Withers Leaves for Texas St. Job
Bye Felicia. And don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
Well, that happened. After spending the last few days furiously tweeting about the future of JMU and #TheEdge2016, Coach Withers bailed on JMU in a matter of minutes to accept the Head Coaching position at Texas St. No word yet on whether Sinbad, Scott Bakula, or Kathy Ireland have any eligibility left for him. The DNR’s Matt Jones, who is going to sleep exactly zero hours in the next 72 hours or so, does a much better job than we ever will breaking down the news portion of the story here so we’re going to give you some of our own thoughts, takeaways, and deepest fears heading into a very uncertain time and what could be some dark days ahead for JMU Football, and maybe more importantly, JMU Athletics as a whole. We are likely going to say things that not everyone agrees with because this is a blog, it’s our opinion and losing the Head Ball Coach leads to having to touch on wide array of issues. But we’re not trying to make this bigger than it is or start battling with everyone so please, please take us with a grain of salt. We’re a bit raw emotionally on this and scared tonight for the program but remember that JMU was JMU before and will be tomorrow and next year. Great facilities + great campus + growing tradition = a good gig. The news was first reported by the fantastic Football Scoop, then by Texas St., and as usual, JMU was the kid who’d been given the wrong address to the party (sorry, couldn’t resist).
- Withers leaves in snake-like fashion and appears to be a phony and a lot of that crap about juice and integrity seems very hollow now. By watching JMU’s recruiting class jump ship left and right, it’s pretty clear that he’s found quite the loophole around what we thought was a dark period for recruiting (though we could be wrong on that).
- As ESPN’s recruiting expert Tony Moss tweeted tonight though, “Everett Withers to Texas St., an FBS program that has never been better than the FCS program he’s leaving.”
- Let’s not kid ourselves, JMU hired Withers to be their FBS transitional coach and that didn’t happen. Sure doesn’t look like it’s gonna happen anytime soon. Believe and donate at your own peril. We’ve never even agreed entirely with each other on the conference issue and their is no right answer, but it will be a heck of a lot harder to winkwinknudgenudge the next guy and they don’t need to pay FBS money if it cuts into the pool of money for quality assistants.
- Success in G5 conferences wouldn’t be any different than FCS/CAA success. You win, your coach gets poached. It is sad that Texas freaking state is a step up, but Withers sees it that way.
- We may be pissed at Withers, but he’s 53 years old and has made it clear he wants to be an FBS coach. He’s doubling his salary and gets to give the staff he’s taking with him raises too. His wife and son get to live near Austin. Of course, it’s awful shady that he just fired a bunch of coaches, hired replacements, and is now taking those replacements with him. To be honest, we wouldn’t mind at all being a few of those recently dismissed names back on the radar right now.
- JMU AD Jeff Bourne sent out a Bourne Dialogue to address the situation tonight. Not really sure what he can say but his answer re: FBS was the weakest we’ve seen since “monitoring” and it’s pretty clear that’s not really on JMU’s radar anymore. On the other hand, the continued engagement with Carr and the things we’re hearing in the wind tonight give us a LOT of hope that JMU was actually more prepared than usual this time. After all, after Withers tried to go to ECU a few weeks ago, they had to get a plan in place and we’re at least hopeful the admin is ready with a workaround to the normal hiring process this time.
- If the hiring process drags out past National Signing Day – just two weeks away – everything is effed Dude. We don’t think that will happen and have high hopes for one of the following names: Bowers, Chadwell, Elliott (who is still on staff and might be the one stud coach that could be convinced to stay in the ‘Burg), Mehringer, DeFilippo, Edmonds. We also would at least listen to both Keeler and Scott. We absolutely under no circumstances want to hear the names Beamer, Stinespring, or London even on someone’s tongue.
- Please consider the following: The worst part is really the timing. We have to give Withers all the credit in the world for the shot in the arm he gave what had become a complacent program in terms of energy, recruiting, and fundraising, but we always found ourselves asking if he could actually coach? He was a defensive coach whose defense sucked at Ohio St. and then sucked worse at JMU. He feasted on the crappy teams (of which there are a lot more in the CAA and FCS then there used to be) but struggled mightily against stiffer competition. He lost two home playoff games as a favorite. We’re terrified to lose his recruiting prowess and ability to find bright young offensive coaches, but we’re not convinced we’ll miss him ON the field all that much.
