Where should I start:
- Stadium
- Geography
- It is Umass
- No conference
- Foxboro for home games
- momentum (lack thereof)
- not enough donors
That is off the top of my head
Where should I start:
Not only are there the pressures that eldonabe mentioned, but comparing the total budget could be misleading because the schools are quite different in how they allocate those resources.
- Stadium - yes it's small but it is FBS compliant
Army is a service academy and as such has to recruit a different kind of player. Not only are there physical requirements/restrictions, but they must be able to handle the service & academic aspects of the academy.
Liberty can buy facilities, buy a coach, buy bowl-ties, and buy a schedule.
I think you are missing the point on some of these....ZooMass84 wrote: ↑Mon Oct 19, 2020 6:53 pm- Stadium - yes it's small but it is FBS compliant
- not sure I agree. The weather sucks but look at nearby Army, Cuse, Penn State. We're remote but so is Penn State
- you got me there
- Would be better in a conference but look at Liberty
- that's a few years ago
- no momentum
- who needs donors when the University allocates 80% of the shortfall?
TruBluMaroon wrote: ↑Sat Oct 17, 2020 7:58 pmDon’t forget the part of picture that includes Blue Chip recruits from 2015-2019 that shows Georgia having 173 and Massachusetts 2.
The picture also shows Georgia having the highest Per Capita recruits at 34.6 and Massachusetts is at 0.01, good for 43rd (last for states that had any). Also in the picture is Georgia at number 2 with the highest % of HS players recruited by D1 schools, right behind Florida......which is connects to Georgia and if you look in the corner of the picture, you will see that Massachusetts has never had a 5 star recruit. If you are looking at a picture, it is best to look at the whole picture to get a true appreciation of what you are looking at.....
There are a dozen examples of things that carried over from last year that were easily correctable and have been seemingly ignored by Bell. For instance better personnel decisions, for a 2nd straight year Bell gives the starting QB job to a SR who shouldn’t see the field. What is the purpose of this? Bell preaches “future” and starts a guy that can’t play beyond 2021. And again he’s starting a guy who doesn’t have anywhere near starting talent.Worcester_To_Amherst wrote: ↑Thu Oct 22, 2020 7:30 am Not sure what people expected in this game? I'd venture to guess that last season's team was one of the worst D1 teams to ever play. They had guys the size of OLB playing DT.
This year's team at least looked the part physically. The defense got gashed, and GaSo could have put up a lot more points, but it was definitely a better defense than last year's team.
Offense was extremely disappointing, especially on the play calling front. No excuses for Bell on that one, he needs to be 100% better when it comes to setting up the offense for success.
Back to my original statement, what did people expect from this game? It seems like for some of us, the point of watching the game is to wait for the inevitable blow-out then go cry about the HC/AD/drop the program, etc.
The state of the program is pathetic and it's going to take incremental improvement on a yearly basis to get back to a semi-respectable place. It looks like they're at least starting to build a roster of legit D1 players. Bell and Bamford can't go back and fix the mistakes of the past 10 years. They need to stop making the mistakes they've been responsible for over the past few years and move forward and improve the team. Bell isn't going anywhere until at least 2022. He was brought in to recruit a legit team and he seems to be heading in that direction. He needs to get a LOT better with his gameday coaching.
It's good to see people posting and that people still care about the program, because they probably don't deserve any support at this point, but this is the situation we're in. I think most people want a football program. The people in charge need to make it happen.
That all seems pretty accurate, but did you expect to see a better team on the field than you saw against GaSo? The program is such a mess, the only feasible options are to give Bell a few more years or get rid of football. Personally I'd like to see a functional football program, so I'll have 0 expectations and hope Bell pulls something together with all "his recruits" soon (within the next 2 years).Kelz626 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 22, 2020 5:22 pmThere are a dozen examples of things that carried over from last year that were easily correctable and have been seemingly ignored by Bell. For instance better personnel decisions, for a 2nd straight year Bell gives the starting QB job to a SR who shouldn’t see the field. What is the purpose of this? Bell preaches “future” and starts a guy that can’t play beyond 2021. And again he’s starting a guy who doesn’t have anywhere near starting talent.Worcester_To_Amherst wrote: ↑Thu Oct 22, 2020 7:30 am Not sure what people expected in this game? I'd venture to guess that last season's team was one of the worst D1 teams to ever play. They had guys the size of OLB playing DT.
This year's team at least looked the part physically. The defense got gashed, and GaSo could have put up a lot more points, but it was definitely a better defense than last year's team.
Offense was extremely disappointing, especially on the play calling front. No excuses for Bell on that one, he needs to be 100% better when it comes to setting up the offense for success.
Back to my original statement, what did people expect from this game? It seems like for some of us, the point of watching the game is to wait for the inevitable blow-out then go cry about the HC/AD/drop the program, etc.
