UMass football: Minutemen to hire Mike Bajakian as offensive coordinator

New UMass offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian is shown here as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers coaching staff in 2018.

New UMass offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian is shown here as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers coaching staff in 2018. AP FILE

By GARRETT COTE

Staff Writer

Published: 12-17-2024 4:12 PM

AMHERST — The wait is over.

The UMass football team has hired an offensive coordinator, as ESPN’s Pete Thamel first reported on Monday night that Mike Bajakian has agreed to a deal to become the next OC for the Minutemen.

Bajakian spent last season as an offensive analyst at Utah, and prior to that spent four seasons as Northwestern’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Bajakian has also been a quarterbacks coach in the NFL, helping out signal callers – including Jameis Winston and Ryan Fitzpatrick – for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2015-18. He also coached in a Super Bowl with the Chicago Bears in 2006, as he served as an offensive quality control coach. Other notable stops for Bajakian include Tennessee, Boston College and Cincinnati, where he was an offensive coordinator at each spot.

It was important to new UMass head coach Joe Harasymiak to have an OC hired before moving forward with offensive position coach hirings, hence why his staff consists of mainly defensive coaches thus far. Now that Bajakian is headed to Amherst, the offensive staff should begin to take shape rather quickly.

While Bajakian was at Northwestern, the Wildcats had the 95th, 116th, 107th and 124th ranked offense in FBS. In 2019, Boston College’s offense ranked 47th under Bajakian. His best offenses were at Central Michigan from 2007-09, when the Chippewas cracked the top 25 in total offense all three seasons Bajakian called the plays.

UMass has yet to formally announce Bajakian’s hiring.