- Don’t ask us why, but we strangely have a solid amount of faith that JMU is going to salvage this situation in as solid a manner as anyone could hope for in the next few days. If this goes through the weekend, we’re gonna need to move on to scotch though.
Finally, to any current players, recruits, or their families who may happen to stumble on this post, and with a big thank you to a certain social media/AV guru in the ‘Burg:
Wow, after your preface I thought you were going to go way beyond that. I certainly will. It is crystal clear at this point that not only as you say did Withers want FBS but my guess he was, as you hinted to, – told that we were going FBS and that he was the guy to transition us. Now that it is clear that we have no plan and no idea when/how or if we will go FBS he is outta here. You can say all you want that they are a crappy FBS program and that even those programs get poached, they do, that is todays NCAA, but what you are downplaying is the sad fact that South West Texas Turd State is still UPSTREAM from us. Harp all you want about what a great program/school/facilitiy JMU is (and it is), as long as we are FCS pretty much any FBS program is upstream from us and that means losing coaches that have any desire/ability to coach at that level. Otherwise you are stuck with “up and comers” (read 30 year olds without alot of experience but success as an assistant somewhere) who will move on eventually or “has beens” who blew it at that level and can’t get a job there. So yes I think the fact that we couldn’t convince Withers to stay despite the concerns “on the field’ which I share says alot about the current state of JMU Football and AD Bourne in particular. In my opinion Bourne should resign, he has mishandled one too many situations at this point we need a fresh start and to your articles point no incoming candidate is going to believe a word he says about possible FBS transition. Say what you want about concerns around JMU defense, there is no denying that Withers brought excitement, a modern approach (reference the famous Mickey quote around “Tweets, or twats or whatever they are…..) and aggressive recruiting that the program had been sorely lacking for years. I was the first guy complaining that WIthers might be more hype than substance but at least we had hype……..now what do we have?
Can’t blame the guy for taking a more lucrative job at a higher level – it’s his career after all. The timing does pose a recruiting challenge, but given Withers recent interest in the ECU job this shouldn’t have been unexpected by the administration. The ongoing uncertainty over a potential Dukes move to the FBS may impact our ability to hire – and more importantly keep – a top notch coach, but that’s the situation in which we find ourselves. Like ya’ll I tend to have faith this will be resolved shortly. Go Dukes!
Two Words- Chip Kelly
Wow. Just… wow. That was my reaction when my wife told me yesterday evening.
There’s a lot to unpack in this situation, and unfortunately a lot of it is likely to be some messy & hurt feelings by JMU fans (and I totally get that). Since I’m more of a neutral observer in this case, I figured I’d focus instead on the positives in this situation.
While Withers leaving the way he does certainly puts JMU in a bind in the short-term, I think that he leaves JMU in a better place than when he arrived. College Gameday was a well-deserved spotlight for a great university and the cache that comes with that will help the program. Not only visibility from outside observers, but those inside football circles saw the passion JMU fans have for their school. That should not be taken lightly and IMO will dramatically help in the coaching search. At the very least, Withers has shown that JMU can be a place where an ambitious coach can have success and prove their worth guiding a program.
But that gets into the larger question: What does JMU athletics want to be? I texted a friend last night that I think JMU has to decide 1 of 3 things right now:
1. Be content being a place where bright young football minds get a chance to prove their capabilities as a head coach. JMU will be able to pick from the best of those candidates every time given the infrastructure, but know it’s going to be a revolving door.
2. Hire the safe candidate. I know people aren’t excited by the name and probably even hate the idea, but Stinespring fits the bill here. JMU alum, tons of experience under a beloved head coach, knows state recruiting inside & out better than most candidates, possibility to stay long-term.
3. Hire an up-and-comer with the promise that the administration will AGGRESSIVELY pursue a jump to FBS. It’s closer to scenario 1, but it’s something that will excite the fanbase more than any other option with the potential for a longer-term commitment from a head coach.
So, wherever JMU goes from here will be interesting to follow. They’ll end up hiring a good coach because very simply, the JMU job is an attractive one. Good facilities, passionate fans, and is in a recruiting region where there are plenty of quality players. JMU will be fine and will still a top program in FCS for the foreseeable future.
