New FCS Coaches Poll for 2007

UMass Head Coach Don Brown will be a voting member on a new-for-2007 FCS Coaches Poll. Article here.

Lehigh Football Blog looks at the Patriot League

2007 is an unusual year in the fact that UMass plays two members of the Patriot League. I can't remember when we played two members of another league in the regular season.

Holy Cross and Colgate will be a little under 20% of our games this year.

The Lehigh Football Nation takes a look at the off-season goings on in the Patriot League.

32 days till football and #32

Only 32 days until we open with Holy Cross!

Wearing #32 again for UMass will be Matt Lawrence a 6-1 210 pd TB/FB from Bloomfield, CT. He's a RS Senior.

Lawrence played in 13 games and started 6 last year. He had 34-182 carries 5.1 yds/carry 2 TD long 55 yards. He also caught the ball out of the backfield going 14-109 7.8 yds/catch 20 yds Long.

Matt, all UMass fans are hoping you have an All-American senior year!

Draft Daddy lists five UMass players as All-CAA

I'm more and more impressed by Daft Daddy.com as a college football site. Amazingly, they do a fair amount of FCS/I-AA coverage.

They've released a CAA All-Conference team with five UMass players.

QB Joe Flacco ~ Delaware

RB Maurice Murray ~ Northeastern

RB Omar Cuff ~ Delaware

WR Arman Shields ~ Richmond

WR Shawn Leonard ~ Rhode Island (Sophomore)

TE Brad Listorti ~ Massachusetts

OL Mike Byrne ~ Delaware

OL Matt Austin ~ Massachusetts

OL Terrence Apted ~ James Madison (Junior)

OL Mike Trice ~ Hofstra (Sophomore)

OL Nick Diana ~ Massachusetts

DL Ronald Talley ~ Delaware

DL Ken Sussman ~ Hofstra

DL Bruno Dorismond ~ Maine

DL Sherman Logan ~ Richmond

LB Adrian Tracey ~ William & Mary (Sophomore)

LB Jason Hatchell ~ Massachusetts

LB Gian Villante ~ Hofstra

CB Sean Smalls ~ Massachusetts (Junior)

CB John Clements ~ New Hampshire (Junior)

S Tony LeZotte ~ James Madison

S Jeromy Miles ~ Massachusetts (Sophomore)

Scroll down to their 07/26/07 post to see some notes.

More free stuff from Phil Steele

Phil Steele is the only college football magazine to cover FCS/I-AA football with any depth.

He's releasing the entire content (30+ pages) for free on his website. However, each conference will only be up for two days.

The schedule:

Phil Steele's FCS Release Dates:

Northeast: August 13-14
Ohio Valley: August 14-15
Southern: August 15-16
Southland: August 16-17
SWAC: August 17-20



Big Sky : August 1-2
Big South: August 2-3
Colonial: August 3-6
Gateway: August 6-7


Great West: August 7-8
Ivy League: August 8-9
Ind & MACC: August: 9-10
MEAC: August 10-13

Whoa! Major TV package for the CAA

The CAA has announced the largest FCS/I-AA TV package in the nation.

The CAA announcement is here (contains a list of the entire package).

From the UMass website: The league released its television package on Wednesday with five UMass games listed: at Colgate (Time Warner-TV), vs. Towson (CN8), at Maine (CN8), vs. Northeastern (CN8), and vs. New Hampshire (CN8).

If have DSL or cable broad band you can watch CN8 over the internet here .

ESPN360 is an internet-only streaming video and can be watched here .

Most of the other options can be viewed on satellite TV. I have Dish Network 250 channel package and it contains many of the listed regional sports networks (MSG network, etc). View the options here (click on the sports button).

Recruiting 2008--- DT Steve Dunn

UMass is recruiting Steve Dunn a 6-0 275 pd DT from Churchville, NY.

Scount.com article here .

Receiving FCS/I-AA interest from UMass and Delaware. Has BCS interest from Temple, UConn, Pitt and Syracuse.

Steve, UMass has a better defense and better defensive coaches than any of those schools!

#33 Sloan Russett

Wearing #33 for the Minutemen this year will true freshman Sloan Russett a 5-10 200 pd RB from Manchester, NH.

