2026 Season

[ZooMass84]

When you say "He" leaves, do you mean Bamford? If so, that is the most successful football season ever.

You know damn well we're stuck with Bamford until one of us wins he lottery and buys him out or he dies, unfortunately.

That's it. We're never going to fire him and he'll never be good enough to get hired somewhere else.

You just nailed it!!!! I can't fathom Bamford's connections but he is beyond well-connected. 11 years is enough!!!! With the exception of the hockey natty in 2021 (it was COVID and we got beyond lucky), he has been HORRENDOUS. All our teams suck, total mediocrity. Bam makes $1,000,000 a year so you know he'll be here forever. Absolutely NO OTHER school will hire this guy.

[Steve81]

Jay and Mike from the TheCursiveU talk UMass Football on Off-Season After Dark. Good depth on the players coming in this season. The most positive thing that I've heard is that multiple players saying they don't want to leave and think there is a lot going on right now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKlMOQ-Kh7g&t=2097s

[meff]

You just nailed it!!!! I can't fathom Bamford's connections but he is beyond well-connected. 11 years is enough!!!! With the exception of the hockey natty in 2021 (it was COVID and we got beyond lucky), he has been HORRENDOUS. All our teams suck, total mediocrity. Bam makes $1,000,000 a year so you know he'll be here forever. Absolutely NO OTHER school will hire this guy.

Shut the hell up about that 2021 title being COVID or luck just to get a dig on Bamford. The hockey program has been consistently a top NCAA hockey program since 2019, like it or not Bamford did make a good hire there.

Just give us all a break and become a full time fan of whatever school junior is going to this week.

[ZooMass84]

You just nailed it!!!! I can't fathom Bamford's connections but he is beyond well-connected. 11 years is enough!!!! With the exception of the hockey natty in 2021 (it was COVID and we got beyond lucky), he has been HORRENDOUS. All our teams suck, total mediocrity. Bam makes $1,000,000 a year so you know he'll be here forever. Absolutely NO OTHER school will hire this guy.

Shut the hell up about that 2021 title being COVID or luck just to get a dig on Bamford. The hockey program has been consistently a top NCAA hockey program since 2019, like it or not Bamford did make a good hire there.

Just give us all a break and become a full time fan of whatever school junior is going to this week.

hold on boss. A number of posters on here have said Bamford WAS TOLD to hire Carvel. And I'm not shutting up: Ryan Bamford has RUINED UMass sports. ALL OF THEM. he arrived in 2015. Got rid of Mark Whipple at the end of 2018 i guess 4 wins per season was no good. 4-8; 4-8. This school has had 8 wins in what; the last 7 seasons COMBINED. But you're right, Bamford made some great hires: Coach Gomer 1-11, 0-4, 1-11 and McCall. And 2021 hockey we had the good fortune NOT TO play BC or any major college; what did we do play Lake Superior St, Bemidji state, UM Duluth and St. Cloud State. Who the fuck ever heard of those schools???
And junior is going to Univ of Wisconsin at Madison. I guess you don't have kids to become a fan of their schools. And i like the way you speak for everybody on this board. I don't give a fuck what you say: Ryan Bamford is the luckiest guy in the world. He gets $1,000,000 a year to be probably the most over paid AD in college sports. 11 years and haven't had a Big Dance appearance since he was hired.

[jjmc85]

When you say "He" leaves, do you mean Bamford? If so, that is the most successful football season ever.

You know damn well we're stuck with Bamford until one of us wins he lottery and buys him out or he dies, unfortunately.

That's it. We're never going to fire him and he'll never be good enough to get hired somewhere else.

You just nailed it!!!! I can't fathom Bamford's connections but he is beyond well-connected. 11 years is enough!!!! With the exception of the hockey natty in 2021 (it was COVID and we got beyond lucky), he has been HORRENDOUS. All our teams suck, total mediocrity. Bam makes $1,000,000 a year so you know he'll be here forever. Absolutely NO OTHER school will hire this guy.

Beyond lucky how? UMass curb stomped both regional teams, beat the two time defending national champions missing their starting goalie and lead scorer (as well as emergency goalie), and blew out St. Cloud in the final. That was dominant.