Look, there is no uncertainty about FBS. JMU will be FCS for the foreseeable future. There is no economic model that makes a move up feasible, except of course launching a baldfaced football tax on the student body (as the students at Tx State already know). The next guy will need to be OK with that.
As for Bourne, there may be plenty of stuff to pin on him, but this one’s not on him. EW was hot to go as soon as the Colgate bus pulled out of the parking lot. This was all about his bidniss. Let Texas State give the guy a raise equivalent to two professors’ salaries extra (plus the $350k buyout). EW was gone ASAP as soon as he found mo money. More power to him.
Finally, I just wish EW didn’t use the words #love and #trust so much. If it’s about cash money, just say so.
The administration and athletic department committed a lot of resources to the football program, and it is clear that they have never had a real vision. This raises a lot of questions about the responsibility of putting so much into the stadium and other facilities without any real plan. It is an egregious mismanagement of resources and This situation will not really change any of that. The academics are excellent and the culture and community are wonderful. But for a football coach, this current state of affairs is just a stepping stone to get to any FBS program, no matter which one.
Withers could have handled this a lot better, particularly making all of the staff changes and continuing to pump the #TheEdge2016 B.S. on his Twitter account. But he would have been gone to ECU if they’d wanted him and he would have taken any FBS opportunity that came along. The most important thing right now is to have a decisive administration and AD with some kind of vision of what they want to do with football and the larger athletics program in general. This will be amplified every time a coach stands us up to go to their next job.
Without some clear vision and leadership from Bourne, it is probably best for everyone to bring someone in who is willing to make a plan, articulate that plan, engage the JMU community, and pursue that plan. You are in a leadership position – show us some leadership.
Looks like I accidentally erased some of my post….but I think you get the gist.
JMU still has all of the most important things going for it. But we do need to figure out what the hell they want to do with football.
All you have to do is look at Wither’s resume. He hasn’t stayed anywhere longer than three years. I knew the moment they hired him that JMU was simply a step up the ladder. I feel bad for the players.
Now the administration needs to hire someone with character who is looking to build a program not a resume!!!!
(Forget about moving up to FBS until the Dukes can figure out how to beat teams like Colgate)
I have hated Withers for a long time, so this doesn’t come as a shock. His success was only because he got a once-in-a-lifetime transfer in Vad Lee. If there is any doubt about that, look at the crash and burn of GTECH after Lee’s departure.
I hate all his big-talk BS about “gotta have that dog in ya” just before he goes out and drops a duce on national TV.
I hate his stupid obsession with being a fashion diva and buying fugly white helmets and rolling out new gear once a month.
I hate his defense. OMG I hate his defense. Maybe he should have spent more time teaching kids how to tackle and less time thumbing through the Eastbay catalog.
I hate the fact he just hired an entire defensive staff literally days ago and then bailed on them all. Those guys are literally out of a job before they even showed up for work. What a piece of crap.
Since we clearly aren’t planning on going to FBS…like ever… can Jeff Bourne just please hire John DeFilippo and hope that he becomes JMU’s version of Jimmye Laycock?
@2004 Duke I agree with you about Vad. He was the one that put
the juice in the program and was fantastic during his spot on ESPN
touting the university.
Hire Vad as the youngest head coach in FCS.
So many mixed feelings…
On one hand he raised the profile of our football program the way almost no other FCS coach could, for which we should all be happy.
But on the other hand, the timing of this move is just such a punch in the gut. I understand that it’s his career and he needs to do what’s best for himself and his family, but leaving this close to NSD after just doing some major reshuffling of the coaching staff is not a great look.
As for the next coach, I’m in the camp that thinks we should just hire up-and-coming young coordinators/coaches who can bring energy to the program. Who cares if a coach uses JMU as a stepping stone? You’re kidding yourself if you think our head coaching job is the pinnacle of the profession. There are only maybe five programs total in all of college football that couldn’t be considered “stepping stone” positions (think: Alabama, Texas, USC, Ohio State). After living through the last half of the Mickey years, I would much rather have an ambitious young coach who wants to prove himself than has-been who will offer loyalty at the cost of complacency.
