailto:jag@admin.umass.edu> or 413-577-0267.

SIGNING DAY COVERAGE
For full coverage of the day along with an interactive blog check out www.UMassAthletics.com<http://www.umassathletics.com/>. Fans are also encouraged to follow twitter.com/CoachWhipUMass<http://www.twitter.com/CoachWhipUMass>, twitter.com/UMassFootball<http://www.twitter.com/UMassFootball> and twitter.com/UMassAthletics<http://wwww.twitter.com/UMassAthletics> to get the news of each signing as soon as it happens.

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The UMass website has a Signing Day Central Page up.

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Dan Malone says this year's recruits will lead the Minutemen into a unknown future.

MassLive.com will also have live updates.

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Looks like UMass Lax may be playing at McGuirk this season after Garber Field suffered unspecified "damage' from the latest storm.

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BC signs seven Massachusetts players.

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Campus Insiders thinks Sekai Lindsey will be star of the Minutemen's 2015 recruiting class.

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Future UMass opponent BYU got a big boost after it was named a honorary Power Five team.

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Monday--February 8th, 2016

UMass has season tickets on sale and renewals are on route.

Four games in Gillette: Boston College, Mississippi State, Tulane and Louisiana Tech. Whipple said they tried to get Tulane to Amherst, but they said no. Visiting teams want to play in the pro venue.

The two Amherst games, FIU and Wagner are early in the schedule, so the weather should be good.

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A TCU blog thinks former UMass commit Artayvious Lynn could be a "sleeper" recruit.

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Former UMass player and coach Ben Albert joins the Duke staff.

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Campus Insiders thinks UMass is a winnable road game for the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs.

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The Washington Post says Redskins need a big WR and Tajae Sharpe is one they could think of.

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Victor Cruz says he'd rework his contract to stay with the Giants.

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Saturday-- January 31st, 2015

UMass Athletic Dept image

Slow day on the Intertubes for UMass football stories, so let's look at where UMass stands on recruiting as we go into the final stretch before Wednesday's Letter-of-Intent Day.

UMass has some visits planned this weekend.

The Minutemen currently have 16 verbals.

My take on UMass' needs going into this year's recruiting cycle were:\

1. a kicker
2. running back
3. defensive help everywhere especially in the front seven.

On the kicking front, UMass has a verbal from Michael Caggiano. Most teams make kickers walk-on (even highly rated ones), but the Minutemen apparently offered a scholarship to fix the most glaring need from last year. 

UMass has verbals from two running backs: Sekai Lindsey and Marquis Young (both rated three stars by 247Sports). Lindsey could have an immediate impact in 2015.

The Minutemen have commits from five offensive linemen: Joe Parsons, Michael Yerardi, Jack Driscoll , Derek Dumais and Reche Thomas. UMass will now have 20+ offensive linemen on the roster. All the recruits are true freshman and will help down the road. Thomas is probably the highest rated recruit in this class (so far).

The conventional wisdom in FBS is to recruit a QB every year. This year James Sosinski a 6-7 230 pound QB from Chandler, AZ joins the team. 

The Minutemen have only one receiver, TE Artayvious Lynn a 6-6 200 pound player from Bossier City, LA.

On defense UMass has two defensive linemen: Mario Patton (three stars from 247Sports) and Aaron Kinsey. The de-commitment of Desjon Robinson hurt this group.

For linebackers the Minutemen have: Tom Rodrick (may not play in 2015) and D'Shan Harley from Wichita Falls,TX

UMass has commits from two defensive backs: Lee Moses from Warwick, RI and James Oliphant from  Fort Lauderdale.

Ten of the 16 verbals are offensive recruits. It seems we have addressed some critical needs on the offensive side of the ball. On defense, thus far, it does not look like this recruiting class will have an immediate impact. We could use some JUCO or FBS transfers on the defensive side.

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The NY Giants blog "Big Blue" takes a look at the more than 500 prop bets available for the Super Bowl.

BTW, Mrs Blog and I met at a Super Bowl party. If you're planning one for tomorrow, be sure to invited your single friends.

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Tuesday--March 3rd, 2015

Flicker image

College football guru Phil Steele has the Top 150 incoming RB's in 2015. He has Sekai Lindsay as #74. That's his top rated RB not only in the MAC, but in the entire Group of Five.

