Earlier today Pre-Snap Read -- an excellent read for those of you have that haven't checked it out before -- previewed UMass football. Rated by the author as the #120 program in the country the article talks about the challenges UMass will have adjusting to their first year at the FBS level playing in the MAC Conference.
This wasn't the last UMass post on PSR today. This afternoon I could not believe my eyes when I read the comments UMass Coach Charley Molnar had to say about the goals of the team:
"I don’t look at UMass as being Massachusetts’ football team," said Molnar. "I look at UMass as being New England’s football team. There’s no reason why we can’t be the No. 1 [F.B.S.] team in New England."
Scratches head. Walks away. Reads again. Laughs hysterically.
So let me get this right -- a first year MAC team thinks that a logical goal will to become the #1 school in the entire region? Give me a break. The Minutemen have at least five years of being the punching bag of the MAC with inevitable beat downs by such national powerhouses such as Ohio and Northern Illinois on the docket. Now I have nothing but respect for the MAC: they play exciting footballa nd last season they were a lot of fun to watch (on a Tuesday or Wednesday night). Otherwise as a conference its football product is irrelevant. They have no major bowl tie ins and they never win big games.
Secondly, I am assuming Molnar is trying to punch BC while they are down. As Spaz and Gene continue to drive the program into the ground, it's the perfect time for an up-and-coming program to try and grab whatever recruits or regional relevancy that it can. But honestly, how much longer will BC allow these two to ruin the football program? Either they turn it around, or what is most likely the program suffers a year or two of horrible football and the Board of Trustees will rid of us of the dynamic duo. That would be 2014 at the latest, a year in which the Minutemen will still be hanging out in the basement of the MAC.
I get the chest thumping and bravado that Molnar is trying to do. Honestly, BC could use a little of that out of Coach Sadface. But right now UMass is playing in a conference that is only mid-level against programs that no one in Massachusetts is going to care about, and in a conference with tie-ins to such power house bowls as the Little Caesars Bowl, the Go Daddy Bowl, the Military Bowl and the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. Add that to the fact that UMass is playing games at a stadium that is over an hour away from campus.
Boston College may be in trouble with the shape of the program, but Charley Molnar's comments shouldn't be taken seriously. BC is always going to be the premier program in the region. They have the history, the talent and the fan base that makes UMass's claim a check that is all but impossible to cash.