Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

UMass football welcomes 27 players to its 2015 recruiting class

(Cade Belisle/Daily Collegian)
(Cade Belisle/Daily Collegian)

When Massachusetts football coach Mark Whipple entered his news conference on Wednesday afternoon, his smile stretched ear-to-ear.

Following UMass’ 41-21 loss to Buffalo in its final game of the 2014 season, Whipple made it clear that if this team wanted to be a serious contender in Football Bowl Subdivision football, it needed a serious overhaul of recruits to fix its problems.

With 20 players signing their National Letter of Intent on Wednesday, with an addition seven players enrolled in the University for the spring semester, Whipple found plenty of pieces that will help the Minutemen moving forward.

“We got some good linemen, some good skill guys and I think we got a little more length than we’ve had on our football team,” Whipple said.

“Our strength and conditioning people, they were excited to look at this group of guys as they came in. I know the academic people are happy. Hats off to our staff. We’re really, really excited about the future. It’s a well-rounded group.”

UMass received more commits to the offensive line (five) than another position. Whipple credited both Akron and Boston College as teams that had offensive linemen that played together for a significant amount of time. In both those games this season, the Minutemen struggled to get any sort of pass rush and allowed 134 rushing yards and 338 yards, respectively, in those games. Whipple would like to mimic those teams’ models to help improve UMass’ running game as well as the ability to protect quarterback Blake Frohnapfel.

“We only have one senior on the offensive line on the team, so now you’ve got some guys who can come in, learn and they’ll be ready to go. That was a priority,” Whipple said.

In addition to the offensive line, the Minutemen also received commits from six players that will add depth to their front seven – three linebackers and three defensive linemen. All six players are over 6-foot-2, as Whipple made it a strong premise that he wanted to add length to his defense.

With the 3-4 defensive scheme, UMass wanted to get versatile players that could play as a down-lineman as well as a stand-up linebacker that can get pressure on opposing teams’ quarterbacks.

“When we went back and evaluated this season we have to adapt better to the spread offense than we did last year,” Whipple said. “We did not pressure the quarterback enough and that was a focus.”

After Minutemen kickers went a combine six-for-11 last season, including crucial misses in the Vanderbilt and Miami (Ohio) games, the Minutemen mad it a priority to add depth to its kicking game and did so with the signing of Mike Caggiano. Whipple was impressed with Caggiano’s accuracy, power and consistency and believes he can be a key contributor to the Minutemen.

With the majority of teams in the Mid American Conference running a spread offense, recruiting players to play in a pro-style offense would require a different approach to get talented players to come to UMass.

Although it may be a unique style, tight ends coach Spencer Whipple – Mark’s son – believed that recruiting players to a pro-style was beneficial rather than a burden.

“I think it comes back to kids still want to play in the NFL and if you watch NFL games you can go right away and say, not only does it look the same, but we use the same terminology, some of the same stuff they use in playbooks we’re using from my dad’s systems, taking what he used from the teams he’s been with in the NFL,” Spencer Whipple said.

“They listen to that and they hear that and say, you know what, that does make sense, going four years and playing at a place that uses that terminology and now that transition to the next level is a lot more seamless as maybe a spread team,” he added.

Double-Dipping

UMass received NLIs from two players that not only plan on playing for the Minutemen on the football field, but on the basketball court for Derek Kellogg as well.

Both quarterback James Sosinski (6-foot-7) and tight end Artayvious Lynn (6-foot-6) plan on playing both sports when they enroll to the University in the fall. The two players would be on football scholarships meaning the basketball team would not lose two scholarships if either player makes the roster.

The Land Down Under

UMass received an NLI from 6-foot-6, 235-pound tight end Travis Reynolds from Brisbane, Australia.

Reynolds was compared former Minutemen tight end Jean Sifrin, who will enter the NFL draft this spring. Reynolds is a natural-born rugby player that has excellent size and speed and could be a significant downfield threat in UMass’ aerial assault. Whipple watched film of Reynolds and knew he was getting a playing he couldn’t pass up.

“His story is a little like Jean. The same digging under the cracks,” Mark Whipple said. “We talked to him and he’s a great kid and he’s got a talent.”

Whipple said he was unsure of what year of eligibility the 21-year-old Reynolds will have when he arrives on campus.

Andrew Cyr can be reached at arcyr@umass,edu, and can be followed on Twitter @Andrew_Cyr.

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