State of the Progam

[econalum]

Good for Isabella, but 1 success says nothing.

[dennisdent]

Wow, we had someone in the top 700.
Click on any Massachusetts and show all the salaries and goes back to 2012 or so.

Which is ahead of a lot of coaches from P5 teams! Only 25k more than the Massachusetts governor...

How many of those P5 assistants are head or co defensive or offensive assistants, not much. You are too close to the beltway. Tell me that it's their salaries where they make their real money. They all have the power of their office. What happens to those guys/gals campaign war chest when they are done or in congress where they made insider trading legal for themselves.

Don't give me the crap about what a public office people make compare to coaches make. Like comparing CEO, CIO etc to coaches.(Apples and oranges, the don't compare.)

You did notice Pinkham got 220k and more some years.

I don't work in politics but served in the Army for many years--175k is what a flag officer makes, not a 35 year old co-defensive coordinator on the worst defense in the country.

The salaries are totally out of control for FBS coaches!

[dennisdent]

This article nails the current state of the program -
https://commonwealthmagazine.org/educat ... ig-losses/

I agree. Max Page was told to shut up from what I heard from some very influential sources.

[photoman]

Good for Isabella, but 1 success says nothing.

Since we're not talking about golf or tennis, it's team results that matter. We've had a number of "individual" football players who've made a name for themselves and done quite well. (and that's fantastic) but I'd rather see the team with a winning record than reading how some individual is on a "watch list" for some kind of obscure award. In case you haven't picked up on it, I'm just sick of seeing this team losing, not being competitive and being a freak'n mess.

[econalum]

Agree with photoman.

[minutefanjsf]

The individual star doing well later was the MO of the previous regimes. They were hoping that we could gain traction recruiting wise that way. It didn’t work. Let’s hope the new plan works.

[TruBluMaroon]

Following the news of scholarship offers, I see a lot of
“ First FBS offer”, taking pride in the fact that UM sees something that others don’t and they will be able to play at this level, when we really need players to excel at this level. So, obviously, I’d like to see more recruits that everyone knows can play at this level and our staff of high quality recruiters can convince them to come here instead of other FBS programs. Play right away, contribute and then dominate as they advance.

This staff’s expertise is supposedly recruiting, which is good, as it is appears to not be strategy nor player development.

[minutefanjsf]

Following the news of scholarship offers, I see a lot of
“ First FBS offer”, taking pride in the fact that UM sees something that others don’t and they will be able to play at this level, when we really need players to excel at this level. So, obviously, I’d like to see more recruits that everyone knows can play at this level and our staff of high quality recruiters can convince them to come here instead of other FBS programs. Play right away, contribute and then dominate as they advance.

This staff’s expertise is supposedly recruiting, which is good, as it is appears to not be strategy nor player development.

We have no way to tell if they develop players, yet. Strategy for sure sucked this year though.

[Rolling Ridge]

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/educat ... ig-losses/

I agree with the comment at the end. Nobody would even be talking about this if the team was winning, or even substantially more competitive. I'm sorry, but $4 million dollars is hardly "bleeding red ink" or an "enormous sum of money" for an institution of UMass' size (Hoagland should be ashamed of himself). Plus, we'd be in that soup or worse if we stayed FCS.

I'm not saying the transition hasn't been painful, far more painful than I'd anticipated. But the idea that this is somehow dragging the University down financially and is "unsustainable" is hogwash.

I hope Bell is successful. If he isn't, I hope we find a coach who can be successful. I don't want to see UMass not offer football, and I don't think going back to FCS is a realistic option. But I think a long-view is needed, not letting this period of admittedly disastrous results sway us from the idea that something better is possible that actually will contribute meaningfully to campus life and UMass' reputation and visibility. And in the meantime, this is small-potatoes in terms of the University's financial picture. This article just seems to be trying to whoop up outrage over something that just isn't that big a deal. IMO.

[vanmeter]

There is no reason that we should be this bad. Liberty college is in a Bowl game in their second year of FBS. What we need is a good coach. While I am not giving up yet on Walt Bell yet, this year was certainly about as bad as it gets.
I contacted Bamford and when I told him that 3 or 4 wins next year was reasonable goal, he told me to manage my expectations. My take is that he is comfortable with 1 win and laughingstock program again next year. Perhaps someday Bamford will have to answer for his hiring miscues.

