Joe Harasymiak (AP)
AMHERST, Mass. — Rutgers defensive coordinator Joe Harasymiak has been hired as head coach at Massachusetts, which has never won more than four games in a season since elevating its program to the top-tier Football Bowl Subdivision in 2012.
Harasymiak takes over the program as it prepares to join the Mid-American Conference in July. The Minutemen have been an independent for nine seasons. He was introduced at a news conference Friday.
Harasymiak previously was defensive backs coach and co-defensive coordinator at Minnesota for four seasons and was head coach at Maine, where he was the 2018 Football Championship Subdivision coach of the year after leading the Black Bears to a 10-4 record and national semifinal.
He succeeds Don Brown, who was fired last month after going 6-28 in three seasons. Brown also was head coach from 2004-08 when UMass played in the FCS.
The Minutemen finished this season 2-10, with their wins coming against FCS teams.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Join the Conversation
We believe it’s important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It’s a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others. Read more...
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
For those stories that we do enable discussion, our system may hold up comments pending the approval of a moderator for several reasons, including possible violation of our guidelines. As the Maine Trust’s digital team reviews these comments, we ask for patience.
Comments are managed by our staff during regular business hours Monday through Friday and limited hours on Saturday and Sunday. Comments held for moderation outside of those hours may take longer to approve.
By joining the conversation, you are agreeing to our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is found on our FAQs.
You can modify your screen name here.
Show less
Join the Conversation
Please sign into your CentralMaine.com account to participate in conversations below. If you do not have an account, you can register or subscribe. Questions? Please see our FAQs.