The Task To Keep The Class

HARRISONBURG — Urgency is a necessity for Warren Belin in the aftermath of Mike Houston’s departure from James Madison to East Carolina.

Belin’s task is to keep JMU’s 2019 recruiting class intact until the next full-time coach is hired at the school and recruits ink their National Letters of Intent during the Dec. 19 early signing date.

“I know there are some vultures out there already trying to get some of our guys,” Belin, the Dukes interim coach said Monday. “But my job, what [athletic director Jeff] Bourne is asking me to do through this transition period is to get in contact with them as fast as I can.”

By Tuesday, prospects committed to JMU said they had heard from Belin or Dukes cornerbacks coach Corico Wright, who is assisting with the changeover.

“I talked to Coach Wright last night,” said Hermitage (Richmond) running back and Dukes commit CJ Jackson. “He was telling me that they’re still 100 percent committed in me and that my offer still is on the table, and that they’re going to recruit me hard until signing day.

“I was one of the early commits, so they still planned on me signing in December. So he was just touching base on that and letting me know that my offer is still on the table.”

Jackson said Wright and Belin plan on visiting Hermitage on Friday to answer any questions he has about the outlook of the program following Houston’s three seasons at the school.

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 all said they’re still currently committed to JMU.

White said he’s expecting a visit from Belin today, and Bullock, who plans to be a mid-year enrollee, said he sees Wright on Thursday.

“I’ll be enrolling in JMU spring classes on Jan. 7 unless something crazy happens,” Bullock said. “I fell in love with the campus, the tailgating, and JMU fans love their football, so I’m not worried about them getting another great head coach like Coach Houston. They care about their football and they want to see JMU football succeed, so they’ll find somebody.”

Bullock and Jackson both said even though they’re firmly committed, they may not sign until a head coach is hired and assistant coaches are in place.

And that’s what’s tricky to navigate for Belin and Wright.

They must convince these prospects JMU is still the right place without being able to sell the player on a head coach, a position coach, a scheme or how the player fits the program over the next few years.

And that pitch has to work while “the vultures” swoop in to try to lure the player away. Bullock said other schools with tight end spots still available have contacted him and Jackson said Elon reached out to him.

Before Bullock committed to JMU, he had offers from Army, Charlotte, Old Dominion and Wofford among others. Jackson picked JMU from a top four that also included East Carolina, Old Dominion and Purdue.

“You have your challenges,” Belin said. “Because they’re young men and their family is going to want to know who’s coaching their young man. I can’t give them that answer right now, but what I can sell is ‘if you stick with it and if you stick with your commitment to James Madison University, you will have the time of your life as a young man, as a student, socially on this campus, academically on this campus, but also the opportunity to win championships.’

“That’s the expectation. The standard is the standard as Coach Houston set for the trademark for James Madison football and I really feel strongly that whoever it is that takes over the reins as head coach here will not only keep winning, but sustain it over time if it’s done the right way.”

Belin, who was the inside linebackers coach at JMU in 2018, isn’t the first former assistant at the school to deal with this issue.

John Bowers had the same test in the time between former coach Everett Withers leaving for Texas State and Houston arriving from The Citadel. Bowers, a JMU alum, said when he didn’t know who the next coach was going to be, he tried to make sure the prospects bought into the university.

“Some schools they have to recruit their butts off because the school isn’t helping them,” Bowers said by phone Tuesday, “either with the location or type of school that it is or the type of reputation it has. You don’t have to fight that at JMU. The kids know because they’ve heard it from all their friends who went to JMU that it’s a great place to be.

“I think it’s not a hard sell. The things kids care about – school, community, buildings, rec center, the dining area, the female population – there are so many pluses. There aren’t many minuses when you try to sit down and figure out what’s making you want to come to the school.”

The difference between Belin’s issue and the problem Bowers faced is the difference in numbers. JMU has 11 verbal commitments in its 2019 recruiting class for Belin to keep whereas Bowers helped complete a 20-man signing class in 2016.

Bowers said the larger number of commits and signees in the class made it more difficult. But Bowers teamed up with former JMU offensive line coach Jamal Powell which is similar to how Belin has Wright to work with. Bowers said at that time the two coaches had to battle to sign some of those prospects like current starting defensive tackle Adeeb Atariwa, who had committed to Marshall.

“[Atariwa] was from the area I was recruiting, so it was good when I got back and we went and saw him,” Bowers said. “I think everybody banded together for the good of JMU and we went from there. And that was the thing, the off-the-field people really helped immensely and that was such a cool thing. I thought it went smooth.”

Belin said he’s happy to help JMU and the recruits him, Wright and the rest of Houston’s former staff created relationships with over the last year.

“I’m very excited about the opportunity although I know it’s just for a short period,” Belin said. “… Mr. Bourne approached me Sunday night after Mike met with the team and informed me that he and Mike had talked and that Mike thought enough of me as a coach and also as a person to have this opportunity to fill this role.”