Our Q&A this week is with Michael Traini, Publisher/Site Manager for FightMassachusetts.com of the 247Sports network.
ASOR: How is life as an independent? How hard is UMass trying to get into a conference and what conferences are a realistic possibility?
Michael Traini: Life as an independent is not easy. There are struggles for fledgling indys like UMass, Liberty, and New Mexico State, but provided you can balance a schedule with one or two payday games to go along with a slate of more competitive contests, it can be sustainable in the short-to-medium term. That’s what UMass has done to this point and while they are always looking for a potential conference home, Minutemen AD Ryan Bamford has done well giving the team a chance to succeed. Unfortunately UMass’ biggest issue right now is that the team is not taking advantage of that chance and are really struggling through what was supposed to be a “turn the corner” type of season. UMass’ ideal spot is in the American Athletic Conference, home to old foes UConn and Temple among others, and if they had the opportunity to go there they would take their entire department with them and leave the Atlantic 10 behind. Full membership in any other conference at this point seems unlikely, as UMass does not want to leave the Atlantic 10 and hinder their basketball program or over-strain their Olympic sports for the wrong fit. They had that chance with the MAC but elected independent football life instead and remained in the A10. They are always looking, but given that any realignment is unlikely for several more years, it’s more of a monitored holding pattern right now.
ASOR: How does the fanbase view the move up from FCS to FBS? Has it generally been positive?
MT: That one is a bit of a minefield, as there have been strong opinions on both sides. There are some folks who miss the days of playing more traditional rivals at the FCS level where UMass was a power for a long time and wouldn’t mind seeing that again. There are also many people, myself included, who appreciate the move up for not only the potential financial ramifications (you are basically guaranteed to lose money at the FCS level), but also the ability to showcase the university on a national stage against the highest level of competition, which is big for a public, flagship university like UMass. The main issue is that the move itself has been wrought with missteps and pitfalls along the way, and the program has yet to win more than four games in a single season since they made the jump in 2012. In contrast, Liberty has already won four games this year. I think more people will come around on the move if the program can get themselves on the right path and start to consistently produce wins. People, especially students and alumni, love a winner, and winning can cure nearly anything that ails you.
ASOR: The Flames and Minutemen are scheduled to play each of the next 8 years, do you see this developing into a rivalry?
MT: I certainly could see this developing into a rivalry because as the old saying goes, ‘familiarity breeds contempt.’ The Minutemen have some older “rival” schools at the FBS level that they have not really been able to play consistently or competitively for a number of reasons to this point (Boston College and UConn) but are working on scheduling them as often as they can. That said any team that they will play for nearly a decade straight has an above-average chance to become a rival and that’s a good thing for a pair of schools currently without a conference.
ASOR: Andy Isabella is obviously a very dynamic player. Where does he rank in UMass history as far as wide receivers?
MT: Isabella is fantastic and he is easily one of the three best Minutemen to ever play as a wide receiver, and you could make an argument he is #1. Isabella is second all-time for UMass in receptions & receiving yards and third all time in touchdown catches, and all that with three more games to go this year. It is possible that against Liberty he will reach the 200 catch and 3,000 career yard marks as well, as he only needs 3 catches and 81 yards to do so. He’s a dynamic player who has a potential future in the NFL where the likes of Victor Cruz and Tajae Sharpe have made names for themselves as wide receivers coming out of UMass.
ASOR: The defense has struggled all season, similar to Liberty’s, but it looks like there have been improvements over the past couple of games. Is that just because of the opponent, or has there been some improvement?
MT: I’d say it’s a combination of both. UMass’ last two opponents are not offensive juggernauts, but the defense has definitely made some strides, particularly against the run and at the line of scrimmage. The problem is that the UMass offense, which was consistently scoring points even if the defense couldn’t stop anyone, has cooled off significantly in the last two games. I will say though that this UMass/Liberty matchup strikes me as a ‘bet the over’ type of game where both defenses might have their issues. The Flames’ passing attack is an offensive aspect that UMass hasn’t faced in several weeks so it could certainly cause some problems if it is efficient early on.
Thank you Mike for joining us. Liberty fans, be sure to give FightMassachusetts a follow on twitter @FightMA247 this week!
