Earlier this week, Walt Bell was fired as the head football coach at the University of Massachusetts. Here is a look at the Massachusetts football program since 2012 (the first year that UMass joined the Football Bowl Subdivision). This time period only covers head football coach Charley Molnar (2012-2013), Mark Whipple (2014-2018) and Walt Bell (2019-2021*). After the figure below is a more detailed look at the UMass football program during head coach Bell's tenure based on the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model using data provided by www.cfbstats.com. (The vertical school color bars represent seasons where head coaches changed).
Walt Bell [2019-2021] [contract]
2019
UMass finished the regular season at 1-11, and were bowl ineligible. The Minutemen
played against an “easier” strength
of schedule (SOS), meaning that the Minutemen's SOS was between one and two
standard deviations higher than the average SOS for the "league". UMass's only win was over #127 ranked Akron and their worst
loss was to #FCS Southern Illinois (20-45). UMass was the #130 ranked team overall (the worst performing team), with the #127 ranked
offense (a top 10 worst offense in all of the FBS) and the #130 ranked defense (the worst performing defense) using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.
2020
UMass finished the COVID-19 shortened regular season at 0-4, playing against a “much tougher” strength
of schedule (SOS), meaning that UMass's SOS was less than two
standard deviations below the "leagues" average SOS. UMass's
worst
loss was to #64 ranked Florida Atlantic (2-24). UMass was the #127 ranked team overall (a top 10 worst performing team), with the #127 ranked
offense (a top 10 worst offense) and the #39 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.
2021*
After
a 1-8 start to the 2021 season Bell was fired. UMass played against an “average” strength
of schedule (SOS), meaning that UMass's SOS was plus or minus one
standard deviation of the "leagues" average SOS. UMass's only win was against currently ranked #128 Connecticut by a
score of (27-13) and their current worst loss was to #FCS Rhode Island by a score of (22-35). UMass is currently the #129 ranked team overall (a top 10 worst program), with the #120 ranked
offense and the #130 ranked defense (the worst defense) using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.
2021 FBS Head Coaching Changes