Coach Joe Harasymiak

[dennisdent]

That is revisionist history. It was not a complete mess. He was also the primary reason the players left. There are no more years to build a foundation.

50 players left that’s a mess. Stop pretending there was talent here. This program has been a disaster since a Whipple left.

There was enough talent to compete in the MAC under DB. This team didn't even come close to competing aside from one conference game and against an FCS team in the bottom of its league. The losses were on poor coaching last year and the year before. 50 players left because coach Joe told them to leave or they went to off to greener pastures at better programs for the most part, DB likely could have retained them with the money Joe got. The mess he "inherited" was not as much of a mess until DB was fired and he was hired. The team Joe put together was made up of low level FCS transfers.

Outstanding comments and I fully agree! Haven't posted this season due to seeing how bad this team was from the beginning. Joe did a horrible job hiring coaches, building the team and the performance all season. Not one bit of improvement. Brown's teams were at least competing with the top teams in the MAC and beating FCS teams. Joe, for whatever reason, needs to improve fast in this new environment of college football. Not sure if he's smart enough or has the leadership abilities to succeed at the FBS level but he has more time to improve. Thorr is smart and also ruthless, and I do expect a lot of changes.

[InnervisionsUMASS]

There was enough talent to compete in the MAC under DB. This team didn't even come close to competing aside from one conference game and against an FCS team in the bottom of its league. The losses were on poor coaching last year and the year before. 50 players left because coach Joe told them to leave or they went to off to greener pastures at better programs for the most part, DB likely could have retained them with the money Joe got. The mess he "inherited" was not as much of a mess until DB was fired and he was hired. The team Joe put together was made up of low level FCS transfers.

And what does this all come back to? Ryan.

[dennisdent]

Brown brought in P4 and really good FCS players with less resources. At least the players looked like FBS level players. WIth even more resources, Joe brought in a bunch of low level FCS players and a few P4 players, who really didn't do much. The team looked like a low level FCS program on the field. All on D3ford and Joe. I really feel like they mailed it in from the start and felt like it's year one so they had a pass because its UMass. Stealing money from UMass for D3ford, Joe and the players this season.

[Quann]

Brown brought in P4 and really good FCS players with less resources. At least the players looked like FBS level players. WIth even more resources, Joe brought in a bunch of low level FCS players and a few P4 players, who really didn't do much. The team looked like a low level FCS program on the field. All on D3ford and Joe. I really feel like they mailed it in from the start and felt like it's year one so they had a pass because its UMass. Stealing money from UMass for D3ford, Joe and the players this season.

I could not have articulated this any better than what you just said. 100% on the money Dennis.

[doubledribble]

What an honor to be mentioned in same breath as Bill Belichick.

USA Today has Bill Belichick and UMass coach tied for last in first-year coaching rankings


https://www.newsbreak.com/share/4379587 ... 22%7D&s=i3

[jjmc85]

Seat has to be warming up. If there isn’t massive improvement the first month or so of the 2026 season, I’d fire him.

This post is my attempt to be positive after witnessing the last 14 seasons under FBS.

Since I revived this threat and said the seat should be warming up, I’ve been paying close attention to what Coach Harasymiak has been saying in press conferences, in the zoom meeting, and in the Plant the Flag podcast. If I understand it correct there are a few explanations for what the 2025 season was as bad as it was.

• Coach was not hired until first day of early National Signing period in December of 2024. UMass only signed three players. My assumption is many sign this day, and UMass lost out on high school recruits they may have otherwise signed.

• Coach did not have his full staff in place throughout the off-season which further hindered recruiting

• Whereas other schools had fully functioning outside collectives pre 7/1/25, UMass really didn’t. Coaching staff made promises but couldn’t pay until 7/1. Other schools collectives could pay prior to 7/1. This made things difficult to compete. The was gone over in the clearest detail I’ve seen in the plant the flag podcast national signing day.

