Winning with Joe Harasymiak

RUfan1977

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Mar 24, 2024
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It was probably discussed at the time he left, but the downward trajectory of Rutgers football may have a lot to do with losing Joe Harasymiak at the end of 2024. His first year at UMass he went 0-12, which makes this year’s turnaround even more impressive. In his latest game he beat a rock hard Stonehill team 36-14 and is now 3-0. So far beating Rutgers by 16 was their closest game.

They shouldn’t look ahead, but football fans can look forward to them taking on UConn on October 23 on CBS Sports Network. Win or lose, fans are likely going to see a well coached team.
 

M.Sherrane

Freshman
Sep 10, 2026
72
70
18
It was probably discussed at the time he left, but the downward trajectory of Rutgers football may have a lot to do with losing Joe Harasymiak at the end of 2024. His first year at UMass he went 0-12, which makes this year’s turnaround even more impressive. In his latest game he beat a rock hard Stonehill team 36-14 and is now 3-0. So far beating Rutgers by 16 was their closest game.

They shouldn’t look ahead, but football fans can look forward to them taking on UConn on October 23 on CBS Sports Network. Win or lose, fans are likely going to see a well coached team.
They will likely make a bowl game this year. They are at Sacramento State this week, who is likely the worst team in FBS and finish at Bowling Green, who might be the 2nd worse MAC team after Sac State. They play only 2 (Miami, OH and Toledo) of the preseason top 5 (Western Michigan, Ohio, Central Michigan) teams in the MAC. They should have a good season.
 
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AnonAmoose26

Freshman
Sep 6, 2026
85
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There's also a bit more tape available on how UMass plays with the current regime & roster in place. And teams now know they can't just sleepwalk through a game with them.
 

Knight Shift

Heisman
May 19, 2011
91,409
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I'm guessing both RU and UMASS fans thought they would both be 2-1 at this point of the season. One is 3-0 the other is 0-3.
Can you clarify which one? I went into a coma during the first quarter of the UMass game.

BTW, Think that Hetherman played a key role in the defense. Things fell off when he left and Harysymiak was still at RU.
 
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RU0917

Junior
Jul 21, 2025
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Can you clarify which one? I went into a coma during the first quarter of the UMass game.

BTW, Think that Hetherman played a key role in the defense. Things fell off when he left and Harysymiak was still at RU.
Joe H. is a good coach but I strongly suspect this as well. Hetherman left and not only did we get worse, but he immediately produced top-level defenses at Minnesota and Miami, the latter of which really struggled the prior year even with all the talent they had. Plus, Hetherman has the Curt Cignetti seal of approval. Assuming we're looking for a new HC after the season, he should be squarely on the list.
 

Loyal-Son

All-Conference
Jan 5, 2016
1,887
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Joe H. is a good coach but I strongly suspect this as well. Hetherman left and not only did we get worse, but he immediately produced top-level defenses at Minnesota and Miami, the latter of which really struggled the prior year even with all the talent they had. Plus, Hetherman has the Curt Cignetti seal of approval. Assuming we're looking for a new HC after the season, he should be squarely on the list.
Maybe, Joe was a victim of the bottoming out of funds under our previous AD. I hypothesized he might have left because he knew the talent had dropped drastically. UMass did not seem like a great destination to enhance his later career choices, so I am impressed that he has at least started to turn it around there.

Not advocating for him as our new coach, but I think he should be on the radar if he continues to win.
 
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Knight Shift

Heisman
May 19, 2011
91,409
89,621
113
Joe H. is a good coach but I strongly suspect this as well. Hetherman left and not only did we get worse, but he immediately produced top-level defenses at Minnesota and Miami, the latter of which really struggled the prior year even with all the talent they had. Plus, Hetherman has the Curt Cignetti seal of approval. Assuming we're looking for a new HC after the season, he should be squarely on the list.
I made that suggestion in another thread (maybe the Brian Kelly thread), and one poster flat out rejected him because of what happened with Ash and Schiano, both former DCs, and demanded someone with HC experience. I was initially warm to the idea of Brian Kelly, but like Greg, I think the modern game and environment has passed him by and he may be a retread.
 

