- LOCATION: Amherst, Massachusetts (population 37,819)
- CONFERENCE: FBS Independent
- 2022 RECORD: 1-11
- HEAD COACH: Don Brown, 2nd season of 2nd stint (43-19 from 2004-08, 1-11 from 2022-present)
- STADIUM: Warren G. McGuirk Alumni Stadium (built 1965, capacity 17,000)
2022 Results
- L, 10-42 @ Tulane
- L, 10-55 @ Toledo
- W, 20-3 vs Stony Brook
- L, 0-28 @ Temple
- L, 13-20 @ Eastern Michigan
- L, 24-42 vs Liberty
- L, 7-34 vs Buffalo
- L, 13-23 vs New Mexico State
- L, 10-27 @ Connecticut
- L, 33-35 @ Arkansas State
- L, 3-20 @ Texas A&M
- L, 7-44 vs Army
2023 Schedule
- Aug. 26 @ New Mexico State
- Sept. 2 @ Auburn
- Sept. 9 vs Miami (Ohio)
- Sept. 16 @ Eastern Michigan
- Sept. 23 vs New Mexico
- Sept. 30 vs Arkansas State
- Oct. 7 vs Toledo
- Oct. 14 @ Penn State
- Oct. 28 @ Army
- Nov. 4 vs Merrimack
- Nov. 18 @ Liberty
- Nov. 25 vs Connecticut
2023 Recruiting Class – High School
- Donovan Dyson, DE (St. Frances Academy – Baltimore, Maryland)
- Zach Anderson, OL (Quince Orchard HS – Gaithersburg, Maryland)
- Ahmad Haston, QB (Palm Beach Central HS – Florida)
- Christian LeBrun, S (Avon Old Farms HS – Connecticut)
- Jyree Roberts, LB (Cathedral Prep – Erie, Pennsylvania)
- Peyton Miller, OL (Mountain Ridge HS – Frostburg, Maryland)
2023 Recruiting Class – Transfer Portal
- Parris Heath, OL (Albany/Spring Valley, New York)*
- Jerrod Cameron, CB (Coastal Carolina/Ft. Lauderdale, Florida)
- Matt Smith, TE (Duke/Needham, Massachusetts)
- Shambre Jackson, DE (Florida State/Orlando, Florida)
- Jalen John, RB (Arizona/Lake Oswego, Oregon)
- Dashuan Jerkins, S (Ole Miss/Woodbridge, Virginia)
- Mark Pope, WR (Miami/Miami, Florida)
- Taisun Phommachanh, QB (Georgia Tech/Bridgeport, Connecticut)**
- Jerry Roberts, DE (Arizona/Erie, Pennsylvania)***
- Jackson Paradis, RB (Buffalo/Kingston, New Hampshire)
- Brandon MacKinnon, OL (Northern Illinois/Lakeville, Massachusetts)
- Shawn Harris, WR (Stony Brook/Mt. Vernon, New York)
- Marcellus Anderson, OL (Saginaw Valley State/Culver, Indiana)
- Jalen Harrell, S (Miami/Hialeah, Florida)
- Steven Ortiz, S (Minnesota/Goodyear, Arizona)
- Jermaine Wiggins Jr., DE (Arizona/Boxford, Massachusetts)
- Anthony Simpson Jr., WR (Arizona/Bloomfield, Connecticut)
- Tyler Martin, LB (Arizona/Acton, Massachusetts)
- Carlos Davis, QB (Western Carolina/Baltimore, Maryland)****
- Christian Wells, WR (Appalachian State/Ft. Lauderdale, Florida)
- J.B. Brown, DE (Arizona/Long Beach, California)
- R.J. Edwards, LB (Arizona/Henderson, Nevada)
*also lettered at ASA College – New York and Maryland
**also lettered at Clemson
**also lettered at Bowling Green
***also lettered at Fort Scott CC and East Mississippi CC
2023 Recruiting Class – Junior College Transfers
- Wyatt Terlaak, OL (Santa Ana College – CA/Orange, California)*
*also redshirted at Navy
ASSISTANT COACHES
- Steve Casula, offensive coordinator/quarterbacks
- Keith Dudzinski, defensive coordinator/linebackers
- Ben Albert, assistant head coach/special teams coordinator/defensive ends
- Alex Miller, associate head coach/offensive line
- Valdamar Brower, defensive line
- Mike McCray, outside linebackers
- Damian Mincey, running backs
- Matt Layman, tight ends
- Mike Livingston, defensive backs
- Matt Zanellato, wide receivers
THREE KEY PLAYERS
- CB Jordan Mahoney (Jr.)
