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69MG wrote: Fri Feb 21, 2025 8:58 am ^ I'd have to say the "worst" was Charlie Molnar's pre-season get together. Every recruit was going to be a star, and we were going to dominate. The one I went to was at The Hangar. As we left, one of my friends said just 3 words, "Used Car Salesman". I apologize to any used car salesmen who might be offended.
Nice, and thanks for let us know. Pretty excited about the season. The big change is that the administration is behind the football program and moving to the MAC. It made a difference in getting our HC and OC, Bajakian, who interviewed for the HC job at Central Michigan.vanmeter wrote: Fri Feb 21, 2025 9:59 am President Meehan was there along with several Board of Trustees. Chancellor was not there . All Coaches were there along with several players.
Bajakian had spent much of his past few weeks preparing as a finalist for the head coaching job at Central Michigan and when he didn’t get that gig, he hadn’t really had much time to consider his next move. But preparation for his interviews at Central Michigan revealed to him that the MAC was about to change.
“I did a lot of research on the Mid-American Conference and in all of my research, everything kept pointing to UMass at the top of all these rankings as it relates to facilities, as it relates to NIL, as it relates to coaching staff budget, etc.,” Bajakian says.
“I literally made lists of where the teams in the MAC ranked in these different categories and it kept coming back UMass at the top.”
So, when Harasymiak’s text came through, Bajakian’s mind immediately went back to those lists he’d made.
“Where they see
Big Boy Football ---- BIG BOY FOOTBALL69MG wrote: Fri Feb 21, 2025 8:58 am ^ I'd have to say the "worst" was Charlie Molnar's pre-season get together. Every recruit was going to be a star, and we were going to dominate. The one I went to was at The Hangar. As we left, one of my friends said just 3 words, "Used Car Salesman". I apologize to any used car salesmen who might be offended.
Yup. He sent all the veteran players who were not his to the door. KMo was a horrible head coach, however, he recruited some players that could have helped the transition. KMo’s second to last season was the close call in the Big House. Those roster numbers and “talent level” have not been recovered until maybe last season. Whip had more talent, but it was a short roster and held together with duct tape. Bell had numbers and D2 (not even FCS) talent. That same team that came close to upsetting Michigan got smoked by UNH. So, while not a goal or level to shoot for, I’d put last season’s squad near that level. The talent level and roster KMo had with a better coach would have been competitive with the middle of the pack MAC teams.eldonabe wrote: Sat Feb 22, 2025 7:42 amBig Boy Football ---- BIG BOY FOOTBALL69MG wrote: Fri Feb 21, 2025 8:58 am ^ I'd have to say the "worst" was Charlie Molnar's pre-season get together. Every recruit was going to be a star, and we were going to dominate. The one I went to was at The Hangar. As we left, one of my friends said just 3 words, "Used Car Salesman". I apologize to any used car salesmen who might be offended.
Nothing like insulting the entire student body and fan base in your first presser.
The first part, agree 100%, but would not read the same into attendance to a Boston event to hear the same themes, that has been given at his introduction and again. People at this point are tired of losing and want to see wins! That will draw new people in. Personally was very happy with Ryan Bamford's football Vision 2024. It provides financial commitment to help us be successful. For all our sakes, hope we can get wins and be bowl eligible. Will have to see the MAC schedule and working through 2 P4 teams. But we competed against the top MAC teams without these type of financial commitments, so anything less than 5 wins will be a disappointment.pk77 wrote: Sat Feb 22, 2025 11:45 pm i attended the event and got to talk to most of the coaches, my take away is that this will be the strongest coaching staff across the board that Umass has ever had. It seems as though we finally gave our head coach money to spend to get top talented assistant coaches, that can teach kids how to compete at a high level.
If they would have done this when Whipple was here, we would have gone to many bowl games, Instead they gave no money for him to recruit top talented coaches. Instead he had to hire past players with little experience so he could stay within his budget. Additionally, he didn't even have money to hire an Offensive coordinator so he did that job in addition to his head coaching responsibilities. So thank god we have finally given our head coach money to spend on his assistants.
My next take away is that we need to finally move away from Bamford, our football and basketball teams have suffered under his control. We need a new leader. The turnout for this event was embarrassing !! With about 10 coaches and about 15 players in attendance, there was probably less than 100 people in attendance. That is a pretty sad turnout for a school with a huge alumni base that is all local. It was obvious that the athletic department did a horrible job promoting the event.
