Twenty-five days before the start of football --08/11/09

UPDATE: Memo to UMass coaches. Three more Syracuse players are available. Former starting fullback Dan Collier, DE's Zary Stewart and Romale Tucker.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bump. I'm giving away a very nice "UMass Football Blog" hat free to the person that sends me an e-mail with the closest guess to the score of the UMass-Kansas State game. It's purely for fun and there are no commercial implications. Response so far has been light, so make a decent guess and have a good chance of winning the hat. My e-mail address is available in the "About me' section of the Blog.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Congratulations to Valdimir Ducasse and Jeromy Miles who have been named the 2009 UMass Football captains.

Ducasse is a UMass success story. He's a Haitian immigrant who arrived at UMass and was pretty raw in his football skills. Now he's in line to be the first UMass NFL Draft pick in some time.

Jeromy Miles led all CAA defensive back in tackles in 2008. He was first in tackles in the UMass defense with 108. A strong senior season could get Miles a NFL slot also.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


A UMass Athletic Dept image.

From the UMass website"UMass will have its strongest team ever as a school-record 10 players bench pressed 400-plus pounds in Monday's testing" I do a little powerlifting myself and I have to admit, I've yet to put up 400 pounds.

A four hundred pounds raw lift (without a bench press shirt) is really good no matter what your body weight. Congrats to all UMass players for their hard work off season.

Photo gallery from the first day of practice here.

Jeff Thomas has story on training camp covering the QB situation and more here.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chuck Burton has a new column about the start of the FCS season. One note: Appalachian State passed on accepting former Michigan QB Justin Feagan.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Washington Times talks about Don Brown's blitz-happy days at UMass.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brandon London gets a mention in this article. Since London is a Dolphin, in a spirit of solidarity, I asked Mrs Blog if I could get the Miami Dolphins cheerleader's Swimsuit Calendar. She was not enthusiastic.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday 08/10/09-- First practice day

Just to get you goin', the UMass Drumline plays a six-minute Stevie Wonder Medley in 2008. Turn your speakers all the way up! More on the UMass Drumline here.




-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Springfield Republican has a story and video of Thomas Jones and James Ihedigbo mixing it up at the Jets training camp.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another story about Don Brown's re-working of the Maryland defense.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A site with TV and internet listings for FCS football games.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Matt Marcorelle may be the Delaware Hens best defensive player. He's being moved from DE to linebacker.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On Saturday I blogged a link about Appalachian State's star QB Armanti Edwards tangling with a lawn mower. He ended up with 30+ stiches.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ever wonder how Mike Leach of Texas Tech keeps producing quarterbacks that throw for 4,000 yards a season? Smart Football has a report on Texas Tech QB drills and how the Red Raiders get an amazin' amount of repetitions in their practices.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Day-before-traing-camp-opens News

Matty Vautour says a "New era dawns for Coach Morris and UMass Football"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Manchester Examiner says the return to glory "Won't be easy for the Minutemen".

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UMass is interested in 6-7 270 pd OT Aaron Kramer from Duxbury, MA. Kramer's ESPN recruiting page here.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Wicker Local Natick paper has some information about this year's recruits Tim Bryant and Tom Bryant.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lots of UMass mentions in this article about former UMass HC Mark Whipple.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The word for Kansas State this year is uncertainty.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In case you missed it Armanti Edwards of Appalachian State tangled with a lawn mower and will be out 2-4 weeks. He had already been on reduced training most of the spring due to shoulder surgery.

Former Michigan QB Justin Feagan may be transferring to ASU.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In CAA news, Towson who everybody is picking for the CAA cellar, just lost their leading rusher.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Former Texas Tech WR Michael Crabtree, who we met last year, is holding out on the SF 49ers.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The on-again off-again NCAA ban on post season games for Delaware teams is on-again. If Delaware is indeed banned from hosting FCS playoff games, it will make a huge impact in the CAA and in the national FCS/I-AA playoffs.

Speaking of the CAA the Daily New Online discusses how strong the CAA has been recently.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Memories of Kansas State

Presented here are three scans from UMass-Kansas State game program of September 13,2003. Click on the image and Blogger displays a larger view.

