Head Coach: Don Brown is in year 3 of this stint and in his 8th year overall with the Minutemen. He has a 4-20 record during this stint but a 47-39 record overall at UMass. His first stint from 2004-2008 was back when UMass was in FCS, he got the Minutemen to the FCS National Championship in 2006 so he definitely knows how to succeed here. The task he’s taken on this time around is a daunting one so he’s been given some time from the administration to build this program up.
Program Outlook: There’s a new energy around the program. Next season they will be returning to the MAC, a place they can compete and will mitigate the challenges they faced by being a nomad for so many years. Giving the football program a home is huge and has the fans excited about the program again.
How does the 2024 Roster look?: It’s improving. They are middle of the road in returning players, but bringing back QB Taisun Phommachanh will be huge. When healthy he was a weapon at QB. His mobility will be interesting, he was a dangerous running threat in the opening win over New Mexico State last year, had a long run against Auburn but got hurt and never showed much after. The roster will receive a boost from a very nice portal class as well. Overall passing is expected to be a strength for the offense, and they can get things moving with some answers for the ground game. They struggled defensively last year but didn’t attack this side as hard in the portal, maybe Brown had confidence in the players he has?
Screenshot from fbschedules.com1
2024 Schedule Thoughts: This schedule is full of fun quirks, its made up almost entirely from MAC, SEC and NEC opponents…and we all know those conferences are so similar to each other! UMass plays Missouri AT HOME which is pretty notable. The 2 NEC foes means that UMass needs 7 wins to make a bowl. It’s a pretty tough schedule overall, 2 playoff contenders, Liberty, 3 of the best MAC teams and Mississippi State will be a tough environment too.
Vegas Projection: UMass’ win total is set at 3.5 with odds almost right in the middle in either direction. The opener against Eastern Michigan is going to be a huge tone setter, win that one and it feels like they have a good shot at that over.
2024 Best Case: UMass gets the start they needed, opening with a win over Eastern Michigan, and they’re competitive against Toledo. The Minutemen march into Buffalo and tame the Bulls, then beat Central Connecticut State to move to 3-1. They take a loss to Miami but upset NIU on the road to be 4-2 in advance of the huge home game against Missouri. UMass excites the entire nation when they catch Missouri sleeping and in extremely surprising fashion…they take a 14-0 first quarter lead (sorry we couldn’t dream that much.) They stay in it enough to keep the nation captivated but eventually fall to the Tigers. UMass beats Wagner and is fortunate enough to face a Mississippi State that is struggling in year 1 in under a new coach, UMass grabs an early lead but this time it sticks and even though it’s rock bottom for the other side, it’s a huge accomplishment for UMass. They’re still forced to sweat out a bowl bid after losing to Liberty and Georgia, but against UConn they play a great game and beat the Huskies to finally reach bowl eligibility! It gets even better when the Minutemen win their bowl game, setting them up with a lot of momentum as they enter the MAC.
2024 Worst Case: Momentum can be hard to find here sometimes. UMass is beaten soundly by Eastern Michigan in the opener and it’s clear from the jump they still aren’t any better. They can’t even come close to beating Buffalo a couple weeks later to make it worse. Suddenly UMass plummets to 2-10 with their only wins by one score each time over the NEC squads. UMass is headed to the MAC fully expected to be a punching bag, meanwhile both UConn and Boston College hit breakthrough seasons so UMass is now alone in struggling in the region.
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