AMHERST — Since he was hired in December, Walt Bell hasn’t had a chance to catch his breath much.
Immediately after agreeing to become UMass’ next football coach, the race was on for him to secure recruits for the first national signing day at the end of the month. There was a brief pause to celebrate the holidays, but then it was right back to work as he and his ever-growing staff tried to attract more talent for the traditional signing day the first week of February.
After focusing for the first two months of his tenure on the new Minutemen, Bell quickly transitioned into coaching up the players he actually had on the roster in preparation for spring practices. Those valuable on-field sessions wrapped up on a rainy day two weeks ago and the race still hasn’t slowed down for either him or his staff.
UMass has charged into the spring evaluation period without batting an eye and hit the road with full force for the month of May. Even though many members of the staff are still trying to settle into life in the Pioneer Valley, they do so in the rare respites they have at home while attacking the recruiting trail with the same intensity they showcased on the practice field.
“It won’t stop, that will not stop,” Bell said. “The biggest thing for us is through this recruiting period, there’s not time for a break. We’ve got to capitalize on the momentum we’ve created and we’ve got to go see that through.”
Per NCAA rules, Bell is not allowed off campus for recruiting during this evaluation period, so he’s settled into his office in the Football Performance Center while keeping track of how everything is going for his coaches on the road. Although he joked that he’s bored at home in Amherst while his assistants are doing the interesting job of watching players live, he’s kept himself plenty busy accomplishing what he can from his desk.
UMass is still trying to secure last-minute commitments from recruits interested in joining the team next season while putting the roots down for future recruitment in critical areas. He said he’s talked to a lot of high school coaches around the country to both tell them that coaches are coming and also check in to make sure everything went smoothly when the coaches do visit. The Minutemen can only rely on the boost in interest that arises from being a new staff for so long, and Bell said these visits are important to helping build the trust to keep the pipeline open for talented players to make their way to UMass.
“I’ll typically spend the majority of my mornings calling high school coaches and making sure that those guys know how important they are to us and making sure our guys are doing a great job outside on the road,” Bell said. “I’ve heard nothing but positive things thus far. Everybody loves the new guy and we get to play that role right now, but we need to prove to these guys year after year and day after day that we’re in this for their kids and we’re trying to do the best job we can to evaluate their guys.”
The Minutemen have put an extra emphasis on two states in the two weeks since spring practices ended. The Tuesday after the spring exhibition, all 10 assistants hit the pavement in Massachusetts, an effort that lasted for much of the week as some coaches migrated to other areas. The unit re-assembled in New Jersey on Monday with the 10 coaches spread out across that state in an effort that bled into Tuesday and Wednesday.
Bell said the concerted effort in those two states is important because Massachusetts and New Jersey will become home base for the Minutemen as he tries to build the UMass program. He said he needs to make sure the coaches in those areas feel loved and can build the necessary foundation to create a pipeline for future victories.
“It’s momentum building more than anything else,” Bell said. “We’re just trying to ensure the people in Massachusetts and New Jersey know how important they are to us, more than anything else, that’s what it’s about. It’s just about branding that those two areas are of critical importance to us and that we’ve got to do a great job at evaluating talent and recruiting talent from those two states for us to have long-term success.”