UMass OL Mike Entwistle | Through The Eyes Of A Teammate

One of Mike Entwistle's former teammates offers insight on what the Minutemen are getting in the former Harvard offensive lineman.

When the 2025 UMass Football season comes around, the Minutemen will add experience and physicality with offensive lineman Mike Entwistle. Last season, the Harvard transfer boasted a loaded stat sheet with 69 knockdowns while allowing just two sacks. He finished with a Pro Football Focus (PFF) overall grade of 72.6.

One of his teammates emphasized his toughness and everyday pursuit for greatness.

“He brought consistency and would show up every day while playing through injuries,” Entwistle’s teammate told Minuteman Command. “The guy was always on the field.”

Defensive lines knew Entwistle for his physical style of play, earning him All-Ivy League First Team honors as well as the Phil Steele Preseason Second Team All-Ivy League honor. He started in all 10 games for the Crimson his junior and senior year.

His solidity on the line was prevalent in both pass and run blocking at Harvard. He carried a 64.3 PFF grade when defending the quarterback and a 73.5 grade when blocking for the ground game.

As UMass moves into a new era with head coach Joe Harasymiak and offensive line coach Kurt Anderson, they have made it clear they are looking for hardworking players to push the program forward.

“He’s a culture guy,” the teammate said. “He wore the one bar face mask his senior year. He is a gritty tough kid and any defense would dread it when they faced him in practice or games. A school like UMass that is trying to rise up the rankings will need smart football players. Mike is absolutely one of them.”

Another priority Harasymiak has hinted at is the need for intelligent football players. The Ivy League gives you that and more. Special teams coordinator Joe Castellitto came from Dartmouth during the winter and brought notable Ivy League names including Kyle Brown, Zach Farris, Grant Jordan and Dean Shaffer.

“The technique, physicality and football IQ with these kids in the Ivy League is pretty crazy from what I’ve seen,” the teammate said. “The biggest thing is watching film. The way they watch film in this league helps you see things you’ve never seen before, and once you get to this level of football, specifically in the Ivy League, it’s so much more in-depth.”

After finishing his senior year, Entwistle took up the option to graduate transfer somewhere, but this year's recruiting process wasn’t his first rodeo. According to the source, he had a number of FBS offers coming out of high school, and when it came out he earned All-Ivy, he got more recognition from schools. Despite noise from other colleges, UMass was his obvious top choice from the start.

With many question marks surrounding the offensive line, it will be interesting where Entwistle slots in. In his last two seasons with Harvard he started at left guard, but the Paramus, N.J., native has proven his overall versatility in other positions.

“He is a versatile player that can move to right guard or center if his squad needed him,” the teammate said. “The transition won’t be too big of an issue because his physicality and his overall play style is great.”

As of now, there isn’t one player on the line who looks to be a guaranteed starter Week One. At left tackle, the battle between Ryan Mosesso and Luke Painton has been an interesting one to watch. On the other side at right tackle, the two new transfers in Bradley Kamga and Zachary Franks will need to battle that spot out. Entwistle, Sullivan Weidman and Kyle Brown will battle for the two guard spots. Don’t count out guys like Mao Glynn II, Jaxon King or Brock Taylor either.

Entwistle will have to hit the ground running when preseason practices come around because of his inability to participate in spring camp. All in all, his potential is obvious to many, and a player with years of experience could be extremely beneficial to an offensive line that struggled last season in multiple positions.

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