In 2003 UMass went 10-3 with losses to the Wildcats and triple-overtime thriller to Delaware. We then lost in the first round of the playoffs in the Colgate Snow Bowl. The Minutemen were, for the 19th time, A10 Champions that year.

This was one of Whipple's best teams. The Captains were Jeremy Cain, Jeff Krohn and Anton Mckenzie. On offense there were such names as Jason Peebler, R.J. Cobbs, Jimmie Howard, Rob Kane, Colin Stoetzel and David Thompson.

On defense there were, beside the two captains, Shannon James,Valdamar Brower, Serge Tikum, L.A. Love, Steve Costello and more.

For K-State the big name was Darren Sproles.

UPDATE: Article published today says Sproles may be the NFL's toughest player.

UMass led after the first quarter 7-0 after Jason Peebler's 65-yard bomb from Jeff Krohn. The rest of the game was all Wildcats as they outgained us 490 to 191 yards. Sproles rushed 28 times for 152 yards and 3TDs. The UMass defense held K-State to a season low 38 points and forced four turnovers. The Cats had 46,102 fans at the game.

Thursday News ---- 08/06/09

Bump. I'm giving away a really nice "UMass Football Blog" ball cap to the person that e-mails me the closest score of the UMass-Kansas State game. My e-mail address is in the "About me" section of the Blog.

One month to K-State game!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Special thanks to the CAA Media Office and Scott Meyer for sending me the 2009 CAA Media Guide. I spent most of yesterday afternoon reading it.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From the UMass Media center:

Saturday, Aug. 8 (12 Noon)
Big Y Supermarket • Hadley, Mass.

Head Coach Kevin Morris and members of the UMass Football team will be at the Big Y in Hadley this Saturday, Aug. 8 at 12 Noon to raise awareness about the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Coach Morris, who is a spokesperson for the cause will be on hand to meet and greet fans and talk to the media about his involvement in the foundation as well as the upcoming football season.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Coach Brown gets a mention in this article:" Five burning questions about the ACC Atlantic Division".

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chuck Burton reports on the Patriot league Media Day and spends a lot of time talking to former UMass Coach Tom Masella.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alex Hrebec walked on to Kansas State. Now he's defensive captain.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Things to fix at UMass in 2009:

1. The Minutemen were last in the CAA and 111th in the nation in kickoff returns (51-826- 0 TD 16.2 AVE)
2. The Maroon & White were 11th in the CAA and 102nd in the nation in punt returns (20-113-0TD 5.7 AVE)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wednesday News ---- 08/05/09

The Richmond website has some construction images of the Spiders new on-campus stadium. Mrs. Blog and I have plans to attend this year's UMass-
Richmond game. It will be our last trip to City Stadium.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vladimir Ducasse is listed as #162 in the latest edition of NFL Draft Scouts "Top 750 2010 Draft Prospects". Link brought to my attention over on the excellent Draft Daddy Blog.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Most Big East coaches favor adding a 9th team to the league.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Eagles cut former UMass star Courtney Robinson yesterday.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Sports Network released the last group of Buchanan and Payton Award nominees for 2009.

The only player from either new group we will see in the regular season is UNH QB R.J. Tolman.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

James Madison appears to have signed a Rivals three-star recruit. He's a former Virginia Player-of-the-Year.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tuesday News ---- 08/04/09

Don't forget to send me an e-mail predicting the UMass-Kansas State score. The closest guess to the actual score on Sept 5th wins a very nice "UMass Football Blog" hat.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Did Syracuse coach Doug Marrone take a shot at new UMass LB Mike Mele in this story? JUCO LB Derek Hines is listed as the starting WLB for the Orange ------ despite the fact that he has yet to set foot on the Syracuse campus. Donnie Web of the Post-Standard asked Marrone if that was unsettling. Marrone replied ""Not as unsettling as if you're playing with someone you know can't win," said Marrone.".

Another mention of Mele and Sheehan in this article.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Former UMass WR Brandon London receives mentions here and here in Miami Dolphins training camp.

He also mentioned in this Miami Dolphins press release.

