{"id":6323,"date":"2013-12-13T06:56:25","date_gmt":"2013-12-13T11:56:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=6323"},"modified":"2013-12-13T08:36:55","modified_gmt":"2013-12-13T13:36:55","slug":"baseless-irresponsible-and-probably-incorrect-speculation-about-coaching-candidates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=6323","title":{"rendered":"Baseless, Irresponsible, and Probably Incorrect Speculation About Coaching Candidates"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"JMU-Villanova<\/a>The official job requisition for the JMU Head Coach position closed this week. Without a firm understanding of the great state of Virginia’ employment laws, I really have no idea what that means or how close we are to finding out who the next coach of the JMU Dukes will be. However, it certainly seems as if it’s an appropriate time for some baseless speculation about who will get the job. So we’re going to throw a few names out there for guys we believe are in the mix. We invite you to do the same in the comments.<\/p>\n

Keep in mind, neither Todd nor I know anything or have any inside knowledge whatsoever. None. You’d think our complete ignorance would be evident to anyone who’s ever read this thing, but we still consistently field questions from folks asking us for the inside scoop. We don’t have it. We do have incredibly outsized egos and opinions when it comes to JMU sports however. So there’s that. Without further ado, here is a list of guys we think could be (or should be) in the running for the JMU job.<\/p>\n

John DeFilippo<\/a><\/p>\n

Flip (we’re going to call him Flip, OK?) is a JMU alum and former QB for the Dukes who is currently serving as the QB Coach for the NFL’s Oakland Raiders. Prior to his current assignment in Oakland, he was on the staff at San Jose State where he coached QBs and was the offensive coordinator. The positives here are that he’s a relatively young guy with some bright offensive ideas. This year he’s been able to work with a revolving door of less than stellar QBs and actually coach them up to play decent football. He could probably do big things with a guy like Michael Birdsong. He’s also an alum, which leads us to assume he’d come pre-installed with plenty of passion for JMU. The downside is his limited experience in college, particularly regarding recruiting. Assembling a solid staff of assistants could easily address that however.<\/p>\n

Rod Smith<\/a><\/p>\n

Smith is the co-offensive coordinator for the University of Arizona Wildcats. He also coaches the QBs. He’s followed head coach Rich Rodriguez to Arizona after working with him at both Michigan and West Virginia. Prior to hitching up with Rich Rod, he ran the offense at South Florida, after spending some time coordinating the passing game and coaching the QBs. If you want a guy who can run an exciting offensive based program, he’s probably your guy. Rich Rod might not be known for his loyalty or sound decision making when it comes to career planning, but he and his coaching tree can put together an offense. Like Flip, Smith is relatively young. He has more experience running a unit and recruiting though.<\/p>\n

Eric Taylor<\/a><\/p>\n

Less is known about Taylor than some of the other candidates. He is currently coaching at an un-named high school in Pennsylvania. He has previous successful stints coaching at the highest levels of high school football in the state of Texas and a brief stint as the QB coach at TMU. Despite winning a state championship with the Dillon Panthers, he was controversy ousted from the job. He then took control of the historically awful East Dillon and proceeded to rebuild the program and lead the Lions to a state championship of their own. Despite his limited college experience, he can seemingly turn any QB into a champion (I mean, let’s face it, we all like Matt Saracen, but the kid couldn’t throw a lick). He’s probably the ultimate players’ coach and he has particular talent for getting the most out of kids with home life issues.<\/p>\n

Dino Babers<\/a><\/p>\n

Babers is currently coaching Eastern Illinois during its run through the FCS playoffs. He’s a bit older than the coaches above, but has experience running a college program. He turned Eastern Illinois from an also-ran, into a legitimate FCS power. His resume reads like that of a coaching lifer, and it includes plenty of jobs at BCS level programs including Baylor, Arizona, UCLA, and Texas A&M. He was rumored to be in the running for the job at Eastern Michigan, which ended up going to Chris Creighton (great hire btw). As a guy who was able to make an immediate impact in his first head coaching stint, he’s a hot name. Fans are probably drooling at the thought of what he could with resources like those that would be available to him at JMU. It’s unclear if he’d be willing to jump to another FCS program though, regardless of resources of a potential FBS move down the road.<\/p>\n

Stinespring\/Beamer\/VA Tech Assistant TBD<\/a><\/p>\n

These Bryan Stinespring and Shane Beamer rumors have produced a less than enthusiastic response from most JMU fans. I don’t necessarily think that hiring either guy would mean doom and gloom for the Dukes. Beamer in particular has a wealth of successful recruiting experience in Virginia and would probably be a more attractive candidate if he was coming from some program other than Virginia Tech. He’s never even been a coordinator though. And he’s a Hokie. While acknowledging that JMU and VT are not rivals in any real sense (we beat them handily in their own house), opting to hire a guy from the Hokie staff would feel like settling to a lot of JMU fans. Whether that’s legitimate or just some sort of inferiority complex, I tend to agree. As far as Stinespring goes, most of my VT friends are extremely enthusiastic supporters of his candidacy for the JMU job. That should tell you something.<\/p>\n