AMHERST — With Saturday’s game against UConn at McGuirk Alumni Stadium concluding the 2024 UMass football season, all eyes – if they weren’t already – now turn to the Minutemen’s head-coaching vacancy.

And helping UMass Director of Athletics Ryan Bamford with the search for a new man in charge is Chad Chatlos of TurnkeyZRG. Over the course of the past decade, it seems as if Chatlos has been involved in every prominent college football hire. Whether it be Jim Harbaugh going to Michigan, Steve Sarkisian to Texas, Curt Cignetti to Indiana, Shane Beamer to South Carolina or big men’s basketball hires like Dusty May to Michigan, Tommy Lloyd to Arizona or even Frank Martin to UMass, Chatlos and his team have played a hand in each one.

Next on his list? Helping Bamford find a new head football coach to lead the Minutemen as they head to the MAC in 2025.

Chatlos and his TurnkeyZRG team – which he said consists of five people, sometimes more – will be, and have been since Brown’s dismissal, assisting Bamford as he looks to make his third football head coaching hire during his tenure in Amherst. Some search firms are more hands on, while others take a backseat and only step in when asked. Chatlos said he and the TurnkeyZRG team are playing a supportive role in this case.

“All these coaches have their own agents, so we kind of bolt on and become the agent for the AD,” Chatlos said. “We’re there to help them negotiate… [Bamford] is a pro. He’s been around this business for a long time, and he is very process-oriented. He knows what he’s doing and he’s got a great network of people. Our role here is very supportive. [Bamford will say], ‘Hey, I’m thinking about these guys because I like this, this and this. What do you know? What do you think? Am I tracking along the right way? Can you do some due diligence on this person in regards to this? You know, player development, recruiting, how they work in the building, personality...’

“We have a great relationship with these agents, and they don’t want to burn bridges with us because we’re going to be doing many more searches with them for different schools and their coaches.”

Any time an athletic director, in this case Bamford, is faced with making a hire for their school’s football program, it’s critically important to land the correct fit. A successful football team helps grow the school’s entire athletic department. So after accumulating eight total wins (four against FBS opponents) over the course of Bamford’s first two football hires (Walt Bell and Don Brown), Bamford acknowledged this hire is even more crucial that the rest. With all the extra attention focused on the search, he knows he needs to get it right.

Given the current state of UMass football compared to what it was the last two times the job was open, Bamford certainly has an opportunity to do so. Because the Minutemen are joining the MAC next fall (which comes with a host of benefits), and because they are going to have – according to Bamford – an increased NIL and coaching budget, he believes the job is on the same level in terms of interest as other current Group of 5 openings.

Entering the final week of the regular season, several programs this fall had or still have a chance to win their respective conference championships in their first year as members of those conferences. Colorado (Big 12), Arizona State (Big 12), Texas (SEC), SMU (ACC), Indiana (Big 10) and Oregon (Big 10) are a few. Chatlos believes UMass has a real chance to be in the same situation in the MAC 365 days from now.

“The product is so much better now,” Chatlos said of UMass. “They are competitive and have been in a lot of games. Being an independent is really hard, and that schedule is brutal. Going into the MAC, what you’re able to recruit, you can pay players, investing in revenue share… Certainly [Bamford] wants to get it right and get started off on the right foot… We’ve seen it in college football, if you get the right coach, they bring some players, they put the right core and culture together, you can [succeed] in the first year. And I think that’s what [Bamford] and everybody at UMass is excited about.”

Chatlos, who declined to name any specific candidates, mentioned there isn’t just one prototype that UMass is looking for as its next head coach. The candidates range under a wide umbrella, and there’s no preference of whether a coach is young and up-and-coming, or seasoned and proven looking for another shot. Bamford has all of his options open, and he said his only goal is to find the best fit.

While everyone involved prefers the opening is filled as soon as possible, Chatlos described their approach as “moving quickly without rushing.” The first two weeks of December feature early signing day for high school recruits and the opening of the transfer portal. Having a head coach in place would be ideal, but Bamford would rather take extra time to ensure he makes the right hire than rush the decision for recruiting and make the wrong hire, according to Chatlos.

“When you’re making this decision, hopefully, if you get it right, this is a five, six, seven, eight-year type decision,” Chatlos said. “And some people get so focused on the portal and recruits, but you can still change your roster in the spring. Would you love to get that coach hired so you can get a jump on that first recruiting class? Of course you would. But I always say, you never want to mortgage one class for the future. To say, ‘Hey, we have to have it done by this day or we’re going to miss out on this class,’ that’s short-sighted.”

Chatlos also said that Bamford is monitoring other jobs that are open to get a sense of his peers and who they may be targeting as coaching candidates. If direct competitors are looking at similar names, Bamford may be more inclined to move quicker to ensure he doesn’t miss out on coaches he wants.