{"id":8266,"date":"2015-12-13T21:37:50","date_gmt":"2015-12-14T02:37:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=8266"},"modified":"2015-12-13T21:40:16","modified_gmt":"2015-12-14T02:40:16","slug":"welcome-back-withers-now-get-back-to-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=8266","title":{"rendered":"Welcome Back Withers, Now Get Back to Work"},"content":{"rendered":"

So unless you’ve been in a hole or on a Leaving Las Vegas-esque bender the last five days or so, you know that JMU Head Ball Coach Everett Withers – the man who’s brought all kinds of accountability, excitement, recruiting prowess, and general 21st-century style to the program the last two years – was pretty clearly a finalist for the open position at East Carolina. In the end, both Withers and former Michigan coach Brady Hoke were simply also-rans and the names the press got ahold of first as the Pirates (a 2017 Dukes opponent by the way) surprised everyone (though not necessarily themselves or a bad decision) by hiring Duke Offensive Coordinator Scottie Montgomery<\/a>\u00a0this weekend.<\/p>\n

\"We<\/a>

We get it. Now fix the damned defense.<\/p><\/div>\n

In the meantime, a lot of Dukes fans seem to have found a lot more ways to scrutinize Withers, the program, and the progress or lack thereof that all of us on the couch have seen. We’ve even heard some diehards and optimists use the word “betrayal” in reference to Withers’ dalliance with a different shade of purple and gold. Our take? Settle down! Look, criticism of the sieve known as the JMU defense is valid, massive criticism actually. Criticism of Withers, allegedly a defensive guy who has presided over a similarly awful unit at OSU before finding a landing spot at JMU before likely being thrown under the bus by Urban Meyer, is valid. But to criticize Withers or feel betrayed by his interviewing for the ECU job is simply ridiculous. Even if you think Withers is overpaid at FCS\/CAA JMU, Ruffin McNeil was let go at ECU making 1.4M a year, more than three times what JMU shells out. East Carolina is in the American Athletic Conference, which is quite obviously the clear-cut top conference outside the P5 (see Houston headed for a big boy bowl, Temple\/Memphis\/Navy all getting some brief playoff shine this year, and UConn still hanging banners in hoops). ECU is easily as much in his recruiting wheelhouse geographically as JMU. And most importantly, Withers is 52 and if he wants to keep moving up the ladder, he simply can’t pass up the chance to grab for opportunities like this no matter how badly ECU bungled this situation and what an uphill battle that’s going to be replacing a popular, successful coach like McNeill.<\/p>\n

To the fans? If we want to keep playing at a high level, we need to recalibrate our thinking and remember that having other people trying to poach your people means things are going way better than the alternative. And to those of us that want to move up, if that ever happens we might as well get used to this.<\/p>\n

Our own message to Withers? Get back to work, lock down the recruits you’ve got in the pipeline, and most of all fix the Defense come hell or high water.<\/p>\n

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