{"id":4761,"date":"2012-12-10T07:44:17","date_gmt":"2012-12-10T12:44:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=4761"},"modified":"2012-12-10T07:44:58","modified_gmt":"2012-12-10T12:44:58","slug":"delayed-reaction-to-coaching-changes-and-player-departures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=4761","title":{"rendered":"Delayed Reaction to Coaching Changes and Player Departures"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>By now you probably know that Jeff Durden and Chris Malone were fired by JMU on Friday. Durden was the Dukes’ offensive coordinator for the past 9 seasons and was also serving as the assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach. Malone coached the offensive line and had been on the staff for 6 years. He was also the coach who lead recruiting in Northern Virginia, a region that has become increasingly important for JMU in recent years. In addition to Malone and Durden being let go, JMU announced that QB Justin Thorpe, RB Jordan Anderson, and WR Renard Robinson will not be returning to the team next season.<\/p>\n

The news broke Friday afternoon and we decided to let things simmer for a bit before weighing in with any thoughts or opinions. We were hoping additional information would be presented to help clarify things. That didn’t happen. However, in the absence of facts there have been plenty of rumors. Rumors and baseless speculation that we’d prefer to just ignore.<\/p>\n

The Thorpe news was no surprise. If he did return, he’d be doing so as a 6th year senior and he was benched for true freshman Michael Birdsong this season. At this point, he probably just felt it was best to move on because it’s Birdsong’s team now. JT had the unfortunate job of trying to measure up to Rodney Landers and took a lot of grief from fans. Personally, I wish\u00a0Justin good luck and thank him for all he did for the Dukes. As far as the departures of Anderson and Robinson go, I am absolutely shocked. Anderson is a more than capable backup for the somewhat injury prone Dae’Quan Scott. He battled turf toe all season, but when healthy last year he showed that he was able to carry the rushing attack on his own for stretches. I think he’ll be missed greatly next season. And it seems unwise to let an experienced receiver like Robinson walk if JMU is moving to a more passing friendly attack next year, like Mickey claims they are.<\/p>\n

Regarding Durden’s firing, you could probably interpret this one of two ways. You could say Mickey is throwing Durden under the bus or you could say that Mickey is now on notice. I’m going with the latter. Yes, Mickey’s hands were all over this offense for years and many (including us) have speculated that Durden didn’t have the full autonomy he deserved. He was the OC though and if he could never push back hard enough on Mickey to get control of the offense, then it was time for him to go. JMU has struggled mightily on offense since Landers graduated and it’s primarily been due to poor QB play. The Dukes simply need a new offensive philosophy. Even if much of the offensive ineptitude was due to Mickey’s conservative nature, the program needs a fresh start on offense. And if you pay careful attention to how this news was released, it’s clear that there is very little wiggle room for Coach Matthews anymore. JMU let him make the decision. They announced that Mickey had let Durden go. They followed up with a statement from AD Jeff Bourne emphasizing that 7-4 wasn’t good enough and that JMU expects to contend for championships. Now it’s on Mickey. He made the change and he’s going to be held accountable.<\/p>\n

While I’m comfortable with Durden being let go, I’m a little worried about the impact Chris Malone leaving will have. I have no clue how large a role the offensive line coach plays at JMU, but Malone seemed to be well like by players. And he’s flat out been getting it done recruiting in NOVA. The competition for players in the 757 is pretty cutthroat and it won’t get any easier with ODU moving up to FBS. That makes recruiting in other areas of the state, particular the heavily populated NOVA area, even more important. Hopefully another member of the staff has a good handle on things and solid relationships so the Dukes don’t miss a beat recruiting.<\/p>\n