HARRISONBURG — A nudge from Curt Cignetti may have pushed Ben DiNucci to James Madison.

“It’s kind of weird how things come full circle now that he’s the guy calling the shots,” DiNucci said following the Dukes’ spring practice Thursday.

When the quarterback opted to depart Pittsburgh two winters ago, his suitors were a mix of FBS and FCS schools, but he was recruited most intensely by ones in the Colonial Athletic Association.

JMU was coming off its second straight appearance in the FCS title game, Cignetti was preparing for his second season as coach at Elon. Towson had offered.

“I haven’t really known him much before this,” said the fifth-year senior signal-caller, who does have one connection to his new coach.

DiNucci said his mom is a best friend of Cignetti’s sister. Both DiNucci and Cignetti are western Pennsylvania natives.

“Kind of here and there when I decided to transfer,” DiNucci said. “But they had a good quarterback down there [at Elon], so whenever I decided to transfer, he actually said, ‘JMU would be a good place for you with how you play.’”

This past fall, his first season with the Dukes, DiNucci started all 13 contests and was a third-team All-CAA choice for his 2,275 passing yards, 433 rushing yards and 25 total touchdowns.

But Cignetti isn’t allowing DiNucci to keep the reins unless he earns the job all over again.

The three-man race that occurred last spring and into the summer before DiNucci was named the team’s starter on the eve of the 2018 opener at N.C. State by former Dukes coach Mike Houston is commencing again.

DiNucci, redshirt junior Cole Johnson and redshirt sophomore Gage Moloney have shared first-team reps throughout the spring and will likely do so again during Saturday’s spring game.

“I think they’ve all gotten better,” Cignetti said. “They’re learning a system that’s new to them and some of the concepts are similar to things they’ve done in the past, but they’re called differently. Then some concepts are new and then maybe the things that are important to me about playing quarterback might be different than what was preached to them in the past, but I’m happy with all three of them.”

DiNucci said he wasn’t surprised the job was reopened.

“This is my fifth competition in five years and my fifth offense in five years,” DiNucci said. “So I’m used to this whole spring ball, learn the new offense and then in the fall battle it out.

“But in terms of competition, I kind of figured it would happen. It kind of gave everybody a clean slate, and honestly, it’s probably good for me, too. These guys are playing well and it makes me have to stay on my 'A' game when they’re playing well.”

Johnson served as former quarterback Bryan Schor’s backup in each of his first two seasons on campus and was an understudy to DiNucci while redshirting last season. Moloney saw some action last year after redshirting the previous fall.

“I’m happy to compete and whichever of the quarterbacks does the best will win the job,” Johnson said. “And at the end of the day, they have their choice and we’ll see what happens.

“But, one of the biggest things is eliminating turnovers, which is something we as a quarterback group struggled with last year. So protecting the ball, just reading the defense and not putting the ball in danger matters.”

DiNucci said cleaning up the turnovers is the priority for him. He threw 12 interceptions last year including five in JMU’s season-ending loss to Colgate during the second round of the FCS playoffs.

All three said they believe the number of turnovers should lessen because of how first-year offensive coordinator Shane Montgomery is teaching them to recognize opposing defenses more easily.

“When I first got here, I didn’t know anything,” said Moloney, a former Mr. Football award winner in South Carolina. “I knew the basics because I played Madden, but I didn’t know the details. I picked it up a little last year when I was moved to No. 2 and Cole was redshirting. I got those reps and I think it started getting me better and I started seeing stuff a lot better, but it rolled into the spring and Coach Montgomery kind of enhanced that process.

“I think he’s a real positive coach, keeps me level-headed and does a great job teaching coverages. I think this spring I’ve done an amazing job recognizing coverages and blitzes because of him, and it’s been awesome.”

Moloney’s strides are real.

At practice, he reacted quickly and his passes were crisp. He doesn’t look like the same player that was thrust into the fourth quarter of the loss at Colgate, was overmatched by the Raiders' defense and missed two throws badly while DiNucci cleared his head for a series on the sideline.

“I feel like I have the confidence I had in high school,” Moloney said. “I feel like I’m out there slinging it and playing ball and not worrying about anything. I think last year I had some, ‘Don’t screw up,’ thoughts before a play. Now I’m just out here like, ‘Let’s have fun.’”

Johnson said he has 100 percent belief in himself he can win the job.

Through the 14 games he’s played in during his career, Johnson has 981 passing yards, three touchdowns and six interceptions.

“It’s a pretty similar offense,” Johnson said. “I think the biggest thing, learning from Coach Montgomery, is recognizing blitzes and recognizing rotations of the safeties. He’s been able to help me see that and pre-snap see the defense so I can make the right read once the ball is snapped.”

The major difference for all three is how hands-on their new head coach is.

Cignetti, who coached quarterbacks at Davidson, Rice, Temple, Pittsburgh and N.C. State during his climb as an assistant, watches the quarterbacks closely at practice and those three at the position said Cignetti will pop in on their meetings.

“It’s actually really weird for me because [Pat] Narduzzi at Pitt and Coach Houston are both defensive guys,” DiNucci said. “So the first day of spring when we got out here, Coach Cignetti was yelling at us over by the offense and we were looking around going, ‘What the heck is this?’

“But he’s been good. He’s coached Philip Rivers and been a bunch of different places, so for me, Cole and Gage, it’s been good knowing that he’s been with quarterbacks before as well as Coach Montgomery, so they know what they’re talking about.”

DiNucci, who had been exposed to more offenses than Moloney or Johnson, is hoping the experience and knowledge he learned in those systems pays dividends while proving to Cignetti and Montgomery he can play in theirs.

“So my three years at Pitt was sort of your prototypical pro-style offense,” said DiNucci before pointing out former Panthers offensive coordinator Matt Canada had the most challenging system to understand. “More under center, drop back and play-action pass, heavy run game and take shots in the play-action game. Last year was your polar opposite spread ‘em out, shotgun ‘em every time.

“This is a nice mix of both.”

He said he has a good grasp of the plays JMU has installed so far, but realizes whether or not he keeps his starting job has everything to do with minimizing the costly turnovers.

“At the end of the day, it’s do what you’re coached to do,” Cignetti said. “You’ve got to complete the passes. Throw it to the right guy. Put the ball where it needs to be. Protect the football. Don’t turn it over.”

As long as DiNucci does that, there’s no reason he can’t be the Dukes’ No. 1 quarterback.

He did have a five-touchdown game against Rhode Island and rushed for 104 yards and three scores when JMU needed a win at Towson this past November.

“Again, his sister and my mom are best friends," DiNucci said. "His sister lives in my community back home and the first thing Coach Cignetti said to me when I got here was, ‘Don’t make me ruin the friendship’ between my mom and his sister.”