UMass Football News--July 24th, 2018

The UMass website has a post on Bryton Barr being named to the Butkus Award Watch list.

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts' also has entry on Barr being named to the watch list.

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Outside of Joe Previte, the Minutemen returns only one career start for the rest of the available defensive linemen. Will UMass stick with the 4-3 or move to the 3-4? There are also not a lot of career starts available in the linebackers except for Bryton Barr and Jarell Addo.

Returning are:

Bryton Barr SRGR 12-12 GP-GS 45 AT 50 UT 105 TT 9-42 TFL 5 SACKS 1 INT 1 FF.

Jarell Addo RSSR 12-11 GP-GS 32 UT 35 AT 67 TT 1-8 SACKS 8-24 TFL 6 BKUP 1 FF

Cole McCubrey SO 11-0 GP-GS 10 AT 4 UT 14 TT 2 FF

Chinedu Ogbonna SO 12-1 GP-GS 5 AT 5 UT 10 TT 0.5-0 TFL 0.5 SACKS

Mike Ruane SO 10-0 GP-GS 1 AT

James Bowe JR 10-0 GP-GS 1 BKUP

Darian Green FR.

Michael Nesmith FR.

Da'Shon Ross FR

Adam Tucker RSSO DNP in 2017

 If the Minutemen start Addo, Barr and Ogbonna the UMass LB's will be 6-1 200, 6-0 225 and 6-2 215 respectively.

Boston College's reported starters will be Connor Strachan 6-0 240, John Lamont 6-0 240 and Davon James 5-11 230.

 The Minutemen do not have a lot of size in the linebacker corps. They also could move  Leon Flanagan 6-2 220 to LB.

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Penn Live has a short piece on Andrew Ford being named to the Davey O'Brien Watch list.

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Boston College has been picked fourth in the ACC East Division for 2018.The last few years the Eagles have been picked at the bottom of the ACC East.

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Bryton Barr transfers to UMass

Towson University image

Thanks to "Chizzle" who first mentioned this in the comments.

Bryton Barr a 6-0 220 pound LB from Towson has transferred to UMass. PennLive.com has a story about Barr and his long journey to UMass. (fixed link)

Barr's Townson bio.

This article from Pressboxonline.com talks about his history of injuries.

Barr was a 247Sports three-star player coming out of HS.

UMass Football News--July 6th, 2017

Washington Valor image

Former UMass player Tracey Belton won the Arena Football league defensive player-of-the-week award.

Washington Valor press release.

This article features Belton.

Belton was the 2016 Arena Football Defensive Player-of-the-Year.

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The current UMass roster lists eleven LB's:

Jarell Addo #26 LB 6-0 190 RSJR DNP 2016
Bryton Barr #44 LB 6-0 225 RSJR Transfer from Towson
James Bowe, #13 LB 6-0 192 SO 11-0 GP-GS 12 UT 14 AT 26 TT
Colbert Calhoun #35 LB 5-11 219  SR 12-8 GP-GS 28 UT 30 AT 58 TT 4.0 TFL 1 PD 1 FF
Steve Casali #34 LB 6-1 236 RSSR12-12 GP-GS 47 UT 58 AT 105 TT 9.5 TFL 6 PD 1 FF 3 FR
Jake Froehlich #47 LB 6-1 245 RSSO Transfer from Oregon
Shane Huber #8 LB 6-3 237 RSSR 4-3 GP-GS 7 UT 13 AT 20 TT 2.5 TFL 2 PD
Tedrick Lowery #6 LB 6-0 221 SR 8-8 GP-GS 14 UT 23 AT 37 TT 2.0 TFL 2 PD 1 FR
Jeremy Rodriguez #49 LB 6-1 227 RSJR 12-0 GP-GS 3 UT 7 AT 10 TT
Mike Ruane #33 LB 6-0 227 FR Spring enrollee
Adam Tucker #58 LB 6-1 192 RSFR DNP 2016

Last year, new UMass defensive coordinator Ed Pinkham played a 4-3 defense at Western Michigan. I don't know if he'll do the same with the Minutemen.

In a 3-4 defense Steve Casali totaled 105 total tackles. He'll be a fixture in the 2017 defense.

