Since 1965, their home games have been played at Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium on the university's campus in Hadley, Massachusetts.

The Minutemen have since played as an independent, however, in February 2024, the UMass athletics department announced that they will rejoin the MAC as a full member, effective July 1, 2025.

[4] UMass began playing football on November 22, 1879, when the school was known as Massachusetts Agricultural College, and the team was known as the "Aggies."

They were first organized the previous fall by Francis Codman, but did not play their first game until November 22, 1879, defeating the Amherst College freshman team 4–0.

The first meeting between the Aggies and each of the other schools resulted in a shutout win for Massachusetts, as they defeated Connecticut, 36–0, in 1897 and Rhode Island, 46–0, in 1903.

Though the official nickname remained "Aggies", "Statesmen" was also used interchangeably beginning when the school was renamed to Massachusetts State College in 1931.

Pittsburgh assistant coach Vic Fusia took over the Redmen football program in 1961 and under his tutelage, UMass compiled a record of 59–32–2.

[7] Denver Broncos linebackers and defensive backs coach Dick MacPherson, a former UMass assistant from 1959 to 1960, took over after Fusia's firing.

[14] UMass once again promoted their defensive coordinator, this time making Mike Hodges the team's head coach.

[16] In his first stint as coach of UMass from 1998 to 2003,[17] Mark Whipple won the NCAA Division I-AA national championship.

[18] Whipple left college football for a position as an assistant coach with the Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL in 2004.

In his first year, he led the Minutemen to a 6–5 record, including victories over fourth-ranked Colgate, seventh-ranked New Hampshire, and ninth-ranked Maine.

That year, the Minutemen defeated fourth-ranked James Madison and handed Delaware their worst home loss in two decades, 35–7.

[22] UMass promoted offensive coordinator Kevin Morris to head coach following Brown's departure.

[25] Notre Dame offensive coordinator Charley Molnar was hired as UMass' head coach in December 2011.

[26] The NCAA made a formal announcement of UMass' admission to FBS in the summer of 2013 after the program met specified benchmarks over its two transitioning years.

[31] Mark Whipple was selected as Molnar's replacement, returning to UMass after eleven years and stints in the NFL and college football as an assistant coach.

[41] After a 26–7 loss to archrival Boston College,[42] Whipple's team picked up its first win of the season by defeating FIU by a margin of 21–13.

[58] After a 58–50 loss to Ohio,[59] UMass finally broke through with their first victory of the season, defeating Georgia Southern by a margin of 55–20.

[66] On December 3, 2018, Florida State offensive coordinator Walt Bell was hired as UMass' newest head coach.

Athletic Director Ryan Bamford explained, "The continuing challenges surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic posed too great of a risk.

On November 22, 2021, Don Brown, then serving as Arizona defensive coordinator, was officially rehired as the next coach of the UMass Minutemen.

Brown would lead the Minutemen to a 1–11 season, beating FCS team Stony Brook 20–3 on September 17 and dropping their final game 7–44 to Army on November 26.

As such, Boston College dominated the stretch, winning fifteen of the seventeen games, routinely blowing out the overmatched Minutemen.

After 22 years, the rivalry was renewed as UMass traveled to Chestnut Hill to play Boston College once again.

Boston College had been a member of this division for decades, and there was much speculation that the two schools may cultivate a renewal of the rivalry.

They had formed a loose association with other public colleges in New England such as present day New Hampshire and Rhode Island for the purpose of scheduling football matchups between the schools.

[80] The colleges continued to schedule matches intermittently until after World War I, when they began to play on an almost-yearly basis through the mid-1920s.

[79] The series was discontinued until 1932, when the schools again met each year until World War II saw both universities disband their football teams.

UMass has had more than 70 players named to various All-American teams since Lou Bush garnered the first selection for the Minutemen (then called the Aggies) in 1934.