(11-25-2019 12:27 PM)Duke Dawg Wrote:  i think it's definitely a personality think.

he is not as rah-rah in public, and that's ok. i have zero problem with that.

i'm much more concerned about making sure he relates to the players. if you can't do that, you won't win big. As long as he does that, i could care less how he is in front of the camera.

Yep - I was not complaining. Just an observation. Although to me I do like the embrace the university thing. He's just not an embrace type guy. There's things I liked and disliked about all of them. The focus and not get to high or low that he exhibits is something I like. I loved the way he handled the phone interview, even though the guys on TV were giving him a hard time afterwards.

These are my labels for each coach.

Mickey Matthews(The dad)

Withers(The steroid)

Houston(The politician)

Cignetti(The CEO)

(11-25-2019 01:08 PM)94computerguy Wrote:  

(11-25-2019 12:55 PM)Madison 91 Forever Wrote:  Going backwards:

Mickey Matthews was JMU, and he brought the program to its current stature. Young folks don’t realize how far JMU has come since Mickey came on board in 1999. The NC in 2004 was transformative to the nth degree. Mickey was a traditional football coach and wore his heart on his sleeve. You could tell when he was royally pissed, which frankly was occasionally awesome albeit hilarious. His coaching was too conservative for my likes, and sometimes I really wondered what the heck he was possibly thinking. Whatever. I just love Mickey Matthews, and so should every JMU fan. He bled purple and gold. They should build a statute of him and put it outside Bridgeforth.

He really is to the JMU football team what Uncle Ron was to the entire school.

I remember his first year at JMU. He made a pretty strong effort to get fans involved. He made yearly appearances to talk to the MRDs and let us know how much he appreciated the band.
It's pretty sad how many seem to discredit what he did. The truth is that we wouldn't be where we are today if not for Mickey turning the program around. We weren't considered a football school until he got here and really changed the culture.

(11-25-2019 02:01 PM)JMU08 Wrote:  These are my labels for each coach.

Mickey Matthews(The dad)

Withers(The steroid)

Houston(The politician)

Cignetti(The CEO)

Challace McMillin (Founding Father)

(11-25-2019 03:22 PM)JMU85 Wrote:  

(11-25-2019 02:01 PM)JMU08 Wrote:  These are my labels for each coach.

Mickey Matthews(The dad)

Withers(The steroid)

Houston(The politician)

Cignetti(The CEO)

Challace McMillin (Founding Father)

Alex Wood (The destroyer)

(11-25-2019 04:51 PM)JMad03 Wrote:  

(11-25-2019 03:22 PM)JMU85 Wrote:  

(11-25-2019 02:01 PM)JMU08 Wrote:  These are my labels for each coach.

Mickey Matthews(The dad)

Withers(The steroid)

Houston(The politician)

Cignetti(The CEO)

Challace McMillin (Founding Father)

Alex Wood (The destroyer)

Rip (left a little too quick for his own good)

(11-25-2019 09:58 AM)JMad03 Wrote:  Lastly, his future at JMU. I know some are questioning how long we may have him. I base what I say next on everything I've heard him say. I feel pretty confident about this assessment, but aware that I could be 100% wrong. Cignetti wants W's and he wants to be someplace where he can get a lot of them. He has said he would like to pass his father in wins. I really don't feel like he's the kind of guy that wants FBS at any cost. I think he'd actually be pretty happy in FCS as long as we're winning and winning championships. He puts far more weight on W's than jumping to the next level.
Lastly, he's been at Alabama. He's talked about the differences between Bama and here and what it takes to win at both levels. He mentioned how here he had a little bit more time and seemed to appreciate that (not his exact words... it was from an interview months ago- I believe it was a Dave Thomas interview). He's been there and while he hasn't been a head coach in FBS it seemed like getting wins meant way more to him than coaching FBS at any cost.
I like the guy and hope we can keep him for as long as he wants to be here (hopefully until he retires many, many years and championships from now).

