After the firing of Don Brown on Nov. 18, the Massachusetts football team has been searching for its newest head coach to take over for the 2025 season and beyond. Here’s a look into some of the most prominent candidates that could lead the Minutemen into the Mid-American Conference:
Tony Reno
A native of Oxford, Massachusetts, Tony Reno could make the trip back to his home state to take over as UMass’ head coach. Over 12 years as the head coach of the Yale Bulldogs, the 50-year-old holds a 74-46 record and has won Ivy League championships in four of the last six seasons (2023, 2022, 2019 and 2017).
Reno was named the Ivy League Coach of the Year in 2022 and was a finalist for the 2014 Eddie Robinson Award, presented annually to the top head coach in the NCAA’s Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).
Reno has a plethora of football experience in the state of Massachusetts, playing as a three-year starter at free safety for Worcester State until his graduation in 1997. He then had a five-year coaching stint with the Lancers as the team’s defensive coordinator from 1998-2002.
Ricky Santos
Ricky Santos is the head coach of the New Hampshire Wildcats. In three seasons as the team’s full-time head coach, the 40-year-old (and Norwood, Massachusetts native) has led New Hampshire to a 29-19 record.
Santos brought the Wildcats to two FCS playoff berths in 2022 and 2024. Before being made head coach, he spent three years in Durham as the team’s associate head coach and quarterbacks coach.
After graduating from Bellingham High School in 2003, Santos was a four-year starter at quarterback for New Hampshire. A three-time All-American, Santos won the Walter Payton Award in 2006 as the top offensive player in the FCS. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Kansas City Chiefs in 2008 and played in the Canadian Football League from 2009-12.
Nunzio Campanile
Currently serving as Syracuse’s associate head coach for offense and quarterbacks coach, Nunzio Campanile enters this list with the least amount of collegiate head coaching experience. The 47-year-old has been an interim head coach at two power conference programs, going 1-7 over eight games with Rutgers in 2019 and 1-1 with Syracuse in 2023 including a bowl game loss to South Florida.
Before entering the collegiate ranks, Campanile spent eight years as the head coach at Bergen Catholic High School in New Jersey, winning a state title in 2017. He then moved up to coach in Piscataway, where he’s been the running backs coach, tight ends coach, quarterbacks coach and interim offensive coordinator.
Along with his own coaching experience, Campanile’s family has a history of coaching at multiple levels. His brother Anthony is currently the linebackers coach and run game coordinator for the Green Bay Packers, and his father Mike has a strong coaching legacy at the high school level.
Joe Harasymiak
Rutgers defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Joe Harasymiak has ties to football in Massachusetts. The 38-year-old played at Division III Springfield College from 2004-07, making his mark on the field as a team captain before coming back as a graduate assistant.
Harasymiak then went to Maine to join the Black Bears coaching staff, where he worked his way up from defensive backs coach to head coach. He led the program from 2016-18 and finished with one FCS playoff berth and a 20-15 record.
Harasymiak made the jump to the FBS level for the 2019 season, becoming Minnesota’s safeties coach before moving up to co-defensive coordinator. In 2022 and 2023 with Rutgers, he was a nominee for the Broyles Award, an honor bestowed to college football’s top assistant coach.
Longshots
Scot Loeffler
Current Bowling Green head coach Scot Loeffler could take over a different MAC program if he is chosen to come lead the Minutemen in 2025. The 50-year-old has been at the helm for the Falcons for six seasons now, working his way to a 27-40 record and what’s soon to be three straight bowl game appearances. Loeffler is mainly included on this list due to his $582,000 salary, which makes him one of the lowest-paid head coaches in the FBS. If the athletic department is to be believed, UMass’ new hire will be one of the highest-paid coaches in the MAC, which gives the position a larger candidate pool than some may think.
Loeffler’s main connection to Massachusetts comes from three seasons with Boston College, during which he served as the Eagles’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He held the same title at three stops before that: Virginia Tech (2013-15), Auburn (2012) and Temple (2011).
Loeffler spent his playing days as a Michigan quarterback from 1993-96 before becoming a graduate assistant for the team’s undefeated national championship season in 1997. He also made a one-year appearance in the NFL as the Detroit Lions’ quarterbacks coach in 2008.
Pete Lembo
Another sitting MAC coach who could be in contention is Buffalo head coach Pete Lembo, who has led the Bulls to an 8-4 record in his first year with the program. The 54-year-old makes $732,500 currently, a salary that sources say the Minutemen can comfortably exceed.
Lembo’s head coaching career began at Lehigh in 2001. He stayed there through the 2005 season, amassing a 44-14 record and winning two conference titles. He was named the Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year and the Patriot League Coach of the Year in 2001.
Lembo’s next head coaching stint came at Elon from 2006-10, where he finished with a 35-22 record. He was named the Southern Conference Coach of the Year in 2007 and 2009. In 2011, he made the jump to the FBS, taking over at Ball State. Through his first five years in the MAC, Lembo went 33-29 with two bowl game appearances. Before his time at Buffalo, he was an associate head coach and special teams coordinator at South Carolina.
Neal Brown
Current West Virginia head coach Neal Brown has direct ties to the UMass football program as a former player and alumnus of the university. After spending two years as a wide receiver for the Minutemen in 2001 and 2002, Brown stayed with the program as a graduate assistant in 2003. Brown is still coaching the Mountaineers at the time of writing, but there has been much speculation over whether the coach is safe after a 6-6 season in 2024.
Brown got his first head coaching opportunity in 2015 at Troy, where he stayed through the 2018 season. He went 35-16 over that four-year span, leading the Trojans to two Sun Belt co-championships and three bowl game wins.
In 2019, Brown made his way out to West Virginia, where he’s been the head coach for the last six years. He’s led the Mountaineers to three bowl games during his tenure, winning two in 2020 and 2023.
Mike Maynard can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter/X @mikecmaynard.