London's extensive Dolphins bio here.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Carson Coffman will likely be the starting QB for the Kansas State Wildcats on Sept 5th.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Win a UMass Football Blog Hat

Here's the contest I talked about, but never ran last year.

I will give away this cool UMass Football Blog hat to the fan who e-mails me the closest prediction to the UMass-Kansas State score. It's free and I will pay the shipping cost. It's for fun only and your e-mail address and your name will be kept totally private. You don't have to send me your mailing address unless you win.


It's a high quality, never been worn hat that has "UMass football Blog" in Arial script block letters. The hat is maroon with white letters. It's one of three in existence. More hat pictures here.

Send me an email with your prediction. My e-mail address is available in the "About me" section of the blog.

Ties will be settled by date (earliest best). Any other needed decisions will be referred to Mrs. Blog for adjudication. Her decisions are unreviewable, unappealable and final. No e-mails after September 4th will be counted.

Monday News ---- 08/03/09

At the CAA Media Day, New Hampshire LB Sean Wear provided the first 2009 season bulletin-board material for UMass coaches:

"They projected us to win the North, which I expected," said Ware. "The only thing that kind of surprised us was that UMass was picked second, because of their performance against us last year and they got a new coach. I don't know if they'll be there."

Full article here.

In other UNH news, the next two (and probably last) games in the New Hampshire-Dartmouth series have been moved to 2014 and 2015.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You remember when UMass first announced the contract to play Michigan, it was incorrectly reported that the Minutemen would be the first team to play in the renovated Michigan stadium.

That turned out to be false as the Michigan administration wanted a "Special Opponent" for that event. The Wolverines have announced the special opponent is -------- UConn.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UMass' Sept 26th opponent Stony Brook has been picked 2nd the Big South preason poll. The Sea Wolves return 19 starters and 40 letter winners.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UMass is tied for 15th in the latest College Sporting News consolidated FCS preseason poll.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Matty Vautour has an article on the two Syracuse transfers. No new information.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

James Ihedigbo gets a mention in this NY Post story. Ihedigbo's jets bio here.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Saturday News ---- 08/01/09

Former UMass coach Frank Forcucci is now Defensive Coordinator for Northeastern.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Former UMass DT Malik Hall joins the Fordham staff under Tom Messala.

Former UMass assistant coach Eddie Morrissey has also joined the coaching staf at Fordham.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The CAA Media Day video vault has Coach Morris' interview up.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kansas State-UMass tickets are going fast. The return of Bill Synder has heightened interest in the game. See this article and this article.

UMass won't be the only team on the field with a new starter at QB.

Yesterday I called 1-800-221-CATS and ordered two tickets for the UMass section.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UMass adds two Syracuse Transfers

The latest edition of the 2009 roster has two transfers from Syracuse.

Dan Sheeran a 6-3 211 pd WR who will be a RSJr in 2009. He has had six total catches for the Orange during his career.


A Frank Ordonez/Post Standard image.

The Post had this to say: "Sheeran was moved from wide receiver to linebacker on the second day of spring practice. He missed the beginning of last season with a broken leg. Sheeran would have been a junior in the fall. His profile has already been removed from the SU Athletics Web site."

Sheeran's 2006 Rivals page here. His NFL DraftScout page here.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Also joining the Minutemen is Mike Mele a 6-0 218 pd LB.



Another Frank Ordonez/Post-Standard image.

A 2006 Scout.com article on Mele joining Syracuse here. He's mentioned in this article about several players leaving the Orange.

At Syracuse, Mele had 46 UT 55 AT 101 TT 1.5 TFL.

Both players probably left Syracue because of diminished playing time under new HC Doug Marrone.

Both players should be excellent additions to the Minutemen roster. Mele should add a strong presence to a LB corps that returns only one starter. He seems to have a great motor and the defense needs that after last year.

Sheeran has size and speed. He could be in the mix for a starting spot in 2010.

Welcome to both!

Thursday News--- 07/30/09

David Driver of the Springfield Republican has an article about this year's UMass Team: "UMass football team expects better".

Jeromy Miles states in the article that UMass' softness against the run last year hurt the defense's pride. 2008 was an anomaly in UMass run-defense history.

