AMHERST - It has been a decade since Tom Masella went down with the ship at Boston University. In 1997, Masella was the coach of the Terriers when the school administration decided to disband the 91-year-old football program.
Today, Masella resurfaces in one of his old Bay State haunts as he leads resurgent Fordham against the University of Massachusetts in a first-round Championship Subdivision playoff game at McGuirk Stadium. The 8-3 Rams might not be the Fordham of Vince Lombardi, but they have turned things around from the 3-8 squad of a year ago, Masella's first with Fordham.
"We're on the right track," said Masella. "We're happy where we are, but we know we still have a long way to go."
The game marks a homecoming for Masella that is more recent and direct than his days with the Terriers. In 2002 and '03, he served as the defensive coordinator for UMass under former coach Mark Whipple.
"My family still wishes they were back in Western Mass.," Masella said. "My wife and two boys left town kicking and screaming."
After UMass, Masella had a two-year stint at Central Connecticut State, taking over a program that had not had a winning season in 17 years. He led the Blue Devils to records of 8-2 and 7-4 and a pair of Northeast Conference titles, the first in school history.
This season, Masella led the Rams to the Patriot League crown. Fordham has been particularly impressive on the road (5-0), so it is not apt to be intimidated today.
The coach has energized the once nationally prominent Fordham program with an aggressive approach. Witness his recruiting of sophomore John Skelton, a 6-foot-5-inch quarterback from El Paso. Skelton had notified Fordham of his plans to pass through the university briefly on an unofficial visit on a Friday between official stops at Columbia and Holy Cross. On the job for a few weeks, Masella met with Skelton, took a look at his game tape, then said he would be in El Paso the next Tuesday to talk further.
Last week, in the regular-season finale against Bucknell, Skelton threw for 366 yards.
Skelton has the controls of a spread offense that features two explosive tailbacks. Senior Jonte Coven (926 rushing yards, five touchdowns) was named to the All-Patriot first team, and Xavier Martin (612 rushing yards, eight TDs) was the league's Rookie of the Year.
The teams have three common opponents. Fordham was 3-0 against Holy Cross, Colgate, and Rhode Island. UMass was 2-1, falling in overtime at Rhode Island on a day when the Minutemen's often lethal passing attack was grounded by the wind and rain of Hurricane Noel.
The seventh-ranked Minutemen (9-2) will be by far the top team No. 23 Fordham has played. Cochampion of the Colonial Athletic Association, UMass has won 13 straight games at home. Many of the team's key players were big-time performers in last year's playoff run that extended to the national championship game, where the Minutemen fell to Appalachian State.
"We definitely know what it takes to get there, the hard work and the pain, the determination and the drive," said UMass middle linebacker Charles Walker, who played as a true freshman for Masella in 2003. "We mapped a blueprint for ourselves last year, and we're just going to try to follow that same structure this year."
Fordham at UMass
What: Championship Subdivision Playoff
When: Today, noon
Where: Amherst
TV/radio: ESPNU, WCRN (830)
