UMass Fires HC

[Col Hogan]

Kevin Morris has been released from the final two years of his contract...

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No surprise here...

[93henfan]

What does this have to do with FCS football?

[Col Hogan]

He never made it to FBS...so its about an FCS coach being fired...

D'uh....

[KAUMASS]

Good decision but a year too late....

[alvin kayak]

Have fun playing all the Ohio schools ('cept Ohio State) with your new coach. I'm sure the fans are stoked about Miami Ohio, Ohio, Toledo, Bowling Green, and any others I missed.

[93henfan]

Have fun playing all the Ohio schools ('cept Ohio State) with your new coach. I'm sure the fans are stoked about Miami Ohio, Ohio, Toledo, Bowling Green, and any others I missed.

Temple is the real draw in the MAC.

[saint0917]

What does this have to do with FCS football?

Because Umass is a FCS footbal program. That would be my wild guess

[twister04]

If you are happy about this thumbs up

[LastMinuteman]

Have fun playing all the Ohio schools ('cept Ohio State) with your new coach. I'm sure the fans are stoked about Miami Ohio, Ohio, Toledo, Bowling Green, and any others I missed.

Why do people make sarcastic posts like this thinking UMass fans are bummed out to be playing every team in Ohio except Ohio State, instead of practically every team in Virginia except VaTech? The FBS move comes with some downsides, but the changes to the regular season schedule aren't one of them.

[ODUalum11]

wow, no surprise here BUT UMass, a school going to the FBS fires their head coach before their first year?

[Col Hogan]

wow, no surprise here BUT UMass, a school going to the FBS fires their head coach before their first year?

It's been clear to lots of people, including the AD, that Coach Morris was not the leader to take the team to the next level...

He never won over the fans or the administration...tough spot to be in as the school prepares to spend more $$$ to move up...

And the list of potential candidates published today in the local (Northampton) newpaper is pretty interesting...

Mark Whipple or Don Brown - Let's start with the two candidates likely to be talked about most. Both former UMass coaches were popular and successful in Amherst. Whipple is currently the quarterbacks coach of the Cleveland Browns, while Brown is the defensive coordinator at Connecticut. Would they want to come back? Whipple was a big advocate of upgrading the program when he was here and left partly because things didn't appear to be moving in that direction.

He's flirted with the Boston College and Connecticut openings in recent years, but didn't get them. Whipple has said he'd like to be a head coach again. Successful repeat acts are rare, but this is a different scenario. He's already popular with the fans and his offense is fun to watch which would work in his favor.

Some people in the athletic department were upset with the way Brown departed. Is that enough to torpedo his candidacy? Hard to tell. He moved from Maryland, where he was the defensive coordinator, to UConn to come back to New England for family reasons. If he was interested in being a head coach again, this is one of the few legitimate options.

Both Brown and Whipple have head coaching experience and have built struggling programs into winners. If they're interested, McCutcheon should be.

Neal Brown - When UMass hired Morris in 2009, Brown was among the candidates they brought in. Back then, the former Minuteman wide receiver was a rising offensive coordinator at Troy State. Now he holds that job at Texas Tech and drew raves when the Red Raiders upset Oklahoma this season. It would cost more to get him this time. Would he still want it? Hard to believe he won't at least get a look.

Mike Leach - This seems like the ultimate long shot. He was once the eccentric offensive genius that made Texas Tech a national powerhouse, but his career got derailed over his alleged treatment of injured player Adam James that led to him being fired. He's since written a book defending himself that's been well received and has helped restore his reputation.

It seems inevitable that someone is going to hire him again, but he's been out of the game for two years now. He'll be rumored for every big job that opens, but will whatever prevented Maryland from hiring him scare off other schools as well? Is a fledgling Mid-American Conference job enough to entice him?

Calvin Magee - Magee was the offensive coordinator for Rich Rodriguez at Michigan and West Virginia. He's currently the offensive coordinator at Pittsburgh and is considered a rising star.

Lincoln Riley - The East Carolina offensive coordinator is a Mike Leach protégé. His teams move the ball, making him a potentially attractive candidate.

Mark D'Onofrio - This could be a long shot. UMass was interested in him when he was Temple's defensive coordinator, but now that he's at Miami he could cost too much. Plus, he turned down the chance to be the head coach at Temple when Al Golden left. Could he want UMass if he didn't want Temple?

Sean McDonnell - Other than one year as a graduate assistant, McDonnell has never worked in the Bowl Subdivision, which would probably be a strike against him. But he's consistently won with limited resources at New Hampshire. He'd at least be worth taking a look at.

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