Knight Shift

Heisman
May 19, 2011
91,409
89,621
113
Maybe, Joe was a victim of the bottoming out of funds under our previous AD. I hypothesized he might have left because he knew the talent had dropped drastically. UMass did not seem like a great destination to enhance his later career choices, so I am impressed that he has at least started to turn it around there.

Not advocating for him as our new coach, but I think he should be on the radar if he continues to win.
Could be, and needs more parsing through.

Here are the 2023 stats:
#7 of 14 in the B1G in total defense, key stars on defense were:
Jennings, Toure, Flip Dixon, Loyal, Igbinosun, Powell, Lewis, Longerbeam, Iton, Melton, Hamilton



Rutgers fell to 14 of 18 in defense. Key stars on defense were:
Djabome, Loyal, Flip Dixon, Powell, Igbinosun, Mascoe, Longerbeam, Sanders, Hamilton, Rogers

Note- we definitel missed Jennings, Toure, Lewis, Iton and Hamilton. But enough to fall THAT far? For further discussion. . . .



 

Caliknight

Hall of Famer
Sep 21, 2001
198,134
150,683
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It was probably discussed at the time he left, but the downward trajectory of Rutgers football may have a lot to do with losing Joe Harasymiak at the end of 2024. His first year at UMass he went 0-12, which makes this year’s turnaround even more impressive. In his latest game he beat a rock hard Stonehill team 36-14 and is now 3-0. So far beating Rutgers by 16 was their closest game.

They shouldn’t look ahead, but football fans can look forward to them taking on UConn on October 23 on CBS Sports Network. Win or lose, fans are likely going to see a well coached team.
He had a respectable D when he was at Rutgers. It's no coincidence that as soon as he left and Schiano was DC for a month, KSU rushed for 350 yards and had almost 600 yards of total offense. Schiano is a terrible, terrible, DC.
 

RU0917

Junior
Jul 21, 2025
173
225
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I made that suggestion in another thread (maybe the Brian Kelly thread), and one poster flat out rejected him because of what happened with Ash and Schiano, both former DCs, and demanded someone with HC experience. I was initially warm to the idea of Brian Kelly, but like Greg, I think the modern game and environment has passed him by and he may be a retread.
Ideally my preference is someone with HC experience, though not necessarily Kelly (why I mentioned Carty from UDel is near the top of my list in another thread). However, having followed enough of these hiring cycles over the years, I'm more open to the idea that if someone has *it,* they have it, regardless of whether they've been a HC before. Lanning (though early returns this year aren't great) and his protege Will Stein at Kentucky (though it's still very early) are some examples there.
 
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OriginalKnight

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Sep 16, 2014
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I made that suggestion in another thread (maybe the Brian Kelly thread), and one poster flat out rejected him because of what happened with Ash and Schiano, both former DCs, and demanded someone with HC experience. I was initially warm to the idea of Brian Kelly, but like Greg, I think the modern game and environment has passed him by and he may be a retread.
fail
 

OriginalKnight

All-Conference
Sep 16, 2014
4,486
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He had a respectable D when he was at Rutgers. It's no coincidence that as soon as he left and Schiano was DC for a month, KSU rushed for 350 yards and had almost 600 yards of total offense. Schiano is a terrible, terrible, DC.
This isn’t lacrosse.

In NCAA Div 1A football you can’t make generalizations based on 1 game.

The same goes for basketball, wrestling, baseball, soccer and other scholarship sports.

In the club sports like Lacrosse, rugby, etc. you can do this because each game is like a different season. The coach might miss games due to work conflicts, players have to study and miss games, or Johnson park might be flooded so the game is hard to analyze due to the playing conditions.
 
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