Recruiting 2018--Pat Freiermuth II

Tim Jean image

Back on March 18th I blogged about Pat Freiermuth, a 6-5 225 pound TE/LB from North Andover, MA.

Turns out new UMass OL coach Mike Foley is Freiermuth's uncle.

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Monday--4th, 2016

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The Boston Herald says it's a show of hands at QB for the Minutemen.

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Sudbury coach Will Croom promotes Massachusetts HS football players. He's the brother of Jerome Croom, who earned two letters from UMass back in 1987 and 1988.

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Bleacher Report discusses if the NY Giants should draft a WR with a first-round pick and considers if Victor Cruz can make it back.

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There's always a lot of pubicity when a college football player gets in trouble. Good deeds get ignored. Three Iowa State players rescue a woman from drowning during Spring Break.

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A Purdue transfer  QB looks to start for the Florida Gators.

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Recruiting 2017--Dorian Jones

247Sports image

Several recruiting services indicate UMass has offered to Dorian Jones, a 5-10 175 pound DB from Ocoee, FL.

Scout.com page here.

Hudl.com has junior highlights.

This article from May of 2015 features Jones.

Besides UMass, Jones holds offers from North Carolina State, Texas San-Antonio and Tulane.

Saturday--April 2nd, 2016

This article shows UMass has improved its rushing average three years in a row. One of the interesting facets of this year's team will be to see how UMass can run the ball. With Mike Foley as the new offensive line coach, I would like to see some better run blocking. Being able to run the ball would be a big help during 2016's killer schedule.

I looked at some historical data for Whipple's teams. Pretty good correlation between rushing and wining.

Year---Yards/rush---rushing yards/game--record

2014 3.4--125.2  (3-9)
2015 4.4--142.2  (3-9)

1998 4.6--180.4 (12-3 National Champions)
1999 4.2--187.9 (9-4 A10 Champs)
2000 3.9--137.6 (7-4)
2001 2.2--88.6  (3-8)
2002 4.2--166.1 (8-4)
2003 3.8--148.8 (10-3 A10 Champs)

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The Detroit Lions say it's good business to recruit a QB every year (mentions Blake Frohnapfel).

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Examiner.com looks at potential QB draft picks for the the Minnesota Vikings including Blake Frohnapfel.

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The NY Giants wonder what Victor Cruz will bring to the table this year.

Victor is raffling off signed pairs of his sneakers for Charity.

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Friday--April 1st, 2016

The Virginia Pilot has a story on Big 12 expansion and its potential meaning for ODU. If the AAC should lose a team to the Big 12, that could provide a slot for UMass.

If UConn were to jump to the Big 12, I think the Minutemen would surely still be interested, but obviously, UConn and Temple in the same league as UMass would be the most fun.

Speaking of our October 8th opponent, the Monarchs release their first 2016 depth chart.

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Tulane will visit Gillette on October 1st. It looks as if the Green Wave will have a strong rushing attack.

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Another October foe, Louisiana Tech is trying to build its offensive line.

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Lots of animal mascots in our 2016 season: Gators, Eagles, Panthers, Bulldogs (twice), Gamecocks, Seahawks and Cougars. Easily the best is the Gamecocks, which remembers fightin' Revolutionary War general Thomas Sumter, the Carolina Gamecock.

Non-animal totems: Green Wave, Monarchs (don't think they considered the butterfly), Trojans and Rainbow Warriors.

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Thursday--March 31st, 2016

Blake Frohnapfel wins the Desmond "Tuss" McCaughry Award as Western Mass' top student-athlete.

Impressive work by Frohnapfel as he graduated from Marshall in three years and added double Master's degrees in two years at UMass.

The Detroit Lions recently met with Frohnapfel.

CBS Sports has Frohnapfel as the #23 QB in the 2016 NFL Draft.

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Coach Costello's UMass bio. His UMass player bio.