I agree 100% with this assessment. I don't believe he's looking at JMU as a stepping stone toward a next job. One of the first things Cig did when he got here was buy a house. Withers didn't do that. Houston didn't do that. That tells me that he's thinking 5+ years in Harrisonburg. By that point he's 63, and honestly not many teams are going to look to hand him a rebuilding project. I believe he sees this as his final job, and he wants to cement a legacy. This is a place he can do that.

Dumpster / rebuild projects are the easiest jobs to land, but doubt Cig really wants one of those at this stage. Even for Houston, it’s not looking like it will be easy to turn that around for a few years, and they have a lot in their favor in terms of fanbase, funding and conference.

(11-25-2019 04:56 PM)chicagoduke Wrote:  

(11-25-2019 09:58 AM)JMad03 Wrote:  Lastly, his future at JMU. I know some are questioning how long we may have him. I base what I say next on everything I've heard him say. I feel pretty confident about this assessment, but aware that I could be 100% wrong. Cignetti wants W's and he wants to be someplace where he can get a lot of them. He has said he would like to pass his father in wins. I really don't feel like he's the kind of guy that wants FBS at any cost. I think he'd actually be pretty happy in FCS as long as we're winning and winning championships. He puts far more weight on W's than jumping to the next level.
Lastly, he's been at Alabama. He's talked about the differences between Bama and here and what it takes to win at both levels. He mentioned how here he had a little bit more time and seemed to appreciate that (not his exact words... it was from an interview months ago- I believe it was a Dave Thomas interview). He's been there and while he hasn't been a head coach in FBS it seemed like getting wins meant way more to him than coaching FBS at any cost.
I like the guy and hope we can keep him for as long as he wants to be here (hopefully until he retires many, many years and championships from now).

I agree 100% with this assessment. I don't believe he's looking at JMU as a stepping stone toward a next job. One of the first things Cig did when he got here was buy a house. Withers didn't do that. Houston didn't do that. That tells me that he's thinking 5+ years in Harrisonburg. By that point he's 63, and honestly not many teams are going to look to hand him a rebuilding project. I believe he sees this as his final job, and he wants to cement a legacy. This is a place he can do that.

+5000

(11-25-2019 10:55 AM)Dukester Wrote:  

(11-25-2019 10:11 AM)jmu007 Wrote:  

(11-25-2019 09:58 AM)JMad03 Wrote:  I think there's a fine line between arrogance and confidence. To me, Cignetti is confident and hasn't shown any reason to not be.
I really like him as our head coach. He's absolutely no nonsense.
In regards to the players, I've heard interviews with players where they certainly sound like they like him. Winning certainly helps that. He does seem to respect his players and treat them professionally. He doesn't run them over in the press but certainly says things to keep them grounded.
I get the feeling his key phrase defines him "Never too high, never too low." While these playoffs will ultimately define the future of his legacy at JMU, I feel extremely confident in this staff and coach Cignetti to get this done.

Lastly, his future at JMU. I know some are questioning how long we may have him. I base what I say next on everything I've heard him say. I feel pretty confident about this assessment, but aware that I could be 100% wrong. Cignetti wants W's and he wants to be someplace where he can get a lot of them. He has said he would like to pass his father in wins. I really don't feel like he's the kind of guy that wants FBS at any cost. I think he'd actually be pretty happy in FCS as long as we're winning and winning championships. He puts far more weight on W's than jumping to the next level.
Lastly, he's been at Alabama. He's talked about the differences between Bama and here and what it takes to win at both levels. He mentioned how here he had a little bit more time and seemed to appreciate that (not his exact words... it was from an interview months ago- I believe it was a Dave Thomas interview). He's been there and while he hasn't been a head coach in FBS it seemed like getting wins meant way more to him than coaching FBS at any cost.
I like the guy and hope we can keep him for as long as he wants to be here (hopefully until he retires many, many years and championships from now).

I agree with your take on the future. He strikes me as the kind of coach perfectly happy to stay put so long as he’s stomping the competition regularly. He certainly has the opportunity here at JMU so long as we’re competing at the FCS level.