I checked UMass stats for the last six years:

Year---UMass average yards/rush-----Opponent average yards/rush--Opponent total yards for season

• 2008 UMass 4.4 - Opp 4.6 2,338 yards
• 2007 UMass 4.2 - Opp 2.9 1,503 yards
• 2006 UMass 4.8 - Opp 3.5 1,700 yards
• 2005 UMass 3.4 - Opp 2.9 1,277 yards
• 2004 UMass 4.0 - Opp 4.2 1,743 yards
• 2004 UMass 3.8 - Opp 3.2 1,626 yards
  

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

More from Matty Vautour on Liam Coen joining the Manchester Wolves.

If Liam is not playing professionally this fall, some college-level team should snap him up as a graduate assistant. Coen would make that team better.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Matty also has an article on UMass being picked second in the CAA North preseason poll.

I listened to the CAA audio feed yesterday. Most of the broadcast crew picked UMass third behind UNH and Hofstra.

In the article Matty relates NY QB Will Fiacchi expected an offer from UMass. Remember I have already blogged about Fiacchi.

UMass has a photo gallery from the event here.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A Google news search on "CAA football" this morning produced links to 21 articles. Click here for list.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wendesday News ---- 07/29/09

Sometimes I'm so good I scare myself :) On July 24th I read this post on the New Hampshire Football Report and thought to myself "Than might be a place for Liam".

Yesterday, Liam Coen joined the Manchester Wolves. UMass press release here.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Former UMass Coach Don Brown get a mention in this review of Maryland.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Matt Lawrence was the first player on the field for the Ravens at their camp.

Lawrence gets a favorable mention here: "Always hustling."

Matt's Raven's bio here.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brandon London brings "A unique talent" to the Dolphins roster.

London is also mentioned here.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The CAA released their preseason poll and preseason All-CAA teams here.

UMass is picked 2nd in the CAA North and received seven first-place votes.

Tony Nelson, Victor Cruz and Valdimir Ducasse were picked on offense and Josh Jennings and Jeromy Miles were chosen on defense.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

More on the CAA's 2009 TV schedule here. Twenty-three CAA games will be available for the well-equipped fan.

BTW, today is the CAA Media Day (starts at 10:00am). Follow the news here.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

More updates to the Buchanan Award and Payton Award lists.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kansas State's Bill Synder will be interviewed for the Big Twelve Media Day today at 9:00 am (Central time?).

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tuesday News ---- July 28th 2009

NESN has a long article about former UMass star Brandon London who is trying to make the Miami Dolphins roster again this year.

London's Miami bio here. He also has a Wikipedia page.

London is also being considered for a reality show.

Image by Zimbo magazine.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UMass did not make the Princeton Review's top 20 party school list.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Courtney Robinson at the Eagles training camp.

A Rich Schultz/Special to The Morning Call image.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dave Coulson reviews the Missouri Valley conference for 2009.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mike Barber of DNR online has an article on the CAA's 2009 television package.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday News ---- 07/27/09

Forty days from now I'll be in Manhattan, Kansas waiting for the UMass-K-State game to start. It's been a long run without football.

The Bleacher Report talks about the light at the end of the college football-less tunnel.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Josh Buchanan has a list of "Top 100 FCS NFL" prospects. Vladimir Ducasse is up the the #2 prospect in FCS/I-AA. You have to register/sign in to view the article.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

New CAA team Old Dominion won't be playing FBS/I-A teams anytime soon.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This article discusses the Eagles defensive backs. Former UMass CB Courtney Robinson is mentioned.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tickets to the UMass-Kansas State game are on sale here.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

David Coulson says that Richmond won't be the favorite to win the CAA South this year.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Saturday News --- 07/25/09

Every game of the Montana Grizzlies will be televised this year. Montana sells out their stadium, so television does not hurt attendance. The article talks about coverage on Dish Network, but those are local channels, not national feeds.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

More on WRHU's CAA's Media Day coverage.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Keeper's College football ratings (just about the only FCS statistics guru), has his 2009 FCS forecast up.

He also has UMass #13 in his 2009 preseason schedule rank and #11 in schedule difficulty.

