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AMHERST, Mass. - Three players from the FBS ranks are among the five newcomers in Massachusetts' football program.

Joining the program are tailback Chris Burns, defensive back Ryan Campbell, quarterback Kellen Pagel, wide receiver Chase Danska and linebacker Greg Hilliard, UMass coach Kevin Morris announced Friday.

Burns, a 5-foot-10, 190-pound tailback from Wilmington, Pa., will be a redshirt junior in 2011 and arrives at UMass from the University of Pittsburgh. As a redshirt sophomore in 2010, he played in 12 of the Panthers' 13 games and carried the ball 21 times for 49 yards and one touchdown. He was widely considered the top running back in Pennsylvania as a senior in 2007.

Campbell, a 6-foot, 180-pound defensive back, did not play in any games as a redshirt freshman at Ole Miss in 2010. A Columbus, Ga., native, he will have three seasons of eligibility at UMass.

Pagel, 6-3, 200, played in one game as a freshman quarterback at Bowling Green this past season, completing 2-of-3 pass attempts for 20 yards. Morris said he expects the Strongsville, Ohio, native to compete for the starting job.

Danska is a 5-9, 170-pound wide receiver from Pleasant Hill, Calif., who is transferring in from Diablo Valley Junior College, where as a sophomore he led the squad with 53 catches for 755 yards and four touchdowns. As a freshman in 2009, he played quarterback at Los Medanos Junior College.

Hilliard is a freshman from Brockton, Mass., and Suffield Academy (Conn.) who is an early enrolling freshman. The 6-3, 215-pound linebacker collected 28 tackles and 2.5 sacks with a fumble reovery at Suffield in 2010.

Best of luck to Kellen! Sorry things didn't work out any better here, but I think UMass is getting a high character guy with a ton of potential.

Yup...Pagel got cught in a numbers game here...hope he has a ton of uccess with potential MAC member UMass...unless they play us.

To bad Pagel had to leave just the name alone was a plus father played 15 years in the NFL and very good high school coach. Playing behind a QB with 10 loss and not getting a chance speaks for itself. A few other players left also,

birdman wrote:To bad Pagel had to leave just the name alone was a plus father played 15 years in the NFL and very good high school coach. Playing behind a QB with 10 loss and not getting a chance speaks for itself. A few other players left also,

Yep, playing behind a 10 loss quarterback is not good. I would guess if the coaches thought he was better he would have been on the field. Glad to see Coach Clawson makes decision based on ability and not name or the whole team could be made up of guys named Brown, Ford, Groza, Lavelli, Motley, Gatski, Hickerson, McCormack, Newsome, Willis, DeLamielleure, Graham, Kelly, Mitchell, Warfield or that other Brown - none of whose kids seem destined for Canton. A name does not guarantee you have game.

I also hope we don't blame the failure of a football team on one position. It is notable how great teams have a running back, recievers and solid line to compliment their quarterback, defense and special teams.

Best of luck to young Pagel and I hope he finds the opportunity he seeks.