UMass Football News--March 7th, 2026

 UMass and Hawaii have agreed to cancel their 2026 and 2027 series.

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The latest edition of the Spring UMass football roster is up.

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The Big Ten conference plots a 24-team college football playoff. 

The Power Four conferences want more of their teams in the playoffs, but a 24 team playoff should have ALL THE CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS, including the Group-of-Five. That would still give the Power Four fifteen additional slots.

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And finally, the Boston drivers' version of the Waymo  self-driving car is out.

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UMass Football Recruiting 2027--Marcus Forsythe

 

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Marcus Forsythe, a 6-4 300 pound OL from Ridgely, MD has a UMass offer.

Hudl.com has video highlights. 

UMass needs offensive linemen and Amherst would be a great place for Forsythe to develop his career. 

UMass Football Recruiting 2027--Zyon Preston

 

Hudl.com image

Zyon Preston, a 6-2 220 pound Edge from Snellville, GA has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here. 

Hudl.com has video highlights. 

MaxPreps has stats. 

Preston also has offers from Cornell and Harvard. He could play FBS-level football and get an excellent education in Amherst. 

UMass Football Recruiting 2027--Julius LaRosa III

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 Julius LaRosa III, a 6-2 260 pound DL from Jacksonville, FL has a UMass offer.

247Sports page here. 

This site has video highlights. 

MaxPreps has stats. 

This article covers his offer from UCLA. 

LaRosa has 22 offers pretty evenly split between Power Four schools and Group-of-Five. UCLA, Tennessee, Georgia Tech and Kansas are some of his Power Four offers. Appalachian State, Liberty, Western Kentucky and JMU are representative of Group-of-Five. UMass is his only offer from the MAC. He could get an excellent education and a chance to start early in Amherst. 

UMass 2026 Transfer Recruiting --Nick Dalessandro

 

Nick Dalessandro, a 6-4 290 pound OG/OT portal transfer from Colgate has a UMass offer.

Dalessamndro's Red Raiders bio here. 

He had 15 career starts and 32 games played for Colgate. Gave up zero sacks on 457 passing plays in 2025. The UMass offensive line is one unit that could use some additional players from the transfer portal.  Dalessandro could be an instant starter and potentially play in 11 FBS games (counting the extra game against Hawaii).

UMass Football Recruiting 2027--William Grinage

 UMass has offered to William Grinage, a 6-3 240 pound DE from Orlando, FL.

Hudl.com has video highlights. 

MaxPreps has Stats. 14 SACKs and 18 TFL in eleven games..

Grinage has offers from Oregon State and Marshal. He could be part of the Minutemen's defensive renaissance in Amherst.

UMass Football Recruiting 2027--Rowan Martin

 

The Minuteman Command has a post on 2027 Safety/Athlete Rowan Martin.

Hudl.com has video Highlights. 

This article from December of 2024 features Martin. 

Martin has offers from most of the Ivies. He has FBS offers from Army, Navy and UMass. He could play FBS-level football and get an Ivy-equivalent education in Amherst. 

UMass Football News--February 27th, 2026

 

The UMass Spring game will be on April 25th. Last year's game started at Noon.

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Some staff additions:

 

Click on image and Blogger displays a larger view

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And a couple of articles have further adventures in AI-written sports journalism.

College Football News has MAC Conference Spring Football rankings.  If you don't recognized the listed UMass transfer-in and transfer-outs scroll down to Toledo.

• a human sports writer would probably chosen Pop Watson or Joseph Griffin Jr as UMass' top incoming transfer 
• a human sports writer probably would not have ranked Sacramento State as #7 in the league..

Hustle Belt has getting acquainted with Sacramento State Football. 

• See the section on Sacramento State's stadium and attendance. The AI doesn't know UMass is a member of the MAC

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UMass Football Recruiting 2027--Jay Rawls

 

Jay Rawls, a 6-6 195 pound WR from Goodyear, AZ has a UMass offer.

Hudl.com has video highlights 

Rawls has a pro-sized frame and UMass appears to be his first FBS offer. He could hone his talent and get an excellent education with the Minutemen in Amherst. 

UMass Football Recruiting 2027--Jordan Davis

 

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UMass has offered to Jordan Davis, a 5-11 195 pound RB from Cincinnati, OH.

247Sports page here. 

Hudl.com has video highlights. 

MaxPreps has stats. In 2025 Davis went 145-674 4.6 AVE 41 LONG 21 TD's.

Besides UMass, Davis has offers from Kent State, Miami (Ohio) and Toledo. He could find a home in Amherst and get a great East Coast education as well. 

UMass Football Recruiting 2026--Brady Bermant

 UMass social media reports Brady Bemant, a 6-0 180 pound Kicker from Roslyn Heights, NY will join the Minutemen as a preferred walk-on.

All-State NY. 

Except for 2025, kicking has been a thorn in the side of UMass football fans since the move to FBS. We wish Bemant a highly productive career--and a scholarship with the Minutemen! 

 

UMass Football News--February 23rd, 2026

 Hustle Belt has what's good and bad about Sacramento State joining the MAC

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The President of Sacramento State has a "X" post on what FBS brings to the University.

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The Toledo Blade has a story on what teams should be considered for future MAC expansion. 

There are some interesting names in the article: UConn and Liberty are powerhouse athletic programs. South Dakota State has a flood of Permian Basin oil money. Western Kentucky has a basketball program all UMass fans could envy.

