UMass HC Joe Harasymiak | I Knew It Was Going To Be Hard

UMass head coach Joe Harasymiak talks about the challenge he's facing and why he's so proud of QB AJ Hairston.

Joe Harasymiak has had to answer a lot of questions about UMass’ 0-6 start in his first year as head coach and there will surely be more to be answered in the future, but Harasymiak answered a key one during his press conference on Monday.

Did he know it was going to be this difficult when he took the job?

“Yes,” Harasymiak said firmly. “Again, whatever went on here before I got here is whatever happened. There’s been really, really good coaches here before me. There has been. Whether they were assistants, whether they were head coaches, coordinators, there’s been a lot of really good coaches that have been here. So when I look at it, ‘If they struggled? OK, it’s probably pretty hard.’”

Harasymiak said that’s part of the reason he tries to keep a positive attitude.

“I’m an optimist at heart,” he said. “It’s the way I was raised, the way I was brought up. I can thank Mom and Dad for that, always looking at the positive in things.

“But I knew it was going to be hard. I did.”

He did acknowledge there are instances when he’s challenged or reminded about the challenge

“Are there certain things and times where I’m like, ‘How are they not getting it yet?’ Yes, but I look at that as how can I teach it better?” he said. “What am I not doing to get the connection between the dots? And that’s what I’m really focusing on.

“But certainly I knew it was going to be. But if I give up or we give up, what are we doing this for? I challenged the team.I challenged the players and the coaches. ‘If you’re doing this, whether you’re coaching or playing, and you don’t want to be the best, why are we wasting our time?’”

Harasymiak said he broke it down by hours for the program; nothing they players spend about 650 hours training during the offseason for 12 60-minute games.

“That’s about 8 to 9% of what you work for, you get of game time,” Harasymiak said. “So what are we waiting for? Cut it loose, be uncomfortable and go play.

“But in no way did I think this would be easy. And ultimately, I believe that’s why my heart led me here and I got the opportunity to do this. And we’re going to do everything we can do to make everybody proud. That’s the one thing I want to make sure everybody knows. That means more to me than anything.”

Harasymiak got choked up when talking about quarterback AJ Hairston, who has started the past two games and seems locked in as the starter moving forward.

The coach said Hairston is doing some good things, but he’s still young and they need to find ways to help him be more efficient.

But Hairston’s on-field play has little to do with what Harasymiak was talking about on Monday.

“Listen, the one thing I love about that kid is he really cares and I’m proud of him for that,” the coach said before stopping to catch himself.

“He really cares. I just love him. I love all of them. They know that. I love everybody on the team, but if you could see some of the emotion in that locker room and the emotion in this team room on Sunday, that’s why I believe in what we’re doing. That’s why I believe because you can’t fake that.

“And that kid probably cares more than everybody about this team and he’s trying to lead, he’s trying to do all the right things and we’re going to keep putting him in that position. I know he’s got goodness in his heart and I’ll trust that every day of the week.”

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