{"id":10059,"date":"2017-12-13T10:42:42","date_gmt":"2017-12-13T15:42:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=10059"},"modified":"2017-12-13T10:42:42","modified_gmt":"2017-12-13T15:42:42","slug":"head-coach-mike-houston-signs-10-year-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=10059","title":{"rendered":"Head Coach Mike Houston Signs 10-Year Deal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img data-attachment-id=\"9288\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?attachment_id=9288\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/5871777dd91de.image_.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1200,800\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"houston gatorade\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/5871777dd91de.image_.jpg?fit=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/5871777dd91de.image_.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-9288\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/5871777dd91de.image_.jpg?resize=300%2C200\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/5871777dd91de.image_.jpg?resize=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/5871777dd91de.image_.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/5871777dd91de.image_.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/5871777dd91de.image_.jpg?w=1200&amp;ssl=1 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/>Christmas came early! Or you might say, on its first night, Hanukkah showed us it ain&#8217;t playin&#8217; in 2017! Because JMU&#8217;s newly beloved Head Ball Coach Mike Houston signed a 10-year extension that &#8220;keeps&#8221; him at JMU through 2027. You&#8217;ve probably read the news story already or you can read it here but just a few thoughts.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Yes, a bigger school can still buy him out. But it&#8217;s pretty clear when Houston said JMU was the best &#8220;non-P5&#8221; job in America, he wasn&#8217;t kidding. With this move, he took all but the cream of the G5 crop out of the mix. In other words, he ain&#8217;t going to Texas State or Louisiana-Lafeyette or ODU. And yes, 5 or 10 years of success and bonuses at JMU probably work out financially in Houston&#8217;s favor compared to 3 years and a pink slip at UTEP.<\/li>\n<li>If he gets bought out Tressel-from-YSU-to-tOSU style by a Power 5 program, that will clearly be based on his sustained success, which means we&#8217;ll all be very happy Dukes by that time and say thank you!<\/li>\n<li>Needless to say, with National Signing Day a week away, this should be a huge boost in recruiting immediately by taking all the Bobby Wilder\/Scottie Montgomery\/Rich Huesman\/Danny Rocco horsecrap talking points about &#8220;Houston&#8217;s outta there&#8221; way way way off the table.<\/li>\n<li>10 years is an enormous commitment from both sides and JMU&#8217;s vision is to be applauded. First and foremost AD Jeff Bourne, but even Charlie Kind and Jon Alger. This type of thing is way out of the norm for JMU&#8217;s traditional operations and credit where due to the leadership team for thinking creatively about how to keep a great asset to the university. On a governance and execution note, it also should not go without saying that doing something so unusual (for any Virginia public school) probably required some serious backchannel (and maybe even closed session) work with the Board of Visitors. That alone is a heavy lift and solid work. But the fact that all of those conversations had to have been taking place over some period of time and then the announcement came basically out of the ether is a credit to the process as well.<\/li>\n<li>Don&#8217;t yell at us, but seriously, 10 years also allows for a couple tough years along the way, like say when JMU is transitioning to FBS. Just sayin&#8217;.<\/li>\n<li>Finally, here&#8217;s Houston&#8217;s quote:\u00a0&#8220;James Madison is a special place. Amanda, our boys and I want to be here and consider this home,&#8221; Houston said. &#8220;JMU approached me in in the second half of the regular season to discuss an extended contract. During negotiations, there was significant interest from multiple FBS programs. Throughout the process, JMU was proactive in wanting to make a long-term commitment while ensuring that our staff could remain intact. I&#8217;ve turned down opportunities at the FBS level, and I did it because I believe in James Madison University. \u00a0I believe in the leadership of <dfn><a href=\"https:\/\/jmusports.com\/staff.aspx?staff=2\" rel=\"smarttag\" rev=\"2\">Jeff Bourne<\/a><\/dfn>, Senior Vice President Charlie King and President Jonathan Alger. I believe in their vision for our university and our athletics programs.\u00a0 I also believe in our student-athletes, everyone in athletics who supports us and the passionate fan base that cheers for us. I am committed to ensuring that the JMU football program is one that is a reflection of our outstanding institution.\u00a0 I&#8217;m committed to staying here because JMU is different.&#8221; We&#8217;d heard from some Valley friends that are friends with the Houstons that in their opinion he and his family were legit about loving the area, and with a quote like that, we&#8217;re just going to take the man at face value, something that is just so refreshing in a cynical, skeptical college sports landscape.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Now let&#8217;s all get ready to ROOT on Saturday!<\/p>\n<iframe src=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/like.