UMass football coach Don Brown has been fired and offensive coordinator Shane Montgomery will serve as interim coach starting this week when the Minutemen play at Georgia, athletic director Ryan Bamford announced Monday.
The Minutemen are 2-8, with their only wins against non-Football Bowl Subdivision opponents, and 6-28 in three seasons under Brown.
This was Brown's third stint at UMass. He was defensive coordinator in 1998-99. As head coach from 2004-08, the Minutemen were 43-19 and reached the Football Championship Subdivision championship game in 2006.
“I am extremely grateful to Coach Brown for returning to UMass three years ago to help us build back a program he once coached to a national title game,” Bamford said in a statement. “Don should have immense pride in the outstanding contributions he has made to advance Massachusetts Football during his three stops in Amherst."
The firing came two days after UMass lost in overtime to Liberty University, which included two missed kicks from the Minutemen — a field goal and an extra point.
After the game, Brown acknowledged it had been a long, frustrating season — but praised his team's resilience.
"When you're in coaching, sometimes you can't always pick the guys off the fruit train that, you know, you think you're going to win some games with," he said. "But, at the end of the day, I just like the way this group responds."
UMass is playing its final season as an independent and will join the Mid-American Conference in July.
“Largely due to his renowned coaching reputation, Don legitimized our FBS program and Massachusetts football has taken positive steps forward since his return,” Bamford said. "We are structurally positioned to accomplish our competitive goals as we move into a new league and a new college athletics landscape in 2025.”
After the Minutemen play at eighth-ranked Georgia on Saturday, they close the season at home against Connecticut.
UMass said the search for a new head coach "began immediately."
This report contains reporting from NEPM's Kari Njiiri.