He mentions three DB's having a good Spring so far:

Lee Moses RSFR
James Oliphant SO
Jackson Porter RS JR

Costello will also have one JUCO and one returning starter in 2016

Khary Bailey-Smith (former starter coming off a knee injury, five career starts)
Teddy Lowery JR (JUCO)

Also available are:

Jordan Hamilton JR
Micah Morel RS FR
Charan Singh RS SO (five starts)
Jesse Monteiro RS JR (three starts)
Brandon Mangram RS FR

FWIW, I would predict Bailey-Smith and Teddy Lowery as starting safeties and James Oliphant and Jackson Porter at corner.

In August the Minutemen will also add their highest-rated ever DB recruiting class.

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Victor Cruz says he's in it for the long haul with the Giants.

Victor says he wants to stay a local hero.

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Recruiting 2017--Avery Roberts

247Sports image

A number of recruiting services report UMass has offered to Avery Roberts a 6-1 215 pound ILB from Wilmington, DE.

247Sports four star player.

Hudl.com has video.

Currently, the Minutemen are not in his top six.

Roberts has 25+ offers including UMass, Temple and BC from the Northeast.

Wednesday--March 30th, 2016

BYU, a FBS independent like UMass, gets a contract extension from Virginia.

18,000 fans showed up for the Cougars' Spring game last weekend.

Family tragedy forces starting BYU QB Taysom Hill out of the Spring game.

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Hawaii, another 2016 opponent, gets going with new energy under HC Nick Rolovich.

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Old Domion hopes to have a new 25,000 seat stadium. That amount of seating capacity, with a new concessions/restrooms facility would do it for UMass.

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Neal Brown's Troy University Trojans are dealing with some injuries during Spring Ball.

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OT, but congrats to UMass Hockey on their new coach. Check out Fear the Triangle blog for a write-up on the hiring. I want all Minutemen teams to do well; a rising tide lifts all boats. Go UMass!

Recruiting 2017--Anthony White, JR

Rivals.com image

Several recruiting services indicate UMass has offered to Anthony White, JR, a 6-1 185 pound WR from Miami Central HS in Florida.

247Sports page here.

UMass is in his top six schools.

Hudl.com has video.

ESPN four-star player.

White holds 12 offers from FBS schools.

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Recruiting 2017--A.J. Dillion and Kobe Marfo

A.J. Dillon, 247Sports' topped ranked Massachusetts recruit, has verbaled to Michigan.

Dillon had offers from both UMass and BC.

JUCO CB Kobe Marfo verbals to Rutgers. Had interest but no offer from UMass.

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Tuesday--March 29th, 2016

Andrew Cyr of the UMass Daily Collegian features UMass defensive lineman Peter Angeh.

Angeh's UMass bio.

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Victor Cruz is progressing in his latest rehab.

NJ.com has a detailed look at his renegotiated contract.

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Tulane looks to to replace their two top WR's in 2016.

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Our other Louisiana opponent of 2016, Louisiana Tech looks to replace 8 of 11 starters on defense.

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It's a two-man race for South Carolina's new starting QB.

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Recruiting 2017--Cody Shear

Several recruiting services indicate UMass has offered to Cody Shear, a 6-5 265 pound OL from Eugene, OR.

247Sports page here.

2016 video highlights above.

This article from February 2016 features Shear.

Shear currently has nine FBS offers including Central Michigan, Toledo and Ohio in the MAC as well as 2016 opponent Tulane.

Monday--March 28th, 2016

The UMass Football Twitter feed had the above image as a photo-shoot. Note the MAC patch is gone and the maroon and black accent stripes have returned to the helmet.

UMass played without the helmet stripes in 2015.

Image above is one I took at the LOI Day meeting in February.

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Campus Insiders looks at BYU's 2016 schedule.

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Speaking of the Cougars, BYU just suspended a player for stalking.

Mississippi State's top 2016 recruit gets in trouble for striking a woman.

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South Carolina loses starting QB Perry Orth for Spring ball with a broken collarbone.

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As long-time readers know, I'm an active amateur astronomer. So with a distinct touch of envy, I congratulate UMass undergraduate senior Kevin Harrington who used UMass' Large Millimeter Telescope to discover "outrageously luminous" galaxies. The LMT's website is here.

