Keeping Score with Chip Ainsworth: Breaking down UMass’ ‘vision’ for football

Published: 12-27-2024 3:54 PM |
Good morning!
UMass athletic director Ryan Bamford has released a four-page memo to season ticket holders titled “A Vision for UMass Football” that promises a phoenix will rise from the ashes of a broken program.
The 2,666-word document reads at times like a government spending bill, but the two major takeaways are that UMass will win a Mid-American Conference championship every four years, and will go to a bowl game every season, this despite a 21-91 record and zero bowl bids under his tenure.
Don’t laugh, it could happen. The major difference between this and previous promises is that Chancellor Javier Reyes is giving Bamford the money he needs to succeed. “Bamford understands the NCAA has created a situation with NIL and the transfer portal that has football driving the bus,” said an insider.
According to Bamford, “Coach [Joe] Harasymiak will have a league-leading $2.65M pool to fill coaching and support roles as he wishes. By our estimates, this will be over $500,000 more than the highest salary pool in the MAC currently. The pool will expand to at least $3.0M by the end of the 2026 season.”
The missive is a mea culpa of sorts, an admission of what went wrong — “The move to the FBS was not appropriately resourced” — and that scheduling unwinnable games against Power Five teams like Georgia, Texas A&M, Penn State, Northwestern and Auburn — hurt the university’s image. “I am responsible for these agreements since I am the person who has organized the schedule since 2016… It stunted our growth.”
It’s not a complete Bamford makeover. He still doesn’t understand that what sounds good in a Holiday Inn conference room sounds phony at the Hangar Pub and Grill; Bamford will never connect with blue collar fans by using bureaucratic lingo like “aspirational peers” and making convoluted pledges to “build agreements with new opponents that create competitive balance.”
The MAC schedule won’t be announced until March. Meanwhile in order to fit eight conference games into a 12-game schedule Bamford has been forced to drop previously scheduled games against Liberty and Troy and will either drop or move scheduled games against BC, UConn, Army and New Mexico State. “Of note, our 2025 return game to Boston College has been postponed and will be rescheduled sometime in the early 2030’s.”
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Why not next century?
He promises to “upgrade the fan experience” and sell sideline “premium seats.” He writes about fixing the parking lot around the stadium, improving the sound system and getting the referee’s on-field microphone to work. Next month a $2.2 million project to refurbish the locker room will begin.
Although Reyes is letting bygones be bygones, it’s Bamford’s head on the block. During his tenure he has fired three coaches while his total pay more than doubled to over $700,000, according to the comptroller’s office.
Reyes is in the catbird seat, he’s the catalyst but his financial commitment won’t go unnoticed. “The chancellor knows the faculty is going to go ballistic,” said an associate, “but he doesn’t care because he thinks sports is crucial to school spirit.”
It’s time to hop on the bandwagon. Watching the MAC come to town will be exciting and going to a bowl game next year is achievable. Seven MAC teams qualified this year, and Harasymiak and his staff are already working long hours. “Football hours,” said a source.
Bamford has thrown down the gauntlet. “It’s time to win, and we won’t rest until we do so at a significant level.”
Not exactly how Churchill would have put it, but it’s a start.
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Williams College sports information director Dick Quinn writes: “I hope you saw that the new offensive coordinator for UMass football is former Eph quarterback Mike Bajakian who’s held a long list of prominent assistant coaching positions before UMass.”
A New Jersey native, the 50-year-old Bajakian is a football lifer with stops at Utah, Northwestern, Boston College and Central Michigan and in the pros with the Bears and Tampa Bay Bucs.
In 1994 he quarterbacked the Ephs to an 8-0 season and a 48-14 shellacking of archrival Amherst.
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Statmaster Mike Cadran on Franklin County Tech’s Josiah Little:
“Maxpreps listed him with 1,870 yards rushing and 156 points scored — first and third respectively — outstanding for a 5-4, 135-pound athlete. He rushed for over a thousand yards each season, a four-year record in Franklin County.”
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Amherst native Ryan Leonard is part of a six player contingent from Boston College who will represent the U.S. in the World Junior Tournament that’s underway in Ottawa. Leonard, who scored three goals and three assists at last year’s Worlds, will captain the defending champions.
Two other Bay State residents are on the roster, BC forward Teddy Stiga of Sudbury and BU forward Cole Eiserman of Newburyport.
UMass forward Daniel Jencko and goaltender Michael Hrabal are playing for their respective homelands, Slovakia and Czechia.
With bad actor Russia unwelcome, the marquee matchup will feature the U.S. against Canada on New Year’s Eve at 8 p.m. Seats at the Canadian Tire Centre are selling for $500 on the secondary market.
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SQUIBBERS: University of Texas-San Antonio coach Tim Beck on football in the age of the transfer portal and NIL money: “This isn’t a program. Each year, you just build a team.” … Michael Penix learned he’d be the starting quarterback for the Falcons against the Giants while he was buying a $1.50 hot dog and soda at Costco. “I wasn’t hungry anymore,” said Penix, who threw for 202 yards and an interception in the 34-7. … Not a great afternoon for Rams tight end Hunter Long versus the Jets. Long, who was flagged for a block in the back on a return and took a procedure penalty that negated a 38-yard run, did a PG year at DA and was All America at BC. … The BC hockey team’s only trip to the Mullins Center is Feb. 15. … Notre Dame defensive lineman Howard Cross III is the son of former NY Giant tight end and NFL analyst Howard Cross Jr. … Tulane backup Ty Thompson threw three interceptions in a 33-8 loss to Florida in the Cure Bowl, and two of SMU QB Kevin Jennings’ three interceptions were returned for pick sixes in a 38-10 drubbing by Penn State at Beaver Stadium. Jennings had a 13.6 quarterback rating. … Big win for UMass hoops against UMass-Boston. Who’s next, Roxbury Community College? … Fran Togneri was at the UMass-Northeastern hoops tilt. “I thought I was watching a football game,” Togger said of the 36 personal foul calls. … Greg Bedard scolded Drake Maye for praising coach Jerod Mayo. “He’s a rookie and he’s won one game this year. Drake Maye has no idea what good football coaching might look like.” … A New York wag on Joe Benigno’s podcast said a change-of-scenery trade is in the works between the Bruins and Rangers to swap captains Brad Marchand and Chris Kreider. … RIP Rickey Henderson. “He was a character of epic proportions, but he was also a talent of epic, epic ability,” said Mike Francesa. … Northfield’s Ben Pike said he was in NYC on the third anniversary of 9/11 and stopped to get a haircut and shave. When Pike mentioned the Red Sox the barber said, “This is a straight blade, you know.” … Headline in the Onion: “Jets Fans Required to Sign NDA Before Leaving Stadium.”
Chip Ainsworth is an award-winning columnist who has penned his observations about sports for decades in the Pioneer Valley. He can be reached at chipjet715@icloud.com