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Speaking of UConn, they just released their 2026 football schedule. 

Something called the the UConn round table has what reads like a AI-written post on UConn's schedule and calls UMass an FCS team..

 The Huskies 2026 schedule is significantly stronger than 2025. I think UConn's win total will drop sharply this year. 

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UMass Football Recruiting 2026--Ahkir Morgan

Hudl.com image

 Social Media reports Ahkir Morgan, a 5-10 170 pound WR/Athlete from West Orange, NJ will join UMass as a preferred walk-on.

Hudl.com has video highlights. 

This article covers his signing with UMass. in 2025 Morgan went 34-588 5 TD's, on defense he had 27 TT and 2 INT's 

UMass needs productive WR's. Morgan should have a chance to develop  his craft, earn a scholarship and  make an impact with the Minutemen.

UMass Football Recruiting 2026--Maurice Barnes, Jr

 

UMass social media reports Maurice Barnes, Jr, a 6-2 200 pound LB from Harrisburg, PA will join the Minutemen as a preferred walk-on.

247Sports page here. 

Hudl.com has video highlights. 

Raw Sports has a capsule post on Barnes.

Barnes had multiple offers back in 2024 including MAC teams Kent State and Akron. The Minutemen need defensive improvement and Barnes should have a wide open chance to earn a scholarship and make an impact in Amherst. 

UMass Football Recruiting 2026--Isaiah Simmonds

 

Isaiah Simmonds, a 5-9 175 pound WR from West Roxbury, MA has committed to UMass as a preferred walk-on.

Hudl.com has video. 

MaxPreps has stats. In his senior season Simmonds went 27-427 17.1 AVE 5 TD's receiving. Also rushed for 24-388 16.2 AVE and 2 TD's.

UMass needs offensive talent and Simmonds should be in a place where he can develop and earn a scholarship. It will be interesting to follow his career with the Minutemen. 

UMass Football Recruiting 2026--Jake McGrath

 

Jake McGrath, a 6-7 295 pound OL from Cambridge, MA has committed to UMass as a preferred walk-on.

Hudl.com has video highlights. 

UMass needs offensive linemen and has an excellent weight-training and performance facility. McGrath has a pro-sized frame and should have a great opportunity to develop a and earn a scholarship. 

UMass Football Recruiting 2028--David Sanger

 

The Minuteman Command has a post on David Sanger, a 6-4 285 pound OL from Williston-Northampton.

Hudl.com has video highlights. 

I saw his father David Sanger punt for the Minutemen back in the day. The elder Sanger's punting rank in the UMass record book is:

1. 2nd in career punting yards 236-9574
2. 2nd in punt attempts 236
3. 6th in average yards/attempt 40.57

His father was 2nd team All-American in 2001 and 1st team All-Atlantic 10 the same year.

Sanger the younger could keep the family streak going in Amherst.  

 

UMass Football News--February 16th, 2026

 

Two sources report Sacramento State will join the MAC as a football-only affiliate member in 2026.

They wouldn't let UMass do that, but I don't mind. One big negative of being an independent was no league media revenue. In 2027 the MAC's current media contract expires. There is hope the MAC will sign a much more lucrative contract at that time. College sports is one of the few popular TV offerings these days. MACtion has been a ratings success. 

Sacramento is a much bigger media market than Akron or Athens. This would be good for the league and UMass. And the Minutemen's share of the $15 million entry fee would not hurt either..

Hustle Belt reports here. 

Yahoo Sports reports here. 

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UMass adds Rich Worsell as offensive analyst. Worsell has extensive coaching experience including time in the MAC at Toledo.

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And from the invaluable Babylon Bee: 

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UMass Transfer Portal 2026--How we did--Defensive backs

 BTW, the first 2026 UMass football roster is up.

The Minutemen had a dismal defensive result in 2025. A big part of the 0-12 result was from the UMass pass defense.

Temple (a 5-7 team) went 22-29 246 yards and 6 passing TD's against the UMass defense. Bryant (a 3-8 FCS team) threw for 318 yards and 3 TD's, which included a seemingly effortless game winning drive in the fourth quarter.  

The Minutemen were #56 in pass yards given up, but were #116 in yards per completion.

UMass was #135 (next to last) in pass defense efficiency. 

UMass added Jahmad Harmon from Ball State/Kent State,  Isaiah Reed from Brown and Chris Stanley from Garden City C.C.

They also added Michael Robinson   (corrected name) from Rutgers in the STAR position.  

Reed should be an instant starter at one corner.  Both Harmon and Stanley should compete to start on the other side.

Nick Sabin probably made the STAR position famous at Alabama. The STAR is usually a hybred linebacker/strong safety. Teams usually pull the MLB and use the STAR (as a fifth defensive secondary guy) in pass coverage, but also are responsible for run defense and can also blitz. The STAR position is sorta like a weak side linebacker with more coverage radius.

Robinson should know Harasymiak's defense coming from Rutgers. He should give Minutemen DC Jared Keyte some package options. 

I would give the transfer additions as a potential sold "B". I think UMass added a starter at one corner and maybe the other side too.  

UMass Football Recruiting 2027--GaVin English commits to UMass

 

UMass gained their first commitment of the 2027 recruiting cycle as GaVin English, a 6-4 285 pound OL from Springfield, MA has committed to the Minutemen.

I've blogged about English before. 

Great that UMass has added some Western Mass talent to the roster. I look forward to following English's career with the Minutemen.