Era was a golden age for UMass football: The Gazette's All-Decade Team
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With the 2009 season over, so is one of the more interesting decades in University of Massachusetts football history.
Some of the best players ever to compete in Amherst suited up for UMass from 2000-09. So with a little help, I created the 2000s UMass Football All-Decade Team.
The team was determined by voting from media members, former Minuteman football players and UMass athletic department officials who have followed the program closely over the past decade. Fan voting conducted through the UMass sports blog on GazetteNET also was included.
For a player to be eligible, he needed to play at least half his career between 2000-09. So while Marcel Shipp and Kole Ayi did appear in games during this decade, they weren't eligible to be included on this team.
Some choices were obvious, others excruciating.
Quarterback: Liam Coen
There was no easier choice on this list. Coen left Amherst owning almost all of the school's passing records including career passing yards (11,031) and touchdown passes (90).
He led the Minutemen to two playoff berths including the 2006 Football Championship Subdivision title game.
Coen was an unanimous pick among the official voters and nearly unanimous among the fans. He would be a candidate for the all-time UMass team and was the obvious choice for all-decade quarterback.
Tailback: Steve Baylark
Another easy call. He's the only player in school history with four 1,000-yard seasons. He's second all-time in rushing yards (5,332) and third in rushing touchdowns (42). Nobody else this decade even came close.
Fullback: Rich Demers
Body-wise Demers was certainly a fullback, but he was more of a hybrid at times for the Minutemen as he filled in at tailback as well.
He rushed for 846 yards and six touchdowns in two seasons after transferring from UMass-Lowell. He caught 47 passes for 316 yards and six more TDs and gets some credit for blocking during two years of Baylark's impressive career.
Offensive line: Rob Kane, Alex Miller, Vladimir Ducasse, Matt Austin, Maikel Miret
One of the toughest spots to pick because how often do most observers really watch the offensive line?
Miller seemed pretty obvious and Kane, Austin and Miret were fairly easy choices.
The guy I actually wavered on was Ducasse, although I did vote for him. He's obviously a good player. But if you eliminate his NFL prospects, which to me weren't relevant, is he better than David Thompson or Sean Calicchio? It was certainly a position of strength for UMass overall.
Wide receiver: Adrian Zullo, Brandon London, Jason Peebler
Zullo was a bit of tough call. His best year was 1999 and he was better overall in the 1990s than in the 2000s but the body of his career puts him in any argument for best receiver in school history.
I think London's NFL career, albeit brief, helped him in the voting, but he was certainly a terrific player.
Peebler's 27 touchdowns and 19.5 yards per catch put him over the top.
Tight end: Brad Listorti
What's better - one dominant season or a couple of pretty good ones? That was the Listorti-Ian Jorgenson debate.
Jorgenson was the very definition of solid - a good blocker and a decent receiver.
Listorti, who transferred from Rutgers, was terrific as a junior in 2006, but was injured throughout 2007.
I went back and forth on this for a while before choosing Listorti, who had a critical role - especially in big games - during the team's playoff run in 2006.
Defensive line: Valdamar Brower, John Hatchell, David Burris, Keron Williams
Brower led UMass in sacks during the decade with 26. The former walk-on from Northampton High School emerged as a true playmaker during his time in Amherst.
Burris' 23 sacks and strong play on good teams helped earn him a spot.
Hatchell might have been the physically strongest player to wear a UMass uniform in the 2000s and gets credit for his game-winning pass deflection against New Hampshire.
Williams was a playmaker and a two-time all-Atlantic 10 player.
Linebackers: Jeremy Cain, Jason Hatchell, Charles Walker
Cain (363 tackles) and Hatchell (360) were the easy choices. They rank No. 5 and 6 respectively in career tackles and were often the best player on the field for the Minutemen.
Hatchell batted down a pitch to finish off a playoff win over New Hampshire in maybe the most memorable home game of the decade in 2006.
Walker edged a collection of quality choices - including Mark Kimener and Serge Tikum - for the third spot. Walker was ninth all time in career tackles (340).
Cornerbacks: Courtney Robinson, Sean Smalls
The fact that this duo played together helped land both on the list. They were as good a corner combination as UMass has ever had.
Steve Costello's injuries late in his career may have cost him a spot, while Tracy Belton and his 13 career interceptions, was tough to leave off.
Safety: Shannon James, James Ihedigbo
There has been no stronger position at UMass and no harder pick to make than this one. The fifth best safety this decade might be better than the best safety at most schools.
In my opinion the Minutemen didn't have a better football player in the decade than Shannon James. He was strong against the run and has the school record with 20 interceptions.
A lot of people picked Ihedigbo as their defensive player of the decade, which I think was a combination him being a very good player and the fact that he's in the NFL.
But even though James didn't make the NFL, he was the best safety during the decade.
It was hard to leave off Jeromy Miles, Anton McKenzie and Jeremy Robinson.
Special teams
Place-kicker: Chris Koepplin
If the Minutemen were better this year, Armando Cuko might have passed Koepplin, but Koepplin was a very good kicker on two very good teams. His career numbers aren't quite as good as Cuko's, but they're good enough.
Punter: Christian Koegel
This came down to Koegel or David Sanger, who are two of the best punters in school history.
Koegel's career average of 40.94 yards per punt is second all time, just ahead of Sanger's 40.6. That gives Koegel the slightest of edges.
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Follow UMass coverage on Twitter at twitter.com/GazetteUMass. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at http://www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage.