Shane Huber is coming off a second knee injury. He was injured in the fourth game of the 2016 season. It usually takes about a year to recover from an ACL, so he may or may not be ready for the start of 2017. If healthy, he'll start as a senior.

Colbert Calhoun and Tedrick Lowery, both seniors had 16 starts between them. Both should see plenty of playing time.

Jake Froelich and Bryton Barr are both unknowns at this time. I would think Froelich would play inside and Barr outside.

With four senior linebackers, I would think the UMass coaching staff would like to reshirt 2017 recruit Mike Ruane.

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UMass Football News--December 8th, 2017

Seven UMass players made the 2017 All-ECAC list.

The list has four seniors:

Da'Sean Downey

Bryton Barr

Adam Breneman

Logan Laurent

All four played an important part in UMass' four victories. Whipple's offense works a lot better with a pass-catching TE. We've been talking about Logan Laurent's six-week stardom. Da'Sean Downey finished eighth in the nation in TFL. Bryton Barr was 38th in the nation in TT.

Three of the players named were underclassmen.

Andy Isabella was 21st in the nation with 65 catches for 1020 yards. He was 43rd in the nation with 5.4 receptions per game. His 65 catches ranked #8 in UMass all-time single season receptions. He was #7 in single season receiving yards, moving Rasheed Rancher (1007 yards) down one notch. His ten receiving TD's tied him with Jason Peebler for 4th in single season TD receptions.

Isaiah Rogers went 12-12 GP-GS 35 UT (4th on the team) 15 AT 50 TT 3.0 TFL 3 INT's 14 BKUP (1st on the team).

Jack Driscoll  went 9-8 GP-GS. The offensive line played better the last six games of the season. The offensive line gave up 32 sacks in the first six games of the season and 14 in the last six.

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Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" looks UMass 2018 recruits who may be involved in the early signing period.

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Off Tackle Empire discusses the bowl game between FIU and Temple and manages not many conclusions.

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UMass Football News--January 11th, 2018

Hampshire Gazette image

Good News for the 2018 UMass Football team; Matty Vautour reports Bryton Barr will return for next season. The Minutemen had been slated to lose to graduation five of the starting front seven on defense. Barr led UMass with 105 TT's.

Barr's Tweet on his decision.

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Former UMass assistant coach Greg Burns has been hired at Oregon State. Burns coached defensive backs at UMass in 2013.

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Former UMass player and coach Neal Brown is no longer a candidate for the head coaching position at Arizona.

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One who got away:

Robin Jutwreten, a 6-4 235 pound DE from Sweden has verbaled to Ritgers. Jutwreten had visited UMass.

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UMass Football News--September 1st, 2018

Well, we were no match for BC. UMass just did not get any plays to stay competitive. We fumbled the ball inside the 10 yard line. The Minutemen failed on three or four third-and-ones. Nobody made any great catches. When UMass packed the box, BC threw over it to wide open receivers.

Tip your hat to Bryton Barr and Bryce McAllister though. Barr went 15 UT 2 AT 17 TT and McAllister went 11 UT 2 AT 13 TT and 2 TFL. Those guys were warriors. Thirty tackles by two guys!

"Ah, alas! cried Gloin. When will the day come of our revenge?"

                                       Gloin, father of Gimli Elf-Friend at the Council of Elrond

We got beat. I'll wait another year. It'll be sweet when it comes.

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The UMass athletic site said UMass was halted.

Boston College said Anthony Brown threw a career high four TD's.

Josh Walfish reports BC routed the Minutemen.

Josh said the Minutemen look to learn and move on.

The Boston Herald said BC easily handled UMass.

NBC Sports reports Anthony Brown's return was impressive.

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Duquesne beat Lock Haven 45-0.

Georgia Southern cruised to a 37-6 win over South Carolina State.

FIU lost to Indiana 28-38.

Charlotte rolled past Fordham 34-10.

Ohio escaped Howard 38-34.

USF beat Elon 34-14.

Coastal Carolina played SEC South Carolina and lost 45-15.

UConn played UCF Thursday and was crushed 56-17.

Liberty had an impressive FBS debut blasting Old Dominion 52-10.

BYU scored an big 28-23 win over Arizona.

Georgia opened with a 45-0 win over FCS Austin Peay.

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UMass Football News--December 15th, 2018

Four Minutemen, Bryton Barr, Andy Isabella, Jake Largay and Brice McAllister have been named All-ECAC. In addition, Barr was named ECAC Defensive Player-of-the-Year.