One huge difference between between Houston & Cig is their age. Houston is 48. while Cig is 58. When you are 48 and successful you will have many more options. Additionally when you are 48 you will likely be more aggressive. At 58 your time for coaching "could be" around 7 years prior to retirement. Are one of the FBS schools going to want a 60 year old to be their next head coach?

Yes.

(11-25-2019 02:28 PM)JMad03 Wrote:  

(11-25-2019 01:08 PM)94computerguy Wrote:  

(11-25-2019 12:55 PM)Madison 91 Forever Wrote:  Going backwards:

Mickey Matthews was JMU, and he brought the program to its current stature. Young folks don’t realize how far JMU has come since Mickey came on board in 1999. The NC in 2004 was transformative to the nth degree. Mickey was a traditional football coach and wore his heart on his sleeve. You could tell when he was royally pissed, which frankly was occasionally awesome albeit hilarious. His coaching was too conservative for my likes, and sometimes I really wondered what the heck he was possibly thinking. Whatever. I just love Mickey Matthews, and so should every JMU fan. He bled purple and gold. They should build a statute of him and put it outside Bridgeforth.

He really is to the JMU football team what Uncle Ron was to the entire school.

I remember his first year at JMU. He made a pretty strong effort to get fans involved. He made yearly appearances to talk to the MRDs and let us know how much he appreciated the band.
It's pretty sad how many seem to discredit what he did. The truth is that we wouldn't be where we are today if not for Mickey turning the program around. We weren't considered a football school until he got here and really changed the culture.

True. The new stadium is the house that Mickey built.

(11-25-2019 04:51 PM)JMad03 Wrote:  

(11-25-2019 03:22 PM)JMU85 Wrote:  

(11-25-2019 02:01 PM)JMU08 Wrote:  These are my labels for each coach.

Mickey Matthews(The dad)

Withers(The steroid)

Houston(The politician)

Cignetti(The CEO)

Challace McMillin (Founding Father)

Alex Wood (The Idiot)

FIFY

(11-25-2019 11:54 AM)JMaddy Wrote:  

(11-25-2019 11:11 AM)Dukes84 Wrote:  Cignetti will be in the running for CAA coach of the year, obviously. He came into a great situation with perhaps JMU's most talented team. I see a significant drop-off next year unless we bring in some impactful FBS transfers. We might need to add transfers at QB, WR, defensive line, linebacker and in the secondary. Many of this year's best players are FBS transfers, of course.

I disagree, we return A LOT of talent, and some of our best ever recruits, at least from a ratings perspective, are underclassmen. If he has them following "the process" these guys are going to be better than our seniors now.

Plus we have all of our RBs coming back. That's enough to put us in the conversation as CAA favorites alone, regardless of how much our WR and QB step up (and we've got solid ones coming back in both those areas).

We just had 10 seniors make All-CAA at some level, including the offensive and defensive players of the year. If the guys behind them are better, why aren't they starting now? We can still be a good team next year, but a drop-off is all but inevitable and the biggest question mark is at QB, of course.

(11-27-2019 01:13 PM)Dukes84 Wrote:  

(11-25-2019 11:54 AM)JMaddy Wrote:  

(11-25-2019 11:11 AM)Dukes84 Wrote:  Cignetti will be in the running for CAA coach of the year, obviously. He came into a great situation with perhaps JMU's most talented team. I see a significant drop-off next year unless we bring in some impactful FBS transfers. We might need to add transfers at QB, WR, defensive line, linebacker and in the secondary. Many of this year's best players are FBS transfers, of course.

I disagree, we return A LOT of talent, and some of our best ever recruits, at least from a ratings perspective, are underclassmen. If he has them following "the process" these guys are going to be better than our seniors now.

Plus we have all of our RBs coming back. That's enough to put us in the conversation as CAA favorites alone, regardless of how much our WR and QB step up (and we've got solid ones coming back in both those areas).

We just had 10 seniors make All-CAA at some level, including the offensive and defensive players of the year. If the guys behind them are better, why aren't they starting now? We can still be a good team next year, but a drop-off is all but inevitable and the biggest question mark is at QB, of course.