Russett joined UMass in the Spring Session of 2006.

Sloan, welcome to UMass! Hope this is the start of a great career for you.

#34 Sam Besong

Wearing #34 for UMass will be RS freshman Sam Besong, a 6-0 200 pd LB from Brocton, MA.

Besong did not appear in any games last year.

Sam, may this year be the start of a great career with the Minutemen!

#36 Darrlyn Fenner

Wearing #36 for the Maroon & White this year will be Darrlyn Fenner a 6-0 230 pd DE from Hampton, VA. Fenner will be a RS junior this year.

Fenner played in 13 games in 2006 and had 7 UT 11 At 17 TT and 0.0-2 TFL.

Darrlyn, may you have a great junior season!

#37 Ryan Moreshead

Wearing #37 for the Minutemen this year will be Ryan Moreshead, a 6-2 230 pd LB and true freshman from Foxborough, MA.

Welcome to UMass Ryan! Hope this is the start of a successful career with us.

The UMass Marching Band by three touchdowns

Boston College will not allow UMass to bring its full Minutemen Marching Band to the Sept 29th game between B.C. and UMass.

Quote from Steve Buckley's article:"Put the UMass band in the same stadium with the BC band, and it�s the UMass band by three touchdowns."

Recruiting 2008 Jesse Sparks WR

UMass is recruiting Jesse Sparks a 5-9 170 pd WR from Cambridge, MA. Article here .

Relevent stat: runs consistent 4.3 to 4.4 40 yard dash times.

He has offers from UMass and Northeastern. Also interested are UNH, Hofstra, Temple and North Carolina.

Jesse, hope you choose UMass!

#38 James Dickson

Wearing #38 for the maroon & White in 2007 will be Eric Dickson a 5-11 205 pd DB from Southbridge, MA.

He will be a RS Sophomore this year.

Dickson played in 13 games in 2006 on special teams. He had 5 UT 10 AT and 15 TT.

Eric, hope 2007 will be a great year for you!

#39, James Carven

Number 39 this year will be worn by James Carven, a 6-0 185 pd DB from Nanover, MA.

Carven will be a RS Freshman this year.

James, hope 2007 is the start of a great career with the Minutemen

#40 Brandon White

Wearing #40 a gain this year for UMass will be Brandon White, a 6-2 218 pd DE from Chicago, IL.

White is a RS Junior this year. He's moving to DE from the fullback position.

White played in one game (Stony Brook) last year.

Brandon, hope 2007 is a great season for you!

This week's header image by Adam Nettina

This week's header image was kindly provided by Adam Nettina, the publisher of the excellent BCS/I-A Navy Blog "Pitch Right".

Thanks Adam!

Summer Vacation II

The UMass Football Blog will be on its second (and last) summer vacation from July 22nd until July 28th (next Saturday). I will be in the Great Frozen North .

The internet has not yet been invented there, so I will not be able to update the blog.

There has been a lot of football news this week and I have not been able to get ahead on the player countdown. I will catch up as soon as I return.

Because of the trip I will not be able to cover the Friends of Football's annual golf outing. If any blog-friend attends and wants to send me an e-mail with a report, I will publish it after I return.

The past post count is now up to over 1,450 past posts. feel free to check those out until I resume publishing in a week. Go UMass!

A new toy for the UMass Football Blog

Blogger has a new feature, a built in poll widget in the side bar. I startedthe first poll yesterday and it will run for six days. The question is "How far will UMass go in the playoffs?" Vote early and often.

So far, with only nine votes, a number of UMass fans think we're going to the National Championship game again. We're an optimistic bunch in FCS/I-AA---in their poll at the time I'm writing this, 17.1% Appalachian State fans think that they are going to beat Michigan big time.

Forty-Two days to football and #42

Wearing #42 again this year for UMass will be Chris Koepplin a 6-3 210 pd K from Kings Park, NY.
He will be a Senior this year.

Koepplin had a great Junior year. He was 16-23 67.1%. He was 11-13 at 40 yards or less.

Chris, hope you have a great senior season!

UMass1863 covers recruiting

UMass1863's excellent UMass Football page continues to expand.

Now he's added a 2008 football recruits section. It's worth reading and has a number of recruits I was not aware of.

