2026 Season

[eldonabe]

C'mon Zoo.... No commitment to winning?

They have pledged to spend $25 million dollars on Bushes and Landscaping FFS... if that is not a COMMITMENT TO WINNING... I don't know what is?

[Steve81]

Minuteman Command has an article out of Wednesday's MAC media day.
"Harasymiak: Connection At The Core Of UMass Rebuild"

It’s a message that first surfaced during spring practice, when Harasymiak and several of his assistants, particularly on the defensive side of the ball, repeatedly stressed the importance of playing - and seemingly being - together.

Now, as preseason camp approaches, the UMass head coach believes that attitiude will be one of the biggest factors in determining whether the Minutemen take a step forward in Year 2.
...
The emphasis on connectivity is understandable considering how dramatically the roster has changed. Harasymiak noted that only 11 players remain from the roster he inherited when he arrived in Amherst in December 2024, forcing the coaching staff to build chemistry while simultaneously rebuilding the program.
...
“The biggest challenge for me was to remind myself, ‘Hey man, you’re a good coach,’” Harasymiak acknowledged. “‘We’ve got good coaches. We’ve got to improve the roster, you’ve got a good nucleus here, but you’ve got to stay the course. Don’t sacrifice anything right now for what you want down the road.’

“It’s been hard, but you’ve just got to continue to remind yourself of that.”

Harasymiak believes patience, a rebuilt roster and a more connected football team will eventually produce results.

“If we stay the course and do the right things, we’ll end up winning some games.”

Full article link:
https://www.minutemancommand.com/p/hara ... t-the-core

[KahunaK]

Bounce back? At least it is optimistic. Clearly the best line in the article-

Combine that with the fact that it will be almost impossible to put a worse product on the field than what we saw last year, and this might be the lowest-hanging fruit of all.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/s ... candidates

[69MG]

Great quote and I actually believe that we can't be worse than last year.

[Steve81]

Frank's Blog posted a good amount of links on his blog today https://umass74.blogspot.com/

Some media, channel 22 coverage and Hampshire Gazette coverage.https://gazettenet.com/2026/08/03/umass ... fall-camp/
The Gazette coverage covers most of the players we are hoping to see start turning the ship in the right direction.

“Pop’s (Watson) had a really good progression,” Harasymiak said. “I think his arm has gotten actually stronger. I think it’s gotten more accurate. I’ve always thought he does a really good job in the pocket feeling the rush. When he’s able to create a second play. As a defensive guy, creating second plays are huge. When the breakdown happens, it’s going to happen and the best quarterbacks can create that second play.”

[Steve81]

Well, this was fun to watch. Two guys drinking whiskey on the rocks at 1AM previewing UMass. Not your usually preview as they are way optimistic. In fact, they drank the cool-aide last year and lost on the over under and betting again this year. You'll need when you have at least an hour of free time to watch it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7_4pduyTDE

[stevemaz]

genius's and similar to Maz. Minute 39..listen, understand, and join the groundswell..

best quote "Opportunity even the UMass fans cant see"

[bottom line]

Hope springs eternal! Yesterday I was talking to a couple of knowledgeable football people who attended the scrimmage Thursday night. They were both very impressed. One estimated 4 to 5 wins.

[69MG]

^ I hope it happens. The players, fans and supporters could use some good vibes. I've said it before and I'll say it again, it's all on the O-line. We have good skill position players but they can't do it without blocking.

[Juice Stand]

I'm hopeful, but it's just hope. We look more talented on paper, and the coaching staff now has familiarity with the UMass program and MAC conference. What has me thinking it could be a decent season is we finally have a QB1, and the schedule seems to be favorable with the only P4 being Rutgers (no behemoths like Georgia, Penn St, or two P4 teams like years past. We played 3 SEC teams in 2024!), and the MAC schedule seems to be favorable.

5 of 8 MAC games are against bottom-half teams. From the coaches preseason poll, we play #2 Miami #3 Toledo and #6 Buffalo (missing #1 WMU) from the top half, and from the bottom half we get #7 EMU, #9 BGSU, #10 Akron, #11 Ball and #12 Sac St (average rank 7.5). The Athlon preseason rankings have those teams at #1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11 & 12 (average rank 7.25). Not having to play WMU, CMU, and Ohio is potentially huge.

It obviously has to be mentioned that we're ranked #13 by both polls, so we're still behind the 8-ball. But it sounds like things are favorable, and I'll hope for 4 wins (two FCS, two MAC). UConn has a new coach, so maybe we can catch them on a downslide and get to 5.

[Steve81]

Nice post Juice Stand.
69MG the O-line is my main concern, time will tell.
bottom-line appreciate your post and glad you only posted his expression. As it was not an open practice and scrimmage. Hence, they like to keep things tight lipped. Again thanks for the post and how you posted.

[eldonabe]

Hope springs eternal! Yesterday I was talking to a couple of knowledgeable football people who attended the scrimmage Thursday night. They were both very impressed. One estimated 4 to 5 wins.

There is reason for some optimism, but it is mostly because you [almost literally] cannot be any worse than last year.

As for the scrimmage... that is Umass vs. Umass... sorry, but when you are/were as bad as you are/were, looking good against yourself, that means very little............... See Basketball, Umass 25-26 scrimmage "optimism".... how did that work out.

I know I am being an obnoxious asshat about this - someone needs to offset maz .



As I noted previously, this season MUST include an FBS win. Of course I want them to win Stone Hill and Sacred Heart, but dropping an 0'fer on the FBS schedule will be supremely disappointing.


I am officially planting my flag on 2 FBS wins, and hopefully 4 wins on the season. I will only be following and watching from afar, as I am 100% against supporting Bamfraud with a single dollar of my money, but I still would like to see UMass rise above doormat status.

[inthescoop]

Western Michigan given a preseason Top 25 vote... can we find out who gave that vote

https://www.cbssports.com/college-footb ... -rankings/

[Quann]

^^^^^
Steve81 has a top 25 vote now??

[ZooMass84]

Hope springs eternal! Yesterday I was talking to a couple of knowledgeable football people who attended the scrimmage Thursday night. They were both very impressed. One estimated 4 to 5 wins.

There is reason for some optimism, but it is mostly because you [almost literally] cannot be any worse than last year.

As for the scrimmage... that is Umass vs. Umass... sorry, but when you are/were as bad as you are/were, looking good against yourself, that means very little............... See Basketball, Umass 25-26 scrimmage "optimism".... how did that work out.

I know I am being an obnoxious asshat about this - someone needs to offset maz .



As I noted previously, this season MUST include an FBS win. Of course I want them to win Stone Hill and Sacred Heart, but dropping an 0'fer on the FBS schedule will be supremely disappointing.


I am officially planting my flag on 2 FBS wins, and hopefully 4 wins on the season. I will only be following and watching from afar, as I am 100% against supporting Bamfraud with a single dollar of my money, but I still would like to see UMass rise above doormat status.

Vegas has our win total at 2.5..........Massey ratings has us at 3.16 wins......basically Sacred heart and stonehill and either Ball St or Akron. Realistically Bamford has destroyed UMass athletics the past 11 years I wouldn't be surprised if we lose to everyone except Stonehill.