Five former Arizona Football players are reuniting at UMass

Several Arizona Football players have entered the transfer portal and have been reuniting at the University of Massachusetts (UMass).

Five former Arizona Football players are reuniting at the University of Massachusetts (UMass). Jerry Roberts Jr., Tyler Martin, Josh Brown, Anthony Simpson, and Jermaine Wiggins have all transferred to UMass in order to continue their football careers.

As you may recall, the five players were all part of the Arizona Football program last season; however, they are now coming together again to pursue their dreams on the east coast.

Heading to UMass, it will be exciting to see how they perform at their new school, and how they work together as a team.

But why? What is going on?

The Wildcats improved from winning one game (1-11) in the 2021 season to winning five games (5-7) and came close to winning a few more in 2022.

The program was expected to have enough talent to compete in a bowl game by the 2023 season, especially as the NCAA Transfer Portal opened after the season.

While some players, such as Dorian Singer (the former walk-on), transferred to USC in order to gain more playing time and exposure, meanwhile, others were most likely denied playing time. And still, others discovered they were slated to drop a few positions on the depth chart.

Originally, Jerry Roberts, Jr. had announced he was coming back for another year. He loves Tucson and he was devoted to the football program, coaches and players. He was the face of the program’s social media posts and was a true motivator on and off the field.

Fans were ecstatic because Jerry ranked No. 2 in total tackles last season with 78. Jaxen Turner (also in the transfer portal), led the team with 79 tackles.

Arizona’s top two tacklers on defense are gone for next season, and we can surmise that the defensive coaching staff is going to rely on their recruits and the freshmen from last season.

We all know the NFL is a business, but now we know that the NCAA is more of a business than ever before.

Luckily for Roberts Jr. and his former teammates, the Defensive Coordinator who originally recruited them at Arizona is now the Head Coach of the UMass football program in the Independents Conference.

It will be a reunion of sorts, assuming Don Brown will give them playing time. There is so much going on behind closed doors, so it’s hard to understand if the 21 or so defections were wanted or not by the current coaching staff. That said, we hope there is a plan and the program continues to get better next season!

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