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Can Don Brown make UMass football competitive this season?

By Dante Pryor

Sep 25, 2021; Conway, South Carolina, USA; Coastal Carolina Chanticleers wide receiver Jaivon Heiligh (6) dives for the goal line in the NCAA football game of Massachusetts and Coastal Carolina at Brooks Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Yeazell-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 25, 2021; Conway, South Carolina, USA; Coastal Carolina Chanticleers wide receiver Jaivon Heiligh (6) dives for the goal line in the NCAA football game of Massachusetts and Coastal Carolina at Brooks Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Yeazell-USA TODAY Sports /
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UMass football has not had a winning season since moving to FBS. Is this season any different?

The Massachusetts Minutemen have been arguably the worst football program in the FBS since moving up from FCS in 2012. UMass has never posted a winning record and has lost 10 or more games in five of their ten seasons in FBS. The Minutemen are in one of the worst recruiting footprints in college football, but Boston College has found a way to be competitive.

This season, veteran defensive coordinator and former head coach Don Brown takes a crack at making the Minutemen a respectable football program, taking over for Walt Bell. Brown is a longtime defensive coordinator at the FBS level and was the head coach at UMass the last time they were a powerhouse; that was in the FCS, however.

UMass was 43-19, while Brown was head coach from 2004-2008. The Minutemen won the Atlantic 10 Conference and were National Champion runner-up in 2006.

Coach Brown has wasted no time trying to make UMass competitive. Brown and his staff signed 17 transfer players — 12 from the Power Five — to fill holes in a roster that scored just 16 points per game last season.

Can the Minutemen be a respectable program this season? Here is a closer look at the offense, defense, and schedule in 2022.

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