Jared Keyte Sees Improvement In UMass Defense Early This Spring
UMass defensive coordinator Jared Keyte acknowledged the Minutemen have "overhauled" their roster and that "this is our roster now."
After a difficult 2025 season, UMass defensive coordinator Jared Keyte believes the Minutemen are beginning to build the foundation for a more consistent defense.
Through four spring practices, UMass has focused on improving the core traits that define how it wants to play.
“Pretty happy with our intensity, with the speed that we’ve played with so far,” Keyte told reporters after Tuesday’s practice. “You’ve seen incremental improvement from Practice 1 to Practice 4 in our speed, our violence and our tempo.
“I feel like we’re building, but we’ve still got a lot more to move forward with.”
That progress is being made under different circumstances this year versus last year, according to Keyte.
“I think it’s two completely different scenarios,” he said. “I was learning a lot about our team last year just coming in old to new. As Coach (Joe) Harasymiak said, we’ve pretty much overhauled our roster. This is our roster now. We’ve recruited this roster.”
That familiarity has translated to better cohesion across the unit, he said.
“The speed, the violence and certainly the connection we’ve had this spring versus last spring, those are some of the things I notice the most,” Keyte said.
The defensive structure itself will look familiar, but the personnel driving it will not.
“It’s going to be different because it’s a lot of new guys,” Keyte said. “Schematically, in terms of what we do, it’s going to be very similar. We believe in what we do. We’re an attack-style defense who likes to be aggressive, but the faces and the types of tools and people we use in certain spots will certainly be different.”
An influx of new talent has added depth across the roster, something that was tested throughout last season.
Leadership has also played a key role early in camp, particularly from returning players like Tyler Martin, Timmy Hinspeter and TJ Magee.
“They’re leaders, natural leaders in our program,” Keyte said. “Having been here, the guys that we’ve chosen and they’ve chosen to stay with us, they know what we’re about and our foundation.
“In a lot of ways they can help guys just with the practice tempo, the leadership of how we’re supposed to go through drills, our transitions, the level of violence and communication that we play with. I think as leaders, it’s their approach that puts them in that position. It’s not necessarily what they say, but it’s their actions. So I think those guys are leaders by action and easy to follow for the new guys.”
That standard has helped new additions adjust quickly, including transfers Jahmad Harmon and Isaiah Reed, two new pieces brought in to try to shore up what was a leaky UMass secondary last fall.
“Those guys have played a lot of football,” Keyte said of Harmon, who played at Ball State and Kent State previously, and Reed, who played at Brown and UCF. “When you watch them, they’re very mature in their preparation and how they go about things.
“They’ve seen a lot that maybe some of the younger guys or guys who don’t have that playing experience have seen. But ultimately they’re coming in here, they’re vulnerable, they’re hungry and they’re humble. They’ve played a lot of football, but they have no expectations. So they’re going out and earning it and they’ve had a really good four-practice stretch.
That approach extends to the younger guys, including true freshmen cornerbacks Terron Johnson and Corey Warner.
“The thing I notice about that group is they listen,” Keyte said. “They’re very good listeners and I think a lot of that speaks to the people in their room.
“I think they gravitate toward guys like Isaiah Reed, Tyler Martin and Timmy Hinspeter…They’re constantly trying to learn, they listen and they just want to do things the right way.”
Off the field, the focus has been on the players building connections with each other despite so many new faces.
“The best defenses that I’ve been a part of, they play for each other,” said Keyte. “If we can get these guys connected and ultimately play for the guy next to them, we’ll get the most out of this group and I think it’s heading in that direction.”
Those connections have already begun showing up in the way the team operates day-to-day, according to Keyte.
“We’ve put a lot of emphasis on our connection,” said Keyte. “A lot of the guys who have been here believe in the guys that we’ve recruited. They’ve been a part of this recruiting process and they’re surrounding themselves with each other. You see them constantly eating together.
“We’re trying to find different ways to get guys and learn about offensive, defensive guys, trying to interconnect those guys.”
Beyond an improved roster, the UMass staff expects itself to be better in Year 2 than Year 1.
“We were kind of thrown into the mix in January of last year where it was recruiting, building a winter workout plan and teaching the staff all in one,” Keyte said. “Where (now) we really got time to go through, self-scout, evaluate ourselves, our players, our scheme, reteach it multiple times.
“I think there’s a lot more of understanding within our staff and more so learning how to work together; appropriate jobs, assignments, who’s good at what. So I think we’ve got a real good feel for each other. I think that’ll improve moving forward.”
Situational work has been a major point of emphasis as the group continues to install the system.
“That’s the game, it’s all situational football; down, distance, personnel, field position,” Keyte said. “As you start to change those things in front of them, a lot of the ownership then falls on them because a lot of that happens within the drive. You’re not able to talk to them. I’m able to talk to one person at a time.
“But understanding 3rd-and-3 versus 3rd-and-9; 11 and 12 personnel. So we had a lot of those situations today constantly changing and guys have to be cerebral and process formation tendencies, all those other things. So I think situational football, the more we can apply it and sprinkle it in within practice and change the situations, that’s the game because it’s never the same play twice.”
That mental development is tied closely to how the unit performs when the season begins.
“I don’t want to move forward without them fully understanding what we’re doing,” Keyte said. “By the time we get to the fall, after hearing it multiple times, it should be second nature.”
With more time to install the system and a roster built to fit it, Keyte sees a group beginning to take shape.
“There’s a lot more understanding within our staff and how we work together,” Keyte said. “Now it’s about continuing to build and getting better at what we do.”
Competition has also been elevated by improvements on the offensive side, particularly with transfer Pop Watson at quarterback.
“Competition is what brings out the best in us. You look across from skill to the offensive front, we’ve got some talent over there and then Pop obviously brings that competitive nature as the quarterbacks are very well-coached and attacking us. I think we bring out the best of each other and that’s what you want out of practice is kind of a punch for punch mentality. You never really want it to go one way because you want it to be competitive. So it’s challenging and we like that.”
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