With two games left in the season against Georgia and UConn, the Don Brown Era has come to an end.
UMass AD Ryan Bamford announced that Brown will no longer lead the program in a statement on Monday morning.
Offensive coordinator Shane Montgomery will be serving as the interim head coach for the road trip to Athens and finale at home against the Huskies. Bamford also said an immediate national search has begun.
“I am extremely grateful to Coach Brown for returning to UMass three years ago to help us build back a program he once coached to a national title game,” Bamford said. “Don should have immense pride in the outstanding contributions he has made to advance Massachusetts Football during his three stops in Amherst. Upon his return in 2021, we shared a common goal to help UMass football attain conference membership, something that was realized last spring. Largely due to his renowned coaching reputation, Don legitimized our FBS program and Massachusetts football has taken positive steps forward since his return.
“We are structurally positioned to accomplish our competitive goals as we move into a new league and a new college athletics landscape in 2025.”
Brown finishes with a 6-28 record in his 2+ seasons back with the program. UMass had gone 6-34 in the four seasons prior under Walt Bell, Alex Miller and Mark Whipple.
Ultimately, this isn’t much of a surprise. Sure, the sudden news is always a bit shocking, but at 69-years old, how much longer would you want to be stuck in this situation? Why go get embarrassed by 50 and then come home and lose to your rival as they go on to win eight or nine games? Brown deserves better than what this finish is probably going to be. This allows him to go out quietly with his dignity and sterling reputation still in tact.
From the UMass perspective, the sooner you start a search, the better.
Brown is still one of the most legendary defensive minds of all time and tried to bring this program back to relevance. Getting the MAC deal was huge, but the inability for his staff to recruit or develop better talent was ultimately the biggest issue over the last three seasons. The lack of ability to close out close games has been a surprisingly repetitive issue as well.
That’s not entirely their fault, though. The facilities at UMass are laughably bad for a team that’s about to play games on ESPN next season. If you’re a legitimate recruit hoping to play D1 FBS ball or get a stellar education in this region and getting looks from any of the Ivy Leagues, UConn or BC, why would use you choose UMass? Having Missouri visit Amherst was the highlight of the stadium’s tenure and frankly, there are plenty of high school games in New England on any Friday night that can give the McGuirk atmosphere a run for its money.
Hopefully, this new TV deal and new coaching search leads to a much bigger commitment with everything around the program. Training staff, locker rooms, a stadium, game day environment, recruiting. All of it.
This also isn’t the time the time to argue whether or not the program should have ever moved up to the FBS level in the first place. Has it been botched since the start? Yes. Can it still work? Yes. It took a while, but joining a conference could open a lot of doors. Mainly, it should allow you to get better talent both recruiting and particularly in the transfer portal. Kids are going to want to play on national television on Tuesday and Wednesday nights as the only game in the country.
So, in the end, the Don Brown tenure at UMass won’t be looked upon fondly, but none of the FBS experience has been kind to the passionate Minutemen fan base.