University of Massachusets Athletics
Hall of Fame
- Induction:
- 2010
In his first season as a head coach in 1978, Bob Pickett led UMass to a berth in the first-ever NCAA Division I-AA championship game. UMass lost to Florida A&M 35-28 at the Pioneer Bowl in Wichita Falls, Texas, but on the way to the championship game, the Minutemen routed previously unbeaten and No. 1-ranked Nevada-Reno on its home turf.
For his accomplishments that season, Pickett was named Coach of the Year by both the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston and the ECAC, while the team earned the Lambert Cup (given to the best Division I-AA team in the East) and was named ECAC Team of the Year.
In his six-year tour as head coach, Pickett compiled a 36-28 record and led the Minutemen to four Yankee Conference titles.
Pickett went on to serve as an associate athletic director at UMass, retiring from that position in the summer of 1997. He also served as a color commentator on radio broadcasts of Minuteman football games from 1998-2003.
Pickett was inducted into the UMass Athletics Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2010.