This is somewhat similar to what is done on the Delaware "GoHens" site. You have to be registered to view the Hens recruiting information.

AFAIK, this is the first time anyone has tracked UMass recruiting. It's a great time to be a fan of UMass football!

Forty-Three Days until football and #43

Wearing #43 again for UMass will be RS Senior Jason Hatchell. He's a 6-0 240 pd LB from Mullica Hills, NJ.

Hatchell was the team leader in tackles in 2006. He played in all 15 games. Had 59 UT 75 AT 134 TT 6.5-30 TFL 1.0-6 sacks 6 BkUp 2 Fumble Recoveries 2 FF.

He has also already received his Degree. He's an All-American in several Pre-Season polls.

Jason, thanks for all your good work for the program! Hope you have a great senior season.

UMass picks up a Penn State Transfer

Bob McGovern breaks the story over on his excellent UMass All-Sports Blog "From Mullins to McGuirk"

UPDATE: I've added an image of Ridenhour (he's #37 in the image above). His Penn State page is here (read it quick before they "sanitize" it)

His Rivals page is here . Another Penn State Blog reports his transferring here .

Recruiting 2008--OLB Christopher Thomas

UMass is interested in Christopher Thomas a 6-0 195 pd OLB from Staten Island, NY.

His Scout.com page is here . An article about him here . He's a Scout.com one star recruit (scroll down).

Drawing interest from Northwestern, UConn, Buffalo and Temple. In FCS/I-AA, UMass, Fordham, Lehigh, Marist and UNH are interested.

Chris, UMass has the best defense and the best defensive coaches in the division!

This was first brought to my attention by a post from search engine Wizard Rocks22 over on the UMass football message board.

A tale of two Blogs

A couple of Blogs I read:

The Wizards of Odds--- a BCS-I-A blog (lots of info about college football)

The double A Zone-- the official blog of the NCAA

Forty-four days until football and #44

Only forty-four days until Holy Cross!

Wearing #44 again for the Maroon & White is E.J. Barthel a 6-1 240 pd FB from Becton, NJ. He's a RS Senior. Barthel played in 14 games and started in 3 in 2006. He had 2-7.0 carries 1- 20 receptions and 4 tackles on special teams.

E.J., hope you have a great senior season!

SME Network lists UMass #3 Pre-season

The SME network, which is the successor to the now defunct I-AA Waves internet radio show has UMass ranked #3 in the nation in its FCS Pre-Season Poll.

The first FCS radio show is scheduled for August 29th.

Draft Daddy rates the BCS to FCS transfers

Draft Daddy has an article on the 2007 BCS to FCS transfers. UMass' Jeromy Miles is rated #8 on the list.

Other CAA teams on the list are Delaware (three mentions) and Towson (one).

Recruiting 2007---LB Blake Vanderwiel

Joining UMass' 2007 recruits is Blake Vanderwiel a 5-10 200 pd LB from Torrey Pines, CA.

His high school website has him playing for the Minutemen (scroll to end).

His MaxPreps page is here . The MaxPreps page has three video highlight films of him playing QB and LB. the last video is of him playing defense, which is the position he'll be playing for UMass. I can't get Blogger to link directly to the video. You'll have to click on the video after moving to the MaxPreps page.


Welcome to UMass Blake! Hope you have a great career with the Minutemen!

Forty-Five days until football and #45

Only forty-five days until we open with the Crusaders!

Wearing #45 again for the Minutemen will be George Byrd, a 6-1 220 pd LB from Naples, FL. He's a Junior this year.

Byrd had a great year in 2006 with 11 UT 21 AT 32 TT 3.0-16 TFL 1.0-7 Sacks 1 BkUp 2 FF and 1 Kick blocked.

George, hope 2007 is a great year for you and the Minutemen!

UMass adds six players to roster

The 2007 UMass football roster shows six new players (sorta)

• Victor Cruz is back. The highly touted, but seldom seen WR is back wearing #81
• Breyone Evans a 6-0 239 pd FB transfer from Syracuse. Grad student. Played in all 11 games for the Orange last year.
• Jared Chivers a 6-3 240 pd OL from Dalton, MA. On the scout team in 2006.
• Jonathan Herandez a 5-11 200 pd TB from Leominster, MA
• Scott Wallace a 6-3 185 pd QB from Wilmington,DE
• Jeremy Horne a 6-2 190 pd WR transfer from Syracuse. RS Sophomore.