[jjmc85]

You just nailed it!!!! I can't fathom Bamford's connections but he is beyond well-connected. 11 years is enough!!!! With the exception of the hockey natty in 2021 (it was COVID and we got beyond lucky), he has been HORRENDOUS. All our teams suck, total mediocrity. Bam makes $1,000,000 a year so you know he'll be here forever. Absolutely NO OTHER school will hire this guy.

Shut the hell up about that 2021 title being COVID or luck just to get a dig on Bamford. The hockey program has been consistently a top NCAA hockey program since 2019, like it or not Bamford did make a good hire there.

Just give us all a break and become a full time fan of whatever school junior is going to this week.

hold on boss. A number of posters on here have said Bamford WAS TOLD to hire Carvel. And I'm not shutting up: Ryan Bamford has RUINED UMass sports. ALL OF THEM. he arrived in 2015. Got rid of Mark Whipple at the end of 2018 i guess 4 wins per season was no good. 4-8; 4-8. This school has had 8 wins in what; the last 7 seasons COMBINED. But you're right, Bamford made some great hires: Coach Gomer 1-11, 0-4, 1-11 and McCall. And 2021 hockey we had the good fortune NOT TO play BC or any major college; what did we do play Lake Superior St, Bemidji state, UM Duluth and St. Cloud State. Who the fuck ever heard of those schools???
And junior is going to Univ of Wisconsin at Madison. I guess you don't have kids to become a fan of their schools. And i like the way you speak for everybody on this board. I don't give a fuck what you say: Ryan Bamford is the luckiest guy in the world. He gets $1,000,000 a year to be probably the most over paid AD in college sports. 11 years and haven't had a Big Dance appearance since he was hired.

Posters who say he was told to hire Carvel are wrong.

Look at where hockey was before Bamford. Look at after. He ruined all sports? Bull shit. He fixed that one. Women’s basketball has also improved since he was hired.

He hasn’t fixed football or basketball but it’s not like they were all that great before him. He inherited One tournament appearance for basketball in 15 years and a terrible FBS team. They’re basically both where they were pre Bamford.

[ZooMass84]

Shut the hell up about that 2021 title being COVID or luck just to get a dig on Bamford. The hockey program has been consistently a top NCAA hockey program since 2019, like it or not Bamford did make a good hire there.

Just give us all a break and become a full time fan of whatever school junior is going to this week.

hold on boss. A number of posters on here have said Bamford WAS TOLD to hire Carvel. And I'm not shutting up: Ryan Bamford has RUINED UMass sports. ALL OF THEM. he arrived in 2015. Got rid of Mark Whipple at the end of 2018 i guess 4 wins per season was no good. 4-8; 4-8. This school has had 8 wins in what; the last 7 seasons COMBINED. But you're right, Bamford made some great hires: Coach Gomer 1-11, 0-4, 1-11 and McCall. And 2021 hockey we had the good fortune NOT TO play BC or any major college; what did we do play Lake Superior St, Bemidji state, UM Duluth and St. Cloud State. Who the fuck ever heard of those schools???
And junior is going to Univ of Wisconsin at Madison. I guess you don't have kids to become a fan of their schools. And i like the way you speak for everybody on this board. I don't give a fuck what you say: Ryan Bamford is the luckiest guy in the world. He gets $1,000,000 a year to be probably the most over paid AD in college sports. 11 years and haven't had a Big Dance appearance since he was hired.

Posters who say he was told to hire Carvel are wrong.

Look at where hockey was before Bamford. Look at after. He ruined all sports? Bull shit. He fixed that one. Women’s basketball has also improved since he was hired.

He hasn’t fixed football or basketball but it’s not like they were all that great before him. He inherited One tournament appearance for basketball in 15 years and a terrible FBS team. They’re basically both where they were pre Bamford.

