Monday, February 28, 2011

Recruiting 2012--Armanti Reeves II

Bleacher Report image.
Back in August I blogged about UMass offering to Armanti Reeves, a 5-11 180 pd DB from West Roxbury.

He's up to four stars on his Scout.com page.

2010 highlight video here.

Story featuring him here.

Reeves has multiple FBS offers from Stanford, Northwester, Michigan State, North Carolina, Penn State, Virginia and Wake Forest.

Probably UMass does not have a large chance of landing Reeves, but still it's nice to see we are offering to a four star recruit.

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Saturday--Feb 26, 2011

ProFootballWeekly looks at "small school" offensive linemen and mentions Vladimir Ducasse.

Philly.com says Villanova's Ben Ijalana is one of the top two OT's in the  draft.

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Former UMass star Jeremy Cain has signed a contract extension with the Jaguars.

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TSN looks at new coaches in FCS and concludes they generally have a tough opening year.

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Lots of UMass connections when UConn opens it's schedule with Fordham this fall.

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Any Blog readers tried the new search engines DuckDuckGo or Blekko? They don't track your searches like Google does.

Type "UMass Football" into Blekko and see what the top return is. Just sayin' :)

Friday, February 25, 2011

Recruiting 2012--- Troi Hughes

BeRecruited.com image
Rivals.com reports that UMass is interested in Troi Hughes, a 6-2 170 pd CB from Richmond, VA.

His Rivals page here.

YouTube highlight video here.

Hughes is enrolled in Honors classes in HS. Also drawing interest from FCS Richmond as well as FBS schools Virginia, VA Tech, UConn and Western Kentucky.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Thursday--February 24, 2011

Spencer Riddenhour, who spent one season with UMass, is off to jail.

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Paul Pasqualoni will receive $1.5 million per year as the new coach of Huskies.

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The CAA Blogger has a couple of posts on CAA invites to the NFL Combine and weekly roundup.

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TSN has some material on the FCS invites to the Combine.

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Jackson State is banned from FCS playoffs this year and may lose NCAA membership because of academic problems.

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A Bleacher Report writer thinks Rhode Island has the ugliest uniform in college football. Then again, he thinks Western Kentucky still plays in FCS.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Wednesday---February 23, 2011

You remember I published an unofficial 2011 UMass football schedule? New Hampshire just released their 2011 slate.

UNH's release confirms the date of the Colonial Clash.

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A sports writer considers the ACC's OOC and gives props to UMass.

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Josh Buchanan covers three CAA QB's including Kyle Havens.

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NFLDraftScout.com's Chad Reuter looks at what the NFL Combine actually entails.

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Some Alabama fans have started a Facebook page to help make amends for the poisoned Auburn trees.

They've raised almost $40,000 so far.

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The New York Times reports blogging is losing young adults to social media like Twitter and Facebook.

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James Madison's Scott Noble has been suspended from the team for academic reasons.

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Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Tuesday---February 22, 2011

WickedLocal.com reports the 33 Touchdown Club awarded former UMass Coach Dick McPherson two awards at its annual dinner.

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The UMass Women's LAX team will play six games at McGuirk this season. Can any lacrosse fans tell us how the turf is for that game? I know the football team didn't like practicing on the "tight" turf at Garber Field.

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The CAA blog has a season wrap up plus video of the league's All-Star teams. Includes video of several UMass players.

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New Hampshire has a late addition to its recruiting class.

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Josh Buchanan's FCS NFL Mock Draft contains at least three UMass players: Kyle Havens, John Griffin and Greg Niland. Did I miss any?

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Texas State is moving to the WAC in 2012. They've already added scholarships up to 76, which makes them ineligible for the FCS playoffs this year.

BTW, Texas State hired former TCU and Texas A&M HC Dennis Franchione for the move up.

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Monday, February 21, 2011

Recruiting 2012---Eric Olson

Rivals image
According to Rivals.com, UMass has offered a 2012 scholarship to Eric Olson, a 6-6 265 pd OL from Cambridge, MA.

Olson is a Rivals three star player.

He was an ESPN All-Boston player.

Special thanks to the Blog reader who alerted me about Olson.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Saturday---February 19, 2011

MassLive.com's Alyssa Creamer has an article on UMass' on-going interest in moving up to the FBS level. She reports that UMass will make the decision in March. She also reports UMass would spend two years as a transitional team not one.

The Blog is not sure why everyone has been so antsy about the announcement. UMass has not received the formal invitation yet, so it would be hard to make any announcement without the invite. Reading between the lines, it seems as if things are progressing favorably.

