Recruiting 2012---Vondell Langston

Jonathan Wiggs/Globe image

I've blogged about Vondell Langston before.

Yesterday, the 6-1 215 pd OLB from Everett became the fourth player to commit to UMass.

ESPN Insider: UMass gains LB Vondell Langston.

Boston.com says Langston headed to UMass.

ESPN high school report: Everett linebacker Vondell Langston commits to UMass.

Matty V has a story in the Gazette.

Recrting 2012--Vondell Langston

John Wilcox/Boston Herald image

ESPN Recruiting reports UMass is interested in Vondell Langston, a 6-0 195 pd OLB from Everette MA.

This ESPN report mentions Langston.

MaxPreps page here.

Also drawing interest from UConn.

Wednesday--April 8th, 2015

Remember, today is the Football team's bone marrow registry drive.

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The UMass website has some sights and sounds from Spring practice (video).

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Matty Vautour features returning UMass LB Shane Huber. Huber's UMass bio. Good to hear Huber is ready to go after his knee injury. He's listed as 6-3 250 in the Spring roster. That's FBS size in a MLB.

Last year final depth chart had Jovan Santos-Knox (6-2 240) as one starter. Vondell Langston (6-2 220) and Steve Casali (6-2 232) as the reserves. John Robinson-Woodgett is another option.

It's hard to imagine anyone replacing Jovan Santos-Knox as a starter. He went 12-12 GS GP 53 ST 90 AT 143 TT (led the team) 8.4-17 TFL 2.0 SACKS 3 FF. Steve Casali had 23 TT and Vondell Langston had 20 TT.

Huber's return and the two new DB's should give the Minutemen defense more options and talent in 2015.

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Bowling Green, our first MAC opponent of 2015 has a new starting QB. Johnson's Bowling Green bio.

The Star Press has more on Falcons' QB battle.

The UMass defense had three INT's against Johnson in our loss to Bowling Green last year.

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The Buffalo Bulls are looking for stability at their QB position.

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Former UMass player Steve Dembowski (1991, 1992 and 1993) has big plans for Milton High.

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Today's Pigskin has a feature on Victor Cruz's road to recovery. Mentions UMass and has an image of him in his Minutemen uniform.

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OT, but could Derrick Gordon end up at Syracuse?

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Saturday--February 4th, 2012

Thanks to the commenter who pointed out that Julian Talley is playing in  the Players All-Star Classic today.

Home page here.

Roster here (Talley's at the end).

Mocking the Draft says Talley has the best hands at the game.

The National Football post says Talley has stood out all week.

The 4:00pm Saturday game will be on some Cox and Comcast channels. Check your local listing.

Talley probably had his 2011 UMass numbers impacted by our QB troubles. I wonder how he would have done if Liam Coen had been throwing the ball for UMass. Or maybe Jeff Krohn. I think in Krohn's second year at UMass we had something like a dozen one minute or less scoring drives.

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Matty V says with UMass' move to FBS, players like Victor Cruz and James Ihedigbo won't be anomalies in the future.

Cruz and Ihedigbo have been creating a buzz for UMass athletics.

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Jeff Thomas reports that former UMass assistant coach Guido Falbo has been named HC at RPI.

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Chade Hunte was supposed to take recruit Vondell Langston to Antonio's during his recruiting visit. He forgot him.

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ESPN says UMass loaded up on recruits for the transition to FBS football. Quote from the article:

Langston, a product of one of the Northeast's most successful programs, is considered a top sleeper by ESPNU.

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Tuesday--March 11th, 2014

Dan Malone reports on the first day of the Minutemen's Spring practice.

Dan also has an excellent, detailed article on news from the first practice.

There is also a video report from the first practice.

Lots of stuff to talk about from Dan's report. Let's start with some of the personnel changes.

Returning to the UMass fold are:

• DL Al Leneus
• DL Leo Krizanovic
• LB Vondell Langston
• WR Marken Michel
• WR Iric Harris
• LB Mike McKenna

Also new are five early enrollees:

• DL Da'Sean Downey
• OL Anthony Fernandez
• TE Jordan Fiske
• QB Andrew Verboys
• WR Jalen Williams

If you don't remember, Whipple's offense is a Pro-set "heavy" meaning it uses a fullback. Dan reports that Daquan Mack (6-1 255) was working at the fullback position in the practice. Fullbacks in Whipple's offense rarely ran with the ball, but frequently caught the ball out of the backfield.

Also it looks like UMass' traditional colors have made a comeback.

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Former UMass offensive line coach Dave Johnson helped the Ohio Bobcats break in their new indoor practice center.

