Guest Post: Raising the Bar for JMU Football
Deacon Danny won our prediction contest last week and earned the right to guest post. Here’s his take on the current state of JMU football and raising the bar to get it back on the right track. Take it away Danny.
First of all I want to say that it is bitter sweet that I receive the opportunity to write this guest article by predicting a JMU loss this past weekend. I would gladly trade this privilege for a JMU win last Saturday afternoon!
I know there is often a fair amount of disagreement on what is ‘right’ and what is ‘wrong’ in the world of JMU FOOTBALL. I also know that everyone who frequents this site cares deeply about JMU and JMU Football. Otherwise, none of us would be hanging out on this website reading the stories, commenting on games, predicting scores, etc.
I attended JMU from 1983-1987. During that time I seldom missed a home JMU Football game. And during that time, there was not any great expectations of success for the Football team. I think during my Freshman year, JMU was 3-8 and the next year they were 6-5 and probably somewhere in between 3-8 and 6-5 my Junior and Senior years. I very seldom sat in the stadium but rather on the train tracks on the hill outside of the stadium with a cooler of my favorite beverage along with hundreds of other students and alumni. Now that I think about it that was a pretty good deal – we got to tailgate and watch the game at the same time! But my point is, we all had a good time watching and cheering on the football team but at the end of the day nobody was overly disappointed if JMU lost the game.
But with any success comes greater expectation which is what occurred in December, 2004. When JMU won the National Championship in 2004 the bar that measures the success of JMU Football was forever raised. It became expected for the JMU Football program to do great things. And I think JMU Football was on that trajectory through 2008. During that time JMU continued to compete with the best at the FCS level, the stadium was expanded, facilities were improved and the talk of a move to BCS conference increased. But since that time, I think we can all agree, that we have failed to maintain that momentum. And that is a momentum that we have to regain because ‘lowering the bar’ is not an option! Continued high expectations is one of the ‘good problems’ that comes with a successful football program and JMU should embrace that.
This past year, I think the Administration realized that the status quo could not continue and that changes had to be made to return JMU Football to prominence. A key move that was made by the Administration this past off-season was to make a coaching change. I appreciate everything the Mickey Matthews did for the program but it was time for a change. And even though we have not necessarily seen the results on the field so far this year that we were hoping for, I remain optimistic about what Coach Withers is trying to put in place and I continue to look forward to what he and his staff can accomplish with the program in the near future.
Another key component that I believe MUST occur is for the Administration to communicate very clearly on the intentions for moving to a BCS conference or not. Up until now, I believe this communication has been purposely vague and I don’t think that is good for a program that needs direction and clarity. I feel like we are just treading water in this area currently which does not bode well for re-establishing momentum within the program. I know this lack of vision is a major source of frustration for many; including myself. Is there any intent to change conferences or not? I think, surely, someone has an idea about that even if they don’t know to which conference that may be (although I expect someone even has a pretty good idea about that).
The last and obvious component in regaining momentum is Winning! Winning cures many ills. It puts more butts in seats, it puts more $$ in the program, it puts more talent on the field. I know this is easier said than done. We have put a lot of faith in the current coaching staff and much of responsibility for the needed resurgence falls on them. What remains to be seen is how they will respond in the upcoming recruiting class when they have a full year on the recruiting trail. I am hopeful that they will be able to increase the talent level, attract the type of players that better fit into the offensive and defensive schemes they are developing and can tap into some different geographic regions for recruiting players that will all pay big dividends. Coach Withers strikes me as a guy who will be very successful on the recruiting trail.
When I sat down in the stadium this past Saturday for the UD game and saw that the stadium was not much more than half full, my first thought was that I cannot recall what our stadium sounds like when it is full of screaming fans. I can’t wait to see that happen again! I know it will, because as I stated earlier, the bar cannot be lowered; can’t go backwards – it is only forward and upward! This is what I choose to believe. As I have stated, I think some change has already been effected and some changes still need to be effected. I am not a patient person, so please hurry! GO DUKES
Another great write up!
Winning isn’t easier said than done. Winning isn’t that difficult if you have the right attitude. Giving up an 85 yd TD pass to almost lose with less than 2 mins left in the game while your team has all the momentum is a perfect example of NOT the right attitude (actually… on both that play and on UD’s next TD pass, two of the DB’s were yelling at each other). So is giving up a 15-20 yard dive play right up the gut on the very first play of OT. It is the same loser mentality JMU had in the 2002-2003 years when we fumbled a QB sneak on the goal line and lost to UMass (amongst other notorious flubs).
Well done Deacon Danny.
@2004 Duke. Agree with your comments on “having the right attitude”. I will go so far as to call it ‘mental toughness’. You can have all the physical toughness you want but if you don’t have the mental toughness or right attitude it will lead to the huge plays we are giving up on weekly basis. Going back to the Villanova game I know we also gave up two long scores where I don’t think the runner would have been stopped if they were playing two-hand touch. The players have got to get the right attitude where they can show up and play EVERY DOWN. If they play 5 plays well, and then are a ‘no show’ on play #6 it is all for naught and I think that is what we are seeing. So I think your comments on ‘having the right attitude’ are right on point.
Deacon Danny, great post. I think you hit the nail when you said that people need to know where if we are going, or staying. I believe over the past year the fan base pretty much believed that we were headed to FBS:
1.Hiring a FBS coach who took a huge pay cut to come to Harrisonburg.
2. The study that said JMU is well positioned to move to FBS.
There were also some things said at meetings that gave the impression that we were just waiting for June 1 to announce that we were going to the MAC.
When that didn’t happen it seemed as if air went out of the balloon for the fan base. Part of that blame, I think, should be attributed to the media who kept this constantly in the news and maybe raised false hopes.
What concerns me is that the commissioners of both the MAC and CUSA have said that they have no plans to expand in the near future. I don’t know what the Sun Belt is going to do.
My opinion is that the Athletic Director and Administration “monitored the situation” too long for whatever reason, and that the expansion ship has sailed for the foreseeable future, leaving JMU in the FCS. I hope I am completely wrong about this because I don’t think that you spend $62 million on a stadium to stay in FCS.
Here’s hoping that the Athletic Director and the rest of the administration will be more transparent ( I know that has become a cliché ) to the students, alumni, and fans in the future and that the Dukes end up in FBS because, in my opinion that is where they belong. GO DUKES!!
Great write up. I think that ‘mental toughness’ you speak of comes from having some players on the field while they may not have the best 40 times or best numbers in the weight room are just ‘tough, gritty, hard-nose football players’. IMO, you gotta have some of these guys that will just get after it on every play and will keep lining up down and after down to prove they are tougher than the guy lined up across from them.
Well said Deacon Danny – on all points. Makes me feel old to see the 30′ pine trees on the hill – one for each year since I sat there and watched a game. With a new coach, a new system on both sides of the ball and a lot young guys playing it isn’t surprising to be where we are. Too many mistakes and penalties so far. Hopefully the Dukes can pull off a good run and create some momentum for next season and help with recruiting. At least the tailgating is rock solid – always a good time in the Burg.