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Former UMass assistant coach (1998-2000) Jim Bradley has been named HC for Monsignor Farrell HS in NY.

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Remember last week I did a post on future UMass scheduling, and said the hopes of a UMass-Notre Dame game some day was a pipe dream because the Irish were scheduled so far in the future? Maybe not...

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Sports Illustrated comments on the Tree Terrorism Incident at Auburn this week.

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UMass added two players  (Jarvis Bentley and Ryan Campbell) from Carver HS in Georgia this year. MaxPreps has an article on how Carver coaches were able to obtain college offers for 20 of their players.

Friday, February 18, 2011

Recruiting 2012--Abner Logan, Jr

Steve Olson image
New England recruiting guru Roger Brown reports that UMass has offered a 2012 scholarship to Abner Logan, Jr a 6-2 208 pd LB from Newton, MA.

Story here.

Logan's ESPN page here.

Another ESPN story about Logan here.

Friday----February 17, 2011

Ron Chimelis gets cranky.

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Coach Dudzinski's page is up at Maryland. No biographical info yet.

Maryland recruits are still conflicted about Don Brown's leaving.

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Rhode Island still does not have Liam Coen's name in their coaches roster.

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UMass Sports Management grads pop up all over. My two cents about an FBS playoff is that it would be second only to the Super Bowl.

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Emil Igwenagu's little brother Josh is an excellent basketball player.

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UConn's Paul Pasqualoni explains how added his assistant coaches including Don Brown.

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TSN's Craig Haley takes an early look at the 2011 FCS conference races.

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Thursday, February 17, 2011

Thursday--Febuary 17, 2011

UMass defensive coordinator Keith Dudzinski has accepted a job a linebacker's coach for the University of Maryland.

Matty V. has the story here.  Coach Morris is already receiving applications for the DC position. Note also that the MAC will apparently decide this week if they will extend an invitation to UMass as a football only member.

UMass press release here. ESPN story here.

There have been a lot of changes to the Terps staff recently.

Last year, Coach Duz managed the UMass defense to #7 total defense rank in the CAA despite having only two returning starters. He also did not get any All-League transfers like the offense did.

Good luck Coach Dudzinski!

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I don't know if this is new, or I just never noticed, but the UMass player bios now have a image gallery and video clips attached. See D.J. Adeoba (first player alphabetically). Kudos to the UMass Sports Information Office. This is very cool.

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Ron Chimelis mentions Anthony Nelson in this article.

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UConn loses a tailback to Kutztown State.

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Joe Montana's son transfers to----- Montana.

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Josh Buchanan reports on the ups and downs of FCS players in the various All-Star game. Up Richmond's Martin Parker. Down Delaware's Pat Devlin.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

2011 UMass recruiting review I

"Quantity has a quality all its own"-----Joseph Stalin

When looking at a recruiting class there are a number of things to consider. One of those things is the number of recruits.

Consider Northeastern. I looked at the CAA press guides over the last couple of years. The Huskies signed 9 players in 2007 and 11 in 2008. Do the math yourself and figure how many scholarships Northeastern was giving.

Rhode Island had half a stadium and was offering about 58 scholarships for a number of years.

The plain fact is fans come to see you win, not compete. If you want to win and compete with the big-buck outfits like Delaware and JMU, you have to give the coaches the resources needed to do the job.

The Huskies are gone forever and the Rams are headed for the NEC. One of reasons that happened was decisions made years ago on scholarships.

The CAA recruiting classes for 2011 are here. Note that Delaware, JMU and William & Mary signed 15. Richmond signed 17 and Villanova 18. Rhode Island, on its way to the NEC, signed 12.

UMass recruiting over the last four years (note that I am basing this on the signing day press releases. UMass has added some late recruits each year, but I'm not going to try to figure out late additions for each year).
  • 2008 16 recruits
  • 2009 19 recruits 
  • 2010 17 recruits
  • 2011 25 recruits.
The "ideal" FCS class is 17 recruits because FCS teams can give 63 scholarships spread over a maximum of 85 players.

One of the reasons for the big 2011 class could be the losses in the 2008 class. That class brought in Tyler Holmes, Staphane Milhim, Quinton Sales, Charles Thompson and D.J. Adeoba among others. However, Korry Davis, Corey Eason, Terrance Farris, Kurt Filler (Farris and Fuller were JUCO Juniors), Raymond Jones, Gilbert Parson and Warren Wilson are no longer with the program.