[TruBluMaroon]

Following the news of scholarship offers, I see a lot of
“ First FBS offer”, taking pride in the fact that UM sees something that others don’t and they will be able to play at this level, when we really need players to excel at this level. So, obviously, I’d like to see more recruits that everyone knows can play at this level and our staff of high quality recruiters can convince them to come here instead of other FBS programs. Play right away, contribute and then dominate as they advance.

This staff’s expertise is supposedly recruiting, which is good, as it is appears to not be strategy nor player development.

We have no way to tell if they develop players, yet. Strategy for sure sucked this year though.

Well, the players that couldn’t tackle at the beginning of the season, couldn’t tackle at the end of the season. Guessing they could’t tackle in Spring, or Pre-season, either, so they should have shown some improvement.

[Quann]

There is no reason that we should be this bad. Liberty college is in a Bowl game in their second year of FBS. What we need is a good coach. While I am not giving up yet on Walt Bell yet, this year was certainly about as bad as it gets.
I contacted Bamford and when I told him that 3 or 4 wins next year was reasonable goal, he told me to manage my expectations. My take is that he is comfortable with 1 win and laughingstock program again next year. Perhaps someday Bamford will have to answer for his hiring miscues.

That is one sad response from Bamford. If we can’t expect 3 or 4 wins minimum per year, it’s time for a new AD.

[dennisdent]

There is no reason that we should be this bad. Liberty college is in a Bowl game in their second year of FBS. What we need is a good coach. While I am not giving up yet on Walt Bell yet, this year was certainly about as bad as it gets.
I contacted Bamford and when I told him that 3 or 4 wins next year was reasonable goal, he told me to manage my expectations. My take is that he is comfortable with 1 win and laughingstock program again next year. Perhaps someday Bamford will have to answer for his hiring miscues.

That is one sad response from Bamford. If we can’t expect 3 or 4 wins minimum per year, it’s time for a new AD.

Totally agree! This is what I have been saying since Bamford came out with the 4 - 5 year plan. UMass is not a re- start program like UAB was but has FBS recruited players on the team and one of the easier schedules in FBS football. We still haven't heard why Bell kept playing Brito when it was obvious he's not an FBS level QB, or ran the hurry (not up) offensive when so much of the defense was injured/quit/young.

I wouldn't feel so down on the program if I saw ANYTHING positive from the season but the team was terrible from the start to the finish. Bell looked clueless on the sideline--like he wanted to be somewhere else then coaching UMass football. I want all UMass coaches to succeed but I have seen so many, from Coach McPherson on and the team never looked this poorly coached (CM's team even better).

[minutefanjsf]

Following the news of scholarship offers, I see a lot of
“ First FBS offer”, taking pride in the fact that UM sees something that others don’t and they will be able to play at this level, when we really need players to excel at this level. So, obviously, I’d like to see more recruits that everyone knows can play at this level and our staff of high quality recruiters can convince them to come here instead of other FBS programs. Play right away, contribute and then dominate as they advance.

This staff’s expertise is supposedly recruiting, which is good, as it is appears to not be strategy nor player development.

We have no way to tell if they develop players, yet. Strategy for sure sucked this year though.

Well, the players that couldn’t tackle at the beginning of the season, couldn’t tackle at the end of the season. Guessing they could’t tackle in Spring, or Pre-season, either, so they should have shown some improvement.

Developing players is usually measured over years not a season. Yes, hopefully the team develops and executes better as a season progresses, but that is not the same as developing players IMO. Practices during the season tend to focus more on game planning and fine tuning the team concepts. Sure players get reps at their positions and instruction on techniques, etc. Offseason and camp are where the development work is focused.

[78]

Following the news of scholarship offers, I see a lot of
“ First FBS offer”, taking pride in the fact that UM sees something that others don’t and they will be able to play at this level, when we really need players to excel at this level. So, obviously, I’d like to see more recruits that everyone knows can play at this level and our staff of high quality recruiters can convince them to come here instead of other FBS programs. Play right away, contribute and then dominate as they advance.

This staff’s expertise is supposedly recruiting, which is good, as it is appears to not be strategy nor player development.

Looking at the last two QBs we offered, it appears neither has another FBS 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫, and one of them appears to have FCS and D2/3 interest.