I accept that all these things as true. It also appears none of these should be issues for 2026. If these are the reasons, and the reasons have been addressed, then 2026 should be a better season than 2025 was.

Perhaps there are already positive results. The entire coaching staff has been in place throughout this recruiting year The money promised by UMass for NIL has been there and still is there, so it should not further hinder recruiting. So far these things may be paying dividends as and they signed 21 recruits on the first day of the early signing period.

Hopefully the record also improves. I think I’ve backed off a bit about only giving a month. I still think the seat has to be a bit warm for anyone who goes 0-12, but I’d probably give him at least eight games now to show some progress. The metric I would use for progress again is beat the FCS team, be competitive in the G5 OOC game(s), win two conference games (one home and one road) and be competitive in the majority of the MAC games. I don’t think that’s unreasonable or too much to ask for in 2025 and I hope this Coaching Staff can deliver that.

[Floyd]

^ good points
I have to think there might be some collateral damage having gone 0-12 and all the negative press & image, that may slow progress. Recruiting has to be harder for the higher level recruits & portal transfers. Immediate playing time is a positive lure, but I wonder if the high impact players would consider a major rebuild

[minutefanjsf]

Seat has to be warming up. If there isn’t massive improvement the first month or so of the 2026 season, I’d fire him.

This post is my attempt to be positive after witnessing the last 14 seasons under FBS.

Since I revived this threat and said the seat should be warming up, I’ve been paying close attention to what Coach Harasymiak has been saying in press conferences, in the zoom meeting, and in the Plant the Flag podcast. If I understand it correct there are a few explanations for what the 2025 season was as bad as it was.

• Coach was not hired until first day of early National Signing period in December of 2024. UMass only signed three players. My assumption is many sign this day, and UMass lost out on high school recruits they may have otherwise signed.

• Coach did not have his full staff in place throughout the off-season which further hindered recruiting

• Whereas other schools had fully functioning outside collectives pre 7/1/25, UMass really didn’t. Coaching staff made promises but couldn’t pay until 7/1. Other schools collectives could pay prior to 7/1. This made things difficult to compete. The was gone over in the clearest detail I’ve seen in the plant the flag podcast national signing day.

I accept that all these things as true. It also appears none of these should be issues for 2026. If these are the reasons, and the reasons have been addressed, then 2026 should be a better season than 2025 was.

Perhaps there are already positive results. The entire coaching staff has been in place throughout this recruiting year The money promised by UMass for NIL has been there and still is there, so it should not further hinder recruiting. So far these things may be paying dividends as and they signed 21 recruits on the first day of the early signing period.

Hopefully the record also improves. I think I’ve backed off a bit about only giving a month. I still think the seat has to be a bit warm for anyone who goes 0-12, but I’d probably give him at least eight games now to show some progress. The metric I would use for progress again is beat the FCS team, be competitive in the G5 OOC game(s), win two conference games (one home and one road) and be competitive in the majority of the MAC games. I don’t think that’s unreasonable or too much to ask for in 2025 and I hope this Coaching Staff can deliver that.

I don’t take all of those excuses as full truth because the talk coming out of camp, etc. was how the “feels” were different and this team was ready to win. No one showed any signs that 0-12 was even a possibility. I get that coaches have to talk things up. There was no tempering of expectations. No discussion that they were understaffed, undermanned, etc. until the losing started. In hind sight the different feels seem to be accurate that the team was different than any other year, worst ever. I am always going to root for UMass. I think coaching changes need to be made now. Not coach Joe. Bajakian seemingly was the talent scout and QB coach for the offensive side of the ball. He failed.

[eldonabe]

I think it is hard to totally quantify by wins and losses.

I think for each person it will be "you will know it when you see it". What if they only win the FCS game and drop another FBS donut but it really does look better? That is entirely possible - unlikely but possible.