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Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has some news and notes about UMass sports including additions to the footballs staff and recruiting.

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Forbes.com has a post on the young coaches (including Walt Bell) hired this year in college football.

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UMass Football News--November 27th, 2018

Congrats to Bryton Barr and Andy Isabella on being named to the All-Region team.

Mike Traini of "Fight Massachusetts" has a post on news from UMass athletics that includes Barr and Isabella.

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Josh Walfish has five candidates for the open UMass head coaching job.

I doubt Don Brown would take a massive pay cut to return to Amherst. Liam Coen certainly knows UMass, but he's never been a head coach.

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FIU is the first of the Minutemen's 2018 opponents to be given a bowl invite.

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A 247Sports writer says Texas Tech should consider Neal Brown.

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UMass Football News--August 9th, 2017

Dick MacPherson has passed away. He was head coach at UMass from 1971 to 1979.  His 73 games is third on the UMass all-time games coached list. He won five Yankee Conference championships and led UMass to the first FCS Championship.

The UMass administration promptly cut his scholarships the next year and he left for Syracuse where he became a Hall-of-Fame coach.

He was a great guy and boy could he tell football stories.

The Gazette has an AP story about Coach Mac.

Matty Vautour has a post on UMass coaches remembering MacPherson.

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Matty has a story about Bryton Barr, a 6-0 225 pound transfer from Towson. I've blogged about Barr before. With Shane Huber's status uncertain, he'll bring depth to the linebacker position.

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CBS Sports rates UMass dead last in FBS football. Many sports "writers' just go through the motions. If it draws eyeballs, it's OK.  They get paid to crank out stuff, that's it.

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A "Chowder and Champions" writer picks UConn to go six-and-six. Note that he picks the Huskies to beat both USF and UCF. USF is a consensus Top-25 pick and Athlon has UCF picked second in the AAC East.

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MASSACHUSETTS, A STATE GRIPPED WITH TERROR

Another underwear-wearing driver crashes his car doing 100-miles an hour in East Bridgewater.

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UMass Football News--UMass annouces major Football facilities upgrade

Five years after the Football performance center opened in 2014, UMass has announced a major upgrade to its football facilities.

Click on the image and Blogger displays a larger view.

The South wall of the stadium will be taken down a a hospitality plaza built. The space will include a new 48 X 20.4 foot video board courtesy of a gift from Paul and David Manganaro.

A new practice field will be constructed parallel to press box side of the stadium.

A seasonal bubble will cover the practice field. All this is because of a $5.8 million gift from Martin Jacobson.

We now have a football complex. The covered practice field should be a big help to a cold weather team. It should also help in recruiting. New restrooms will be added and the sound system will be improved. All the improvements are an exciting improvement to the football program.

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 UMass LB Bryton Barr has been named ECAC defensive player of the year.

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Former UMass coach Scott Woodward has joined Coach Whipple in Pittsburgh.

247Sports thinks Pitt QB Kenny Pickett will benefit from having Whipple as OC.

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UMass Football News--August 23rd, 2018

UMass has game notes available for Duquesne including a depth chart.

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Josh Walfish says UMass can't afford to overlook FCS Duquesne.

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The Boston Herald says UMass hopes for momentum and a bowl game.

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The Pittsburg Post-Gazette has the Dukes have a quarter back battle on their hands.

Hero Sports reports Duquesne's revenge quest highlights the NEC conference's 2018 season.

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Athlon Sports previews the Minutemen-Dukes game and predicts a UMass win .

Actually, three different Athlon writers predict a Minutemen victory.

However, everyone at Athlon thinks Georgia is going to defeat UMass on November 17th. 

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Flo Football has five reasons to watch the UMass - Duquesne game.

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Penn Live has a nice post on how Andrew Ford and Bryton Barr ended up on the same team.

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If you have high blood pressure, don't click on this link where an "award-winning" SEC journalist ranks Georgia's opposing QB's. He has Andrew Ford last and starts his review "There’s still no sure-fire starter at UMass" and goes down hill from there.

