Game 6, 2025: @ Kent State (10/11)

[jjmc85]

Read on twitter that UMass is having nil issues and not paying the 2-3m that Bambi promised. Anyone have any insight if this is factual?

Coach Harasymiak said at his press conference Monday that everything that has been promised has been there since July 1.

I’m not on Twitter anymore but I’d be interested to know the source of the person who tweeted that.

Both can be true. The NIL issues are not that the players aren’t being paid. The issue is that prior to July 1 the 2-3 million wasn’t secured, so when that money was not going to materialize and some were not getting their money prior to July 1, the money needed to recruit and retain MAC level players was not there when needed. The current roster is not being paid 2-3 million dollars. There were multiple people who tweeted it, who are fairly connected and knowledgeable. I retweeted. I do not have first hand knowledge. I trust those who posted. It also makes a ton of sense when you see we signed a bunch of FCS players from lower level schools, like Davidson, Georgetown, and the Ivies.

But prior to July 1, UMass could NOT have in-house NIL. Unless I’m mistaken, I thought that was the date the house settlement set.

So is this another game where people get pissed at Bamford for something that isn’t his fault? Cause if people are pissed that UMass didn’t do in-house NIL before it was legal then I don’t know what to tell them.

[TheInsider]

I think the point is the $$ was never secured prior to July 1, so on July 1 they would have the cash for the players. Thats why he is saying this roster is full of non MAC level.guys... no cash to promise when July 1 came around.

[minutefanjsf]

I think the point is the $$ was never secured prior to July 1, so on July 1 they would have the cash for the players. Thats why he is saying this roster is full of non MAC level.guys... no cash to promise when July 1 came around.

Exactly. Fiscal year for Umass starts July 1. Budget was not for the amounts Bamford is publicly saying they would have. Recruiting happened well before July 1.

[MikeUMA]

Kent took the interim tag off their head coach.
https://kentstatesports.com/news/2025/1 ... ball-coach

See what beating UMass can do for your career?

[DanaDingle3]

I think the point is the $$ was never secured prior to July 1, so on July 1 they would have the cash for the players. Thats why he is saying this roster is full of non MAC level.guys... no cash to promise when July 1 came around.

Exactly. Fiscal year for Umass starts July 1. Budget was not for the amounts Bamford is publicly saying they would have. Recruiting happened well before July 1.

This makes no sense. Coach H was hired on 12/4/24. Per ESPN reporting on 12/4/24 (https://www.espn.com/college-football/s ... ball-coach), he had a guaranteed amount of NIL funds for the 2025 season. Per every reputable source, all promised funds have been paid. Now, the funds might not have hit bank accounts on 7/1, but I don't think that's part of the deal. The funds were guaranteed to Coach H to use in recruiting for this season, and the funds were paid sometime in the summer/early fall.

Why do you guys insist on making misleading/incorrect statements about this?

[Juice Stand]

If I had to make a guess on this NIL issue, it's not that the revenue share dollars weren't available until summer, every school had to deal with that because that's when revenue share went live. The issue that hamstrung Coach H (I'm assuming) is that other schools had immediate NIL dollars available through outside collectives, whereas as Bamford made the decision to shut down a very dedicated and loyal outside collective, Midnight Ride. Other schools had a collective available for a bridge period and we did not. I don't know what the Mass Collective's involvement was in that period or how much they had at their disposal for football, but the bridge between Midnight Ride shutting down in December and revenue share going live in July would be my guess as to why funds were not immediately available in the recruiting period.

[minutefanjsf]

If I had to make a guess on this NIL issue, it's not that the revenue share dollars weren't available until summer, every school had to deal with that because that's when revenue share went live. The issue that hamstrung Coach H (I'm assuming) is that other schools had immediate NIL dollars available through outside collectives, whereas as Bamford made the decision to shut down a very dedicated and loyal outside collective, Midnight Ride. Other schools had a collective available for a bridge period and we did not. I don't know what the Mass Collective's involvement was in that period or how much they had at their disposal for football, but the bridge between Midnight Ride shutting down in December and revenue share going live in July would be my guess as to why funds were not immediately available in the recruiting period.

This is what it seems to me as well. Based on what I’ve gleaned, they had about 500k in non school NIL to spend before July and then the school spent 1.5 once it was up and running. Bamford said the school would have 2 million allocated. My guess about the 500k is based on some very adamant posts from people in the know that the amounts spent match what was publicly stated. The 1.5 seems to be accurate for sure. Whether the 500k was is conjecture on my part based on these statements. If they spent 1.5 that is 75% of what was publicly stated.

[minutefanjsf]

I think the point is the $$ was never secured prior to July 1, so on July 1 they would have the cash for the players. Thats why he is saying this roster is full of non MAC level.guys... no cash to promise when July 1 came around.

Exactly. Fiscal year for Umass starts July 1. Budget was not for the amounts Bamford is publicly saying they would have. Recruiting happened well before July 1.

This makes no sense. Coach H was hired on 12/4/24. Per ESPN reporting on 12/4/24 (https://www.espn.com/college-football/s ... ball-coach), he had a guaranteed amount of NIL funds for the 2025 season. Per every reputable source, all promised funds have been paid. Now, the funds might not have hit bank accounts on 7/1, but I don't think that's part of the deal. The funds were guaranteed to Coach H to use in recruiting for this season, and the funds were paid sometime in the summer/early fall.

Why do you guys insist on making misleading/incorrect statements about this?

The reputable sources have claimed 1.5 million was the budget spent after 7/1. Bamford as per this article says the budget will be 2 million. I am not and have not said players were not paid. My assumption, based on those reputable sources, is that if the 2 million number was reached that 500k was spent prior to 7/1. This money situation played a part in creating essentially an FCS talented roster.