[dennisdent]

Seat has to be warming up. If there isn’t massive improvement the first month or so of the 2026 season, I’d fire him.

This post is my attempt to be positive after witnessing the last 14 seasons under FBS.

Since I revived this threat and said the seat should be warming up, I’ve been paying close attention to what Coach Harasymiak has been saying in press conferences, in the zoom meeting, and in the Plant the Flag podcast. If I understand it correct there are a few explanations for what the 2025 season was as bad as it was.

• Coach was not hired until first day of early National Signing period in December of 2024. UMass only signed three players. My assumption is many sign this day, and UMass lost out on high school recruits they may have otherwise signed.

• Coach did not have his full staff in place throughout the off-season which further hindered recruiting

• Whereas other schools had fully functioning outside collectives pre 7/1/25, UMass really didn’t. Coaching staff made promises but couldn’t pay until 7/1. Other schools collectives could pay prior to 7/1. This made things difficult to compete. The was gone over in the clearest detail I’ve seen in the plant the flag podcast national signing day.

I accept that all these things as true. It also appears none of these should be issues for 2026. If these are the reasons, and the reasons have been addressed, then 2026 should be a better season than 2025 was.

Perhaps there are already positive results. The entire coaching staff has been in place throughout this recruiting year The money promised by UMass for NIL has been there and still is there, so it should not further hinder recruiting. So far these things may be paying dividends as and they signed 21 recruits on the first day of the early signing period.

Hopefully the record also improves. I think I’ve backed off a bit about only giving a month. I still think the seat has to be a bit warm for anyone who goes 0-12, but I’d probably give him at least eight games now to show some progress. The metric I would use for progress again is beat the FCS team, be competitive in the G5 OOC game(s), win two conference games (one home and one road) and be competitive in the majority of the MAC games. I don’t think that’s unreasonable or too much to ask for in 2025 and I hope this Coaching Staff can deliver that.

I don’t take all of those excuses as full truth because the talk coming out of camp, etc. was how the “feels” were different and this team was ready to win. No one showed any signs that 0-12 was even a possibility. I get that coaches have to talk things up. There was no tempering of expectations. No discussion that they were understaffed, undermanned, etc. until the losing started. In hind sight the different feels seem to be accurate that the team was different than any other year, worst ever. I am always going to root for UMass. I think coaching changes need to be made now. Not coach Joe. Bajakian seemingly was the talent scout and QB coach for the offensive side of the ball. He failed.

100% agree with you! No excuses at all for last season!!!!!!! We only heard positives from Bamford, Joe and his staff before the season started. To be dominated by a 3 - 9 FCS team showed failure of the first season under Joe. He's at rock bottom and needs to show something, anything next season...NO MORE FUCKING EXCUSES!!!!

[doubledribble]

This post is my attempt to be positive after witnessing the last 14 seasons under FBS.

Since I revived this threat and said the seat should be warming up, I’ve been paying close attention to what Coach Harasymiak has been saying in press conferences, in the zoom meeting, and in the Plant the Flag podcast. If I understand it correct there are a few explanations for what the 2025 season was as bad as it was.

• Coach was not hired until first day of early National Signing period in December of 2024. UMass only signed three players. My assumption is many sign this day, and UMass lost out on high school recruits they may have otherwise signed.

• Coach did not have his full staff in place throughout the off-season which further hindered recruiting

• Whereas other schools had fully functioning outside collectives pre 7/1/25, UMass really didn’t. Coaching staff made promises but couldn’t pay until 7/1. Other schools collectives could pay prior to 7/1. This made things difficult to compete. The was gone over in the clearest detail I’ve seen in the plant the flag podcast national signing day.

I accept that all these things as true. It also appears none of these should be issues for 2026. If these are the reasons, and the reasons have been addressed, then 2026 should be a better season than 2025 was.

