State of the Progam

Get ready for some MACtion
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Berkman
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Re: State of the Progam

Post by Berkman » Sun Oct 13, 2019 8:45 am

We lost around 12 starters from last years team. During the game one of the guys said that we were tied for having the most freshmen starters, 7. The other one is Alabama. Obviously we are not in their class. It will take us at two more recruiting classes to recover and be more competitive. Tough to take but there is no quick way to improve.

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Re: State of the Progam

Post by eldonabe » Mon Oct 14, 2019 8:10 am

Juice Stand wrote: Sun Oct 13, 2019 7:10 am Please excuse the stupidity of this question as I only follow the football program from a distance, but what is the difference between this team and the past two years that saw them win 4 games each season including wins over BYU and App State, and at the very least looked competitive in others? I know 4 wins isn't what fans of the program want, but 4 wins sounds incredible compared to what we're seeing now.

Was there complete roster turnover? I understand losing your QB and Andy Isabella will definitely hurt, but there have to be other players. From the little I watch, I see an embarrassing and poorly attempted no-huddle offense, and defensive players that aren't quick enough to get to their man, and aren't big enough to bring them down. I also get that a coaching change will put you back in rebuilding mode, but I've never seen anything this bad. They don't look like they belong.
A significant lack of depth is one major factor. That is showing in two ways. Too many of they guys returning were not ready for starting FBS roles anyways, and then you add in a new coaching staff who has a different recruiting strategy and style of of play to fill out a roster.

It is hard enough for a team like UMass to recruit a good starting group when you are an independent who is always in the bottom 10 teams in the country; let alone solid backups.

Bell did not just add bodies because he could and needed to (see McCall, Matt). So now he is adding kids that will fill a role, and in the coming years, will hopefully be able to step in or step up as we roll off injuries and roll out seniors.



For the record, the odds of Whip having similar results as Ball is having this year were pretty high IMO. Maybe Whip would have been slightly more competitive, but frankly having more wins at this point would be a stretch as the lack of depth would be hurting him just as much.

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Re: State of the Progam

Post by minutefanjsf » Mon Oct 14, 2019 8:52 am

eldonabe wrote: Mon Oct 14, 2019 8:10 am
Juice Stand wrote: Sun Oct 13, 2019 7:10 am Please excuse the stupidity of this question as I only follow the football program from a distance, but what is the difference between this team and the past two years that saw them win 4 games each season including wins over BYU and App State, and at the very least looked competitive in others? I know 4 wins isn't what fans of the program want, but 4 wins sounds incredible compared to what we're seeing now.

Was there complete roster turnover? I understand losing your QB and Andy Isabella will definitely hurt, but there have to be other players. From the little I watch, I see an embarrassing and poorly attempted no-huddle offense, and defensive players that aren't quick enough to get to their man, and aren't big enough to bring them down. I also get that a coaching change will put you back in rebuilding mode, but I've never seen anything this bad. They don't look like they belong.
A significant lack of depth is one major factor. That is showing in two ways. Too many of they guys returning were not ready for starting FBS roles anyways, and then you add in a new coaching staff who has a different recruiting strategy and style of of play to fill out a roster.

It is hard enough for a team like UMass to recruit a good starting group when you are an independent who is always in the bottom 10 teams in the country; let alone solid backups.

Bell did not just add bodies because he could and needed to (see McCall, Matt). So now he is adding kids that will fill a role, and in the coming years, will hopefully be able to step in or step up as we roll off injuries and roll out seniors.



For the record, the odds of Whip having similar results as Ball is having this year were pretty high IMO. Maybe Whip would have been slightly more competitive, but frankly having more wins at this point would be a stretch as the lack of depth would be hurting him just as much.
We would have scored many more points under Whip. Curtis would’ve been his QB and he would exploit the crappy secondaries we’ve faced with the WR corps we have. That doesn’t mean we would’ve won more. For good or bad he wouldn’t have suspended RTI probably, either. Would’ve could’ve should’ve doesn’t matter much though now. We have to hope Bell can figure out a lot between this year and next. His all for one approach is very similar to Flecks row the boat idea.