Mahoney is one of the best athletes that UMass has in an experienced secondary. He picked off two passes, broke up six more and also chipped in 42 tackles.
- LB Gerrell Johnson (Jr.)
Entering his third year as a starter, the D.C. native made 54 stops last season, third on the team.
- WR George Johnson III (Jr.)
Johnson transferred in from Michigan before last season, then led the Minutemen in catches (28) and receiving yards (402).
THREE KEY LOSSES
- LB Jalen Mackie
The grad transfer from Dartmouth easily led the team in both tackles (100) and tackles for loss (15).
- RB Ellis Merriweather
Merriweather was a consistent threat on an offense that needed one, rushing for over 1,600 yards the past two seasons.
- DE Marcus Cushnie
Cushnie was another valuable grad transfer who’s now one-and-done; he made 13 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks.
THREE KEY ADDITIONS
- WR Christian Wells (Sr.)
This graduate transfer from Appalachian State appeared in 22 career games, catching 35 passes for 650 yards and 10 touchdowns. He showed signs of deep-threat potential, averaging just under 18 yards per catch.
- QB Ahmad Haston (Fr.)
Haston enrolled at UMass after graduating high school early in Palm Beach, Florida and threw a touchdown pass in the spring game. A 6’3”, 190-pound dual-threat athlete, Haston was in a competition with incumbent Brady Olson, Western Carolina transfer Carlos Davis and Georgia Tech transfer Taisun Phommachanh. He’s still a long-shot to win the job, but the Minutemen have suffered through mediocre QB play for years, so it might be anyone’s gig.
- S Dashaun Jerkins (Sr.)
Jerkins arrives at UMass and has 38 career games under his belt at two different SEC schools: Vanderbilt (2018-21) and Ole Miss (2022). He has 148 tackles, four interceptions, and six pass breakups on his résumé.
QUOTE
“We were probably one of the top five to 10 youngest teams in America. We made it a point to get older, to get guys that have been through college practices, been through college seasons and have learned college football.”
—Head coach Don Brown, on bringing transfers into the program
2023 Preview – Offense
The search continues for a reliable quarterback at UMass, and the answer might be a transfer.
Taisun Phommachanh (pronunciation: PUMA-chawn) is back in New England after brief stints at Clemson and Georgia Tech. Phommachanh is a Connecticut native and former four-star recruit with dual-threat capabilities, but he’s completed only 44 percent of his career passes.
Carlos Davis has some experience, both at the JUCO level and at FCS Western Carolina. Junior Brady Olson is also back after posting less-than-impressive numbers, although he showed signs of progress in the spring, and true freshman Ahmad Haston enrolled early and threw a TD pass in the spring game. The Minutemen averaged a mere 12.5 points per game in the first year under coordinator Steve Casula, ranking dead last in the nation.
Losing leading rusher Ellis Merriweather hurts, but UMass does return sophomore speedster Greg Desrosiers Jr., who’s one of the more athletic players on the roster, as well as Kay’Ron Adams, who rushed for 297 yards and a score in third-string duty last season. Jalen John, a former Arizona Wildcat, will reunite with head coach Don Brown in Amherst and offers a 225-pound option, while Buffalo transfer Jackson Paradis is cut from the same cloth. Paradis had a great spring, according to the staff.
Wide receiver is a position of need, so the Minutemen added a handful of transfers to help contribute there as well. Christian Wells (App State), Anthony Simpson Jr. (Arizona) and Mark Pope (Miami) are all keepers.
Simpson was convinced to head to Amherst by Brown, who recruited him at Arizona, while Pope was a former four-star recruit who never quite caught on at Miami. Slot receiver George Johnson III led the Minutemen with 28 catches last fall, and he could emerge further if the QB play is consistent. Shortly before spring practice, Brown admitted that receiver might be the most improved position on the Minutemen’s roster.