UPDATE: Evans MaxPreps page is here . Horne's MaxPreps page is here . This article mentions both of them.

Scott Wallace gets mentioned here .

CSN Pre-Season All-Americans announced

CSN has announced its Pre-Season All-Americans. The UMass announcement listing Matt Austin and Jason Hatchell as members is here .

The CSN article with all 75 players listed is here .

The list is a little strange. Only five CAA players are granted All-American honors. Perhaps the strangest pick is Tim Washington a DE from Appalachian State. He's a transfer from LSU, where he had nine career tackles.

Jeromy Miles from UMass had 61 tackles with Navy and was All-East, ECAC Freshman of the Year and Honorable Mention All-American---and he is not picked.

UPDATE: The CAA website has an article about the five CAA players selected here .

Forty-Six days until football and #46

Forty-Six days until we open with Holy Cross.

Number 46 for UMass will be Michael Hanson a 6-2 240 pd RS Sophomore from Teaneck, NJ.

Hanson played in 13 games in 2006. He racked up 4 UT 7 AT 11 TT 2.0-9 TFL and 1.0-6 Sacks.

Michael, hope you have a great Junior season!

UMass 2007 Audio-- Games and Coach Brown's Show

The UMass football games and Coach Brown's weekly show will switch from Sports Juice to WRNX this year.

The link is at UMass Sports on WRNX.

The Award winning team of Bob Behler and Matt Goldstein will be covering UMass Football again this year. I always listen to Coach Brown's show on Thursday nights at 7:00pm. The first show is set for August 30th. Since I live out-of-state, the live streaming audio is great.

Follow UMass football anywhere in world!

UPDATE: I've added a permanent link in the sidebar to the UMass/WRNX audio site.

Shannon James with the Calgary Stampeders

Former UMass All-American Shannon James is playing for the Calgary Stampeders.

His Calgary bio is here . The UMass website has an article about him playing at the Stampeders here .

James is wearing #23 for Calgary. He's playing outside linebacker. The Calgary depth chart is here .

I believe former UMass DL Ed McAleney was All-Pro during his stint with Calgary (1977-1983).

Adrian Zullo also spent a year with the Stampeders (2004),

A couple of new sites

There is yet another NFL draft site with 2008 UMass prospects here . It lists Matt Austin and Brad Listorti as NFL draft prospects .Hopefully, after 2007 J.J. Moore, Rasheed Rancher and other seniors will be added.

There is also a new FCS/I-AA message board here .

UPDATE: Just corrected the message board link. It should work now.

Forty-Seven days until football and #47

Only forty-seven day until Holy Cross!

Wearing number 47 again this year for the Minutemen is Chris Zardas a 6-1 230 pd FB from Wakefield, MA. Zardas will be a RS sophomore this year.

He DNP in 2006. Chris, hope 2007 will be a great year for you!

Northeast Conference to get auto playoff bid

In some news that has ramifications for UMass, it has been reported that the NEC champion will soon receive an auto-bid to the FCS-I-AA playoffs.

The Northeast Conference may be playoff eligible as soon as 2008.

As FCS/I-AA football fans know, NEC teams racked up two major upsets last year when Albany beat Delaware and CCSU stunned GSU. Both Albany and Stony Brook have committed to full scholarships and want to increase their football standing.

Since the FCS/I-AA playoff match ups are selected by region, not by seeding, UMass could be seeing a lot of NEC teams in the future first rounds of the playoffs.

Forty-Eight Days until football and #48

Only forty-eight days until football in 2007.

Wearing #48 again for UMass this year will be David Burris a 6-0 248 pd DL from Southbridge, MA. He's a RS Senior.

Burris---a former walkon, had a monster year in 2006. He tied for forth in total tackles on defense, which is really good for a DL. He was 2nd team All-A10

He had 31 TT 46 AT 77 TT 16-69 TFL 8.5-54 Sacks 2 Pass Breakups 2 Fumble RCVR 1 FF. Burris has 24.5 career TFL.

David, hope you have an All-American senior year!