To me, with this class, it looks like UMass will continue to compete and win.

Recruiting 2011--Chase Danska III

The Martinez News Gazette (CA)  has some coverage of Chase Danska's signing with UMass.

I've blogged before about Danska, a 6-0 187 pd JUCO WR.

The article above has some of Danska's 2009 stats that we haven't seen before.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Recruiting 2011--Elgin Long

MaxPreps image
The last 2011 recruit for the Minutemen was Elgin Long, a 5-10 180 pd WR from Arlington, TX.

Went 28-720 25.7 AVE 91 LONG in his last season for Arlington-Bowie.

Welcome to UMass Elgin!

Tuesday--February 15, 2011

Boston Collge has released its "official" schedule and UMass plays the Eagles, as Coach Morris said, on September 24th.

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The NY Jets have moved Vladimir Ducasse to RT.

Vlad will do well if the jets let him play. He is a newcomer to football and does not look good in drills. He received low marks in the All-Star game in the pre-game exercises. He did fine in the actual game. My information is that he played well in the final game of the Jets season.

The same effect comes out in the NFL Draft. Every year NFL teams draft players who look like they can play rather than actual football skills. What was Tom Brady? A sixth round pick?

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ESPN Boston has a list of Massachusetts players to sign LOI's for 2011.

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Monday, February 14, 2011

Recruiting 2011--Kyle Morgan

Be Recruited image
On February 7th, UMass announced Kyle Morgan, a 6-3 265 DL from Milford, MA had been added to the 2011 recruiting class.

Morgan was Central MA Div I All-Star. All-State Honorable Mention.

YouTube highlight video here.

In his senior year he went 33 UT 66TT 10 Sacks 12 TFL. Ran 4.7 40, benches 365.

Welcome to UMass Kyle!

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Sunday--Feb 13th, 2011

Mike Reiss of ESPN Boston mentions Mark Whipple's joining the Cleveland Browns and his chance to mentor Colt McCoy.

BTW, Whipple's Browns bio here.

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Roger Brown, the New England recruiting guru, reports Ian Syblis, a 6-0 165 pd WR who was recruited by UMass has decided to take a year of prep school.

I've blogged about Syblis before.

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The New York Times looks at Andrew Luck, who turned down the NFL's millions to finish his degree at Stanford.

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Saturday, February 12, 2011

Recruiting 2011--Ben Patrick II

This article from ESPN Boston indicates that Ben Patrick, a 5-9 179 pd CB/RB will walk on for the Minutemen in 2011.

I've blogged about Patrick before.

Welcome to UMass Ben!

Saturday--Feb 12, 2011

Anna Freiberg catches up with Jeremy Horne when he is back on campus finishing his UMass degree.

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UConn and their biggest football donor --- Robert Burton, have kissed and made up.

Don Brown's bio is up on the UConn website.
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SI reports on the purposed rule changes for college football in 2011.

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Friday, February 11, 2011

Recruiting 2011--Mike Wegzyn

Image credit unknown
On LOI Day, UMass revealed that Mike Wegzyn, a 6-5 QB from Knoxville, TN had signed with the Minutemen.

Wegzyn is an ESPN two-star recruit.

Also two stars from Scout.com.

This article features him.

Eleven players from Knoxville Catholic signed LOI's.

Recruiting workout video here.

2010 highlight video here.

Chose UMass over offers from MAC schools Buffalo and Eastern Michigan.

Welcome to UMass Mike!

Friday---February 11, 2011

The UMass Football Preview luncheon will be Wednesday Feb 16th at the UMass club in Boston. The date was moved from last week because of the snow. I've been to the UMass club several times and it's very nice. Local alums who attend the event will have a good time.

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This article from the Providence Journal talks about Rhode Island moving to the NEC, shedding scholarships and hiring former Minuteman Liam Coen.

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The UNCC 49ers are looking for a football conference. They want to stay in the A10 for all other sports. The Big South, which recently extended Stony Brook's membership for four more years, is one possibility.

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Former Michigan QB Tate Forcier ended up in Miami.

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When talking college football recruiting, Stanford stands alone.

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Thursday, February 10, 2011

Recruiting 2011--John McGrath

Joining the Minutemen in 2011 will be John McGrath, a 6-3 255 pd TE from Hamden CT/ Kent School.

Had 16-270 16.8 AVE 2 TD's at Kent as well as 24 tackles and 8 sacks on defense.Two year captain and four year starter in lacrosse at Hamden.

Welcome to the Minutemen John!