The worst part of the event was when Mr Bamford announced, this was one of the biggest turnouts the event has ever had and it showed how excited our fan base is about the direction of our football program. Not sure what he was smoking, but the turnout was extremely low ( thank god the football players were there and took up a lot of space due to their size or the small room would have looked empty. Just another case where Bamford was trying to build himself up in front of Marty Meehan,
In summary, we should all be excited, this is strongest coaching staff we have ever had and their personalities and background will attract talent to our school.
Expecting five wins as a floor is insane. We have four total wins vs FBS in the last five years. One of those was against UConn when we lost to two FCS teams the same year. We have no idea what our roster will be. We have not improved in the trenches much over last year, yet. The money isn’t a panacea. I am a die hard and maroon glasses fool. Yes, we were improved and came close a bunch against a fairly difficult schedule. We didn’t win, though. The first two games are crucial next year.Steve81 wrote: Sun Feb 23, 2025 11:03 amThe first part, agree 100%, but would not read the same into attendance to a Boston event to hear the same themes, that has been given at his introduction and again. People at this point are tired of losing and want to see wins! That will draw new people in. Personally was very happy with Ryan Bamford's football Vision 2024. It provides financial commitment to help us be successful. For all our sakes, hope we can get wins and be bowl eligible. Will have to see the MAC schedule and working through 2 P4 teams. But we competed against the top MAC teams without these type of financial commitments, so anything less than 5 wins will be a disappointment.pk77 wrote: Sat Feb 22, 2025 11:45 pm i attended the event and got to talk to most of the coaches, my take away is that this will be the strongest coaching staff across the board that Umass has ever had. It seems as though we finally gave our head coach money to spend to get top talented assistant coaches, that can teach kids how to compete at a high level.
If they would have done this when Whipple was here, we would have gone to many bowl games, Instead they gave no money for him to recruit top talented coaches. Instead he had to hire past players with little experience so he could stay within his budget. Additionally, he didn't even have money to hire an Offensive coordinator so he did that job in addition to his head coaching responsibilities. So thank god we have finally given our head coach money to spend on his assistants.
My next take away is that we need to finally move away from Bamford, our football and basketball teams have suffered under his control. We need a new leader. The turnout for this event was embarrassing !! With about 10 coaches and about 15 players in attendance, there was probably less than 100 people in attendance. That is a pretty sad turnout for a school with a huge alumni base that is all local. It was obvious that the athletic department did a horrible job promoting the event.
The worst part of the event was when Mr Bamford announced, this was one of the biggest turnouts the event has ever had and it showed how excited our fan base is about the direction of our football program. Not sure what he was smoking, but the turnout was extremely low ( thank god the football players were there and took up a lot of space due to their size or the small room would have looked empty. Just another case where Bamford was trying to build himself up in front of Marty Meehan,
In summary, we should all be excited, this is strongest coaching staff we have ever had and their personalities and background will attract talent to our school.
minutefanjsf wrote: Sun Feb 23, 2025 1:05 pm Expecting five wins as a floor is insane. We have four total wins vs FBS in the last five years. One of those was against UConn when we lost to two FCS teams the same year. We have no idea what our roster will be. We have not improved in the trenches much over last year, yet. The money isn’t a panacea. I am a die hard and maroon glasses fool. Yes, we were improved and came close a bunch against a fairly difficult schedule. We didn’t win, though. The first two games are crucial next year.
I think he is shacking up with Stevemaz.
Temple game is huge. Win the FCS game as last years wins. Then beat 3 lower MAC teams and 1 good team. So bowl eligible is possible, but 5 is my minimum to qualify as a successful season. Next weeks schedule should be interesting and then Spring game and signings.
Steve81 wrote: Tue Feb 25, 2025 12:00 pmTemple game is huge. Win the FCS game as last years wins. Then beat 3 lower MAC teams and 1 good team. So bowl eligible is possible, but 5 is my minimum to qualify as a successful season. Next weeks schedule should be interesting and then Spring game and signings.
The bottom 5 are very beatable and have to see which ones we play.
Kent State, Ball State, Central Michigan, East Michigan, Akron.
NIU loses a lot on defense