Brown couldn’t bring success to UMass in his second tenure with the program, finishing 6-28 in three seasons.
Two days after a brutal overtime loss to Liberty at home, UMass football head coach Don Brown has been relieved of his duties, effective immediately. Brown finishes his second head coaching tenure in Amherst with a 6-28 record.
“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,” UMass athletic director Ryan Bamford said via press release on Monday afternoon. “Don should have immense pride in the outstanding contributions he has made to advance Massachusetts Football during his three stops in Amherst. Upon his return in 2021, we shared a common goal to help UMass football attain conference membership, something that was realized last spring. Largely due to his renowned coaching reputation, Don legitimized our FBS program and Massachusetts football has taken positive steps forward since his return. We are structurally positioned to accomplish our competitive goals as we move into a new league and a new college athletics landscape in 2025.”
Brown’s UMass team has suffered some particularly brutal losses in the 2024 season, squandering leads to future MAC foes in Miami and Toledo, as well as SEC foe Mississippi State even before giving up two separate double-digit leads to Liberty this past weekend. As of publication, the Minutemen have no wins against FBS teams, joining winless Kent State in the statistic, with their two victories claimed over FCS opponents from the Northeast Conference in Central Connecticut State and Wagner.
This was Brown’s third stop in Amherst, as he was previously staffed as a defensive coordinator from 1998-1999 before returning to coach the Minutemen from 2004-2008 as the main man, finishing with a cumulative record of 43-19, including an appearance in the FCS National Championship in 2006. From there, Brown served as a defensive coordinator for several Autonomous-level programs from 2009 to 2021 before being hired from Arizona.
Newly-hired offensive coordinator Shane Montgomery will be the interim head coach for the Minutemen for the remaining two games, with UMass scheduled to travel to Georgia this weekend. Montgomery is a familiar name for MAC football fans, having previously coached the Miami RedHawks from 2005-2008, finishing 17-31 with one MAC title game appearance.
A national coaching search will begin effective immediately, guaranteeing UMass will have a new coach when they launch their maiden Mid-American Conference campaign.