Recruiting 2011--John Wallace III

Image by WickedLocal.com
I've blogged twice before about John Wallace, a 6-4 275 pd OL from Somerville, MA.

Dan Guttenplan of WickedLocal.com has a story on his signing with UMass.

Wallace was named to the ESPN Boston's All-State team.

Also recruited by UNH.

Welcome to UMass, John!

Wednesday, February 09, 2011

Recruiting 2011--Brandon Howard

Boston Herald image
Joining the Minutemen in 2011 will be Brandon Howard, a 6-5 250 pd TE from Wrentham, MA/ Worcester Academy.

YouTube highlight video here.

ESPN page here.

The Sun-Chronicle has a mention here.

This article talks about his days as QB for King Phillip HS.

Howard was a member of multiple All-Star teams in HS.

Welcome to the Minutemen Brandon!

Wednesday--Febuary 9, 2011

A short article on UMass signing Elgin Long here .

Matty V has a longer article here. He says Long's signing completes the 2011 class.

Nick O'Malley of the UMass Daily Collegian reviews the UMass recruiting class.

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UMass lost one recruiting battle to New Hampshire.

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Another CAA team ---William & Mary, releases its 2011 schedule.

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The best of Smart Football in 2010.

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Tuesday, February 08, 2011

Recruiting 2011--UMass adds one more recruit

The UMass website reports UMass has signed one more recruit to its 2011 recruiting haul.

Added was Elgin Long a WR from Arlington, TX. I'll do an individual blog post on Long as I work my way through the entire signing class.

Long's signing brings the 2011 total to 25 newcomers.

That's probably it for 2011, although UMass sometimes adds transfers after Spring practice.

Recruiting 2011--Andre hill

Next on the alphabetical list and coincidentally UMass' latest confirmed recruit is Andre Hill, a 6-2 190 pd WR from Los Angeles harbor JUCO.

Hill was second team All-conference.

YouTube highlight video here.

He led the tean in receiving 27-411 15.2 AVE 4 TD's 42 LONG 37.4 YDS/game. Hill also had 7-34 6.1 AVE rushing.

LA Harbor JUCO was also the school of Byron Moore, who was the #5 rated JUCO in the nation.

Welcome to UMass Andre!

Tuesday---February 8, 2011

Matty V. has more on the two latest recruits and some quotes by Coach Morris.

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The latest edition of the CAA Football Blog has schedules for Maine, JMU and Old Dominion. Adding the dates from Coach Morris' LOI day chat, we can derive most of the Minutemen's schedule. Note that this is not set in stone and could contain errors, but if you planning your 2011 away game vacation time..

Unofficial 2011 UMass football Schedule

Sept 3rd- Holy Cross (away?)

Sept 10th- Bye

Sept 17th- Rhode Island (home)

Sept 24th- Boston College (at the Heights)

Oct 1st- Old Dominion (away Family Day)

Oct 8th-  unconfirmed CCSU (home)

Oct 15th- Delaware (away)

Oct 22nd- New Hampshire at Gillette (counted as a home game for UMass)

Oct 29th- Richmond (away at their new stadium)

Nov 5th--Villanova (home)

Nov 12th-Maine (away)

Nov 19th- James Madison (home)

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Rivals has a story on which states had the most DI recruits (by which they define DI as FBS football). Massachusetts was ranked 36th. Maine, Vermont, Rhode Island and New Hampshire had a combined 1 recruit.

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Monday, February 07, 2011

Recruiting 2011-- UMass adds two more recruits

The UMass website has information about two recruits added to the 2011 list today.

Matty V. has a short article here and says there may be one more signing. LOI's must be coming by dog sled.

Another JUCO wide receiver and a defensive lineman. I'll be doing a blog post on each as I work my way through the entire 2011 list.

Recruiting 2011-- Jamie Casselberry

On Feb 2nd, Jamie Casselbery, a 6-6 280 pd OL from Chigago, IL via Phillips Andover Academy verbaled to UMass.

YouTube highlight video here.

Casselberry was Team Captain and All-Conference at De La Salle HS in Chicago.

Also drew interest from Boston College.

Welcome to UMass Jamie!

Monday --February 7, 2011

Chris Phillips of Examiner.com looks at the 2011 UMass recruiting class.

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Coach Brown is going to have some challanges at UConn. The Huskies finished last in Big East recruiting rankings.

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Ex-Michigan QB Tate Forcier may stay in the FBS Division after all.

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Mrs Blog thinks the Steelers should have called a time out before that last fourth down play at the Super Bowl.

