Good morning!
Alabama’s Nick Saban is the highest paid coach ($8.3 million) of the highest-ranked team in college football. Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh is the third-highest paid coach ($7.5 million) of the fourth-best team. Further down USA Today’s list of coaching salaries and ESPN’s Power Index is Mark Whipple and UMass — 112th in both categories.
You get what you pay for, and what UMass got was a 16-44 record in five years under Whipple. The 44 blemishes included some horrendous losses: allowing a blocked PAT by Temple to be returned for a score, eschewing a field goal try from the Miami-Ohio 6-yard line with no time left in a one-point loss, blowing 14-point leads to Vanderbilt and Hawaii …
If schafenfreud’s your thing, UMass was your team.
After the Minutemen rolled Duquesne, 63-15, they sought to get a 40-year monkey off their back by beating Boston College. The Eagles punched them in the mouth, 55-21, and went on a tailspin. The four wins and eight losses included six games of allowing 55 points or more, plummeting team defense from 94th last season to 127th.
At his introductory press conference five years ago Whipple told the fawning audience, “I don’t even know what I’ve got yet.”
It wouldn’t take long to realize the program was a clunker and to make the best of it with friends, family and former associates. He hired Ed Pinkham to be the defensive coordinator at $253,659 per year after he was dismissed at Minnesota, rescued Mark Michaels ($103,236) from high school coaching in Florida, and put his sons Spencer ($83,799) and Austin (N/A) on the payroll.
He kept the alumni off his back by being accessible and personable. Many of those supporters never forget Whipple winning the I-AA championship in 1998. “He brought greatness to our alma mater,” said one longtime booster.
Indeed he did, but in the realm of big time college football, Mark Whipple didn’t stand a chance of making UMass great again.
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Who’s going to be the new football coach? No clue, but passing reference was made to deposed Colorado coach Mike McIntyre on ESPNU this week. The sixth-year coach won the Pac-12 championship and was named AP Coach of the Year two years ago, but the Buffs lost six straight after a 5-0 start. His name is a starting point, but athletic director Ryan Bamford’s going to have trouble finding a credible successor for a vacancy that nobody considers a dream job.
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Greenfield’s 40-38 win against Turners Falls at Vets Field on Thanksgiving was a game for the ages, a contest that even the losers will appreciate — some day. The mid-morning sun was deceiving because the westerly winds gave the frigid arctic air more bite. Fans looked like leaves caught in a grate behind the north end zone, caratonic and barely able to cheer, waiting to go home and enjoy a holiday dinner.
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Pittsfield’s Mark Rabasco bested a field of 42 others to win Sunday’s inaugural Ray Brown Memorial 9k for K9 Trail Race in the Wendell State Forest on Sunday. Rabasco was All-Berkshire County at Taconic High School and currently runs for Keene State College. He covered the snowy 5.59-mile course in 38 minutes, 30 seconds.
Nicole Duprey was the women’s winner in 49:56 and Maureen Gamlin (1:24:02) was the anchor runner “I think we had a decent turnout considering the snow,” said organizer Barney Collins who finished second in 39:09.
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SIGHTINGS: Buckland’s Jim and Carole Smith shopping at Wilson’s and Greenfield’s Larry Weir at Johnny’s Roadside Diner.
“Our great grandnephew Cole Smith is on the University of North Dakota hockey team,” said Smith, who was elected to the Mass. High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame. “He’s a big kid, 6-3, 200 pounds.”
“He’s in the penalty box a lot,” added Carole.
For what it’s worth, Smith’s photo is on the UND website and he bears a strong resemblance to the late Pat Tillman, who played football for the Arizona Cardinals.
In Amherst, Weir spoke of watching Army beat Air Force at West Point three weeks ago. “We toured the museum on post. The whole place, everything about it was amazing.”
UMass plays Army next year at Michie Stadium on Nov. 9. “I’ll be there,” promised Weir.
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Last week’s Harvard-Yale game drew 34,675, the most for any recent college grid game at Fenway Park. Both teams stood on the same sideline, something that began in 1963 when the Boston Patriots used Fenway Park as their home field. The New York Times reported that during a game against Houston, coach Mike Holovak was giving quarterback Babe Parilli such a hard time that he walked over and stood with the visitors.
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Amherst College alumnus John Lacey witnessed his alma mater’s win against Williams College on Nov. 10. The Lord Jeffs, as they were once called, rebounded from last year’s overtime heartbreaker to rout the Ephs, 45-14. “Very enjoyable, though they had had so much rain the mud was deep and all over the place,” said Lacey.
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SQUIBBERS: A caller to Mark Packer’s radio show this week claimed that Ohio State coach Urban Meyer is 30-0 in noon kickoffs and 6-0 vs. the spread when his team is a home ‘dog. The Buckeyes are getting 4½ points at home today against the Wolverines. … Former NFL coach Charlie Weis discussed his Thanksgiving dessert options yesterday with Sirius-XM cohort Bob Papa: “We had pumpkin pie, and apple pie, peach pie, pecan pie and key lime pie.” No wonder Weis can’t keep the weight off. … In honor of National Juke Box Day on Wednesday, Sirius-XM played the top 21 Hits of the 50s. The number one platter that mattered: In the Still of the Night by the Five Satins. … John Blair drove from Providence to Connecticut on Thanksgiving morning to run in the 82nd Manchester Road Race. “The first mile is flat, second mile is uphill then pretty much downhill the rest of the way,” he texted. “Glad I got the toe warmers at Rite Aid!” The winner, Edward Cheserek, finished the 4.75-mile course in a record 21:16. … Plenty of good seats left for tonight’s hockey game between No. 4 UMass and Princeton (3-3-1) at the Mullins Center (7 p.m.). … It’s doubtful that Mike Torrez sent Bucky Dent a card for his 67th birthday tomorrow. … Bradley OTB wants to get sports gambling before MGM Springfield. “We’re just waiting for it and praying we get it,” said OTB manager Jake Levesque. MGM is opening a race book next spring, in time for the Kentucky Derby. … On the NFL Network, former Redskins GM Charley Casserly said Le’Veon Bell’s holdout reminded him of running back John Riggan’s holdout in Washington: “A year later he walked through the door and said, ‘I’m bored, I’m broke, and I’m back.’”