The state of the program is pathetic and it's going to take incremental improvement on a yearly basis to get back to a semi-respectable place. It looks like they're at least starting to build a roster of legit D1 players. Bell and Bamford can't go back and fix the mistakes of the past 10 years. They need to stop making the mistakes they've been responsible for over the past few years and move forward and improve the team. Bell isn't going anywhere until at least 2022. He was brought in to recruit a legit team and he seems to be heading in that direction. He needs to get a LOT better with his gameday coaching.
It's good to see people posting and that people still care about the program, because they probably don't deserve any support at this point, but this is the situation we're in. I think most people want a football program. The people in charge need to make it happen.
Play calling was a disaster last year yet here is Mirando still calling plays and doing a shitty job of it. Size was an issue last year yet we have size now and those guys are getting blown up on every play. We have 12 men on the field coming out of a media timeout. No one can wrap up and tackle, guys can’t keep contain on the QB. There was a lot the coaching staff could’ve done to prevent a total blowout but they aren’t good coaches.
As far as Bamford goes the guy has been an absolute disaster. Of the 4 most important sports at UMass (MBB, FB, Hockey and WBB) he’s 1 for 4. He’s had to bring in Paul Cormier and Jimmy Reid to try and teach McCall and Bell how to coach and if it wasn’t for Bergeron everyone would be calling for the end of the McCall Era and Verdi hasn’t done anything either. So at this point going on 6 years Bamford has had 2 years of success with the 3rd most important sport in the department, if that’s the standard there should be a John McCutcheon statue on campus
Young-up-and-comer is also code for "coach on a budget" and/or "on the cheap". The DK contract was a major burn. They tried to pay some respectable money to a coach, they just picked the wrong guy and now I am sure they are gun-shy to pay someone real good money out of the gate.Worcester_To_Amherst wrote: ↑Fri Oct 23, 2020 6:36 am That all seems pretty accurate, but did you expect to see a better team on the field than you saw against GaSo? The program is such a mess, the only feasible options are to give Bell a few more years or get rid of football. Personally I'd like to see a functional football program, so I'll have 0 expectations and hope Bell pulls something together with all "his recruits" soon (within the next 2 years).
As for Bamford, he does seem to be swayed by the "young up-and-comer" like Bell and McCall, who so far have not been successful. Hard to dismiss Carvel though. And I don't follow WBB closely, but aren't they heading in the right direction?
UMass has never been a powerhouse (or even relevant besides MBB for 7 years) on the national level in big sports, can't expect Bamford to change that. If MBB doesn't take the leap we all expect, and football looks the same in 2 years, then he should get fired then.
I don’t think it needs to be Bell or no program at all, we just need the right head coach. There are tons of examples of programs in the basement that turned their programs around in 2-3 seasons. What Bell is trying to do is something that frankly I can’t see him accomplishing. Bell is not a good coach, he’s, supposedly a good recruiter and he’s surrounded himself with a bunch of inexperienced coaches who had much less experience then even he had and with much less responsibility. Most every coach he brought in is a Grad Assistant or an assistant position coach now filling coordinator and position coach spots.Worcester_To_Amherst wrote: ↑Fri Oct 23, 2020 6:36 amThat all seems pretty accurate, but did you expect to see a better team on the field than you saw against GaSo? The program is such a mess, the only feasible options are to give Bell a few more years or get rid of football. Personally I'd like to see a functional football program, so I'll have 0 expectations and hope Bell pulls something together with all "his recruits" soon (within the next 2 years).Kelz626 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 22, 2020 5:22 pmThere are a dozen examples of things that carried over from last year that were easily correctable and have been seemingly ignored by Bell. For instance better personnel decisions, for a 2nd straight year Bell gives the starting QB job to a SR who shouldn’t see the field. What is the purpose of this? Bell preaches “future” and starts a guy that can’t play beyond 2021. And again he’s starting a guy who doesn’t have anywhere near starting talent.Worcester_To_Amherst wrote: ↑Thu Oct 22, 2020 7:30 am Not sure what people expected in this game? I'd venture to guess that last season's team was one of the worst D1 teams to ever play. They had guys the size of OLB playing DT.
This year's team at least looked the part physically. The defense got gashed, and GaSo could have put up a lot more points, but it was definitely a better defense than last year's team.
Offense was extremely disappointing, especially on the play calling front. No excuses for Bell on that one, he needs to be 100% better when it comes to setting up the offense for success.
Back to my original statement, what did people expect from this game? It seems like for some of us, the point of watching the game is to wait for the inevitable blow-out then go cry about the HC/AD/drop the program, etc.
The state of the program is pathetic and it's going to take incremental improvement on a yearly basis to get back to a semi-respectable place. It looks like they're at least starting to build a roster of legit D1 players. Bell and Bamford can't go back and fix the mistakes of the past 10 years. They need to stop making the mistakes they've been responsible for over the past few years and move forward and improve the team. Bell isn't going anywhere until at least 2022. He was brought in to recruit a legit team and he seems to be heading in that direction. He needs to get a LOT better with his gameday coaching.