This quote by Roethlisberger  says the Steelers didn't have a time out. I thought they did?

Sunday, February 06, 2011

Recruiting 2011---Ben Patrick

Joe Chase/Boston Globe image
The Boston Herald reports that Ben Patrick, a 5-9 179 pd CB/RB from Rivers HS will be visiting UMass this week to see if he will commit as a preferred walkon.

Herald story here.

Patrick was a Boston Globe All-Scholastic.

ESPN story featuring him here.

Ran for 26-325 6 TD's in one game against Milton Academy.

Saturday, February 05, 2011

Recruiting 2011--Jarvis Bentley

Scout.com image
UMass has confirmed Jarvis Bentley, 6-4 195 pd WR from Carver HS in Georgia verbaled to the Minutemen on February 2nd.

This article (with a quote from Bentley) talks about the 20 Carver players who signed LOI's.

More on Carver HS here.

Rivals page here.

YouTube highlight video here.

Bentley had 32-520 11 TD's plus 140 rushing yards for Carver.

Welcome to UMass, Jarvis!

Saturday---Feb 5, 2011

Matty V. on the hiring of Don Brown as DC for UConn.

Also from the article:"

MORE LETTERS STILL EXPECTED - The Minutemen could still add as many as three players to their 2011 recruiting class. But weather has delayed at least one of the expected letters and the school wants to release the names off all remaining recruits at the same time."

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Five UMass football players Cedric Gonnet, Rob Blanchflower, Brandon Hill and Ryan Delaire  as well as other UMass athletes took part in a visit to students at Crocker Farms.

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Josh Buchanan looks at possible position changes for highly ranked FCS players in this year's NFL Draft.

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Friday, February 04, 2011

Recruiting 2011--Derek Beck

Terry Boudreau/Bridgewater Patch image
UMass announced on Wednesday that Derek Beck, a 6-3 190 pd WR from Martinsville, NJ had signed a letter of intent with the Minutemen.

This article features him.

2009 highlight video here.

Named All-County and All-Conference. 37-631 6 TD's plus 921 yards and two TD's returning kicks.

Welcome to UMass Derek.

Friday---Feb 4, 2011

The UMass website has an article about Anthony Nelson being named CAA Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

UMass also had fourteen of the fifty-eight players on the CAA Academic All-Conference Team.

On offense: Emil Egwenagu, John Ihne, Mike Kahale, James Lizotte, Greg Niland, Ray Pendergast, Dan Sheeran, Ian Shultis, Caleb Violette and Ryan Young.

On Defense: Ryan Collins, Bill Nesselt, David Ramsden and Jeff Strait.

Last year four Minutemen were named to the Academic All-conference team.

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The Sports Network has a list of recruits for all the CAA teams here.

UPDATE: The CAA football blog has a post that has links to the signing pages of all the CAA teams.

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Tyrell Okoro, a 6-5 290 pd OL chose Morgan State over UMass and Maine.

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The Feds have cracked down on free web video streaming sites including channellsurfing.net. That would impact the opportunity of out-of-town UMass fans to see the Minutemen.

Thanks to a Blog reader who brought this to my attention.

Thursday, February 03, 2011

Recruiting 2011--Greg Hilliard IV

Enterprise News has a story on Greg Hilliard, a 6-3 215 pd LB who joined the Minutemen as a mid-year transfer.

I have three previous blog posts on Hilliard.

Recruiting 2011--Randall Jette II

A Steve Heaslip/Cape Cod Times image
Two signing day articles on Randall Jette, 5-11 175 pd DB from Martha's Vineyard.

Cape Cod Times here.

A short mention in the Martha's Vineyard Times here.

I had blogged about Jette back in November.

Day after LOI Day--Feb 3, 2011

Bulletin, Bulletin, Bulletin:  Matty V. says no updates on LOI's until tomorrow (Friday).

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Boy, things have changed in the internet age. In the old days, I would have 250 words by Milt Cole in the Gazette as all I had to analyze.  And that would have to last me all Spring!

The Boston Herald says UMass thinks big and bulks up.

Ron Chimelis says it would be nice to know who we were recruiting against.

Ron also has a later-in-the-day article on the recruits.

Matty V. has an article on yesterday's 17 recruits.

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A couple that got away to URI and Morgan State.

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Craig Haley says both Delaware and Eastern Washington overcame late recruiting.

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The Wall Street Journal has an article on life after football for Hofstra. The body of the story is a lot more ambivalent than the headline.

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Wednesday, February 02, 2011

UMass 2011 Recruit list up

The UMass website has today's 2011 recruiting list up.