Agree with 2004 Duke. Wither”s success came from (1)a super quarterback and (2) beating weak teams. He could not beat Richmond and W&M or the non-scholarship program Colgate. And only with NOVA’s help did we beat them. Imagine what that game would have looked like had NOVA had John Robertson at the controls. Scary. His answers at press conferences were very generic, “we need to get better”. I think he avoided answering questions because he did not have the answers. I introduced myself to him at a Duke Club function and found him to be arrogant and distant. Am I sorry to see him leave…..no. Did good things happen when he was here…..yes. His leaving now right before signing day, and without any coaches says a lot about him. The university, fans, supporters all deserve better than this guy.
Yeah, whatever. You bring in a coach giving him false promises and he leaves as soon as it becomes clear those promises were false. He lost his credibility with players, fans and administration as soon as it became public he was looking for another job. He really had no choice but to leave as soon as he went that direction.
It really becomes a reflection of it being too bad JMU got rid of a coach who really wanted to be there for a guy who bailed the first chance he got.
Coach Everett Withers is a Being of Light. So is Jeff Bourne. Love follows them wherever they go.
Everyone has been making valid points on the blog, so I would like to add my two cents worth. ( Which is almost my entire net worth.)
1.) FBS – I said 3-4 years ago when all of the re-alignment was taking place that when the music stopped playing, JMU did not have a seat. We missed our chance to go FBS for years. That has come to pass. Evidently our AD thought that the Sun Belt was beneath JMU, but for some reason, it has not bothered App. State, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, or Coastal Carolina, ( good luck Mickey ). App State and Georgia Southern played in bowl games this year and made money for their programs. Why would Bourne’s attitude toward the Sun Belt matter in athletics, anyway, especially football?
2.) Bourne – When it comes to football I just don’t think Bourne gets it. You don’t spend millions on a stadium expansion to stay in FCS. Now that moving to FBS seems to be in the distant future, if ever, this decision looks worse every day. What we do have to remember, though is that Bourne is not just a football AD, and other teams at JMU have done well. Women’s basketball, softball, Lacrosse, Men’s basketball ( finally ) and other teams. Baseball has been down but he did hire a new coach, so maybe that will be on the upswing. You have to give the devil his due, just not in football, even though we have gone 19-7 the last two years. This is the same reason Craig Littlepage still has his job at UVA. Basketball, baseball, tennis, Lacrosse etc.
3.) Coaching search – In my opinion, I believe that Carr should look to the ACC for an offensive assistant, quarterbacks coach etc., or a defensive assistant that is young and can relate to today’s athlete. As long as we are in FCS as someone has already said, this job will be a two to five year gig.
Some names: DeFlippio, Brandon Streeter, QB coach at Clemson and formerly OC at Richmond. Tim Polasek, OC at North Dakota State, Keith Heckendof, QB coach at UNC, Ron Whitcomb, OC at Old Dominion. Ulrick Edmonds, Asst. at North Carolina State. Dare I say it, Stinespring, who considering the position we are in, at the end of the day, may be a good choice. the important thing is timing. We need to have a HC in place in the next five to seven days.
Withers- When he was first hired I thought it was a good thing. After it became known that his contract at Ohio State was not going to be renewed, it made me uneasy. As time went on he became combative toward the press: “I haven’t seen the film.” “We didn’t play well enough.” And the best one, “we didn’t score enough points.” I think there were two reasons he left. One, obviously, was more money and FBS. Two, I think he realized that next year we might go backwards some, because Vad, the most dynamic player since Rodney, was going to be gone. 7-0 with Vad, 2-3 without him. I am not taking anything away from Schor, who did a great job in a tough situation. He is just not Vad. It really has left a bad taste in my mouth the way and time he left. Coaches who talk about family, respect, and integrity don’t steal away in the night. That is not how a “family” operates.
Here’s my take. I can’t deny that Withers did some positive things for JMU football in his brief time here. He provided a great shot in the arm and burst of enthusiasm at a time it was needed. For that he deserves credit.
I’m OK with the idea of a coach taking a new job. Should JMU ever move up and actually be successful, I think it will become the norm. Look at the good programs from lower FBS, their coaches get poached pretty frequently. However, I think Withers leaving now puts JMU in a tough spot. And I’m no fan of how he tries to preach love, trust, integrity, etc. and then leaves so late in the game.
