JMU 'Opens A Lot Of Doors' For Selective Cignetti
HARRISONBURG — There is a clear checklist future football prospects with hopes of earning a scholarship offer to play at James Madison should keep in mind.
Whether it was intentional or not, first-year Dukes coach Curt Cignetti laid out what he values most as he welcomed JMU’s 2019 recruiting class during his National Signing Day press conference.
“There are a lot of intangible things that go into developing to your fullest potential,” Cignetti said. “When we’re recruiting people, I want to look at that transcript. I want to see what he did in ninth, 10th, 11th and 12th grade. I want to see how many absences are on that transcript because I think there are telling signs in terms of what you’re getting and the habits that the prospect may have as he enters your program.
“Choices, decisions, habits, thoughts and priorities go a long way in helping people realize their fullest potential, and that’s what it’s all about.”
Cignetti, who signed five prospects on Wednesday to complete the Dukes’ 13-man class and who said him and his staff have already started on the one for 2020, didn’t stop there either.
The former recruiting coordinator for Nick Saban at Alabama, Cignetti, said he has more high school standouts interested in inking with Madison than he had eager to sign on with him at Elon or Division II Indiana University of Pennsylvania – his two previous head-coaching stops.
At Elon, Cignetti and his assistants offered and tried to land some of the same prospects in the 2019 class – Good Counsel (Olney, Md.) linebacker Julio Ayamel, Shelby (N.C.) cornerback Dorian Davis, Good Counsel defensive end Jalen Green, Terry Sanford (Fayetteville, N.C.) offensive lineman Tanner Morris, Good Counsel running back Latrele Palmer and West Orange (N.J.) safety Jordan White – that instead committed and signed with JMU.
“The funny thing was I wasn’t really showing Elon any interest because my whole standpoint was if I’m going FCS, I’m going to JMU,” Ayamel said.
Green, like Ayamel, said JMU was the only FCS school he was going to sign with. When Morris verbally committed to the Dukes this past summer, he chose JMU over Elon and said one of the reasons was because, “James Madison is of course established as a football program.”
The recent run of success with five straight FCS playoff appearances and two trips to the national title game in the last three years along with the facilities JMU has in comparison to what other FCS and even some Group of Five schools have, provide Cignetti an edge in recruiting – relative to the level of football – he probably hasn’t had since leaving Tuscaloosa, Ala.
“I think [JMU is] a great sell and it opens a lot of doors,” Cignetti said. “And it’ll shut doors in your favor also very quickly.
“I think from my standpoint maybe the biggest thing I wrestled with when I came in was the numbers were a little bit tight and there were players available that wanted to come, but then you have to factor in a lot of different multiples in terms of what’s your roster going to look like at the end of April after spring ball because, generally, the roster management is a little bit of a fluid situation.
“… So I think when you’re in a place like this you’re in a selection mode, and it puts a premium on evaluation and taking the right people. There are obviously a lot of things that are important to me, but I put a big premium on character, passion, intelligence and dependability. There’s a lot of great players out there with position specific criteria, but it’s all about selecting the right people whether you’re hiring coaches or recruiting.”
When he took control of the program in December, Cignetti had a limited number of scholarships to use in order to fill out the recruiting class that was finalized Wednesday. One went to Palmer and a partial scholarship went to John Handley (Winchester) wide receiver Kevin Curry Jr.
Others in the class are Gaffney (S.C.) tight end Hunter Bullock, Mt. Vernon (Atlanta) running back Austin Douglas, Hermitage (Richmond) running back CJ Jackson, Gonzaga (D.C.) defensive end Sean Johns, Avalon School (Wheaton, Md.) defensive end Carlo Jones and I.C. Norcom (Portsmouth) linebacker Taurus Jones.
“We think all these guys we got are top-notch guys,” Cignetti said. “But now they’re going to come in and compete with a bunch of other top-notch guys, and the cream rises to the top.”
Painter To Tight End
James Madison sophomore defensive tackle Drew Painter is moving to tight end, Dukes coach Curt Cignetti said.
The Hershey, Pa., product was a All-Mid-Penn Keystone Conference first-team tight end and recruited to JMU as a tight end when he signed with the Dukes as part of their 2018 recruiting class.
“[Offensive coordinator] Shane [Montgomery] likes to use multiple sets and personnel groupings on offense,” Cignetti said. “There’s been years when he’s been very successful where they used a lot of two-tight end sets.
“Our number one personnel grouping will be one tight end, three wide receivers and one back, but we’ll be in some two-tight end sets, and obviously three-tight end sets in short yardage [situations], so depth at that position is important.”
Senior Dylan Stapleton, juniors Clayton Cheatham and Nick Carlton and freshman Hunter Bullock are the other tight ends on JMU’s roster.
Painter recorded an interception when the Dukes topped Robert Morris this past September.