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Football Scoop reports Chris Malone, a former UMass coach under Mark Whipple has been hired at Tennessee- Chattanooga. Malone's bio here.

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Sports Illustrated looks at what it would take for one of the teams from the mid-major programs to make the four-game NCAA playoffs.

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How good an athlete is Victor Cruz? Watch this video.

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James Ihedigbo is listed in this review of  top AFC North free agents.

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Friday--April 11th, 2014

Jetta Fraser image

Matty V. is back with a story featuring the UMass linebackers.

There will be some new faces available for the Minutemen linebacker corps. Trey Seals will be rushing the passer standing up. At 6-4 231, he's more of a linebacker size than a DE in FBS football.

Da'Sean Downey 6-5 240 is an early enrollee in the 2014 recruiting class. Again, he has BCS size and could be a future starter.

John Robinson-Woodget 6-2 225 played in 10 games in 2013, but has been getting favorable mentions  during spring practice.

Steve Casali and Shane Huber are still recovering from injuries suffered last fall. UMass could have enough depth this year to have some defensive packages like Brown used. The Minutemen struggled playing the 3-4 last year, especially with run stopping. That's going to be an issue this year as the starting defensive line is going to be very light by even MAC standards.

If UMass had to play a game next week, I would think the starting inside LB's would be Stanley Andre 6-2 240 and Jovan Santos-Knox 6-2 240. The two outside LB's could be Kassan Messiah 6-4 225 and John Robinson-Woodget.

Other LB's seeking to contribute this year are:

• Zeke Edmonds - True freshman
• Andrew Ellis -- Red Shirt in 2013
• Hassan Graham --True freshman
• Vondell Langston--Red Shirt in 2013
• Peter Ngobidi-- Played in six games in 2013

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The UMass website has video and a story from the Football Team's taking part in the Autism Speaks 5k run/walk.

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More on Brandon Hill and Kevin Morris' reunion at Monmouth.

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OT, but Michigan is looking for a "high mid-major" hoops team for a home-and-home. Four slots on the UMass slate are open now that we are not playing MAC teams.

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Friday--May 2nd, 2014

UMass football blog image

Dan Malone has five questions with Kessan Messiah. It's going to be an interesting year for the defense.

Everybody who sees last year's tapes is going to try to run on the UMass defense. Our foray into the 3-4 last year was terminated when we were run over. Maine ran the ball 45 times and averaged 5.5 yards a carry. Kansas State ran 46 times for 7.2 yards a pop.

Most 3-4 defenses like to have a monster nose tackle that the offensive lineman can't move. We don't have that. One thing a defense can do is commit the strong safety to run stopping. Our two 2014 DB recruits Jerall Addo 6-2 190 and Charan Singh 6-2 195 are both bigger than any of our current DB's. It wouldn't surprise me to see at least one of them play as a true freshman.

At the Spring game the following were the "ones" for the linebackers:

• Jovan Santos-Knox SO 4 starts 32 TT 3 TFL 0.5 SACKS 1 INT
• Stanley Andre RSJR 12 starts 111 TT 6 TFL 0.5 SACKS
• Kassan Messiah SO 0 starts 21 TT 0.5 TFL
• Trey Seals RSO 4 starts 9 TT

Out of spring ball with injuries were:

• Steve Caseli FR 3 games 3 TT
• Shane Huber 5 starts 16 TT 0.5 TFL 0.5 SACKS

Other linebackers looking to contribute:

• Andrew Ellis FR 
• Hassan Graham FR
• Vondell Langston SO
• Michael McKenna SO
• Peter Ngobidi 6 games 1 TT
• Trey Seals 4 starts 9 TT
• John Robinson-Woodgett SO 
• Adam Richard SO 7 games 4 TT

New this year to the team:

• Da'Sean Downey FR Joined team this spring
• Zeke Edmonds FR

In the 3-4, the SAM linebacker can play standing up or with his hand down depending on the situation. So a number of Minutemen DE's could see time as a LB.

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Nick O'Malley of MassLive looks at Rob Blanchflower as a draft day sleeper.

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Adham Talaat, a former UMass player now at Gallaudet University hopes for call during the NFL draft.

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UMass is one of 55 schools under investigation for Title IX sex abuse complaints.

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CBS Sports looks at the impact of the playoffs on BCS and non-BCS leagues.

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Remember I said FBS teams will want to run the ball at us? Boston College will look to the run again this year.

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Thursday--December 11th, 2014

Dan Malone and Andrew Cyr of the UMass Daily Collegian have a podcast recapping the 2014 UMass football season and look ahead to 2015.