Forty-Nine days until football and #49

Less than fifty days until we open with Holy Cross. Wearing #49 for UMass is Anthony Monette a 6-2 240 pd DE from Spencer, MA.

Monette appeared in five games in 2006. He's a RS Sophomore with lots of playing time in his future.

Hope you have a great 2007 Anthony!

Fifty Days until football and #50

Joining UMass this year and wearing #50 will be Josh Samuda a true freshman from Hollywood, FL. Samuda is a 6-4 300 pd OL.

Welcome to UMass, Josh! Hope 2007 is the beginning of a great career in UMass' offensive line.

Fifty-One days until football and #51

Wearing #51 for the Maroon & White in 2007 will be Shaun Allen a 6-3 250 pd DL from Temple Hills MD.

Allen had a redshirt year in 2006 after joining the Minutemen from Dean College.

Welcome to UMass Shaun! Hope 2007 is the start of an excellent career with UMass.

Fifty-Two days and #52

Wearing #52 for the Minutemen this year will be Anthony Rouzier a 6-0 222 pd RS Sophomore from Amherst, MA.

Rouzier sat out 2006 with a medical redshirt. He started for UConn as a true freshman in 2005.

Welcome home Anthony! Hope 2007 is a start on a great career with UMass!

53 Days and #53

Catching up with the days and player countdown is #53, Cesar Rosario a 6-2 220 pd Senior from Paterson, NJ.

In 2006 Rosario played in 14 games and rang up 15 UT 10 AT 25 TT 1 BK 1 TFL.

Cesar, hope you have a great senior year!

Only fifty-four days until football and #54

Fifty-four days until football.

Wearing #54 for UMass this year will be Darnel DeLaire a 6-2 232 pd DL from Bloomfield, CT. He will be a RS Junior this year.

In 2006 he played in 11 games. Had 5 UT 7 AT 12 TT 2.5-10 TFL 0.5 -3 Sacks.

Darnel, hope you have an excellent year this year!

UMass Football Blog on Vacation 07/08/07 to 07/15/07

The UMass Football Blog will be on vacation for the week of 07/08/08 to 07/15/07.

Mrs. Blog and I will be in the great American Southwest for a week. I will resume publishing next Sunday.

I was only able to get ahead a couple of days on the player countdown. I'll catch up on the count when I get back. In the meantime feel free to browse the more than 1,400 previous posts.

Fifty-Five days until football

Only fifty five days until football.

Wearing #55 for the Maroon & White is Andy Resende-Gomes 5-11 215 pd LB from Brockton, MA. He will be a RS Junior this year.

Resende-Gomes played in 13 games last year and had 1 UT 2 AT 3 TT. Wore #91 last year.

Andy, hope you have a great junior year!

Fifty-Six day until the 2006 season opens and #56

Only fifty six days until Holy Cross.

Wearing #56 for the Maroon & White is Brandon Collier a 6-1 260 pd DT from Hudson, Ohio. He's RS sophomore.

Collier played in all 15 games in 2006, starting in 10 of them. He had 15 UT 37 AT 52 TT 5.0-23 TFL 3.0-19 sacks and 1 FR.

Brandon, great work in 2006. Hope you have a great year in '07

Article about Tom Cullen

The Medford Daily News has an article about former UMass coach Tom Cullen.

He coached DL for UMass in 1991.

He also coached a Amherst High School and Amherst College.

UPDATE: Take time to read the comments on this post. Great UMass football story by Drew Comeau, who played some serious LB for the Minutemen in the late 80's. I have the UMass press guide and two game programs from 1989, but no image of Drew to scan. The 1989 Press Guide was the first UMass Guide to go to the large format, but it was still pretty minimal. Prior to '89 the UMass Press Guides were the size of a standard size letter envelope with no pictures and about 50 pages...

Fifty-Seven days until football and #57

Fifty Seven Days until the 2007 season starts.

Wearing #57 for UMass is Chad Arango a 6-0 225 pd LB from Voorhees, NJ. He's a RS Freshman this year. He was All-Conferenc and All-Group in high school,

Arango is a walk-on player who was on the scout team last year.

Chad, hope you have a great career with the Minutemen!