We had 18 players total make All CAA. 8 players of that caliber are returning and there are some snubs that should have made it as well. We also have some big hogs on the roster that havent seen much time but will fit it well especially with another year under Wrobo who is probably the best oline coach we've had in awhile. Both D tackles are back, ukwu will be healthy after impressing during camp this year. Green is back at D end who would start for probably every team in the FCS but JMU this year

(11-27-2019 01:13 PM)Dukes84 Wrote:  

(11-25-2019 11:54 AM)JMaddy Wrote:  

(11-25-2019 11:11 AM)Dukes84 Wrote:  Cignetti will be in the running for CAA coach of the year, obviously. He came into a great situation with perhaps JMU's most talented team. I see a significant drop-off next year unless we bring in some impactful FBS transfers. We might need to add transfers at QB, WR, defensive line, linebacker and in the secondary. Many of this year's best players are FBS transfers, of course.

I disagree, we return A LOT of talent, and some of our best ever recruits, at least from a ratings perspective, are underclassmen. If he has them following "the process" these guys are going to be better than our seniors now.

Plus we have all of our RBs coming back. That's enough to put us in the conversation as CAA favorites alone, regardless of how much our WR and QB step up (and we've got solid ones coming back in both those areas).

We just had 10 seniors make All-CAA at some level, including the offensive and defensive players of the year. If the guys behind them are better, why aren't they starting now? We can still be a good team next year, but a drop-off is all but inevitable and the biggest question mark is at QB, of course.

It is almost as though you don't know how college football works. Even Alabama has guys right now who are freshmen and sophomores who are waiting their turn as backups, redshirts or bench warmers but who are going to be better as juniors and seniors over the current crop. Only rare talents are good enough to overcome the development gap you have between being a 17-18 year old college FR to a 20-22 year old college JR/SR. They guys who are seniors now and killing it were mostly backups and bench warmers 2-3 years ago aside from one or two guys.

Our defense is going to be every bit as good next year as they are this year and our offense will have talent at every position with the only one that is a question mark being QB (I'll concede you that since DiNucci is one of our best 5 ever statistically speaking, it will be hard not to have some drop-off, although our last 3 QB have all been top 5 so you never know.)

(11-27-2019 02:42 PM)fishingduke12 Wrote:  

(11-27-2019 01:13 PM)Dukes84 Wrote:  

(11-25-2019 11:54 AM)JMaddy Wrote:  

(11-25-2019 11:11 AM)Dukes84 Wrote:  Cignetti will be in the running for CAA coach of the year, obviously. He came into a great situation with perhaps JMU's most talented team. I see a significant drop-off next year unless we bring in some impactful FBS transfers. We might need to add transfers at QB, WR, defensive line, linebacker and in the secondary. Many of this year's best players are FBS transfers, of course.

I disagree, we return A LOT of talent, and some of our best ever recruits, at least from a ratings perspective, are underclassmen. If he has them following "the process" these guys are going to be better than our seniors now.

Plus we have all of our RBs coming back. That's enough to put us in the conversation as CAA favorites alone, regardless of how much our WR and QB step up (and we've got solid ones coming back in both those areas).

We just had 10 seniors make All-CAA at some level, including the offensive and defensive players of the year. If the guys behind them are better, why aren't they starting now? We can still be a good team next year, but a drop-off is all but inevitable and the biggest question mark is at QB, of course.

We had 18 players total make All CAA. 8 players of that caliber are returning and there are some snubs that should have made it as well. We also have some big hogs on the roster that havent seen much time but will fit it well especially with another year under Wrobo who is probably the best oline coach we've had in awhile. Both D tackles are back, ukwu will be healthy after impressing during camp this year. Green is back at D end who would start for probably every team in the FCS but JMU this year

For 2020:
Lose 10 All CAA seniors.
Return 7 All CAA (at 8 positions) (Amos was 1st team safety and PR).

I agree we’ll be very good next year. We’ll see what the transfer portal brings next winter/spring/summer. While 2020 might not be quite as good as 2016/2017/2019, think will be better than 2018.

Back in Aug I predicted 10-2/7-1 regular season with semi loss.
Next year I’ll probably say 9-2/7-1 with semi loss..