UMass Football News--March 23rd, 2026

 Well Saturday was the Vernal Equinox. Each Spring is a new beginning. UMass football starts the 2026 season tomorrow. The Minutemen return 50 players from last year and 29 new players join the roster. This should give the coaches a good knowledge of the talent level at the end of Spring practice.

A UMass roster tracker is here. 

 UMass' Pro Day is going to be Wednesday March 25th.

The Spring Game will be April 25th. 

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WMUA Sports will apparently start a UMass Football 2026 show today at 3:00pm.

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And finally,

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UMass Football Recruiting 2027--Matthew Wagner

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 Matthew Wagner, a 6-6 275 pound OL from Milton, MA took a Junior Day visit to UMass.

The Minuteman Command has a post on his visit. 

Hudl.com has video highlights. 

Wagner is drawing interest from a number of New England schools. The offensive line leads the way and Wagner could be a valuable addition to the UMass roster. 

UMass Football Recruyiting 2029--Owen Muldoon

 

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Owen Muldoon, a 6-2 213 pound LB from Springfield, MA has a UMass offer.

The Minuteman Command has a post on UMass recruiting Muldoon. 

Hudl.com has video highlights. 

MaxPreps has stats. 

UMass is the first offer for Muldoon. He should be drawing quite a bit of recruiting interest over the next three years. He could play in front of friends and family in Amherst and play FBS football to boot. 

UMass Football Recruiting 2027--Grant Sweeney

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 Grant Sweeney, a 6-3 196 pound QB from Boerne, TX has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here. 

Hudl.com has video highlights. 

MaxPreps has some impressive stats. In 15 games Sweeney threw for over 4,000 yards and rushed for 1,000 more.

 Sweeney has offers from North Texas, UTSA, Colorado State, San Diego State, UNLV and UTEP. He could get a high-quality education and play for the resurgent UMass offense in Amherst.

UMass Football Recruiting 2027--Tyler Frederick

 

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Tyler Frederick, a 6-4 278 pound DL from Washington, D.C. has a UMass offer.

Hudl.com has video highlights. 

Frederick has 11 total offers including Buffalo and Toledo from the MAC. Most of the Ivies have offered from FCS. He could play FBS football and get Ivy equivalent education with Massachusetts Flagship university.  

UMass Football Reruiting 2027--Noah Collins-Howard

 

Noah Collins-Howard, a 5-10 160 pound WR from Henretta, NY has a UMass offer and recently visited UMass for Junior Day.

The Minuteman Command has a post on his visit. 

Hudl.com has video. 

MaxPreps has stats. 

Won the NY 100 meters and 4 X 100 meters.

 The speedy WR has offers from Syracuse, Akron and UMass. He could take the top off some defenses and see early playing time with the Minutemen.

UMass Football Transfer Portal 2026--Nick Dalessandro commits to UMass

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 Nick Dalessandro, a 6-4 295 pound IOL transfer from Colgate has committed to UMass.

I blogged about  Delessandro back on March 3rd.

This is an excellent addition for UMass. Dalessandro has played in 31 games and started 17. He should compete for one of the starting guard positions right away. If not, he would probably be the #1 backup for all three interior line positions.