Graduation and portal losses thinned out the depth chart at tight end, where the leading returnee is Eni Falayi, who had only two catches last season. Converted QB Gino Campiotti was actually second on the team in rushing and provides an athletic, versatile option.
Similarly, starting tackle Max Longman transferred to Indiana, but UMass’s offensive line wasn’t terrible last season (25 sacks) and brings back a trio of players with starting experience: center Josh Atwood, right guard Ethan Mottinger and right tackle Jonny Hassard. Cole Garcia can play either guard or tackle and showed great improvement in the spring.
Reinforcements are on the way in the form of Northern Illinois transfer Brandon Mackinnon and Saginaw Valley State transfer Marcellus Anderson — both of whom tip the scales at 6’5″, 300-plus pounds — plus two three-star high schoolers from Maryland, Zach Anderson and Peyton Miller.
2023 Preview – Defense
Brown has long been considered one of the nation’s best defensive minds, and he might have some more ingredients to make his blitz-happy scheme work. The Minutemen were terrible against the run, but great against the pass, leading them to be respectable overall (55th nationally in total defense). Now it’s year two for coordinator Keith Dudzinski, a longtime Brown disciple who followed the veteran coach from Arizona to UMass before last season.
While the Minutemen only recorded 18 sacks last season, they do have five returning starters in the front seven. Junior Gerrell Johnson finished third on the team in tackles (54) and Nahji Logan had 29 of his own.
Meanwhile, the defensive line has three upperclassmen looking to take a step forward, including Billy Wooden (5.5 TFL). Predictably, there’s a handful of transfers hungry to emerge, including Jerry Roberts (Arizona), J.B. Brown (Arizona) and Shambre Jackson (Florida State) shaping up as players to watch on the edge.
The secondary was one of the nation’s best in 2022, although that was more of an indictment of the Minutemen’s run defense than anything else. Safety Tyler Rudolph and corner Jordan Mahoney return after combining for 104 tackles, five INTs and 11 pass breakups.
There is improved depth; Jalon Ferrell and Javon Batten showed promise in reserve roles at safety last season, while sophomore corner Dorian Helm, who mostly played special teams last year, picked off a pass in the spring game.
Some portal additions could also help, including Steven Ortiz (Minnesota), Dashaun Jerkins (Ole Miss) and Jalen Harrell (Miami).
UMass defensive lineman Billy Wooden is a run-stuffer who has registered 74 tackles, half a sack and a forced fumble in the past two seasons.
2023 Preview – Special Teams
For a team that punted a lot (81 times), the Minutemen honestly could’ve used a better one. Junior C.J. Kolodziey averaged only 36.6 yards per boot.
Placekicker is in slightly better hands with Cameron Carson, although he did miss five, including three from inside 50, last season. In the return game, Simpson could be an option after showing flashes as a returner at Arizona last fall.
Summary
The Minutemen are coming off back-to-back 1-11 seasons — both a byproduct of being in no-man’s-land as an FBS independent and by Brown inheriting a roster last year that was devoid of talent. Improvement on offense is imperative, and frankly, it can’t get much worse. Since UMass left the Mid-American Conference in 2016, they’ve gone a cringe-inducing 13-63.
Last year, it had to sting watching fellow independents UConn and NMSU overachieve and make bowl games while the Minutemen languished in the cellar once again.
While this year’s schedule doesn’t offer much reprieve, there are a few winnable home games (New Mexico, Arkansas State and FCS program Merrimack). Brown has punched above UMass’s weight in recruiting, both among high schoolers and in the portal. The secondary was excellent last season and returns a majority of its starters. While McGuirk Alumni Stadium is still a below-average FBS stadium, the practice and weight room facilities are slowly improving under Brown’s watch, generating renewed optimism.
The bottom line is that UMass should be faster, deeper and more experienced, and hopefully one of the four quarterbacks (Davis, Olson, Phommachanh or Haston) will emerge in fall camp. It remains to be seen if it will result in wins for a team that has not beaten an FBS opponent since October 2021.
Letters from Las Cruces 