Joe Harasymiak wasn’t going to wait to warn his players about handling success.
The conversation started after the season-opening victory at Rutgers and hasn’t stopped since.
The Minutemen have continued winning, matching the program’s best start since 2007 and creating the kind of attention that hasn’t often surrounded UMass football.
The UMass head coach understands his players are going to hear about all of it.
“I think it is difficult, especially with social media and all that, but I think our guys have done a really good job,” Harasymiak told reporters Monday. “I think our messaging has just been about one game at a time and taking it week to week.”
The Minutemen haven’t been in this position in a long time. Their 4-0 start is their first since 2007 and a win over Eastern Michigan on Saturday would give them their first 5-0 start since 1975.
Attention has followed. UMass has received votes in the national polls, a dizzying amount of interest on social media and enters its second MAC game as the conference’s only unbeaten team.
Harasymiak isn’t dismissing what the start means to the program or its fans. He just doesn’t want his players spending much time on it.
“We’ve never been here,” he said. “The job’s not even close to finished, but we’re focused on this week and against a great opponent. So that’s for the fans and everybody to enjoy.”
The message isn’t much different from the one Harasymiak delivered following UMass’ 37-21 win at Rutgers to open the season.
Recognizing the magnitude of that upset victory, Harasymiak knew increased attention would follow and began talking to his players about how they would handle success then.
“They’ve been hearing it for literally every single week that we come in here,” he said. “From my standpoint, I think I have a team that I trust. We’ve talked about it a lot. I think we have the leadership on the team that can deal with it.”
Nick Saban famously coined the term ‘rat poison’ to describe the enormous positive hype that can surround a team.
“We’ve talked about the term rat poison,” he said. “We’ve talked about all these things.”
Of course, that doesn’t mean Harasymiak wants the excitement surrounding the program to disappear.
UMass returns to McGuirk Alumni Stadium this weekend for the first time since improving to 4-0 with its 35-6 victory at Sacramento State. Harasymiak sees an opportunity for the momentum surrounding the Minutemen to translate into a significant home crowd.
“I’m really excited for the University,” he said. “This weekend, we can sell this thing out. We can have a massive crowd that we haven’t had in a long time.”
The distinction for Harasymiak is between what everyone around the program can enjoy and where his players need to direct their attention.
“We have to focus on what we can control in our job and that’s preparing the right way,” he said. “That’s coming in, having a great practice week.”
This week presents a unique challenge in that regard after UMass returned from its cross-country trip to Sacramento. Harasymiak said the Minutemen got back at 9:30 in the morning, leaving their bodies to readjust before beginning preparations for Eastern Michigan.
And the potential distractions aren’t limited to the attention generated by winning.
“This is the time of year that a lot of things, if you don’t have your life in line, can distract you,” Harasymiak said. “Classes, grades, reports, just everything. You’re feeling your body.”
Eastern Michigan provides another reason for UMass to keep its attention on the immediate task.
The Eagles are 2-3 overall and 1-0 in the MAC after playing a schedule that included trips to Michigan State and Wisconsin. Eastern Michigan head coach Chris Creighton is in his 13th season leading the program.
“We got to make sure we stay focused because I think a lot of times you can get shocked and surprised and all these things that can go on,” Harasymiak said. “So our main focus obviously this week is Eastern and they’ve played a hard schedule. And they’re going to come in here ready to play. They’re very, very well coached. And just watching the tape since we’ve been back, this is going to be a big challenge for us.
“I think they’ve heard the message and now we have to make sure we spend our energy on Eastern and focusing on them.”
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Christian, i'm sure you're familiar with college sports radio on Sirius XM. This morning on their "stock up stock down" segment Rick Nueheisel gave a stock up to coach H. This is awesome, isn't it? I understand the game Saturday will be a sell out. Thanks again for all of your coverage on Minuteman Command.