Posters who say he was told to hire Carvel are wrong. We are going to have to agree to disagree on that one. I started out defending Bamford and was told by other posters that Bamford was told to hire Carvel. That it wasn't his call. That was 2016.
They’re basically both where they were pre Bamford. You're wrong on that one: before Bamford, we played 4 MAC teams in hoops per year for 4 years. WE SWEPT THEM. Do we have to discuss how Men's basketball sucks now?
I graduated in 1984. Yes it was a million years ago. Men's hoops went to the final 4 in 1996. They were ranked #1 for many months. Let's take Men's LAX: Since 2015, we have exactly ONE playoff game (loss). We have a total of 20 playoff appearances: EXACTLY ONE since bamford got here. We used to play Syracuse and Penn State, now it's Richmond and St. Joes.
You want small time sports and piss poor results??? You got it. i used to donate $$$$ and get the helmets etc. If we don't beat BOTH Sacred Heart and Stonehill, the program should be shut down. That's not a big ask.

[ZooMass84]

Shut the hell up about that 2021 title being COVID or luck just to get a dig on Bamford. The hockey program has been consistently a top NCAA hockey program since 2019, like it or not Bamford did make a good hire there.

Just give us all a break and become a full time fan of whatever school junior is going to this week.

hold on boss. A number of posters on here have said Bamford WAS TOLD to hire Carvel. And I'm not shutting up: Ryan Bamford has RUINED UMass sports. ALL OF THEM. he arrived in 2015. Got rid of Mark Whipple at the end of 2018 i guess 4 wins per season was no good. 4-8; 4-8. This school has had 8 wins in what; the last 7 seasons COMBINED. But you're right, Bamford made some great hires: Coach Gomer 1-11, 0-4, 1-11 and McCall. And 2021 hockey we had the good fortune NOT TO play BC or any major college; what did we do play Lake Superior St, Bemidji state, UM Duluth and St. Cloud State. Who the fuck ever heard of those schools???
And junior is going to Univ of Wisconsin at Madison. I guess you don't have kids to become a fan of their schools. And i like the way you speak for everybody on this board. I don't give a fuck what you say: Ryan Bamford is the luckiest guy in the world. He gets $1,000,000 a year to be probably the most over paid AD in college sports. 11 years and haven't had a Big Dance appearance since he was hired.

Posters who say he was told to hire Carvel are wrong.

Look at where hockey was before Bamford. Look at after. He ruined all sports? Bull shit. He fixed that one. Women’s basketball has also improved since he was hired.

He hasn’t fixed football or basketball but it’s not like they were all that great before him. He inherited One tournament appearance for basketball in 15 years and a terrible FBS team. They’re basically both where they were pre Bamford.

Don't mean to get too Angro??? Look, I wish UMass football the best and to turn things around. Hoping for the best in 2026. Maybe Coach Joe can do it. Don't expect us to beat Rutgers but maybe just maybe we can go 3-1 with wins over Sacred Heart, Stone Hill and Sac State. maybe Pop is just the local QB to get it done.

[jjmc85]

hold on boss. A number of posters on here have said Bamford WAS TOLD to hire Carvel. And I'm not shutting up: Ryan Bamford has RUINED UMass sports. ALL OF THEM. he arrived in 2015. Got rid of Mark Whipple at the end of 2018 i guess 4 wins per season was no good. 4-8; 4-8. This school has had 8 wins in what; the last 7 seasons COMBINED. But you're right, Bamford made some great hires: Coach Gomer 1-11, 0-4, 1-11 and McCall. And 2021 hockey we had the good fortune NOT TO play BC or any major college; what did we do play Lake Superior St, Bemidji state, UM Duluth and St. Cloud State. Who the fuck ever heard of those schools???
And junior is going to Univ of Wisconsin at Madison. I guess you don't have kids to become a fan of their schools. And i like the way you speak for everybody on this board. I don't give a fuck what you say: Ryan Bamford is the luckiest guy in the world. He gets $1,000,000 a year to be probably the most over paid AD in college sports. 11 years and haven't had a Big Dance appearance since he was hired.

Posters who say he was told to hire Carvel are wrong.

Look at where hockey was before Bamford. Look at after. He ruined all sports? Bull shit. He fixed that one. Women’s basketball has also improved since he was hired.

He hasn’t fixed football or basketball but it’s not like they were all that great before him. He inherited One tournament appearance for basketball in 15 years and a terrible FBS team. They’re basically both where they were pre Bamford.

