The Whipple Effect
After going a dismal 2-22 in their first two seasons playing in the MAC, UMass Football was left searching for answers, and Charley was not providing any of them. The Minutemen knew that moving up to play with the big boys at the D1 level wouldn’t be an easy transition, but they got completely DOMINATED last season with an average score of 33.0-11.7. They also let up an average of 433.2 yards of offense per game while only putting up 281.6. Obviously it would be unfair to place all the blame on Molnar, but the numbers don’t lie and something needed to be done. With 2 years left on his contract worth over $800,000, the University of Massachusetts decided to part ways with Molnar. This past January, UMass took what I would call a giant leap forward by bringing back a familiar face in Mark Whipple. In his previous tenure with the Minutemen (98′-03′), Whipple went 49-26 in the A-10, leading his team to 3 conference titles and most notably a NCAA National Championship in 1998. He also brought UMass to the NCAA Quarterfinals the next season where they lost to Georgia Southern 38-21.
“We will win championships at UMass. We will take this program to the next level. We’re here to get jewelry.”
After his 5 years as a head coach with the Minutemen, Whipple bounced around some big time programs including: Pittsburgh Steelers (04′-06′), Philadelphia Eagles (07′-08′), Miami Hurricanes (09′-10′), and finally the Cleveland Browns (11′-12′). Whipple is a heavily offensive-minded coach, specifically when it comes to quarterbacks. So it comes as no surprise that Aaron Whipple (Mark’s son), transferred from Penn State to UMass as a QB for this upcoming season. With a resume like his, it is a huge addition to the UMass Minutemen to have Mark Whipple wearing a headset on their sidelines once again. And if you think Whipple is back in Amherst for any other reason than to turn this ship around, then he has some words for you: “We will win championships at UMass. We will take this program to the next level. We’re here to get jewelry”. That’s the kind of attitude I want in my head coach, and I’m very excited to see what this season has in store for the Minutemen. 
