Commit's Coach: 'JMU Has To Hire The Right Guy'
HARRISONBURG — Without a decision, the dilemma exists.
Each day James Madison fails to name its next football coach — now 11 days since Mike Houston's departure for East Carolina — there’s potential for a committed prospect in its recruiting class to look elsewhere.
“JMU has to hire the right guy in order to keep those kids committed,” said Thomas Dale (Chester) coach Kevin Tucker on Thursday.
One of Tucker’s players, defensive end Rick D’Abreu, gave his verbal pledge to the Dukes in early August, but was visited on Wednesday by Houston and defensive line coach Jeff Hanson, who also left JMU for ECU earlier this month.
D’Abreu held 18 total offers when he committed to JMU. He picked the Dukes from a final four that also included Army, Coastal Carolina and Liberty.
“Rick’s a very loyal guy,” Tucker said. “He hasn’t de-committed from anywhere, but he wants to kind of explore his options because he wants to see who JMU is going to hire.”
Since Houston’s departure, five JMU commits — Hermitage (Richmond) running back CJ Jackson, Gaffney (S.C.) tight end Hunter Bullock, Shelby (N.C.) cornerback Dorian Davis, Good Counsel (Olney, Md.) defensive end Jalen Green and West Orange (N.J.) safety Jordan White — have said they’re still part of the class, and Bullock and Davis said they still plan to enroll early.
JMU interim coach Warren Belin and cornerbacks coach Corico Wright are in charge of keeping the 11-man class together until a permanent replacement is named.
“In my opinion, they’ve got to hire somebody that can take care of the state,” Tucker said. “Somebody like a Mike Houston, who did a good job of recruiting guys in-state and keeping them in-state because the state of Virginia is a hotbed of talent right now. That’s not just the 804, but the 757, Northern Virginia and out in Southwest Virginia. There’s too many good athletes in Virginia to let them escape from Virginia, so the guy they hire has to be someone that can keep those guys in.”
Tucker has sent other Thomas Dale players to JMU in recent years. Dusan Stjepanovic, is a preferred walk-on defensive lineman who joined the team as a freshman this year, and former offensive lineman Robert Snead, who was on the 2016 national championship team.
Tucker said he thinks Belin or former JMU linebackers coach Byron Thweatt, who is now at Marshall, could keep Virginia prospects in state for the Dukes, but that former JMU offensive line coach and current Maryland offensive line coach Bryan Stinespring could do it most effectively.
After Houston's move to ECU, sources said they believed Stinespring would have interest in returning to JMU if he received a job offer from the school.
Stinespring spent two years on Houston’s staff after a 26-year run with Frank Beamer at Virginia Tech.
“He’s probably the best recruiter in the state of Virginia,” Tucker said of Stinespring. “He’s the guy that brought in Michael Vick to Virginia Tech. He’s the guy that helped bring in seven guys from Thomas Dale to Virginia Tech and those guys went to Virginia Tech because of what Coach Beamer and Coach Stinespring were doing. That was keeping the top talent in the state of Virginia.
“You look at Bryan Stinespring and he’s a JMU grad. He’s a guy that has a very big coaching umbrella as far as his contacts in the state and that would be a great hire. I think that’s what the guys are looking for on the team and guys who are being recruited.”