HARRISONBURG — The last time James Madison had a new coach on its sideline, the Dukes won the FCS national championship.

Now there’s no guarantee it’ll happen again as first-year headman Curt Cignetti takes over for former coach Mike Houston, but the veteran players who lived through and thrived during the last transition have their reasons for wanting to push the rest of the roster through this one.

“We just tell ‘em, look at our past,” said JMU cornerback Rashad Robinson, a 2017 All-American. “We know what it takes to get there, day in and day out, and you have to be committed.

“It’s not an easy road, but we’ve been through exactly what we’re going through and no matter how hard it gets, we’ve been there and we’ve overcome it. So we tell ‘em to just come to us, and we just try to lead the best way we can.”

Robinson was recruited by ex-coach Everett Withers, played for and helped Madison win a title and get back to another championship game under Houston and is now preparing for his fifth season at the school as Cignetti gets set to start his first.

JMU opens spring practice Thursday and there are 16 upperclassmen on the roster, including Robinson and defensive end Ron’Dell Carter, not willing to waste this year just because the staff is new to Harrisonburg.

The Dukes finished 9-4 this past season and were knocked out in the second round of the FCS playoffs with a loss at Colgate while failing to reach the title game for the first time in three seasons.

Like most fourth- or fifth-year players on the team or those who have transferred from an FBS program to JMU, Carter is no stranger to change. Between his time at Rutgers and with the Dukes, he’s now on his fourth coach — and an endless list of assistants — having already played for former Scarlet Knights coach Kyle Flood, current RU coach Chris Ash and Houston.

“I’m kind of used to this stuff,” said Carter, a 2018 first-team All-Colonial Athletic Association choice. “For me, it’s all about adjustment.

“You have to learn their terminology and the way they go about things. You have to go by their rules now, because obviously it’s different. You have to assimilate to their coaching and see what they want to do, and the things they want to accomplish because it’s going to be different. They come from different backgrounds and have different coaching methods.”

Carter and Robinson said so far the seniors have made sure winter workouts were successful with new strength coach Brian Phillips and that mat drills were energetic.

“They’re excited,” Cignetti said. “I think every team is excited heading into a new year, but I think guys are excited and they loved the weight program and all that.

“Buy-in is not going to be an issue.”

Said Carter: “I think that’s the biggest thing and the most important part to us adjusting. We have older guys who understand the system, the college business and that it’s part of our job to go out there and help the team adjust to it, and you see it now. It’s not just me. You got guys like Dimitri [Holloway], Charles Tutt, Rashad Robinson and Riley Stapleton. Those guys have been in college and we’re going on our fourth or fifth years, and it’s our job, and I think we’re doing that. We’re trying to put the young guys under our wing.”

Cignetti said his priority for the spring is to have his new team establish an identity, try to master fundamentals and begin the installation process of offensive, defensive and special team schemes.

In his two seasons leading Elon, Cignetti took the Phoenix to the FCS playoffs in back-to-back seasons for the first time in school history.

“It’s not so much what you do, but how you do it,” Cignetti said. “So I’m more interested in seeing guys play fast, physical and doing the things they have to do to win games — blocking, tackling, protecting the football, taking it away on defense and being good on special teams. Whether we’re running curl flat or read option isn’t as much of concern for me as how we do it and the standard of how we do things.”

Carter said learning the lingo and terminology that Cignetti, defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman and offensive coordinator Shane Montgomery use are vital for players over the next few weeks as they try to understand what coaches are teaching them and the playbook they’re given.

Robinson said he doesn’t believe the defense is changing drastically from early conversations with Hetherman and cornerbacks coach Matt Birkett, who both departed Maine to join Cignetti’s staff.

This past fall, the Black Bears had the best rushing defense in the country and were tied for second nationally for total sacks.

“Fortunately, we’re running a very familiar defense with a four-down front,” Robinson said, “and we’re running a very similar defense as far as the backend.

“Coach Hetherman and Coach Birkett, I’ve talked to them about what the scheme is going to be like, and I’m very impressed with it. They’re very knowledgeable coaches, and as you know Maine had the top defense in the CAA, so they know what they’re doing. And we’ve always had a very good defense here, but we want to bring them in and just get back to being the top defense in the country.”

Both Carter and Robinson said players are ready to begin practice, and eager to learn from the new staff.

“The coaches came and we took them in with open arms,” Robinson said. “Of course it’ll be new philosophies, but at the end of the day, we all have one common goal.”