This next part might sound like sour grapes, but stick with me. I think at some level he knew he had to jump before his flaws were exposed. Just as it’s tough for me to deny that he brought some much needed experience and enthusiasm, it’s also pretty hard to objectively state that he’s proven himself to be good at actually coaching. He definitely hasn’t proven it to me at least. His defenses at OSU sucked and they sucked at JMU. He managed to rack up wins at JMU by leveraging a once in a decade type talent at QB to beat weaker schools. We can argue all day about whether or not the CAA consists of JMU’s true peers, but the fact is that JMU has a huge advantages over the rest of the CAA and almost all of FCS when it comes to finances, facilities, attendance, etc. And given all those advantages, EW managed to lead the team to 0 playoff wins and a bunch of lopsided victories over bottom dwellers. Much like a big NBA prospect almost needs to leave college after one year so that scouts can pick apart flaws in his game, EW had to jump ship before ADs dug in and saw what most of us came to find out, he might be nothing more than an energetic and exciting guy, who is really just a mediocre coach.
The timing of this move sucks, but I think JMU can find a better coach who can actually capitalize on all of the same advantages EW had.
Todd, why not Stinespring? Or was that Rob? How could we do better?
Rob– perfect point about EW leaving before his flaws were exposed. I think we saw them in spades this year, and most of them hidden behind one Vad Lee. In sales as in coaching, if a guy leaves after year 2, it’s because s/he wasn’t going to make it.
Let’s not forget wins over SMU and 2014 wins over the Griffins and Ticks, so it wasn’t always “beat the chumps”. The guy could also recruit for offense. But we can absolutely ask if his gameday coaching was on point, and oy, that defense.
This is AWESOME news. Now we have a chance to make the second round of the playoffs. Now we have a chance to spend time designing defensive schemes instead of new flashy helmets, now we have a chance to put substance into a program instead of hype — withers sucked and was all hype. I am glad he is gone and won’t miss him one bit, even if we go 0-for the season next year. Start new JMU, forget the edge bullsh*t, stop all the ridiculous talk about FBS (we aren’t even close to having an above average athletics program at the level we’re at) and get serious about playing football. We have a nice stadium and facilities, an energized and supportive fanbase, get a coach who is committed to the program instead of to himself.
Here is a young up and coming candidate Lincoln Riley, he’s the Oklahoma Sooners OC/QB coach. He was at ECU from 2010-2014 with coach Ruffin McNeil. He runs an uptempo spread offense and also played QB at Texas Tech. Here are two good websites for any coaches updates, http://www.coachingsearch.com and http://www.footballscoop.com. I think this will be a quick hire, specially since Jeff Bourne anticipated EW getting offers after ESPN College Game Day and hiring Carr Sports afterwards.
DeFilippo interviewing on Monday for the OC job with the St. Louis (for now) Rams.
Shades of Bobby Petrino when he left Louisville the first time (flew secretly to meet with Auburn officials; meeting took place at the airport) and again when he left the xerox copies of his good-bye note in the lockers of his Atlanta Falcons team after they lost on Monday Night Football.
Mr. Bourne seemed caught short in this situation. Hopefully having the Carr folks on board will help minimize the damage, but he doesn’t give off the vibe of someone who has a solid idea of who he might like to hire. I offer this story in comparison.
Coaching at the University of Louisville is a pretty good gig — especially since joining the ACC — but coaches do still leave for other schools.
In a decade + living in Louisville (thank you Coach Petrino for recruiting Brian Brohm to Louisville — that sent J. Rascati to the ‘burg for the 2004 season), I’ve repeatedly heard from folks in the UofL athletic community and administration talk about Tom Jurich’s ‘back pocket’ list. He has a list of coaches he would want to hire in the event of a coach leaving (Petrino, Strong) or getting fired (Kragthorpe) and he keeps it with him.
He was snow-bound while vacationing in Colorado 2 years ago when Charlie Strong took the Texas job, but was making calls and scheduling interviews before the athletic department staff got up to speed. The Petrino 2.0 hire happened extremely quickly and did not kill the recruiting class. About the only hire Jurich missed on out here is Kragthorpe from Tulsa to replace Petrino. He gets his guy (or gal) quickly and is usually spot on with the hire. It is why Tom Jurich is widely considered to be one of the top 2 or 3 ADs in the country.
Mr. Bourne, JMU is on the clock.
If I was Bourne, I would have been making my short list as soon as Withers broke out the white helmets in front of the team on the Gameday set.
