The Massachusetts football team’s head coach Joe Harasymiak spoke on Friday of the new faces joining both the coaching staff and roster as UMass looks ahead to its first spring season under new leadership.
Jared Keyte was named the team’s defensive coordinator, a familiar face to Harasymiak after two seasons at Rutgers University. Keyte served as the nickelbacks coach in 2024 and the defensive quality control/interim defensive line coach in 2023 with the Scarlet Knights. He was part of Harasymiak’s staff who took the team to two consecutive bowl games for the university’s first time since 2011 and 2012. Keyte also led the defense to No. 10 and No. 16 in the nation in passing yards allowed per game and yards per game, respectively, in 2023.
Between his first stint at Rutgers in 2015 as the defensive quality control/player development coach and his second, Keyte spent four seasons with the University of Maine. In his time with the Black Bears, he helped lead the team under Harasymiak’s first head coaching job to the 2018 Coastal Athletic Association Championship and the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs. Keyte served as the team’s outside linebackers coach from 2016 to 2018, safeties coach from 2019 to 2021 and special teams coordinator from 2018 to 2021.
“That [Maine] staff is pretty special … putting together all of those people …that’s why 2018 happened because we had a group of people who didn’t care about what their job was. We sacrificed for each other, there was no job too small. We put everybody else first,” Harasymiak said. “… it’s not always about who’s the best coach, it’s the best people that fit what you want to do.”
Other faces new to the UMass staff include offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian, director of high performance and head of football sports performance coach George Greene, defensive line coach Nyeem Wartman-White, linebackers coach Garrett Gillick, offensive line coach Kurt Anderson, running backs coach Jeremy Larkin, special teams coordinator Joe Castellitto and defensive analyst Kayon Whitaker.
“It’s all about connections … especially on the defense side of things. I think those connections I have and those relationships have been why those guys have ended up here,” Harasymiak said. “Offensively a lot of those guys I might have won against, competed against. I know what they do, it’s good stuff … We got the people we believe are best here.”
On the roster end, Harasymiak and his staff spent the winter meeting with recruits and transfers. So far, the Minutemen have signed 27 players to strengthen both sides of the ball before the spring, eight of which have ties to New Jersey.
“I think we’ve done a good job identifying off [film] what we probably needed, and I think one of the biggest things is just depth at some positions,” Harasymiak said.
Like members of the coaching staff, linebacker Timmy Hinspeter and defensive lineman David Onuoha are following Harasymiak from Rutgers to Amherst. Defensive back Kendall Bournes, offensive lineman Michael Entwistle, defensive lineman Shymell Davis, defensive lineman Joshua Nobles and wide receiver Jake McConnachie will also make the trip to UMass from their homes in New Jersey.
“We’re new and we got a lot of new coaches, a lot of new players, so we’re going to have a pretty well-structured operation [in the spring],” Harasymiak said.
UMass’ spring schedule is in its finalization process with the staff looking to start up practices either before or after spring break. The season will likely run through the middle of April, around the time of the spring transfer portal opening up on April 16.
“People are the biggest difference, certainly, because the building’s the same, the rooms are the same, the locker room will be the same, [the] field [is] the same,” Harasymiak said. “Just seeing the energy, there’s definitely a new vibe.”
Sydney Ciano can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter/X @SydneyCiano.