Posters who say he was told to hire Carvel are wrong. We are going to have to agree to disagree on that one. I started out defending Bamford and was told by other posters that Bamford was told to hire Carvel. That it wasn't his call. That was 2016.
They’re basically both where they were pre Bamford. You're wrong on that one: before Bamford, we played 4 MAC teams in hoops per year for 4 years. WE SWEPT THEM. Do we have to discuss how Men's basketball sucks now?
I graduated in 1984. Yes it was a million years ago. Men's hoops went to the final 4 in 1996. They were ranked #1 for many months. Let's take Men's LAX: Since 2015, we have exactly ONE playoff game (loss). We have a total of 20 playoff appearances: EXACTLY ONE since bamford got here. We used to play Syracuse and Penn State, now it's Richmond and St. Joes.
You want small time sports and piss poor results??? You got it. i used to donate $$$$ and get the helmets etc. If we don't beat BOTH Sacred Heart and Stonehill, the program should be shut down. That's not a big ask.

The hiring of Carvel is something both Carvel and Bamford have addressed many times publicly. Carvel didn’t want to come to the interview, only came cause St. Lawrence got eliminated from the ECACs and he was gonna visit his wife’s family anyway. He met with Bamford (no search committee) and was impressed and said “Are you supposed to be trying to convince me to come here or am I supposed to be convincing you to let me?” To which Bamford replied “let’s both keep convincing each other.”

It’s not like Carvel was a slam dunk hire at the time. He’s now a national champion and national coach of the year who has developed a Hobey Baker winner. That’s all post being hired by Bamford. Before that he had never coached a team to the NCAAs

You can choose to disagree if you want, but it’s not a matter of opinion. It’s a fact that Bamford hired Carvel and it was a good hire. Like it or not, he did something that drastically improved one program at UMass. There are plenty of good reasons to want him gone. Stick to those.

If you have any actual facts to challenge that well establish narrative that no one disputed until very recently (post MAC move as far as I can tell) than please share. Give a link from a post from 2016 or else stop making things up.

[eldonabe]

Posters who say he was told to hire Carvel are wrong.

Look at where hockey was before Bamford. Look at after. He ruined all sports? Bull shit. He fixed that one. Women’s basketball has also improved since he was hired.

He hasn’t fixed football or basketball but it’s not like they were all that great before him. He inherited One tournament appearance for basketball in 15 years and a terrible FBS team. They’re basically both where they were pre Bamford.

Posters who say he was told to hire Carvel are wrong. We are going to have to agree to disagree on that one. I started out defending Bamford and was told by other posters that Bamford was told to hire Carvel. That it wasn't his call. That was 2016.
They’re basically both where they were pre Bamford. You're wrong on that one: before Bamford, we played 4 MAC teams in hoops per year for 4 years. WE SWEPT THEM. Do we have to discuss how Men's basketball sucks now?
I graduated in 1984. Yes it was a million years ago. Men's hoops went to the final 4 in 1996. They were ranked #1 for many months. Let's take Men's LAX: Since 2015, we have exactly ONE playoff game (loss). We have a total of 20 playoff appearances: EXACTLY ONE since bamford got here. We used to play Syracuse and Penn State, now it's Richmond and St. Joes.
You want small time sports and piss poor results??? You got it. i used to donate $$$$ and get the helmets etc. If we don't beat BOTH Sacred Heart and Stonehill, the program should be shut down. That's not a big ask.

The hiring of Carvel is something both Carvel and Bamford have addressed many times publicly. Carvel didn’t want to come to the interview, only came cause St. Lawrence got eliminated from the ECACs and he was gonna visit his wife’s family anyway. He met with Bamford (no search committee) and was impressed and said “Are you supposed to be trying to convince me to come here or am I supposed to be convincing you to let me?” To which Bamford replied “let’s both keep convincing each other.”

It’s not like Carvel was a slam dunk hire at the time. He’s now a national champion and national coach of the year who has developed a Hobey Baker winner. That’s all post being hired by Bamford. Before that he had never coached a team to the NCAAs

You can choose to disagree if you want, but it’s not a matter of opinion. It’s a fact that Bamford hired Carvel and it was a good hire. Like it or not, he did something that drastically improved one program at UMass. There are plenty of good reasons to want him gone. Stick to those.