Ken, good point. I want to cut Jeff Bourne some slack but after watching yesterday’s press conference and his lack of enthusiasm, I thought I was watching Eeyore conduct the press conference. He surprised me on my birthday in 2013 by firing Mickey so I guess time will tell. I just hope Carr has a “short list” of coaches (who want to be at JMU) because I have don’t have alot of confidence that our AD does.
Until August rolls around I really couldn’t give a damn who the football coach is. I’m watching basketball, which is actually a division I sport with the potential to play on the big stage. FCS, the fancy name for I AA, might as well be Division II. No Coach with any real aspirations is going to want to stay at JMU.
Withers would not talk to investigators concerning the UNC academic allegations. I think our admin encouraged him to. Why? Would it not be advantageous to talk and clear your name?
5 years, $3.5 million. Cool.
Chris Beatty really wants this Job. Would be a great hire for the Dukes.
Men’s basketball needs to be starting guys who are playing well and deserve it. Dalembert needs to come off the bench. Same with Brown.
What does ” EW ” stand for now?
Just checked Wikipedia … EW is listed as the HC at Texas State … in the CAA !!! 🙂
Since day 1 I have not been a Withers fan. He came in and was classless in putting down the old regime, withdrawing scholarship offers the previous staff had given to players that Bourne promised would be honored, the Birdsong fiasco, etc. His record was great, and his office was prolific, but he racked up victories with one of the weakest schedules in FCS in a weakened CAA. I personally was not impressed with running the scores up on sisters of the poor, doing on sides kicks leading by 30 points, etc. He was a horrible game day coach, refused to cooperate with the NCAA investigation of UNC Football, and either bolted or was run off from his previous jobs after 2 or 3 years. The timing is unfortunate, but he continued to show what a classless individual he is right until the last day. 2 home playoff games where he was totally out coached by weaker teams and lost. He inherited a much better, solid program than what he is leaving. He won with Vad Lee (his recruit, and a fantastic player!) and Mickey’s players. He destroyed the defense. Attendance continued to dwindle, as the JMU Nation became wise to the smoke an mirrors. That being said, the saddest part if Jeff Bourne will be heading up the decision on the replacement. He is using Carr Sports, who also brought us the likes of Dean Keener. Look at Bourne’s track record of hiring coaches: Extended Sherman Dillard, Hired Dean Keener, Hired Matt Brady and immediately got the school into litigation of the questionable recruiting practices of Brady, brought in Withers with his baggage, and now is going to pick the successor. We have a bigger issue, and that is the AD. No vision. I agree with previous bloggers, stay with FCS and learn how to beat the Colgates and Liberty Universities in the playoffs and cut the lies about FBS.
At least I now know why Coach Bowers was brought back — there needs to be a coach to answer the phone. At least 7 current JMU coaches haulin’ it to ScottBakula State.
As a Professor at JMU for a number of years and a season ticket holder for those same years, I have seen much happen in the coaching ranks of football, basketball and soccer that bothered me. While I realize the salaries are necessary to compete, don’t make the misassumption that Professors salaries are any where near coaches salaries. Withers got at least 3-4 times more (not including perks) than the average teacher at JMU.
Second, Withers’ attitude toward media and the University in general was not one I would consider professional. In contrast, it was elitist and condescending. Third, without Vad Lee, a fine Christian and quarterback, Withers would not have had much these two years. And when Vad was “gone,” so was EW.
Fourth, as a “touted defensive coordinator,” Withers had some trouble keeping a job because he seemed unable to muster much of a defensive structure–in recruiting, hiring dcs or on the field. Remember, the head coach is still in charge of all hires, recruits, and overall game management.
Not sure whether Withers did JMU a service or not by staying. Equally not sure whether he did JMU a service by leaving either. I am convinced, we will survive with football in the relatively lukewarm CAA.
JMU is a good school. Students love it here. Football can succeed here as it has shown in the past. And the attitudes of the very first coach (CM) might well be remembered.
We’ll be there this fall. To applaud for the MRDs and the Football Dukes no matter what Jeff Bourne does or doesn’t do.
John Stone, what a great and valid observation you have made and expressed so well! I too will be there in the fall to applaud the MRDs and the Football Dukes. I just don’t have confidence in what Jeff Bourne will do.