Courtesy of UMass Athletics
UMass hired Rutgers defensive coordinator Joe Harasymiak as the school’s new head football coach last week. The hiring was universally applauded as the 38 year old Harasymiak has the perfect blend of local ties and experience on his resume.
Harasymiak played at Springfield College and has coached locally at Maine Maritime and the University of Maine where he eventually became head coach in 2016. Harasymiak led the Black Bears for three seasons including an improbable FCS playoff run in 2018.
Since then, he has coordinated special teams at Minnesota and he has been Rutgers defensive coordinator the past two years. He has the perfect blend of FBS and FCS experience.
UMass Athletic Director Ryan Bamford cited Harasymiak’s northeast ties and his varied experience as two of the biggest reasons he was hired.
“With extensive ties to football in the northeast, which began in our back yard where he excelled at Springfield College, he is the perfect fit to lead us into a new era. A successful leader, recruiter and tactician, his feats have included a conference championship at Maine, and most recently helping Rutgers to back-to-back bowl seasons. Joe has been a proven winner at every level. After our intensive search process, he emerged as the ideal fit to lead our program into the Mid-American Conference. For the last six years he has built highly successful defenses in the Big Ten and has showcased an impactful record in recruiting and in building relationships with his players.”
On paper, Harasymiak is everything you need right now for UMass as they make the move to the MAC. The school demonstrated it’s commitment to Harasymiak by paying him more money than they paid Don Brown and giving him a larger assistant pool financially to work with. In fact, it is the largest financial pool for assistants in the conference.
The school also announced that it will have $2 million dollars in funds in their NIL initiative for 2025 and 2026. That means Harasymiak and his staff will have some money to play with in the portal which as you well, is vitally important nowadays.
The financial commitment being made by the school is a great first step but this program has a long way to go before it is competitive on a year to year basis. The facilities are still subpar and need to be upgraded, specifically McGuirk Stadium. It is arguably the worst stadium experience in FBS college football. If the school is going to play more nationally televised games, especially on prime time in November, the stadium will need upgrades.
Perhaps the biggest commitment UMass needs to make to Harasymiak is patience. Brown only got three years. Harasymiak needs to get at least four years or more. If he does not, then the school is not serious about building a successful program long term.
For his part, Harasymiak is excited about the opportunity to take over the program and get started.
“I am thrilled and extremely grateful for this opportunity to be the next head coach at the University of Massachusetts,” said Harasymiak. “I want to thank Chancellor Reyes, Ryan Bamford, Trustee Brunelle and alumnus Marty Jacobson for believing in me to be the next leader of this great program. It was clear to me that we have outstanding leadership and alignment from the top down that will allow us to compete for MAC championships and to sustain that success. I can’t wait to get around our student-athletes and start building relationships. My wife, Brittany, and daughters Sophie and Ellie can’t wait to get to Amherst.”
Things are looking up with UMass Football but patience is the key. If Harasymiak is given time to build a competitive football program, he will.