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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Wednesday--April 20th, 2016

Coach Michaels is the latest "Made in Massachusetts" video.

Coach Michaels is the special teams coordinator and OLB coach.

This year he'll be working with:

Da'Sean Downey 6-4 241 JR 9-3 GP-GS 21 UT 22 AT 43 TT 4.5-13 TFL 1-5 INT
Leon Flanagan 6-3 200 FR FR (Early enrollee)
D'Shan Harley 6-3 218 RSFR
Aaron Kinsey 6-4 205 RSFR
Teddy Lowery 6-0 225 JR JUCO Transfer
Peter Ngobidi 6-2 218 SR 8-0 GP-GS 7 UT 10 AT 17 TT 2.5-10 TFL 1.0-4 SACK

In addition, Michaels will have the following:

James Bowe, Jr 6-2 200 FR (early enrollee, OLB as recruited, listed as ILB on roster)
Taylor Riggins 6-2 213 FR three-star recruit (listed as RB/OLB in recruiting)

The OLB postion should have more talent and depth this year. Downey and Ngobidi will probably be listed as the "1's". Lowery and Flanagan should be in the rotation.

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James Ihedigbo is an inspiring guy to be around. Wonder if he'd be interested in coaching after his NFL career.

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In some bulletin-board material, the Orlando Sentinel has UMass #128 (dead last) in it's 2016 preview. I don't know where they're getting that.

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During 2016 opponent Tulane's Spring Game, defense ruled the field.

The local paper has six takeaways from the Green Wave's Spring game.

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Recruiting 2017--Zachary Loane

Loane #90/Jason Fouchman image

Zachary Loane, a 6-0 235 DE from the Woodlands, TX has Tweeted he'll joining UMass as a preferred walk-on.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

Loane will join Michael Curtis, D'Shan Harley and Tedrick Lowery as Texas natives playing for UMass.

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Monday--April 3rd, 2017

Jeff Lajoie of the Hampshire Gazette profiles new UMass DL coach Dave Wissman.

Wissman will have more defensive line depth this year. That may have been part of the reason to switch to a four-down front.

Ali Ali-Musa 6-2 274 SR
Domenico Cipriani 6-3 290 RS FR
Basit Dennis 6-1 268 RS JR
Leon Flanagan, Jr 6-1 212 SO (listed as a LB last year. DE this year?)
DaVone Hall 6-3 315 JUCO RS JR
D'Shan Harley 6-5 215 RS SO
Sha-Ki Holines 6-3 257 RS SR
Roderick Jones 6-2 260 RS SR
Mario Patton 6-0 297 RS SO
Alex Piechocki 6-6 260 FR
Joe Previte 6-2 269 RS JR
Sharif Saleem 6-5 251 RS FR
Charlie Timite 6-3 307 RS FR

I would speculate Ali Ali-Musa, Sha-Ki Holines and Mario Patton would be three of the starting four DL. That would leave one position open. Joe Previte played well before suffering an elbow injury late in the season.

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Underdog Dynasty previews the 2017 Sun Belt conference. UMass will be an honorary member this year as we play Georgia Southern, Appalachian State and Coastal Carolina.

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Georgia Southern returns to their signature option offense this year and ran for 371 yards and five TD's in their Spring Game Saturday.

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UMass Football News--August 15th, 2017

Matty Vautour has a post on Da'Sean Downey moving to DE. Downey is wearing #4 this year (ex James Allen).

More number changes Isaiah Rogers #9 (not assigned in 2016), Bakhari Goodson #14 (ex Shaquille Harris).

Current numbers not assigned #1 (not assigned in 2016 either), #12 (ex Todd Stafford), #39 (ex Isiah Rogers), #41 (ex Da'Sean Downey), #42 (ex John Robinson-Woodgett), #52 (ex Vondell Langston), #56 (ex Joe Parsons), #60 (ex Enock Asante), #62 #64 (not assigned 2016), #65 (ex Leyshawn Askew), #66 (ex Anthony Fernandez), #68 (ex Elijah Wilkinson), #71 (ex Michael Boland), #83 (ex Cody Banks), #98 (ex D'Shan Harley).

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KHON TV reports Hawaii DB Roe Farris thinks UMass will remember him. That play was right in front of me and I think Farris had some of the UMass receiver's jersey.

Faith keeps Hawaii QB Dru Bbown grounded.

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Tennessee comes into the 2017 season ranked just outside the Top-25.

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This article talks about Georgia's future schedules and the rising price of scheduling Group-of-Five teams including UMass.

Quote from the article:

“We’re all fighting for the same pool of teams,” McGarity said. “Auburn does not want to go play UMass in Boston. You’ve got to basically go pay teams to come play you. They’re sitting in a good seat right now, the Group of Five schools. They are able to kind of dictate the market."

It looks like the Independent Minutemen will continue to be in demand for money games. There are a number of negatives be an Independent, but it appears UMass will have no problem making good money on away games.

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Coastal Carolina players are playing for Coach Joe.