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UMass Football News--December 19th, 2018

The Manganaro Family donates $500k for McGuirk improvements. The funds will be applied to a new high-definition video board. I watched Paul Manganaro play back in the day. He lettered in 1982, 83, 85 and was captain in 1986. Manganaro was All-Yankee Conference in 1985. With the new bubble practice facility coming, things are lookin' up at McGuirk.

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Andy Isabella adds his ninth post season award as he is named First Team All-America by Phil Steele.

Nine Minutemen made Steele's All-Independent team for 2018. Andrew Ford, Marquis Young, Jake Largay, Bryton Barr and Isiah Rogers made the first team. Sadiq Palmer, Ray Thomas-Ishman, Joe Previte and Lee Moses made the 2nd team. Marquis Young made the second team as kick returner.

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UMass adds former San Diego (FCS) coach Jim Jackson as OL coach. Jackson's San Diego bio.

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Josh Walfish report Coach Bell has a plan for recruiting.

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The Bangor Daily News reports Maine's  Joe Harasymiak is the CAA's lowest paid coach, but he's in line for more lucrative offers.

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UMass Football News--September 27th, 2017

When you're 0-5 all you've got are individual performances, but the UMass defense is racking up some impressive numbers.

Bryton Barr, the Towson LB transfer has gone 5-5 GP-GS 24 UT-26 AT 50 TT 3.0-14 TFL 1.0-8 SACKS 1 BKUP.

Da'Sean Downey has 5-4 GP-GS 11 UT 13 AT 24 TT 6.5-19 TFL 3.0-12 SACKS 1 BKUP 1 FF

Other notables:

Ali Ali-Musa 5-5 GP-GS 10 UT 17 AT 27 TT (3rd on team) 4.0-12 TFL 1.0-7 SACKS 1 BKUP

That is excellent production from Downey and Ali-Musa as defensive linemen.

Jake Byczko also has done well as a true freshman. He has 5-0 GP-GS 6 UT 11 AT 17 TT 2.0-6 TFL 2 BKUP.

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Matty Vautour reports Coach Whipple has confidence in Ross Comis if Andrew Ford is unable to play against Ohio. He also reports Logan Laurent is healthy and will handle punting and field goals.

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And ESPN writer has UMass second from the bottom in FBS rankings.

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Coaches are feeling the impact of the NCAA's new focus on unsportsmanlike like behavior from the sidelines.

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Tennesse QB Quinton Dormady understood the reason that he was pulled for three series against UMass.

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Georgia Southern's fans flood the president's office with calls and e-mails to fire the football coach and A.D.

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UConn lost to Eastern Carolina on a late field goal. A current AAC power poll has the Huskies last.

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UMass Football News--May 1st, 2019

Josh Walfish says UMass made progress in coach Bell's first spring.

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UMass LB Bryton Barr has been invited to the NY Giants mini-camp.

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MassLive reports Andy Isabella thinks Arizona will be an awesome fit.

Arizona Sports says the Cardinals loved the work ethic and the speed of Isabella.

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Fenway Park will host a new bowl game in 2020. There will be 43 bowl games in 2020. Hopefully UMass will be able to have an association with with at least one of them.

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Former UMass assistant coach Bob Colbert joins a PA HS staff. Colbert was QB coach at UMass in 1996 and 1997.

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OT, but UMass recently hosted the third annual Women in Sports Media Symposium.

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UMass Football News--May 16th, 2019

The Sun lists Penn State's future non-conference schedule including the 2023 match against UMass.

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Athlon Sports lists Southern Illinois against UMass and one of 12 possible FCS upsets in 2019.

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Saturday Tradition says Rutgers fans should be nervous about the Scarlet Knights opener against the Minutemen.

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Victor Cruz says Andy Isabella is a player to watch.

Pro Football Talk reports the Cardinals are fired up about Isabella's speed.

The Cards rookie mini-camp roster including Bryton Barr.

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UMass Football News--September 26th, 2018

Bryton Barr and Michael Curtis were named as two of the three UMass student-athletes of the week.

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UMass has their game notes for Ohio up.

The Ohio site has a transcript of Bobcat coach Frank Solich's UMass game press conference.

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Josh Walfish reports on the new faces in the Minutemen linebacker corps. Tyris Lebeau and Xavier Steele are out with injuries. Jarell Addo is still suspended (maybe back for Ohio?). Getting more reps are Chinedu Ogbonna and Cole McCubrey.

