AMHERST -- Any quarterback will say that in order to be successful, there better be a quality receiver on the other end of the pass play.
"I'm good now," UMass wide receiver T.Y. Harding said. "I'm ready to work with this team here right now. Last year is last year. I'm excited. I'm back. I feel healthy.
"I'm ready to go win some games with the squad we've got now. Let's go."
Harding, who caught 19 passes for 334 yards and averaged a team-best 17.6 yards-per-catch in 2024, was expected to be the No. 1 receiver for whichever quarterback came out of the battle in 2025. Instead, the senior from Cambridge via Buckingham, Browne and Nichols School suited up for three games before being sidelined for the season with shoulder surgery.
Harding caught 4 passes for 30 yards in the season-opening loss to Temple. He dressed for games against Bryant and Iowa but did not catch a ball in either of those games.
Seven of the top eight receivers from last year's 0-12 team are not on the roster this year. The top returning pass catcher is tight end Max Dowling.
"I wasn't really able to do too much during the season. I had surgery on my shoulder. So I had time to get my body ready," Harding said to reporters after Thursday's second spring practice. "I know what it's going to take for us to win. I'm going to have to step up a lot.
"That's something I take pride in, being able to play full speed the first play of the game and full speed in the last play of the fourth quarter."
Last year's No. 1 receiver was Jacquon Gibson, who had 63 catches for 616 yards. Gibson entered the portal after four years at UMass and came out to play his final season at the University of Virginia.
Harding, veteran Dallas Elliott, and former Springfield Central star Joseph Griffin Jr.—who transferred to UMass after spending time at Boston College and Wisconsin—are the only upperclassmen in the receivers' room. Harding and Elliott each caught three passes last year.
Now, as one of three wide receivers who has caught a pass inside McGuirk Alumni Stadium, Harding said it's his job to lead the Minutemen.
"I'm like one of the older guys in the group now, so I'm trying to take a bunch of the younger guys under my wing in everything we do," Harding said. "Whether it's catching punts, whether it's running routes, running the plays. I'm really excited.
"The biggest thing about this wide receivers room, that I'm totally proud of, is everyone can play. I feel like if anyone has a sore ankle, you need someone to hop in, I feel comfortable that anyone can go out there and play."
The Minutemen will practice until late April and then return in late July for the start of the 2026 season at Rutgers on Sept. 3.
"Obviously, I could have left, but I wanted to stay. I don't trust anybody more in this world right now than Coach H [Joe Harasymiak]," Harding said. "I trust everything he has going for him with the program. I trust my brothers. Being here so long makes me more and more want to win here. I'll die for UMass.
"Whatever it takes for UMass to win, I'll do that. I don't care what it takes. I want UMass to win."