Note that the CAA has six of the top eleven schedule difficulty slots.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rainy Friday News --- 07/24/09

WWLP has an article on Tony Nelson and Jeromy Miles being added to the Payton and Buchanan Award Watch list.

Anyone remember William L. Putnam, who gave WWLP its call letters?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Today's blog post by Draft Daddy has a "Top Small School Linebacker" NFL prospects. UMass fans will get to see three of the top seven.

• Matt Marcorelle, Delaware - Oct 10th
• Mark Masterson, Maine- Oct 31
• Arthur Moats, JMU - Nov 14th

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

More on the CAA Media Day from the CAA website. WRHU usually provides live streaming audio of the event.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As reported by blog reader "Dennis Dent" the latest interation of the 2009 roster is up. Missing is DT Raymond Jones.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Remember Head Coach Kevin Morris will be chatting online at 10:00am through the UMass website today.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thursday News --- 07/23/09

The new FCS website JBscouting.com has an interview with UMass OT Valdimir Ducasse. You need to register to read the article.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There's a Rivals three-star quarterback from Georgia available.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This 2003 Kansas State football highlight video has (I think) at least one play from the UMass-K-State game that year.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The CAA website will have audio and video from next Wednesday's CAA Media day. The event will be held in the ESPNZONE at Baltimore's inner harbor. I was just there last week!
ESPNZONE is the next building to the left in the row of brick buildings behind the aquarium.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wednesday News--- 07/22/09

UMass RB Tony Nelson has been added to the Payton Watch List by the Sports Network.

UMass fans will see another nominee Albany RB David McCarty on September 12th when the Great Danes visit McGuirk.

The Sports Network has also added UMass Senior Safety Jeromy Miles to their Buchanan Award Watch List. Two other CAA players are on the list: Delaware DB Charles Graves and and Villanova LB Osayi Osunde.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The UMass website has a long article about six UMass football players being named to the Phil Steel preseason All-CAA team. Named were Victor Cruz, Tony Nelson, Vladimir Ducasse, Josh Jennings, Jeromy Miles and Kyle C. Harrington.

Phi Steele's entire preseason All-CAA team is here. UMass ties Richmond for the most first team selections.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UMass fans will have a chance to e-mail questions to new UMass head coach Kevin Morris this Friday at 10:00.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

News ---- 07/21/09

Former UMass star Marcel Shipp gets a mention in this article.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It looks as if the NCAA may soften its stance on Delaware Colleges and Universities hosting playoff games. The NCAA had previously stated that because the state of Delaware had approved sports betting, Delaware schools would not be allowed to host games. That would have made a huge impact on CAA schools.

Home teams went 10-2 in the first two rounds of last years FCS/I-AA playoff games.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Kansas State 2009 football poster.


Click on the image for a larger view.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The CAA has a consolidated 2009 football schedule with TV information here.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This article over on Bleacher Reports predicts five first weekend upsets. Two of them are FCS teams over FBS teams and two of the others include Maryland and Miami, two I-A teams UMass fans have an interest in.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NCAA Summer Conditioning Rules*:

•During eight of the nine weeks before the start of preseason practice, student-athletes may be involved in voluntary weight training and conditioning activities.

•Supervised strength-and-conditioning activities are limited to eight hours a week.

•All strength-and-conditioning coaches overseeing these activities must be certified in CPR.

•A member of the sports medicine staff must be present at voluntary conditioning activities.

•Practice that is organized or financially supported by a member institution is prohibited during the summer.

* from an article by Natalie Meisler in the Denver Post.

Monday News --- 07/20/09

First off, a big "Thanks" to all who wished us a good trip. Here in New Hampshire we have had non-stop rain this season. In Baltimore, we had showers only on one afternoon.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Boston Globe has a story by Monique Walker about All-America candidate Nate Thellen of Northeastern and his brother and current UMass RFr Darren Thellen.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Josh Buchanan a frequent contributor to Draft Daddy, now has his own "Small School" ---- FCS website.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Speaking of new websites, check out College-Football Mid Major Madness. It has ten blog posts by "umass09".