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The Charlotte Observer tells what went wrong for the 49ers against UMass

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The Daily Collegian says UMass considers Ohio to be a big test.

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WOUB reports Ohio is looking for a bounce back win.

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The Post has power rankings for the MAC for week #5. Ohio is #5 and Buffalo (!?) is #1.

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UMass' win over Charlotte moved the Minutemen out of CBS' Bottom 25 poll.

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USA Today predicts bowl games for Georgia, BYU, BC, USF, FIU and Coastal Carolina.

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UMass Football News--May 20th, 2022

 

The UMass website has bios of eight new Minutemen.

Several have the potential to start. Ben Bohnenberger and Cole Garcia should contend for starting positions on the OL. Conner Vasher could also be in the mix.

Jalen Mackie could also be the impact play on defense.

Mackie was a FCS All-American and a First Team All Ivy. Led the Ivy league with 9.6 tackles per game.

The Minutemen have not had a tackling machine linebacker since Bryton Barr and Jarell Addo.

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UMass Football News--May 11th, 2019

Twitter image

Martin G. Jacobson received an honorary Doctorate in Business at the UMass Commencement. UMass football will be forever in his debt.

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Bryton Barr joins Andy Isabella and Lee Moses at the Arizona mini-camp.

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A pseudonymous author on "Off Tackle Empire" goes on an epic rant  about Rutgers.

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Penn Live looks at the status of Penn State's transfers out including Jarvis Miller

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Andy Isabella and the other Cards rookies have signed their contracts.

AZ Central says fair or not, the careers of Josh Rosen and Andy Isabella will always be linked.

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UMass Football news -- Coach Whipple being let go

Multiple news outlets are saying UMass and Coach Whipple are negotiating his leaving UMass.

Josh Wallfish says sources say UMass and Whipple are parting ways.

MassLive reports Whipple out as UMass coach.

The Boston Herald reports the Whipple era may be over.

Hero Sports has some potential candidates for the head coach for the Minutemen.

MassLive also has some potential choices for UMass' next coach.

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My take on this year's problems comes down to recruiting. After a successful year three years ago, the quality of the recruiting classes has declined. On defense we were small and lacked athleticism.

After Jarell Addo was suspended, Tyris Lebeau started for him. After Lebeau went down with a shoulder injury, the coaches thought the next best option was to move a safety to OLB.

Consider this quote by Ed Pinkham from October 6th:

“One of the things we’ve been trying to deal with is we’re trying to get our best 11 guys on the field,” Pinkham said. “Sometimes when you have injuries or you don’t have the option of playing a guy, you take a guy from one position and put him in another position, feeling like this is the best 11 guys we have. He hasn’t had all the experience, the amount of time we’ve invested for a guy in a particular position, it does take awhile for them to play. In addition to when I do that, I look at the guy I replaced him with and he’s not as good at that position as the guy I moved from one to the other."

I translate that as "we are exactly one guy deep at OLB".

On the defensive line we had five total sacks in the 2018 season by defensive linemen. Jake Byczko had 4.5-26 and Joe Previte had 0.5-4. That's amazin' stat. In addition UMass had one (1) QB hurry for the entire season. For the last two seasons, if we played a team that had a dual-threat QB we gave up a huge amount of yardage. It's no shame we couldn't compete with Georgia's #1 QB recruit in the nation, but teams like Coastal Carolina had the same results.

Now consider that Bryton Barr, Jarell Addo, both starting safeties and Lee Moses are all graduating. We don't have a pass rushing DE on the roster. We do not have a big run-stopping MLB.

Defensive recruiting has been a train wreck.

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My choice for a new head coach would be someone who is a good fit for the school and I'd probably pick a defensive guy. Most of our wins have been defensive grinds rather than offensive shoot-outs. Offense sells tickets, but losing is worse. We need someone who can recruit enough talent to be competitive. I'm not asking for Power Five recruiting classes. I'm asking for classes that will enable us to compete in the Group-of-Five.

UMass Football News--May 8th, 2019

Underdog Dynasty has three UMass players sign NFL deals.

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The Orlando Sentinel previews 2019 opponent Rutgers.

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The Cumberland Sentinel says Bryton Barr gets a taste of NFL life with the NY Giants.

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CBS Sports has a kinda minimal fantasy football preview of Andy Isabella.

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