Some New England football gossip

The New Haven Register has a UConn-centric Blog containing some news that tangentially effects UMass.

In the blog (scroll down) it has two stories about Brandon McLean who was dismissed by UConn for academics. He also has some off-the-field problems. The story describes him as "humble and soft spoken". The blog indicates he is interested in eventually transferring to UMass. Maybe some the former UConn players on the UMass squad put in a good word for him.

Notice also a story on how UConn screwed up the recruiting of Terrell Wilks, who ended up signing with CAA foe Villanova.

Listorti named Pre-Season All-American by Street & Smith

The annual football magazine Street & Smith has named UMass' Brad Listorti as a Pre-Season All-American.

Listorti, a 6-4 255 pd Senior was a major force in UMass' run to the National Championship game last year.

He went 38-604 15.9 yds/catch 3 TD 44 Long 40.3 yards/game.

Listorti is certainly the top TE in the CAA and one of the top players in FCS/I-AA. Hope he has an NFL-caliber senior year.

Thorr Bjorn finalist for Rhode Island AD job

UMass Senior Associate Athletic Director Thorr Bjorn is a finalist for the open Rhode Island Athletic Director job.

The Providence Journal article has some interesting information. It states that UMass' sponsorship and marketing income has risen to $1.1 million last year.

The big three are football, basketball and hockey. All seem to be in good hands. Hope this trend continues and UMass continues to push marketing and sponsorships.

Fifty Eight days until football and #58

Only fifty-Eight days until football! Wearing # 58 for UMass this year is Jason Grochowalski, a 6-1 200 pd LB from South Hadley, MA.

Grochowalski appeared in one game in 2006. He's a RS Junior this year.

Jason, thanks of all your good work for the program. Hope you have a great junior year.

Happy Fourth of July

Everyone have a safe and happy Fourth of July. Happy Birthday America!

Just think. If it weren't for the USA, there would not be football and the world would be a poorer place for it.

New UMass Football Web Page opens!

Boy, I can remember the old days when it was off season; I would morosely leaf through the previous years game programs and wonder "What's happening with the program".

It is truly great to have the amount of information available today.

And it just got better for UMass fans. UMass1863 has opened a new UMass football webpage! It's here .

He's got a lot of material including some that would be very difficult to implement on my blog. He's working on interactive depth charts and red-shirt charts. Lots of UMass football info and I expect more in the future.

I've added him to my permenent links in the side bar and will be checking his site frequently!

Sixty days until the 2007 season starts and #60

Only sixty days until we meet Holy Cross! Wearing #60 again this year for the Maroon & White is Nick Diana a 6-3 300 pd OL from North Bellmore, NY.

Diana played in all 15 games last year and made 14 starts. He has already been picked to some pre-season All-Star teams.

Nick, thanks for all your good work in '06 and hope you have a great senior year!

Sixty-one days until footall and #61

I screwed up the sequence of days yesterday and missed #61, which is being worn by RS Freshman John Ilhne. He's a 6-5 255 pd TE from Wayne Hills, NJ.

He earned numerous honors in high school including First Team All-State in his group.

Welcome to UMass, John! Hope you have a great career with the Minutemen!

Phil Steele's CAA review for free!

Adam Nettina the publisher of one of the top football blogs in the nation Pitch Right , e-mailed me that he had noticed Phil Steele has a five page excerpt covering the CAA from his 2007 magazine available online. That's five pages of densely packed CAA information. It'll keep you reading for an hour. I've already printed out my copy.

It's here (pdf)

Note that Phil Steele picks UMass 1st in the CAA North. He also picks Listorti, Austin, Diana, Burris, Hatchell and Smalls as 1st team all CAA. He picks Walker and Koepplin as 2nd team.

The UMass football Blog also encourages all readers to check on Adam's Navy football Blog "Pitch Right". It's one of the best written sports blogs in the nation and I visit it regularly. Thanks for tip Adam!

Sixty-two Days to football and #61

Only sixty-two days until Football!

Wearing #62 for UMass this year will be Freshman recruit Tim Nolan, a 6-4 300 pd OL from Jackson, NJ.

Nolan had mutiple honors in High School including First Team All-State in his school's group.

Welcome to UMass Tim! Hope 2007 is the start of a great career with the Minutemen.