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Dan continues his position review of the 2014 team, this time with linebackers.

The starters were:

Kessan Messiah JU GP-GS 11-9 24 UT 45 At 69 TT 5.5 TFL 3 SACK
Stanley Andre SR GP-GS 12-12 39 UT 89 AT 128 TT 3.5 TFL 1.0 SACK
Jovan Santos-Knox SO GP-GS  12-12 53 AT 90 AT 143 TT 8.5 TFL 2.0 INT (First team All-MAC)
Trey Seals RSJR GP-GS 9-9 13 UT 29 AT 42 TT 4.5 TFL 2.5 SACKS

In the rotation:

Da'Sean Downey FR GP-GS 12-5 16 UT 19 AT 35 TT
Steve Casali FSFR GP-GS 12-0 10 UT 12 AT 23 TT 0.5 TFL
Vondell Langston RSSO GP-GS 12-0 10 UT 10 AT 20 TT 1.5 TFL 0.5 SACK
John Robinson-Woodgett SO GP-GS 11-0 9 UT 14 AT 23 TT 1.5 TFL
Peter Ngobidi SO GP-GS 10-0 2 UT 6 AT 8 TT 1.0 TFL

Reserves:

Shane Huber SO Medical Redshirt
Andrew Ellis RSFR
Adam Richard SO
Michael McKenna JR
Jeremy Rodriguez

2015 Recruits

Teddy Adkins

In 2014 UMass finished 9th in rushing defense, 11th in total defense and 11th in sacks. The Minutemen were more competitive in more games this year, but lacked big plays by the defense. The Minutemen linebackers made a lot of tackles, however many were eight yards down the field. Jovan Santos-Knox is a leader and he doesn't like to loose. The linebacker corps just didn't make many impact plays. Opponents lost only five fumbles in 2014.

However, we lose only Andre to graduation. The return of Shane Huber should help. The rest of the linebacking squad should be bigger and stronger.

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Marshall fans are not happy to be playing NIU in the Boca Raton Bowl. The Herd's website defends...

CMU will receive $450,000 to play in the Bahamas Bowl.

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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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Wednesday before Louisiana Tech--October 12th, 2016

Image credit unknown

Matty Vautour has a report on the UMass injury situation. He reports Shane Huber is done for the season with an ACL injury. That's a shame both for Huber and for us. Huber was perhaps our best run-stopper. Steve Casali will take over making the defensive calls.

Whiple said Colburt Calhoun and Vondell Langston will see an increased work load. Whipple also mentioned Lucas Amato and Leon Flanagan may get some reps. Amato played in 20 games in 2015 and 2014. Flanagan is a true freshman.

Matty also reports Tedrick Lowery may return for the Louisiana Tech game. As I have mentioned before, I think Lowery was having an outstanding year before he was injured.

Matty has Whipple as non-committal on Ross Comis' status. At least he's not saying Comis is done for the year.

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Andrew Cyr of the UMass Daily Collegian has more on Huber's injury.

Mike Traini has a post on Huber.

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Louisiana Tech picks up a local QB recruit.

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The Virginia Pilot says ODU is defying preseason predictions.

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Former UMass foe Mississippi State and future 2016 opponent BYU play each other this weekend.

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Vladimir Ducasse has been signed by the Baltimore Ravens.

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The Tennessee Titans hope Tajae Sharpe has a breakout game against the Dolphins.

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Wednesday--November 7th, 2012

Harry Plumer has UMass adjusting to colder weather.

From Plumer's article: list of freshmen redshirts


Dalvin Battle, WR (medical)
Stacey Bedell, RB (medical)
John Bieren, DL
Byron Cooper, LB
Julian Kaminoff, DB
Leo Krizanovic, LB
Vondell Langston, LB
Adam Richard, DL
Tyrell Smith, OL (medical)
Ian Sybilis, WR/DB
Matt Testani, LS
Dylan Thomas, K

CBS Boston quotes Coach Molnar saying "Nothing is easy right now."

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UMass has two former UMass football players on the 2012 UMass Hall-of-fame: Khari Samuel and Phil Vandersea

Story here.

Samuel's UMass bio here.

Also selected was Phil Vandersea (NFL Bio).

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The MAC conference rises to #4 on CBS' conference rankings. Relevant quote from the article:"It is very possible that, at the end of the year, there could be as many -- if not more -- ranked teams from the MAC as there are from the ACC, Big Ten or Big East."

The MAC Report Online looks at week #11 in the conference.
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