AMHERST, Mass. — The 139th season of Massachusetts soccer commences on Saturday because the Minutemen head to Tulane for the first-ever street contest, and solely second assembly between the 2 packages at 6 p.m. on ESPN+.
WELCOME BACK COACH
Head coach Don Brown returns to Massachusetts for his second stint with the soccer program. Brown was named head coach on Nov. 22, 2021, by Director of Athletics Ryan Bamford, after spending a season with Arizona because the defensive coordinator.
Throughout his first stint as head coach with the Minutemen, he led UMass to the winningest five-year stretch in program historical past from 2004-2008, accumulating a 43-19 report and making two postseason appearances. He spent the earlier 13 years guiding defenses at Maryland, Connecticut, Boston School, Michigan and Arizona.
The Spencer, Massachusetts, native has 45 years of teaching expertise to his credit score, starting at Hartford Excessive Faculty in 1977. As a head coach, Brown mixed for a 95-45 general report between Plymouth State, Northeastern and Massachusetts. He additionally totaled 4 postseason appearances.
BORN AND BRED IN THE COMMONWEALTH
This season’s rosters options 21 student-athletes from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts:
2022 – 27
2021 – 31
2020 – 29
2019 – 30
2018 – 25
2017 – 27
2016 – 31
HIGH CALIBER TRANSFERS
Massachusetts has 19 transfers on the 2022 roster, together with 14 from Energy 5 establishments:
Kay’Ron Adams – Rutgers
Devin Baldwin – Rutgers
Tim Baldwin Jr. – Indiana
Noah Boykin – Notre Dame
Marcus Bradley – Vanderbilt
Marcus Cushnie – Florida State
Greg Desrosiers Jr. – Louisville
Sammy Faustin – Michigan
Darius Gooden – Rutgers
Zukudo Igwenagu – Rutgers
George Johnson III – Michigan
Tyler Rudolph – Penn State
Cameron Sullivan-Brown – Penn State
Tyson Watson – Michigan State
THE QB ROOM: A MIX OF YOUNG AND OLD
The Minutemen’s quarterback room options two sophomores (Brady Olson and Zamar Clever), one redshirt sophomore (Garrett Dzuro) and one redshirt junior (Gino Campitotti).
Olson (6’4”, 200-pounds from Bellingham, Mass.) appeared in 9 profession video games through the 2021 season as a real freshman.
Campiotti (6’3”, 215-pounds from Manteca, Calif.), in the meantime, arrived at UMass after spending the 2021 season at Modesto Junior School, taking part in in 11 video games, and competed at Nothern Arizona within the 2019-2020 seasons.
ELLIS MERRI’ GO ROUND
Redshirt senior Ellis Merriweather carried the load within the backfield for the Minutemen in 2021, dashing 218 instances for 1,138 yards (55% of the crew’s complete dashing yards) in his second season at UMass.
Merriweather was aided earlier final season by Rutgers switch Kay’Ron Adams. Adams performed two seasons with the Scarlet Knights in 2019 and 2020, compiling 320 dashing yards and two touchdowns on 83 carries in 18 profession video games, along with six catches for 120 yards and a landing.
With Adams seeing restricted motion earlier than being declared out for the rest of the 2021 season with an ankle harm, Merriweather was the go-to again but once more, and ran for a then-career-high 144 yards on 23 carries towards Japanese Michigan on Sept. 18. It was essentially the most yards on the bottom since Bilal Ally towards UConn on Oct. 26, 2019 (159 yards).
Merriweather improved upon that efficiency with a monster exhibiting within the win over UConn, carrying the ball 39 instances for 171 yards and two touchdowns, his first two dashing TDs of his profession and first multi-touchdown sport.
At Florida State, Merriweather was restricted on the bottom, however was UMass’ prime receiver with 65 yards on 4 catches.
The Alpharetta, Georgia native ran for 149 yards on 24 carries at Liberty with two performs for 20+ yards. Out of UMass’ eight dashing performs going for 20 or extra yards final season, Merriweather held six of them.
In opposition to Rhode Island, Merriweather ran for 118 yards on 30 carries and scored his third landing on the bottom of the 2021 12 months.
Merriweather’s new profession single sport bests (39 makes an attempt, 171 yards) are greater than double his single sport highs from final season (16 makes an attempt at Georgia Southern on 10/17/20 and 48 yards at FAU on 11/20/21). He is almost doubled his common yards per carry and tallied 1,138 yards on 218 carries in comparison with 155 yards on 42 makes an attempt in 4 video games in 2020.
Merriweather is the one participant on the UMass roster with a 100-yard dashing sport to his title and completed with seven video games on the 12 months, which established a brand new faculty single-season report. It marks essentially the most for a Minuteman since Marquis Younger had 4 in each his sophomore (2016) and junior (2017) campaigns.