If you have any actual facts to challenge that well establish narrative that no one disputed until very recently (post MAC move as far as I can tell) than please share. Give a link from a post from 2016 or else stop making things up.

I was under the impression Bamford was told to hire Carvel, but I learned much later that Bamford pull that all on his own and actually had to convince a few people within the inner circle to go with him as well. He gets credit for that; so his batting average at UMass is somewhere in the ballpark of 0.048. Jury is still out, but the Women's Basketball HC might be a good hire now too.

[ZooMass84]

Posters who say he was told to hire Carvel are wrong. We are going to have to agree to disagree on that one. I started out defending Bamford and was told by other posters that Bamford was told to hire Carvel. That it wasn't his call. That was 2016.
They’re basically both where they were pre Bamford. You're wrong on that one: before Bamford, we played 4 MAC teams in hoops per year for 4 years. WE SWEPT THEM. Do we have to discuss how Men's basketball sucks now?
I graduated in 1984. Yes it was a million years ago. Men's hoops went to the final 4 in 1996. They were ranked #1 for many months. Let's take Men's LAX: Since 2015, we have exactly ONE playoff game (loss). We have a total of 20 playoff appearances: EXACTLY ONE since bamford got here. We used to play Syracuse and Penn State, now it's Richmond and St. Joes.
You want small time sports and piss poor results??? You got it. i used to donate $$$$ and get the helmets etc. If we don't beat BOTH Sacred Heart and Stonehill, the program should be shut down. That's not a big ask.

The hiring of Carvel is something both Carvel and Bamford have addressed many times publicly. Carvel didn’t want to come to the interview, only came cause St. Lawrence got eliminated from the ECACs and he was gonna visit his wife’s family anyway. He met with Bamford (no search committee) and was impressed and said “Are you supposed to be trying to convince me to come here or am I supposed to be convincing you to let me?” To which Bamford replied “let’s both keep convincing each other.”

It’s not like Carvel was a slam dunk hire at the time. He’s now a national champion and national coach of the year who has developed a Hobey Baker winner. That’s all post being hired by Bamford. Before that he had never coached a team to the NCAAs

You can choose to disagree if you want, but it’s not a matter of opinion. It’s a fact that Bamford hired Carvel and it was a good hire. Like it or not, he did something that drastically improved one program at UMass. There are plenty of good reasons to want him gone. Stick to those.

If you have any actual facts to challenge that well establish narrative that no one disputed until very recently (post MAC move as far as I can tell) than please share. Give a link from a post from 2016 or else stop making things up.

I was under the impression Bamford was told to hire Carvel, but I learned much later that Bamford pull that all on his own and actually had to convince a few people within the inner circle to go with him as well. He gets credit for that; so his batting average at UMass is somewhere in the ballpark of 0.048. Jury is still out, but the Women's Basketball HC might be a good hire now too.

maybe YOU were the poster who "changed my mind"...... look, who gives a fuck. it's a new season; let's go ZOO!!!!! BUT I DON'T GIVE A FUCK about these douchebags telling me how great Ryan Bamford is. UMASS FOOTBALL: WIN A FEW GAMES. still say if we dont beat Sacred Heart and Stonehill just drop football.

[DeeDeeBee]

I don't agree with a lot of what's said on here regarding football but if they don't beat those two teams they should drop football!

[DougW]

I don't agree with a lot of what's said on here regarding football but if they don't beat those two teams they should drop football!

Or at least drop to FCS.

[Sheck]

The bar's gotta be higher than just beating the two FCS teams on our schedule.

[Jack]

We are going to have to agree to disagree on that one. I started out defending Bamford and was told by other posters that Bamford was told to hire Carvel. That it wasn't his call.

Thanks for admitting that you have no knowledge and are posting on the Football thread to spew nonsense you allegedly "was told by other posters" about Bamford's successful hiring of the Hockey Coach 10 years ago...got it. I'm not a Bamford fan, but ya gotta be fair and posting 10 yr old BS about a successful Hockey Coach in the football thread isn't helping your credibility. Jim Reid isn't walking through that door. Mark Whipple isn't walking through that door. It's not 1984, its not 2016, it's 2026 and we open in 3 months w/Rutgers - stop bitching about Bamford and support UMass Football or go mow the lawn.