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another new website covering FCS is the new, and somewhat mysterious, FCS Now Blog.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dave Coulson gives preseason news and predictions for the Big Sky, Southern Conference, and Great West Conference.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Temple has cut ties with two players from their Spring Roster. No indication what the nature of the offense was or if he'd be eligible, but Junior Galette could be an impact player at the FCS level.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not sure how many people check the comments on older posts, but a Kansas State fan left the following as travel suggestions for a trip to see UMass play the Wildcats as a comment in my July 7th blog post:

"Some travel suggestions/observations for our visitors:

Travel from Kansas City International Airport (code "MCI") to Manhattan is 130 miles via Interstates 435 and 70 (70 mph speed limit). Part of I-70 is the Kansas Turnpike (about $2.35 each way).

Air connections from KC to Manhattan ("MHK") are limited at the moment. You might want to check air connections later this month as some additional connections thru Texas are being added.

Topeka is a good second choice for hotels and is 55 miles to the east via I-70. The Wanamaker Road corridor on the west side of the capital city is replete with lots of hotels and dining establishments.

Parking lots at the stadium open 5 hours prior to kick-off. The lots around the stadium are reserved. Lots across the street offer plenty of parking between $10 and $20 per car.

Visiting teams generally book into the The Holiday Inn (Anderson Ave., Manhattan), the Capital Plaza in Topeka, or, in Junction City, the Marriot depending on the preferences of the respective coaches and ADs. My suggestion would be for you to contact your football office for that info.

Expect many, many tailgaters and lots of barbecue and music in the parking areas."

Chris Zardas--- 07/18/09

The Salem News has an article about Chris Zardas' senior year. The Blog believes Chris could be an impact player if he's healthy.

Zardas went 23-138 6.0 AVE 4 TD in 2008.

The article mentions the possibility of Zardas getting a fifth year of eligibility. If that were to happen, it would really help blunt the impact of the loss of Tony Nelson.

Blog News 07/12/09

Hi everyone. I've just been too busy to up date the blog. There is some news to talk about, but I'm planing on getting into that when I return on Monday morning.

Under the category "People---- idiots or what". Yesterday we drove down to the National Zoo in D.C. I-95 was eight lanes of solid fast traffic. Side of us was a young woman --- texting. No hands on the wheel and looking down, not at the traffic.

See you Sunday night or Monday morning.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



"Hello" from Baltimore. I do have an internet connection. A quick check shows no significant UMass football news, so I'll try to do a more detailed search tonight or tomorrow.

Should you ever visit Fort McHenry, try to time your visit for Noon. Mrs. Blog and I (plus about forty other people) got to take part in the raising of the BIG flag over the fort. It measures 42 by 30 feet. Two rangers supervised and everyone cheered when the Flag went up.

The small image is a file photo, because I could not take any images while holding the flag. The big image is by me.




Click on the image for a full-rez view. Gotta go. Mrs. Blog is yelling for me to stop playing on the computer. Going to the National Aquarium and other inner harbor stops.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mrs. Blog and I are off for a week to the Baltimore-Washington area for some R&R.

The place that we are staying is supposed to have wireless internet. If I have a working internet connection, I will try to update the Blog on a time available basis.

No posting at all means I do not have an internet connection and the Blog will return on 07/19 when we get back.

Sunday News ---- 07/12/09

UMass was the only team to offer Framingham QB Danny Guadagnoli. He's 6-1 200 pds. Guadagnoli threw for 2,600 yards and 25TD's last year. He added 600 yards rushing and 15 TDs on the ground.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Maine Black Bears have a long history of sending players to the NFL by means of the free agent route. Maine's Jared Turcott a 6-2 232 pd powerback has that written all over him.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Boston College has been doing more recruiting in New England this year. Article brought to my attention over on the "Eagle in Atlanta" blog.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Saturday News--- 07/11/09

Both the Springfield Republican and Matty Vautour have UMass football articles up, both contain nothing I haven't already covered. The Springfield Republican is here and the Hampshire Gazette is here.

The UMass athletic dept has an article about Vladimir Ducasse and Jeromy Miles being picked as pre-seaon All-Americans by Sports Network.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Matty does have a nice link to a North Jersey article about Marcel Shipp.