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Re: State of the Progam

Post by 69MG » Mon Oct 14, 2019 7:59 pm

Maybe I'm just an old fuddie-duddie, but we no longer need this thread. We know what the "State of the Program" is. It sucks. I'll gladly retract my post and issue a formal apology if we beat U know who.

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Re: State of the Progam

Post by dennisdent » Tue Oct 22, 2019 3:52 pm

USA Today's list of FBS coaches salaries and Bell is doing pretty good compared to other coaches who are better (in my opinion):

https://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/salaries/

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Re: State of the Progam

Post by TruBluMaroon » Tue Oct 22, 2019 5:13 pm

dennisdent wrote: Tue Oct 22, 2019 3:52 pm USA Today's list of FBS coaches salaries and Bell is doing pretty good compared to other coaches who are better (in my opinion):

https://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/salaries/
Look at the bottom 5, 3 religious schools and the US Dept of Defense!!

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Re: State of the Progam

Post by econalum » Tue Oct 22, 2019 9:24 pm

My guess is that we pay our assistants a lot less than most FBS programs. $600k or so seems to be the going salary for lower tier FBS coaches.
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Re: State of the Progam

Post by McKinney » Tue Oct 22, 2019 10:01 pm

Coach comp always seems to be the struggle. Now, of course, the comp coaches get as it is is getting outrageous in the general public's eyes and I get that aspect. The subsidy is maybe even more outrageous (though hopefully, they have a plan to address that).

But when you're running a $48M athletics budget like UMass (on par with some AAC and MWC schools) I think you're shooting yourself in the foot for not being able to find it in the budget to pay on par with those AAC and MWC schools. Now maybe Bell really was the best guy out there and we got him for "a steal", but from an outsider's perspective, I can't help but feel this could have severely limited the candidate pool.
Class of 2019 - @StatsMass

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Re: State of the Progam

Post by dennisdent » Wed Oct 23, 2019 5:18 pm

Kevin Brown is transferring per his twitter. This is a big loss for the future!

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Re: State of the Progam

Post by TruBluMaroon » Wed Oct 23, 2019 7:44 pm

dennisdent wrote: Wed Oct 23, 2019 5:18 pm Kevin Brown is transferring per his twitter. This is a big loss for the future!
[/quote
Was dismissed from the team last Friday.....still has to sit out next year if he transfers NCAA, and only plays three years of college.
Last edited by TruBluMaroon on Wed Oct 23, 2019 7:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.

69MG
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Re: State of the Progam

Post by 69MG » Wed Oct 23, 2019 7:49 pm

^
A clarification on Brown's departure:
Amin Touri
@Amin_Touri
Walt Bell regarding Kevin Brown: “We dismissed Kevin from the team last Friday. We’ll continue to support him academically, and wherever he ends up, we wish him the best.” Said team has standards academically, athletically, socially, and players need to live up to them.

8:17 PM - Oct 23, 2019

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Re: State of the Progam

Post by 78 » Thu Oct 24, 2019 7:40 am

Shocked we only lost one player over the bye week. looked like a good future prospect for the team, but if he doesn’t fit in, guess he has to go. He was one of the first recruits targeted by Bell.
Bamford has erased McCutcheon

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Re: State of the Progam

Post by econalum » Thu Oct 24, 2019 9:31 am

This 'drip drip drip' of team members quitting, getting dismissed, etc. is troubling.
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Re: State of the Progam

Post by InnervisionsUMASS » Thu Oct 24, 2019 9:39 am

It will be troubling if it occurs next season.
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Re: State of the Progam

Post by Crank » Thu Oct 24, 2019 6:29 pm

Interesting comments from Bamford re: the AAC/independence. Not sure if it’s lip service or his real feelings on the matter https://www.gazettenet.com/UMass-footba ... e-29609334

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