It's good to see people posting and that people still care about the program, because they probably don't deserve any support at this point, but this is the situation we're in. I think most people want a football program. The people in charge need to make it happen.
Play calling was a disaster last year yet here is Mirando still calling plays and doing a shitty job of it. Size was an issue last year yet we have size now and those guys are getting blown up on every play. We have 12 men on the field coming out of a media timeout. No one can wrap up and tackle, guys can’t keep contain on the QB. There was a lot the coaching staff could’ve done to prevent a total blowout but they aren’t good coaches.
As far as Bamford goes the guy has been an absolute disaster. Of the 4 most important sports at UMass (MBB, FB, Hockey and WBB) he’s 1 for 4. He’s had to bring in Paul Cormier and Jimmy Reid to try and teach McCall and Bell how to coach and if it wasn’t for Bergeron everyone would be calling for the end of the McCall Era and Verdi hasn’t done anything either. So at this point going on 6 years Bamford has had 2 years of success with the 3rd most important sport in the department, if that’s the standard there should be a John McCutcheon statue on campus
As for Bamford, he does seem to be swayed by the "young up-and-comer" like Bell and McCall, who so far have not been successful. Hard to dismiss Carvel though. And I don't follow WBB closely, but aren't they heading in the right direction?
UMass has never been a powerhouse (or even relevant besides MBB for 7 years) on the national level in big sports, can't expect Bamford to change that. If MBB doesn't take the leap we all expect, and football looks the same in 2 years, then he should get fired then.
Agree with your post 100%!Kelz626 wrote: ↑Fri Oct 23, 2020 10:58 amI don’t think it needs to be Bell or no program at all, we just need the right head coach. There are tons of examples of programs in the basement that turned their programs around in 2-3 seasons. What Bell is trying to do is something that frankly I can’t see him accomplishing. Bell is not a good coach, he’s, supposedly a good recruiter and he’s surrounded himself with a bunch of inexperienced coaches who had much less experience then even he had and with much less responsibility. Most every coach he brought in is a Grad Assistant or an assistant position coach now filling coordinator and position coach spots.Worcester_To_Amherst wrote: ↑Fri Oct 23, 2020 6:36 amThat all seems pretty accurate, but did you expect to see a better team on the field than you saw against GaSo? The program is such a mess, the only feasible options are to give Bell a few more years or get rid of football. Personally I'd like to see a functional football program, so I'll have 0 expectations and hope Bell pulls something together with all "his recruits" soon (within the next 2 years).Kelz626 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 22, 2020 5:22 pm
There are a dozen examples of things that carried over from last year that were easily correctable and have been seemingly ignored by Bell. For instance better personnel decisions, for a 2nd straight year Bell gives the starting QB job to a SR who shouldn’t see the field. What is the purpose of this? Bell preaches “future” and starts a guy that can’t play beyond 2021. And again he’s starting a guy who doesn’t have anywhere near starting talent.
Play calling was a disaster last year yet here is Mirando still calling plays and doing a shitty job of it. Size was an issue last year yet we have size now and those guys are getting blown up on every play. We have 12 men on the field coming out of a media timeout. No one can wrap up and tackle, guys can’t keep contain on the QB. There was a lot the coaching staff could’ve done to prevent a total blowout but they aren’t good coaches.
As far as Bamford goes the guy has been an absolute disaster. Of the 4 most important sports at UMass (MBB, FB, Hockey and WBB) he’s 1 for 4. He’s had to bring in Paul Cormier and Jimmy Reid to try and teach McCall and Bell how to coach and if it wasn’t for Bergeron everyone would be calling for the end of the McCall Era and Verdi hasn’t done anything either. So at this point going on 6 years Bamford has had 2 years of success with the 3rd most important sport in the department, if that’s the standard there should be a John McCutcheon statue on campus
As for Bamford, he does seem to be swayed by the "young up-and-comer" like Bell and McCall, who so far have not been successful. Hard to dismiss Carvel though. And I don't follow WBB closely, but aren't they heading in the right direction?
UMass has never been a powerhouse (or even relevant besides MBB for 7 years) on the national level in big sports, can't expect Bamford to change that. If MBB doesn't take the leap we all expect, and football looks the same in 2 years, then he should get fired then.
Bamford’s biggest fault in this hire is much like his biggest fault running this department, it’s all hype, Twitter promo, catch phrases and no substance. Mike over at FightMassachusetts said Bamford opted for a strong recruiter but the problem with football is a well-coached team with a good game plan beats talent 99 of 100 times. If Bell is the strong recruiter then his coordinators need to be the X’s and O’s guys but that’s not who he brought in. At the end of the day whether his guys are FR and SOPH a couple years from now when they’re JR and SR this will be an undisciplined, non-fundamentally sound, sloppy team with no game plan.
Unless they get some real assistant coaches in here then Bell needs to go or have his hand forced much like McCall and seeing as Mirando was atrocious calling plays last year and got promoted to offensive coordinator it doesn’t seem Bell wants to reevaluate his coaches