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fjmusportsblog.com%2F%3Fp%3D10059&amp;layout=standard&amp;show_faces=true&amp;width=450&amp;action=like&amp;colorscheme=light&amp;height=80\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;\" allowTransparency=\"true\"><\/iframe>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Christmas came early! Or you might say, on its first night, Hanukkah showed us it ain&#8217;t playin&#8217; in 2017! Because JMU&#8217;s newly beloved Head Ball Coach Mike Houston signed a 10-year extension that &#8220;keeps&#8221; him at JMU through 2027. You&#8217;ve probably read the news story already or you can read it here but just a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8313,"url":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=8313","url_meta":{"origin":10059,"position":0},"title":"Mike Houston Reportedly Set to Become Head Football Coach at JMU (Updated)","date":"January 18, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Sources tell FootballScoop Mike Houston is expected to accept the head coaching position at JMU https:\/\/t.co\/sNnVtycOD5 \u2014 FootballScoop Staff (@FootballScoop) January 18, 2016 Update: Maybe Football Scoop jumped the gun a bit. Second Update: It's official\u00a0and he plans on running the spread offense apparently.\u00a0 According to FootballScoop.com Mike Houston\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;JMU Football&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10323,"url":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=10323","url_meta":{"origin":10059,"position":1},"title":"JMU Football Recruiting Is On Fire","date":"June 26, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"In case you missed it, Coach Houston and the Dukes are crushing it on the recruiting trail lately.\u00a0Yes, it's only June. And yes, we're talking about verbal commits. But we're still 67 days out from footballs season with nothing else to talk about, so let us be excited about this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;JMU Football&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/AJ-Woods.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9234,"url":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=9234","url_meta":{"origin":10059,"position":2},"title":"Head Coach Mike Houston Gets a Raise and Extension","date":"January 20, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday was the icing on the big-ass cake that has been the last year of JMU Football! Almost a year to the day from when Mike Houston was hired as the head coach, JMU gave him a raise and a one-year extension. Second only to his hiring, this is without\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/569eb24d14781.image_-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9287,"url":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=9287","url_meta":{"origin":10059,"position":3},"title":"Mike Houston Announces JMU Football Spring Game Details","date":"February 21, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Mike Houston was a special guest today at the O'Neill's Grill Fan & Press Luncheon. He was there to talk about the Dukes' Spring Football plans and he dropped a few nuggets in the process. First of all, the team's Spring Game will take place on April 8 in Bridgeforth\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;JMU Football&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"houston gatorade","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/5871777dd91de.image_-1024x683.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8325,"url":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=8325","url_meta":{"origin":10059,"position":4},"title":"Donnie Kirkpatrick to Be Named JMU Offensive Coordinator","date":"January 27, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"FootballScoop is reporting that former ECU receivers coach Donnie Kirkpatrick will be JMU's newest offensive coordinator. Kirkpatrick spent 11 years on the Pirate coaching staff. In addition to coaching receivers, he was promoted to Assistant Head Coach in 2015 and also served as the recruiting coordinator. Since 2010, he was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;JMU Football&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"Donnie Kirkpatrick","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/6_3021791.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8775,"url":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=8775","url_meta":{"origin":10059,"position":5},"title":"2016 JMU Football Season Preview","date":"August 25, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"It's time. We know you've all been patiently waiting for the hard hitting and deadly serious analysis you've come to expect from us here at JMUSB. It would be unfair, perhaps even cruel, to deprive you of our knowledge and wisdom any longer. So without further ado, here's the Official\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;JMU Football&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"IMG_6997","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/IMG_6997-1024x682.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10059"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10059"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10059\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10060,"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10059\/revisions\/10060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}