Hustle Belt post on Lindsay.

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Northern Illinois opens Spring drills today.

HC Rod Carey talks about Spring ball.

The Northern Star grades the Huskies schedule, including a road trip to Boston College.

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SB Nation previews Kent State for 2015 (and thinks the Golden Flashes biggest game is at UMass on October 17th).

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Ball State has four home games in October, including UMass on October 31st.

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Lots of potential recruits in Louisiana. See articles here and here. Maybe Artayvious Lynn won't be our only Louisiana player.

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Sunday--August 23rd, 2015

The wins in 2015 poll ending yesterday showed a nice normal curve centered around seven wins:

four wins-7 votes
five wins-10 votes
six wins-19 votes (I voted for six)
seven wins-30 votes
eight wins-18 votes

eleven wins-two votes
twelve wins-two votes

A couple of Notre Dame haters voted for 12 wins. The two 11 win votes could be UMass fans, but I'll have what they're drinking :)

Six wins would make us bowl-eligible, but I think one of the wins would have to be Colorado or Temple to not get passed over. Seven wins would probably get us a bowl. Temple was not invited at 6-6 last year. Toledo went 7-5 in 2013 and didn't get an invite.

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Lots of interesting news from Saturday's scrimmage.

First on 2014 recruits not on the Fall roster:

Thanks to the blog reader who sent me notice that two-star TE 6-6 250 recruit Artayvious Lynn from Parkway HS in Louisiana will enroll at Milford Academy.

Bill McGovern reports James Bowe, Jr a 6-2 200 pound LB from Miami, FL will gray shirt.

He also reports Marshall Robinson 6-4 340  an unrated DT from Mars, PA will attend Lacawanna Community college.

No real surprises on depth chart. Khary Bailey-Smith and Fabian Hoeller are currently out. Both were 2014 starters at Safety and LG respectively.

Dan also has more notes from the first scrimmage. Dan reports Zeke Edmonds has been moved to LB. Edmonds received a lot of praise in last year's Fall camp. He played as a true freshman. If he's healthy this year, he could be a nice addition to the Minutemen defense.

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Dan also has five questions with new UMass RB coach Darrius Smith. Smith's UMass bio.

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Mark Chiarelli of Maroon Musket catches up with Vanderbilt transfer Larry Franklin.

Franklin's UMass bio.

Chiarelli also has what UMass was looking for in Saturday's scrimmage.

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Hustle Belt previews Central Michigan.

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A Daily Local News writer says Temple will beat Penn State this year.

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Houston Courier report the AAC wants to turn the Power 5 into the Power 6.

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Wednesday--December 2nd, 2015

#78 Matt Sparks

UMass senior center Matt Sparks was named co-UMass Fall scholar-Athlete.

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Matty Vautour looks at next year's replacements for the graduating seniors. The three positions the Minutemen should see big changes are quarterback, TE and WR.

James Sosinski made the traveling squad this year. I'd speculate going into Spring ball the order would be:

1. Ross Comis
2. James Sosinski
3. Austin Whipple

On TE, UMass does not have a blocking TE on the roster. Travis Reynolds seems to be a good athlete, but the Minutemen need recruiting help big time in this position.

For WR, UMass is better stocked, but do they have a feature "X" receiver? Hawaii transfer Darren Josey and FR Lamarriel Taylor have potential. Jalen Williams and Shakur Nesmith are probably the top returning receivers.

UMass signed two players in 2015 who ended up in Prep school: Artayvious Lynn and Sam Franklin. Whipple has said he would still like both to attend UMass.

Matty also looks at next year's defensive team. The defensive front seven needs recruiting priority. Jake Largay 6-6 310 is the only NT on the roster.

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The Register-Star remembers former UMass QB John Kraham.

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The win over Buffalo moved UMass out of CBS Sports Bottom-25.

Keeper's College football rankings has UMass as #107 (.htm down load). Note the Minutemen's relatively high strength-of-schedule. Boston College is ranked #90 despite two of their three wins came against FCS teams.

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Hustle Belt looks at the NIU-Bowling Green MAC championship game.

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