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Sorry about that here's some excerpts.
"Its shipwrecked football program is nearing the end of its 15th consecutive losing season, its 0-11 start leaving it ranked last among the 136 Football Bowl Subdivision schools in the country.
It looks as if the ineptitude has caught the attention of school leaders, who say a salvage plan is on the way.
“For the first time ever as a body, we recognize that the resources haven’t been high,” said director of athletics Ryan Bamford, “and that the expectations now that the resources are being built to build a successful program, those expectations grow, the accountability grows, and the urgency grows.”
School leaders believe they have the formula.
⋅ Renovation to McGuirk Stadium, to the tune of $25 million to $30 million.
⋅ Less reliance on the transfer portal system.
⋅ More emphasis on recruiting New England high school players.
⋅ A newly created administrative post in the athletics department to directly oversee the program.
⋅ More investment in name, image, and likeness (NIL).
⋅ Providing enough resources to become a competitive member of the Mid-American Conference.
“Nobody is interested in hearing their excuses anymore, because it has gotten so bad,” said Corey Schneider, co-founder of the now-defunct Midnight Ride Collective. “Nobody is like, ‘Oh, well, you’ve got to cut them some slack, they’re trying to do their best.’ They’re not trying to do their best. This is what not caring looks like.”
The transition has accelerated the drop and produced a dreadful track record:
• Over its 14 FBS seasons, UMass is 26-133, a .164 winning percentage and average of 1.85 wins a season. (Without, obviously, any bowl appearances.)
• Seventeen schools have made the leap to FBS since 2006, including two this season — Missouri State (7-3) and Delaware (5-5 with two games left). UMass is the only one (excluding Delaware) to never post a winning season.
Bamford’s $830,473 salary this year makes him the sixth-highest-paid state employee. Joe Harasymiak, the third head football coach Bamford has hired, comes in at No. 3 at $1.22 million.
Other sports at UMass have generally performed respectably, and sometimes very well, while Bamford has been in charge. The men’s hockey team won the national championship four years ago. The women’s basketball team won the Atlantic 10 championship in 2022.
When Bamford began the job, he said he told then-chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy that the economic and competitive assumptions behind the school’s decisions to join the FBS in 2012 and leave the Mid-American Conference to become an independent after the 2015 season were not sound.
Looking ahead, Bamford said leaving the FBS is not on the table.
He is optimistic that with UMass back in the MAC, the school is ready to take meaningful strides to correct deferred maintenance not only to the stadium, but also the football program that plays in it.
UMass Amherst chancellor Javier Reyes was quick to jump on the telephone to discuss UMass football and Bamford.
More resources are coming football’s way, said Reyes, investments “which are proportional and appropriate to the MAC conference right where we are. We want to be competitive to the MAC.”
“The hockey team was turned around and thrived because of investments we made at that moment,” said Reyes. “That is an important area that we have to remember.”
Maybe reflecting on the success of the men’s hockey team will help UMass football supporters get through the next few years.
Boston Globe 11/20/2025