The post says we should look for "several" more signings postponed by weather issues.

This is a big class with 17 freshman and five mid-year transfers.

It's heavily weighted to offense with 17 offensive players and only five on defense. However, four defensive backs look to make a big impact on that position.

Looks like we'll have lots to talk about.

Ron Chimelis has an article written earlier this morning.

UPDATE: Matty V. confirms more recruits tomorrow.

Recruiting 2011--Marken Michel

MaxPreps image
Coach Morris confirms that Marken Michel 5-11, 180 pd WR from Plantation, FL has verbaled to the Minutemen.

Michel is a Rivals three star recruit.

ESPN page here.

Had 30-526 9 TD's in his senior year.

Youtube highlight video here.

Also had offers from Memphis and Tennessee State.

Letter-of-Intent Day--Updates

UPDATE III: All right, I'm  back from shoveling, snow blowing and raking the roof (Mrs. Blog has been after me to do that for several days).

It looks like the snow is affecting things somewhat at UMass as they don't have a full recruiting list up yet. Reading over the transcript of Coach Morris' chat, it appears this is a monster offensive class. The CAA's top offense should continue to roll in 2011.

Once we get a full recruit roster, I'll do a post on all the new names that we haven't covered before. I'll probably do one a day or so to keep the workload manageable.

I'll do one post on Marken Michel above this one and then wait for the full list.


UPDATE II: I have to go out to deal with the blizzard for a while. No further updates on the blog until this afternoon.

UPDATE: The live chat with coach Morris has started.

Metro West Daily New has an article that two Natick athletes recruited by UMass, Liam Porter and Andrew Siden, have chosen Boston College and Tulane respectively.

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Tyjuan Fray has verbaled to Duquesne. I blogged about Fray here.

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Adam Dempsey verbaled to West Chester over offers from UMass, Maine, UNH and Towson.  I blogged about Dempsey here.

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The Wall Street Journal says in college football recruiting, the FAX machine is the star.

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Letter-of-Intent Day--Feb 2, 2011

Coach Morris will be available today for a live chat at the UMass website. I'm not sure when it's supposed to start.

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Matty V. wonders if today's monster snow storm will turn Letter-of-Intent Tuesday into Letter-of-Intent Wednesday or Thursday.

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The UMass Football Signing Day luncheon at the UMass Club in Boston has been moved to Feb. 16th.

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The UMass website has the funeral arrangements notice for Sue Hodges.

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Craig Haley of TSN has a look at some the commitments for FCS teams that have already been announced.

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First saw this link over on Eagle in Atlanta Blog----two star recruits can be impact players.

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UMass OG Greg Niland has been added to Josh Buchanan's Top 125 FCS NFL Draft prospects list.

Tuesday, February 01, 2011

Recruiting 2011--Quayshun Smith II

Rivals.com reports that Quayshun Smith, a 5-9 159 pd CB from Tallahasse, FL verbaled to UMass today.

Smith is a Rivals two star recruit.

I blogged about Smith a week ago Saturday. Be sure to read the comments.

Welcome to the Minutemen, Quayshun!

Recruiting 2011-Isaiah Jones II

MassLive.com says Mahar's Isaiah Jones has verbaled to the University of Maine.

I blogged about Jones back in November.

Recruiting 2011--Brian Dowling IV

A Blog reader sent me this link to a video interview of UMass RB recruit Brian Dowling.

I have three previous blog posts about Dowling.

Tuesday---Feb 1, 2011

First, the Blog and Mrs Blog would like to state our condolences to Coach Hodges and his family on the passing of his wife Sue.

UMass story here.

Perhaps many new fans of UMass are not aware of how much Coach Hodges has given to UMass football and the University.

Mike took over as HC of the Minutemen  after Jimmy Reid resigned when his scholarships were cut---without telling him. UMass lost one entire recruiting  class. Mike held the program together. He installed a run-heavy offense that made the best of what resources were available. Coach Hodges managed a career winning record of 35-30. When he was replaced in 1998, Mike made a gracious and dignified exit, never once pointing out the difficulties he coached under.

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Former UMass coach Mark Whipple has been hired as QB coach for the Cleveland Browns. Story from Matty V. here.

Story from the Browns website here.

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The NY Giants blog "Big Blue View" has a long article on Vilanova draft prospect Ben Ijalana with many references to Vladimir Ducasse.

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USA Today has an article on what any dedicated football fan could have told them, losing the Big Game can be hazardous to a fan's health.

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