O-C, TRIPLE O-C
After seeing his streak of 17 straight video games with a catch come to an finish towards Boston School on Sept. 11, extensive receiver Jermaine “OC” Johnson, Jr. acquired again on monitor with a seize towards Japanese Michigan and two extra at No. 17 Coastal Carolina. He has no less than one catch in 20 of his 26 profession video games.
MERRIWEATHER NAMED TO MAXWELL AWARD WATCH LIST
Ellis Merriweather was named to the 86th Maxwell Award Watch Record, introduced July 18 by the Maxwell Soccer Membership. The award is introduced to theCollege Participant of the 12 months.
Merriweather accomplished the 2021 12 months as Massachusetts’ first 1,000-yard rusher in this system’s FBS period, whereas accumulating 1,138 all-purpose yards and 6 touchdowns. He recorded 218 consecutive carries with none fumbles and totaled a profession finest 39 carries for 171 yards and two touchdowns, main UMass to its first victory of 2021. Merriweather acquired 2021 Phil Steele All-Unbiased Second Staff honors.
FIVE MINUTEMEN TABBED PHIL STEELE PRESEASON ALL-INDEPENDENT
Massachusetts positioned 5 members of the crew on the 2022 Phil Steele Preseason All-Unbiased Staff, together with working again Ellis Merriweather, tight finish Josiah Johnson, offensive deal with Max Longman, defensive deal with Billy Wood and cornerback Josh Wallace. Merriweather earned First Staff accolades, whereas Johnson, Longman, Wood and Wallace every had been named Second Staff.
COACHING AT THE ALMA MATER
UMass employs 4 alumni in a full-time teaching position in 2022 in assistant head coach/particular groups coordinator/defensive traces coach, Ben Albert, line of defense coach, Valdamar Brower, affiliate head coach/offensive line coach, Alex Miller and tight ends coach/recruiting coordinator, Jeff Moore. Albert is a 1995 graduate of the College of Massachusetts and was an All-Convention defensive lineman. Throughout the 2002 and 2003 seasons, he served as the within linebackers coach and particular groups coordinator, the place he aided the Minutemen to the 2003 Atlantic 10 Convention championship.
Brower, a 2004 graduate of UMass, was a star defensive lineman for Massachusetts from 1999-2003, taking part in for then-defensive coordinator Don Brown through the 1999 season.
Miller developed into some of the celebrated offensive lineman throughout his taking part in days at Massachusetts. His 4 years beginning on the road culminated with a number of first crew all-America awards following the crew’s look within the 2006 Nationwide Championship Recreation. Miller cemented his legacy as a sturdy and dependable centerpiece for the Minutemen with begins in all 50 video games performed through the 2003-06 seasons
A 2012 graduate of UMass, Moore performed receiver for the Minutemen from 2008-12 as awalk-on.
Two further teaching employees members earned a level from UMass in analyst Randall Jette ’15 and Jesse Monteiro ’17.
COEN TO BE INDUCTED IN UMASS ATHLETICS HALL OF FAME
UMass soccer’s Liam Coen (2004-08) is one among 4 inductees to the UMass Athletics George “Set off” Burke Corridor of Fame. The Class of 2022 shall be inducted on Friday, September 16.
Coen was the beginning quarterback for the 2005-08 seasons for head coach Don Brown and was a crew captain throughout his redshirt senior 12 months in 2008. The Minutemen had been 37-14 general and 25-7 in convention play (2005 – Atlantic 10; ’06-08 – CAA) throughout his 4 seasons because the beginning quarterback. Coen was chosen Atlantic 10 All-Convention Third Staff (2006) and CAA All-Convention Second Staff (2007, ’08). On the time of commencement, he was one among 21 quarterbacks in FCS historical past with 10,000 or extra passing yards in a profession. He was 18th all-time in FCS/I-AA historical past for profession passing yards (11,031) and twentieth for touchdowns thrown (90).
Coen is at the moment the profession record-holder for passing yards (11,031), go makes an attempt (1,303), go completions (830), landing passes (90), completion share (.639), passer effectivity (152.92), yards per go try (8.47). He holds the UMass single-season record-holder for completion share (.650; 2006) and passing effectivity (160.52; 2006).
He helped lead Massachusetts to the 2006 NCAA FCS Nationwide Championship Recreation by going 69-of-109 for 837 yards with six touchdowns through the playoff run. Coen additionally led the Minutemen to an NCAA postseason look in 2007 and gained convention championships in 2006 and 2007, as nicely. He tied this system report for many passing touchdowns in a single sport (5 at Towson, 2006; vs. Bryant, 2008), and is one among solely two quarterbacks to throw 5 touchdowns in a single sport.
Coen spent two seasons as an assistant coach at UMass beneath then-head coach Mark Whipple in 2014 and 2015. After leaving UMass to function the offensive coordinator and QBs coach on the College of Maine (2016-17), Coen then coached within the NFL with the Los Angeles Rams in 2018 and 2019, serving to the crew attain the Tremendous Bowl throughout his first season as an assistant extensive receiver’s coach. In March of 2022, Coen was named the offensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Rams.