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UMass Football News--July 15th, 2017

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UMass currently has 14 defensive lineman on the roster:

Ali Ali-Musa  #90 DL 6-2 274 SR 12-11 GP-GS 16 UT 21 AT 37 TT 4.5 TFL 1 PD 2 FF
Domenico Cipriani #63 DL 6-3 290 RSFR Redshirted in 2016
Basit Dennis #69 DL 6-1 268 RSJR 3-0 GP_GS 1 TT
Da'Sean Downey #4 DL 6-4 225 SR 10-6 GP-GS 25 UT 23 At 44 UT 8.5 TFL 4 FF 6 SACKS
Leon Flanagan, #54 DL 6-1 212 SO 2-0 GP-GS
DaVone Hall, #75 DL 6-3 315 RSJR JUCO transfer
D'Shan Harley #88 DL 6-5 215 RSSO 7-1 GP-GS 3 UT 3 AT 6 TT
Sha-Ki Holines #95 DL 6-3 257 RSSR 12-9 GP-GS 18 UT 26 AT 44 TT 7.0 TFL 1 FF
Roderick Jones, #11 DL 6-2 260 RSSR 10-1 GP-GS 13 TT 1 TFL
Mario Patton #96 DL 6-0 297 RSSO 12-0 GP-GS 5 UT 7 AT 12 TT 1.0 TFL 1 PD
Alex Piechocki #91 DL 6-6 260 FR in for Spring semister
Joe Previte #61 DL 6-2 269 RSJR 8-4 GP-GS 4 UT 18 AT 22 TT 4.5 TFL 1 FR
Sharif Saleem #93 DL 6-5 251 RSFR Redshirted in 2016
Charly Timite #94 DL 6-3 307 RSFR Redshirted in 2016

Although it has not been announced, most UMass fans expect the Minutemen to change to a 4-3 base defense. As football junkies know, defensive linemen are the scarcest recruits.

The college football magazines predict UMass will start Joe Previte and Ali Ali-Musa as the two DT's with Da'Sean Downey and Sha-Ki Holines as the two DE's.

Downey led the Minutemen with 6 sacks in 2016 and he could prosper in a 4-3 as there would be less unassigned offensive linemen facing the defense.

Joe Previte was having a good season before suffering a elbow injury against South Carolina.

UMass does get four new defensive linemen for 2017. Domenico Cipriani, Sharif Saleem and Charly Timite come off redshirt seasons. JUCO transfer DaVone Hall weighs 305 and could provide immediate help inside.

Charlie Timite was a 247Sports three-star recruit. Sharif Saleem was two stars. Cipriani was unrated by recruiting services.

The Minutemen brought in five defensive linemen for 2017 and Alex Piechocki and DaVone Hall were in for the Spring semester. Two-star 2017 recruits Hunter Brown, Jake Byczko and  Caeleb Washington are probably looking at a redshirt year.

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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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Wednesday--July 1st, 2015

The ink was barely dry from my highlighter when the UMass website puts up another iteration of the 2015 roster. This time all the freshmen are included and most have bios.

Latest roster

Marquis Young--RB 5-11 200 wearing #8 same as Shane Huber
Randell West--QB 6-5 22 wearing #13 worn by Jordan Broadnax last year
James Sosinski--QB 6-6 240 wearing #17 same as Jovan Santos-Knox
Micah Morel--DB 6-0 200 wearing #22 same as Shadrach Abrokwah
Andy Isabella--RB 5-10 185 wearing #23 and J.T Blyden is still missing
Mehki Williams--RB 5-9 180 wearing #25 same as Joe Colton
Mike Caggiano--K 5-11 170 wearing #31 worn by Iric Harris last year
Sekai Lindsey--RB 5-9 210 wearing #35 worn by Stanley Andre last year
Lee Moses--DB 6-1 190 wearing #40 worn by Jon Lucier last year
Brandon Mangram-- DB 5-11 180 wearing #43 worn by Matthew Wylie last year (transferred)
Kenny Kearn--RB 6-0 227 wearing #46 same as Lucas Amato
James Oliphant--DB 5-8 165 wearing #48 number not assigned last year
Mike Yerardi--OL 6-4 295 wearing #50 worn by Mike Wynne last year
Joe Parsons--OL 6-4 305 wearing #56 worn by Sam Zeff last year (transferred)
Reche Thomas--OL 6-4 315 wearing #57 worn by Leo Krizanovic last year
Peter Comaroto--LS 5-11 215 wearing #59 number not assigned last year
Derek Dumais--OL 6-5 325 wearing #72 worn by Rich Queen last year (transferred)
Lamarriel Taylor--WR 6-2 185 wearing #86 worn by Shaquille Harris last year (now wearing #14)
Jon Derolus--WR 6-0 175 wearing #81 same as Kevin Lovaincy
Travis Reynolds--TE 6-5 245 wearing #87 same as T.J. Kelley (G'Day mate!)
Jack Coventry--K 6-1 180 wearing #91 worn by Chris Carter last year
Jesse Noel--WR wearing #93 worn by Seamus Murray last year
Kyle Horn--TE 6-4 250 wearing #95  same as Sha-Ki Holines
Mario Patton--DL 6-4 315 wearing #96 worn by Brian McDonald last year
Aaron Kinsey--LB 6-4 210 wearing #97 worn by Daniel Maynes last year
D'Shan Harley--LB 6-5 210 wearing #98 worn by Ryan Heath last year
Dejion Evans--WR 6-3 no number assigned
Tom Rodrick--LB 6-3 230 no number assigned

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The Notre Dame blog "One foot down" discusses the Irish's 2015 including UMass as a "layup" game.

Scout.com has a story about the strengths and weaknesses of Notre Dame's opponents.

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Marshall fans complain about the Herd scheduling Appalachian State.

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Bloguin.com has five MAC conference story lines for 2015.

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Some UMass fan compiled this Minutemen pump-up video. It's well done.

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