Shipp has been a class act everywhere he's gone. Hopefully, he'll be involved in UMass football somehow if he's truly out of professional football.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The always interesting Draft Daddy Blog has a comment on Kansas State WR Brandon Banks

" We do know, however, that fellow Kansas State wide receiver Brandon Banks ran a blistering 4.27 at his pro day. Banks was given a draftable projection, despite his glaring lack of ideal size -- 5' 7", 151. "

We'll be seeing Mr. Banks shortly.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Things are getting weird for Delaware WR Mark Duncan.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anyone going to the Kansas State game had better get working on their motel reservations, or they will be staying forty miles away in Kansas City.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Friday News ----- 07/10/09

David Coulson picks the Sports Network's Preseason All-America teams. Vladimir Ducasse and Jeromy Miles both made the second team.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm sorry to say Western Carolina had a player die during a summer voluntary workout.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The 7/10 issue of Draft Daddy has list of Senior "Small School" Safety NFL prospects. Jeromy Miles is second on the list.


DD.Comment: "At this point, Schillinger and Miles are clearly the top two prospects in the group above. Both are considered latter round type prospects, but have the potential to move into the middle rounds with strong senior years and good post-season workouts. Big East transfer Andrews also has some draft potential, but needs to prove he possesses next level speed."


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you missed it, ESPN signed a contract to cover BCS football games starting in 2011 ------ for a half a billion dollars.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Recruiting 2010 ---- D.J. Morrell and Jeremy Dickens

This article from a Norwalk newspaper talks about five Norwalk football players who will play in the Hall-of-Fame classic this Friday.

D.J. Morrell a 6-7 320 pd OL will play for Dean College this fall. He's getting looks from Boston College, Temple, Bryant, Iowa and UMass.

Morrell's Rivals page here . Rated as one of the top ten players in CT. Another article about him here.

Joining him at Dean will be another Norwalk senior Jeremy Dickens a 6-2 210 TE/DE who is drawing interest from Temple, UMass and Central Connecticut.

UMass football news ----- 07/08/09

A Dean College punter chooses Clemson over UMass.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Sports Network has started their list of Payton Award Watch list. The first four (of twenty) are here.

They're doing the same thing for the Buchanan Award Watch list. The first four defensive players are here.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The New Hampshire Football report blogs that Dartmouth has dropped UNH from their schedule after this year.

That will leave only the Rhode Island -- Brown game as the last remnant of the old Yankee Conference- Ivy League series.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Phil Steele has UMass as #19 in his preseason poll.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Today's Draft Daddy post has a list of top "Small School" cornerbacks. No UMass players on the list but fans of the Minutemen will see Stony Brook's Chris Williams and James Madison's Scotty McGee at McGuirk.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tuesday news --- 07/07/09

David Coulson has the latest edition of his "Around FCS" column up and considers Steve McNair's Paradoxical Life.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I've blogged before that a number of FCS football conferences are not holding Media days this year because of budgetary woes.

The CAA will still have it's regular Media Day in 2009. From the CAA website:

"2009 CAA FOOTBALL MEDIA DAY
JULY 29 - ESPNZONE - BALTIMORE, MD
CAA Football will kick off the 2009 season at the ES-
PNZone in Baltimore, Md., Wednesday, July 29. All
12 CAA Football head coaches will be present, along
with selected players from each team. Please contact
Scott Meyer at the CAA Football office for more in-
formation."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mrs Blog and I have plans to go to the UMass-Richmond game this fall. This year will be the last year the Spiders will play in City Stadium.

They've got some special events planned.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

#ESPN's College football live will cover Kansas State today (Tuesday). The show will be aired at 2:30, 4:30 and 6:00 pm.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Orlando Sentinel ranks the College Football Preview Magazines.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tampa Bay.com takes a look at life after football for offensive linemen.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday News--- 07/06/09

Draft Daddy's blog has a post on the Top Ten Small School OT NFL prospects for 2009. Quote on Valdimir Ducasse:

"Vladimir Ducasse ~ Massachusetts -- Is 6'5", 330 pounds and very agile. Grew up in Haiti, but moved to Connecticut in high school. Some scouts project him as a future N.F.L. guard."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anton McKenzie's BC Lions bio page here. His UMass bio here.

