Mark Whipple’s tenure as UMass head football coach appears to be over.
The Minutemen decided to fire Whipple after five seasons in charge of the program, The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman reported Tuesday, citing a source with knowledge of the situation.
UMass is parting ways with Mark Whipple, a person with knowledge of the matter tells @BruceFeldmanCFB. That and more news in the Coaching Tracker: https://t.co/wVgwHO8Aj3
— The Athletic CFB (@TheAthleticCFB) November 20, 2018
UMass suspended Whipple one game without pay earlier this season after he accused referees of allowing opponents to “rape” his players following the loss to Ohio University.
The faux pas was came amid a second consecutive 4-8 season, which dropped his overall record at the school to 65-70. His win/loss numbers at UMass span the course of two separate stints — the first between 1998 and 2003, which included the 1998 Division I-AA championship, and the second running between 2014 and 2018.