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KEVIN GUTTING

New UMass head football coach Charley Molnar readies a ceremonial tipoff for O.D. Anosike, left, of Siena and Sean Carter of UMass before the start of their game in the Hall of Fame Holiday Showcase on Friday at the MassMutual Center in Springfield.

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KEVIN GUTTING

New UMass head football coach Charley Molnar is interviewed on the UMass Sports Network by Glenn Wong, left, and Josh Maurer during the UMass basketball game against Siena in Springfield Friday. Molnar was on hand at the Mass Mutual Center as UMass played in the Basketball Hall of Fame Holiday Showcase. Molnar wears a Big East Championship ring from his time at Cincinnati.

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New UMass head football coach Charley Molnar addresses the crowd at the Mass Mutual Center in Springfield during halftime of the UMass vs. Siena game of the Basketball Hall of Fame Holiday Showcase. Molnar asked for help in filling Gillette Stadium.

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KEVIN GUTTING

New UMass head football coach Charley Molnar, wearing a Big East Championship ring from his time at Cincinnati, is interviewed on the UMass Sports Network by Glenn Wong, left, and Josh Maurer during the UMass basketball game against Siena in Springfield Friday. Molnar was on hand at the Mass Mutual Center as UMass played in the Basketball Hall of Fame Holiday Showcase.

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KEVIN GUTTING

New UMass head football coach Charley Molnar, center, watches introductions prior to the UMass vs. Siena match in the Basketball Hall of Fame Holiday Showcase on Friday at the Mass Mutual Center in Springfield.

New University of Massachusetts football coach Charley Molnar didn't hesitate Thursday when asked if there was a school he was planning to use as a model for his building process at UMass. He'd clearly thought about the topic before.

"A great example would be Boise State," Molnar said. "Boise State was a transitional school going from I-AA to I-A and they were the flagship university, similar to UMass. They were looking for the recognition football would bring not only to their athletic department and the university, but to the state. UMass right now is at a critical juncture where we could do the same thing with the success of the football program. I think this is a critical time and the Boise model is the best I can think of."

Molnar said as his career progressed that he hoped to someday get a chance to create a similar building project.

"I've often thought over the past several years that I would like to create a Boise State at some university," Molnar said. "Fortunately for me my professional career is going to be at the University of Massachusetts trying to do the same thing."

Boise has only been a four-year school since 1968. It joined Division I as a Division I-AA program in 1978, then moved up to Bowl Subdivision in 1996. Ten years later the Broncos upset Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, their first BCS bowl appearance.

The Minutemen will join the Mid-American Conference and start playing a full Bowl Subdivision schedule in 2012. They become bowl eligible in 2013.

KELLY INFLUENCE - Molnar will coach one more game - the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando, Fla., on Dec. 29 - as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Notre Dame. Molnar has worked under Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly since 2006, with stops at Central Michigan and Cincinnati.

He said Kelly has been a big influence on his career.

"Working with Coach Kelly, I learned you can get your teams to play hard," Molnar said. " I worked with him for six years. This will be our sixth bowl game together. I've learned things from Coach Kelly as far as organization, motivation, hiring a staff. On Monday (on a recruiting trip to Virginia) we had an opportunity to talk on the plane and go over staffing things that he looked for."

CHARLEY MOLNAR III - Molnar wasn't sure if his son, Charley Molnar III, would be joining his staff right away, but hoped he would eventually. Molnar III is currently a graduate assistant at Buffalo.

"I don't know how fast I can get him here, but I would really like him to part of the process when we grow this program," Molnar said.

HALFTIME SPEECH - Molnar's first halftime speech as the UMass coach came at Friday's men's basketball game in Springfield. He made an impassioned plea to fans to buy season tickets and get behind the Minutemen.

Molnar also participated in a ceremonial pregame tipoff. UMass played Siena in the Hall of Fame Holiday Showcase.

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.