The Massachusetts Minutemen (2-8) are facing some distractions ahead of their game against the No. 10 Georgia Bulldogs (8-2) at Sanford Stadium in Athens on Saturday.
On Monday, the university announced the departure of head coach Don Brown, who recorded a 6-28 record during his last three seasons with UMass in his second term with the team.
On Thursday night, several players expressed their frustrations on social media regarding the athletic department’s failure to announce Senior players prior to the Minutemen’s final home game of the season against UConn on November 30.
In response, UMass issued a statement on Friday morning expressing regret for a “miscommunication” with the players. The athletic department will have a meeting on Friday to devise a new plan for the Senior Day events against UConn.
“We apologize for the miscommunication with our team about the planned Senior Day activities for next Saturday,” the statement said. “To clarify, the Senior Day ceremony was NEVER canceled; rather, we intended to modify the pre-game ceremony due to the high number of seniors (54 this year). We will meet with the seniors today to discuss the logistics of Senior Day and finalize a plan that accommodates everyone’s expectations.”
Senior tight end Dominick Mazotti, who spoke out about the original Senior Day plans, expressed optimism about the upcoming meeting but remains focused on Saturday’s game.
“Senior Day is back on,” Mazotti shared on X. “Thank you all for the support for the team. I hope to see some of you at our Senior Day next weekend, but for now, we have Georgia tomorrow.”