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Easter Sunday--2106

Mrs Blog and I would like to wish everyone a Happy Easter!

Recruiting 2017--Jake Byzcho

Twitter image

Several recruiting services indicate UMass is interested in Jake Byzcho, a 6-3 240 pound DE from Lawrence Academy in MA.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has video.

Attended UMass' Junior day back in February. Also visited UConn and BC.

Saturday--March 26th, 2016

UMass has an updated video from UMass' Pro Day.

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Jamie Cushman of the UMass Daily Collegian has a post with quotes from Tajae Sharpe and Blake Frohnapfel about paying college athletes.

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Sidelionreport.com has a post on Blake Frohnapfel.

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The Boston Globe has more on BC's declining to play another game at Fenway Park.

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Mykelti Williams, a four-star recruit, who is a redshirt freshman at Notre Dame, is seeking to transfer.

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Florida's HC Jim McElwain has had his salary boosted to $4.25 million a year. I guessing that's more than Coach Whipple makes.

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Maroon & White Nation predicts Mississippi State will go 8-4 in 2016 with a win over the Minutemen.

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Friday--March 25th, 2016

Lots of NFL scouts showed up. See below. Thirty NFL teams were represented.

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Dan Malone has an interview with Tajae Sharpe.

Dan also has an image gallery of the workouts.

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Matty Vautour has a story and quotes from the players.

Matty also has Jean Sifrin's NFL Dream is still alive.

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The Detroit News reports the Lions are looking at Blake Frohnapfel as a developmental QB.

MLive has a story on Detroit's interest in Frohnapfel.

RotoWorld thinks Frohnapfel has the arm strength, needs to work on his mechanics.

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Anthony Chiusano of the UMass Daily Collegian features Tajae Sharpe at Pro Day.

He also reports on Jean Sifrin's second attempt to make the NFL.

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RotoWorld reports on Tajae Sharpe's Pro Day.

Quote from the post:

"colleague Daniel Jeremiah noted during the Senior Bowl practice week that no other wideout consistently gave opposing defenders fits the way Sharpe did."

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UMass vs UConn at Fenway Park? BC Interruption thinks it could happen.

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Recruiting 2017--Kobe Marfo

Rivals image

In what is going to be one of the shortest recruiting waits ever for UMass fans, Kobe Marfo, a 6-0 185 pound CB from Readley Junior College in CA will declare today at 3:00 PM.

Story here by NJ.com.

This article also features Marfo.

247Sports page here.

Hudl.com has HS video.

Marfo holds an offer from Rutgers.

Thursday--March 24th, 2016

UPDATE: The UMass Football Twitter feed has some video and images from Pro Day.

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Today is UMass' Pro Day. There will be images and updates from the Athletic Dept later today.

Dan Malone has the list of players participating here.

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Spring practice #4 above.

Dan has an image gallery from practice #4.

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Dan Malone has a post on Ross Comis' bid to the Minutemen's starting QB in 2016.

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Matty Vautour has a story about Lamarriel Taylor and the other UMass WR's who are looking for playing time in 2016.

Jalen Williams and Bernard Davis are coming off medical redshirts.

Shakur Nesmith leads the returning receivers in catches. He went 9-5 GP-GS 15-204 13.6 AVE 3 TD's 56 LONG in 2016 (fifth in receiving).

Andy Isabella, at 5-9 187 and with his speed,  could be a threat as a slot receiver.

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Andrew Cyr of the UMass Daily Collegian report Shane Huber looks to be the leader of the defense at the MLB position. Huber mentions LB Steve Casali, LB James Bowe, Jr and LB/Safety Teddy Lowery as having good Spring practices.

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Recruiting 2017--A.J. Dillon III

Mass Prep Stars image

I've blogged about A.J. Dillon, a 6-3 230 pound RB/LB from Lawrence Academy, MA twice before.

247Sports four star player.

This article from 12/18/15 features him as the Private School Prep Star-of-the-Year.

He recently released his top five interests.

Dillon has 17 offers including Norte Dame, Florida State and other top Power Five schools.