Perhaps there are already positive results. The entire coaching staff has been in place throughout this recruiting year The money promised by UMass for NIL has been there and still is there, so it should not further hinder recruiting. So far these things may be paying dividends as and they signed 21 recruits on the first day of the early signing period.

Hopefully the record also improves. I think I’ve backed off a bit about only giving a month. I still think the seat has to be a bit warm for anyone who goes 0-12, but I’d probably give him at least eight games now to show some progress. The metric I would use for progress again is beat the FCS team, be competitive in the G5 OOC game(s), win two conference games (one home and one road) and be competitive in the majority of the MAC games. I don’t think that’s unreasonable or too much to ask for in 2025 and I hope this Coaching Staff can deliver that.

I don’t take all of those excuses as full truth because the talk coming out of camp, etc. was how the “feels” were different and this team was ready to win. No one showed any signs that 0-12 was even a possibility. I get that coaches have to talk things up. There was no tempering of expectations. No discussion that they were understaffed, undermanned, etc. until the losing started. In hind sight the different feels seem to be accurate that the team was different than any other year, worst ever. I am always going to root for UMass. I think coaching changes need to be made now. Not coach Joe. Bajakian seemingly was the talent scout and QB coach for the offensive side of the ball. He failed.

100% agree with you! No excuses at all for last season!!!!!!! We only heard positives from Bamford, Joe and his staff before the season started. To be dominated by a 3 - 9 FCS team showed failure of the first season under Joe. He's at rock bottom and needs to show something, anything next season...NO MORE FUCKING EXCUSES!!!!

More blah, blah, blah. The season is over! Let’s focus on basketball and hockey!
We can bitch about football again come next September.

[dennisdent]

I don’t take all of those excuses as full truth because the talk coming out of camp, etc. was how the “feels” were different and this team was ready to win. No one showed any signs that 0-12 was even a possibility. I get that coaches have to talk things up. There was no tempering of expectations. No discussion that they were understaffed, undermanned, etc. until the losing started. In hind sight the different feels seem to be accurate that the team was different than any other year, worst ever. I am always going to root for UMass. I think coaching changes need to be made now. Not coach Joe. Bajakian seemingly was the talent scout and QB coach for the offensive side of the ball. He failed.

100% agree with you! No excuses at all for last season!!!!!!! We only heard positives from Bamford, Joe and his staff before the season started. To be dominated by a 3 - 9 FCS team showed failure of the first season under Joe. He's at rock bottom and needs to show something, anything next season...NO MORE FUCKING EXCUSES!!!!

More blah, blah, blah. The season is over! Let’s focus on basketball and hockey!
We can bitch about football again come next September.

Might be time to not post on the football board until next September--I would recommend...

[Jack]

Football comments are great during the off-season since there are key signings and portal activity. Not sure why some posters believe we shouldn’t support and comment on all UMass sports unless its during the regular season…..

[ZooMass84]

Official visits are going on this weekend and the early signing day is Thursday so I would think he is safe. The guy inherited a mess and had to hire a staff and replace in the neighborhood of 50 players after taking over. Not excusing what we experienced this year but the guy needs a few years to build a foundation and get competitive. Some staff changes are very possible/probable.

That is revisionist history. It was not a complete mess. He was also the primary reason the players left. There are no more years to build a foundation.

50 players left that’s a mess. Stop pretending there was talent here. This program has been a disaster since a Whipple left.

He was awesome........had us competitive right away in 2014: we were within one score against virtually all our opponents including P5's we went 3-9; 3-9, 2016 was a bad year then 4-8, 4-8. What we wouldn't give for those seasons again.

[Steve81]

My interest is there and not posting as much as my thoughts and activities made posting and pool take a back seat with my mom falling and cascaded to the end.

Don't know what to expect but believe we will see improvement and believe in coach Joe based on changes after the first 2 game performances, interviews, and how most of the recruiting class stuck. They believe in him. Will be increasing my support significantly. I'm intrigued by the U Script endowment as that can build and build.