AMHERST – After 22 years calling offensive plays, Shane Montgomery spent the 2023 season working with longtime friends as an offensive analyst at East Carolina.

But when news first broke on Feb. 2 of Steve Casula leaving his post as UMass offensive coordinator to return to Michigan as its tight ends coach, Montgomery reached out to head coach Don Brown and defensive coordinator Keith Dudzinski to see if they had interest.

“You get the itch,” Montgomery said. “You’ve been doing it so long.” 

Montgomery said he’s been good friends with Brown and Dudzinski for over 20 years. The relationship first started through the American Football Coaches’ Wives Association, where Montgomery’s wife, Sandy, met Brown’s wife, Deborah, and Dudzinski’s wife, Kathy.

“There was a mutual interest,” Montgomery said. “Obviously they were just deciding what they wanted to do offensively, and they knew me some, so they knew my background. And obviously, I was interested.”

Montgomery had visited McGuirk Alumni Stadium twice as an opposing coach — as Charlotte’s offensive coordinator in 2018 and Buffalo’s offensive coordinator in 2022. When he came up to Amherst to interview, he came away liking the direction of the program, now in its third season with Brown and Dudzinski. On Feb. 15, Montgomery was officially announced as UMass’ offensive coordinator.

“I know that they got better, I knew they obviously won more, were in a lot of closer games, and then obviously, I knew that they had brought a lot of players in right before the interview,” Montgomery said. “So I felt like the talent level was better.”

Montgomery played quarterback at North Carolina State from 1986-89, including two and a half years as a starter. He coached quarterbacks and wide receivers at Chattanooga from 1993 to 2000, before moving back to his home state to coach at Miami (OH).

Montgomery’s first three seasons at Miami as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach were also two-time Super Bowl champion Ben Roethlisberger’s three seasons as the RedHawks’ starter. In 2003, Roethlisberger led Miami to an undefeated season in the MAC and a No. 10 ranking in the final AP poll. Montgomery was named a finalist for the Broyles Award, given to college football’s top assistant coach.

In 2005, Montgomery took the head job at Miami, the only time in his career he served as a head coach. He resigned in 2008 after a 2-10 season and coached for one season at Akron as offensive coordinator and tight ends coach before spending the next eight years as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Youngstown State, which advanced to the FCS Championship game in 2016.

After a year as the offensive coordinator at a Charlotte program in just its fifth season since reestablishment, Montgomery moved to another FCS power, James Madison, for the 2019 and 2020 seasons. The Dukes advanced to at least the FCS semifinals in both years.

Montgomery served as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for two seasons at Buffalo, before taking an offensive analyst job for the 2023 season with East Carolina.

“It’s a different perspective, because you’re doing different things,” Montgomery said of his time at East Carolina. “Gameplan-wise, you’ve got some things you can work on but I wasn’t calling it and it was good to sit back for a little bit.”

With 11 years of coaching experience at three different MAC schools and an additional spring spent at Toledo in 2023, Montgomery said he knows most of the coaches in the conference and is “very, very familiar” with it. UMass plays five of its first six games this season against MAC opponents – including matchups with former Montgomery homes Miami (OH), Buffalo and Toledo – before joining the conference full-time in 2025-26.

Montgomery said he’s ready to get started.

“I saw the program I felt like was going in the right direction with what they did last year compared to what they did in the ‘22 season,” Montgomery said. “I wanted to be a part of it and I’m glad I’m here.”