HARRISONBURG — No coach, player, equipment manager or trainer had time to waste.

If the first practice under new James Madison coach Curt Cignetti taught the people in his program anything on Thursday, it’s that he believes in efficiency.

“Faster than what we’re used to,” Dukes senior cornerback Rashad Robinson said. “We go from drill to drill to drill, so everything is moving fast, but we’ll get used to it.”

The session – the first of 14 scheduled spring practices – was organized.

On a comfortable and bright morning at Bridgeforth Stadium, players bounced from one position-specific drill to the next during individual periods before beginning to install parts of the offense and defense in the team period.

“You forget what tempo feels like,” JMU senior center Mac Patrick said. “And sometimes we weren’t even in tempo and it felt like tempo, but it’s good for us, will help get us in shape and help us play fast.”

Cignetti said: “We got about two hours and 15 minutes of work done in two hours today, so our players really responded. They competed and played fast. It wasn’t perfect and when we put the tape on there will be a lot of mistakes, but I like what the players did.”

Senior defensive end Ron’Dell Carter, who was a team captain last season, said he could tell his teammates were anxious to get started having not played since the December loss at Colgate that ended the Dukes’ 2018 campaign in the second round of the FCS playoffs.

“Guys miss it,” Carter said. “But obviously the energy was always going to be good. It’s the first day back out and it was good to see Rashad (Robinson missed all of last season with turf toe) back out here, happy and smiling and so the energy was good.”

Cignetti said he doesn’t hold long practices, and the shorter version benefits players since they can put all their energy into the reps they’re taking instead of trying to pace themselves through a gruelingly long workout.

“I understand the first day of practice is always going to have a little bit more energy,” Cignetti said. “Then as you get deeper into it when you’re in the middle of August camp, it gets a little harder, but I think the big thing we’re trying to do is play one play at a time, one rep at a time.

“Regardless of what happened, good, bad or in different, you rip off the rearview mirror and have a short memory and have total focus on the next rep. That consistency allows you to start fast and finish strong, and what it really allows you to do is finish games strong. When you get in the habit of playing one play at a time, regardless of competitive circumstances and that’s really the definition of mental toughness to be able to play your best regardless of circumstance, that’s what we’re hoping to develop out here and we’ll get there.”

Throughout the 120-minute, rapid-paced practice, Cignetti’s assistants – all 10, like their boss, are new to JMU – taught and worked on the field with their position groups for the first time.

Both Robinson and Carter said they need at least a few practices to adjust to cornerbacks coach Matt Birkett and defensive ends coach Corey Hetherman, respectively.

“He kills you in the individual,” Carter said of Hetherman. “And it’s going to be a little challenging for the first couple of days because you’ve got to break out of the old habits, and I was under [former JMU defensive line coach Jeff] Hanson for two years, so I’ve got to break his habits and learn the new terminology and all [Hetherman’s] drills, but we should be fine from there.”

Carter said he plans to use the spring to improve his pass rush.

Last season, senior defensive end John Daka led the team with 10 sacks and Carter was second best on the squad with 7.5 sacks.

“I think I could’ve had a lot more sacks last year,” Carter said.

On offense, the running back spot looked a lot different than it has the past few seasons with juniors Percy Agyei-Obese and Jawon Hamilton as the only returning players at the position on scholarship.

But the duo cut and dashed around bags and pads quickly with new running backs coach Matt Merritt swatting at the ball in their hands to emphasize ball security during the individual period.

Senior quarterback Ben DiNucci took the first snap with the first-team offense while junior Cole Johnson and sophomore Gage Moloney worked behind the former Pittsburgh transfer.

“I was impressed with the whole team,” Cignetti said, “with the way they approached practice, our tempo and the way they competed.

“It’d be hard to single anyone out because it all happened just so fast.”