[DanaDingle3]

If I had to make a guess on this NIL issue, it's not that the revenue share dollars weren't available until summer, every school had to deal with that because that's when revenue share went live. The issue that hamstrung Coach H (I'm assuming) is that other schools had immediate NIL dollars available through outside collectives, whereas as Bamford made the decision to shut down a very dedicated and loyal outside collective, Midnight Ride. Other schools had a collective available for a bridge period and we did not. I don't know what the Mass Collective's involvement was in that period or how much they had at their disposal for football, but the bridge between Midnight Ride shutting down in December and revenue share going live in July would be my guess as to why funds were not immediately available in the recruiting period.

Why would that be an issue if Coach H had guaranteed funds available to be distributed in July? Is our competition for recruits so well-heeled and liquid, and the recruits so desparate for immediate payment, that we lost out because we didn't have an operational collective? How many MAC schools have a collective and NIL?

I'm not buying it (plus, these rumors seem to have drastically shifting details, undercutting credibility).

[Juice Stand]

^ Rev share coming online July 1 was likely, but not a guarantee. When you shut down your only source of NIL funds during a recruiting period without a guarantee of future funding, I'm assuming that can impact recruiting. The current landscape in college sports is that players get paid, so I think it's reasonable for potential recruits to have an expectation that they will be paid. If I was receiving job offers form multiple companies and one said "we'd like you start and here's a singing bonus" and another said "we'd like you to start, but we've just cut off our only source of funds and we think we'll have funding available in 6 months", I know which company I'm going with.

My post is not gospel and is not based on inside info. I stated that it was a guess based on the Midnight Ride and revenue share timing, along with Harasymiak's hire and recruiting period. Any amount of funding uncertainty could have impacted recruiting, and with Bamford's track record of bungling almost every thing lately, even the simplest tasks, I'm not giving him the benefit of the doubt.

[DanaDingle3]

The article cited said the money was guaranteed back on 12/4, and the original post on this topic suggested players had not been paid what was promised, which doesn't appear to be the case.

The decision to shut down MRC and the impact on this season is a completely different argument than what the original post suggested.

This seems to be a real stemwinder to assign blame somewhere.

[minutefanjsf]

The article cited said the money was guaranteed back on 12/4, and the original post on this topic suggested players had not been paid what was promised, which doesn't appear to be the case.

The decision to shut down MRC and the impact on this season is a completely different argument than what the original post suggested.

This seems to be a real stemwinder to assign blame somewhere.

The issue was how the transition from MRC to in house was handled is my understanding. I am not an insider. I am relying on public as well as private messages from some reputable people. The money that was supposedly guaranteed back on 12/4 seemed to be 2 million in house money. That seems to have morphed into 1.5 million and maybe some private money (500k?). The transition to the in house seems to have hindered recruiting and retention. The transition to in house was under Bamford’s watch. So, yes, our recruiting seems to be that fluid and fragile that not having either money or contracts prior to July 1 caused us to lose out on some players. Granted some of the players who likely received money have been injured. There is no way this is or should be considered a 2 million dollar MAC roster. So, that money was not spent well.

[DanaDingle3]

There is no way this is or should be considered a 2 million dollar MAC roster. So, that money was not spent well.

This we can agree on, but I cut the coach slack due to a shorter recruiting window.

They've gotta win at least a couple MAC games next year, with apparently an even bigger budget. Otherwise, shut this thing down.

[Steve81]

Exactly. Fiscal year for Umass starts July 1. Budget was not for the amounts Bamford is publicly saying they would have. Recruiting happened well before July 1.

This makes no sense. Coach H was hired on 12/4/24. Per ESPN reporting on 12/4/24 (https://www.espn.com/college-football/s ... ball-coach), he had a guaranteed amount of NIL funds for the 2025 season. Per every reputable source, all promised funds have been paid. Now, the funds might not have hit bank accounts on 7/1, but I don't think that's part of the deal. The funds were guaranteed to Coach H to use in recruiting for this season, and the funds were paid sometime in the summer/early fall.

Why do you guys insist on making misleading/incorrect statements about this?

The reputable sources have claimed 1.5 million was the budget spent after 7/1. Bamford as per this article says the budget will be 2 million. I am not and have not said players were not paid. My assumption, based on those reputable sources, is that if the 2 million number was reached that 500k was spent prior to 7/1. This money situation played a part in creating essentially an FCS talented roster.

My apologies, did go back to the football 2024 Vision released in Dec 2024 and here is the quote and bolded area. The area that I struggle with is the weeds of the actual National signing day and transfer portal dates and football seasons compared to fiscal year the money is available. If I want to balance what your sources say and those dates, then .5M for the 2025 Football season as promises and activated after July 1st. Then in Dec-Jan transfer portal NSD and Portal for 2026 signings deals would be 1.5M.

We have reorganized the financial models for our department and created additional revenue sources to invest in additional benefits across a number of UMass sports. The football program will have a budget for student-athlete financial aid and additional benefits of over $6.0M with at least $2.0M to use for NIL contract deals from July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026 (Fiscal Year ’26). The football NIL budget will grow by at least another $1.0M in FY ’27 to $3.0M. By comparison, members of our 2024 roster earned roughly $120,000 in NIL activities over the last six months. We anticipate MAC programs spending between $200,000 - $1.0M per year on additional benefits over the next two years. Our strategy is to outpace our peers by a wide margin in an area that can significantly impact winning.

Thought it was time to create a thread and post the Football Vision 2024 and the NIL Update is also interesting.

[jjmc85]

[(plus, these rumors seem to have drastically shifting details, undercutting credibility).

This is my thought as well.