CAN West File photo

Another story about him here.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UMass legend Steve Schubert's daughter is General Manager of the Manchester Wolves arena football team.

This blog has a number of times about Steve Schubert.

This article was brought to my attention over at the New Hampshire Football Report.

Image by Jodie Andruskevich.






---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kansas State will be running the 4-2-5 defense this year.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunday News ---- 07/05/09

You've probably already heard, but Steve McNair was shot to death yesterday. This story focuses on his time at FCS/I-AA Alcorn State.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Matty Vautour has an article on former UMass punter Christian Koegel's stint on Real World Cancun. I'm not a reality show fan, so I haven't seen it. A lot of the people on these shows are actor wannabes, so it may lead to an acting career for him if he's interested in that sort of thing.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Via the New Hampshire Football Report, Jordan Johnson a CB from Springfield Mass signed with Brigham Young. He had offers from UNH, Northeastern and Bryant.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kansas State star DT Jeffery Fitzgerald was arrested for DWI. If he gets suspended for a couple of games, UMass is likely to be one of them.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Happy Fourth of July --- 07/04/09

Click on image for a hi-rez view. The image of a rainbow over Pear harbor is by PO3 Chelsea Kennedy.

No UMass news on the wires today. So I'll just wish everyone a safe and happy Fourth of July.

I checked the US navy status site and there are 192 US Navy ships and 25 submarines under way today. That's 46% of the fleet.

Friday News ---- 07/03/09

Yawin Smallwood a 6-4 225 pd LB from Worcester has committed to UConn. He had received an offer from UMass.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brenden Barrett, a kicker from eastern Mass who drew attention from UMass will walk on at Ole Miss.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NFL Draft Scout has a list of the top 750 2010 NFL Draft prospects.

• #137 Vladimir Ducasse -projected 5th round pick
• #401 Jeromy Miles -- FA
• #668 Victor Cruz -- Tryout
• #730 Kyle Harrington -- Tryout

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I received my copy of the Phil Steele's ACC & Big East regional college football magazine through the mail yesterday. He has over a 100 pages on FCS including 11 on the CAA. Steele picks UMass second in the CAA North behind Hofstra (?!).

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Former UMass player and coach Joe Cullen has been added to the staff at Idaho State.

Former UMass assistant coach John Zamberlin is HC with the Bengals.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fall 2009 UMass football Roster is up

Before we start, it's apparent that someone in New England has pissed off the weather gods.

I want that person to apologize right now!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fall 2009 Roster

Deletions from the Spring roster:

1. Scott Wallace QB. See this article.
2. C.J. Burnley RSFR CB. The depleted CB position gets even smaller.
3. Nick Collouri RSFR DT.
4. Korrey Davis SO TB. I've already blogged about Davis' transfer to Liberty.
5. Theluxon Pierre SR DT.
6. Adham Talaat OT FR. The only loss out of the 2009 recruits.

Additions to the Fall Roster:

1. Ryan McMackin FR. OL. Coming off one year at Milford Academy.He was 2nd team All-Class C New Jersey in 2007. Played in the New York/New Jersey Governor's Bowl.
2. Theo Agnew FR DL. New Haven Register All-State in 2008.
3. Caleb Violette FR K/P. VA Preps All-Virginia team in 2007. Walk-on at Virginia Tech last year.

Wednesday News ----- 07/01/09

The Charleston Gazette has a long interview with retiring Marshall AD Bob Marcum (mentions UMass a couple of times).

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In Monday's blog post, I report on BCS/I-A transfer Justin Roper's considering UMass. The Minutemen did not make the final two for the services of the Oregon transfer.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kansas State is ranked high in an "easy OOC" schedule poll.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Highest percentage of returning letterman in the CAA*.

Total /Returning/ Percent Returning

1. William & Mary 50/41 78%
2. Richmond 65/51 78%
3. Northeastern 61/48 78%
4. Villanova 41/31 76%
5. UMass 70/53 75%
6. Towson 58/44 75%
7. Rhode Island 48/36 75%
8. James Madison 69/51 73%
9. Maine 55/39 72%
10. Hofstra 60/43 72%
11. Delaware 60/38 63%

* Source the 2009 Spring CAA press guide