Joel Gomez, a 6-6 215 pound TE from Manchester, NH has committed to UMass.
I blogged about Gomez back on March 11th.
This is a nice signing for the Minutemen. Gomez chose UMass over offers from Virginia Tech, Boston College, Rutgers and UConn. He should have a bright future with the resurgent Minuteman offense.
The MAC Blog "By-the-Belt" has a post on football pundit Phil Steele's preseason All-Mac team.
MAC 2026 favorites Western Michigan and Miami (Ohio) dominate the 1st team selections.
UMass places seven players on the teams. Tyler Martin is first-team defense and Grant Mills makes the 2nd team special teams list.
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Athlon Sports has a story about the top six Group-of-Five teams for 2026.
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CBS Sports thinks the new PAC-12 immediately moves to the top of the non-Power conferences.
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UConn signs a record setting QB. The Huskies are up to 16 signed players for 2027.
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Boston College flips a Miami (Ohio) recruit.
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Hudl.com has video highlights from 2024-2025.
Turpin is originally from Ontario, Canada. Defensive end has been a need for the Minutemen for a long time. He could play FBS football and get an excellent education in Amherst with UMass.
This is a hit to the Minutemen's depth. Since moving to FBS, UMass has struggled to field a FBS-level quarterback. Except for Andrew Ford and Blake Fronapfel in the Whipple II era, we have not had productive play from the QB position.
If Pop Watson should be injured, UMass would be left without a proven QB.
Remaining QB's would include redshirt sophomore Will Perry, true freshman Aedan McCarthy and Drake transfer Logan Inagawa.
Inagawa was a three-star recruit out of HS. His Bulldogs bio here.
The Minutemen will probably try to add a QB transfer over the summer.
The Minuteman Command has a post-spring Wide Receiver review.
If the Minutemen are to improve in 2026, an improvement in the productivity of the wide receivers is strongly needed. We were flatly terrible in 2025. The top two receivers had a combined ZERO touchdowns. There was no deep threat at all (a tight end had the longest reception of the year).
When Ty Harding went down, that effectively stopped the UMass passing game. As in a dead stop.
This year Harding is back and if his injury did not reduce his skills, he should make a significant improvement in production.
Joe Griffin is a legitimate FBS WR and had a productive two years with Boston College. If he can regain his former level of production, UMass could have a double threat at wide receiver.
Coach Harasymiak has recruited well in his first two years and I think freshmen WR's Tavian Dashiell, Kai Owens and David Moore are true FBS-level receivers. If they're good in this era, then they'll be gone in a year or two, so why not play them while they're here?
There has also been a positive buzz about freshman WR Drew Alsup. Nobody made any plays for UMass last year. Alsup seems to be the type of guy who will make some if given the chance.
Overall, the talent level seems much improved from 2025. Now it's up to them to show it on the field.
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UMass opens it's season with Rutgers. Sports Illustrated previews the Big Ten and ranks the Scarlet Knights well,--- at least ahead of Purdue.
SB-Nation looks at Rutgers schedule and predicts a 5-7 season with a "big, big" win over UMass.
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Alex Haywood, a 6-5 220 pound TE from Charlotte, NC has a UMass offer.
Hudl.com has video highlights.
MaxPreps has stats.
Haywood has 14 offers. Coastal Carolina has offered from FBS. Yale, Dartmouth, Princeton, Colgate and more have offered from FCS. He could get an excellent East Coast education and play FBS-level football with the Minutemen.
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Hudl.com has video highlights.
For 2025 Harden had 54 TT, 7 TFL, 5 SACKS, 1 INT and 1 FF.
Harden has an FBS offer from Army. From FCS, he has offers from Albany, Brown, Maine, URI and more. He could play FBS-level football and play in front of friends and family with the Minutemen in Amherst.
