Thamel gives some names | Page 13 | Syracusefan.com

Thamel gives some names

tep624 said:
That would be great coupled with a win on Saturday. Give the new HC all the extra practices to get to know and evaluate players heading into portal season.
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And perhaps assistants.
 
A Clockwork Orange said:
This will be long. I am somewhat informed about Coach Cignetti and the JMU Athletic Department. I probably know more about the inner workings of the JMU AD and what makes Cignetti tick than anyone else on this board. I don't have a hard and fast "he's coming" or "he's not coming" to share with anyone here. I do have an idea of the atmosphere at JMU regarding the athletics program and the lengths it may go to keep Cignetti.

I don't have any major feelings one way or the other for him if he came to SU. I'm done figuring out what makes a coach successful over the short and long term. Every single one of us whiffed on at least one of the last four coaches in our expectations for them. We don't know, and frankly, neither do athletic administrators, what makes a good and long-lasting college football coach. What I do know is that Cignetti has spent his coaching years in the South.

He has been a head coach at Elon for two years and is now at JMU. He inherited an incredibly successful program. I think it's important to understand JMU football history to frame Curt Cignetti and the decision he'll make this offseason.

The three years before Cignetti inherited the program, JMU was 14-1 and won the FCS natty. 14-1 and were runners up and then 9-4 before Mike Houston left to coach at East Carolina. Houston won the natty in his first year as head coach after they went 9-3 the year before and made it to the playoffs under Everett Whithers. Everett Whithers bolted for Texas State.

In five seasons since he left JMU, Houston has had two winning seasons and went 2-9 this season. Whithers went to Texas State and went 2-10, 2-10, and 3-8 before he was fired. He is now the DC at Temple.

My point in all of this is that Cignetti didn't build the program. This program was invited to FBS in 2012 and turned it down because the athletic department wanted to ensure it was prepared to land in the FBS without a dip in success.

The coach doesn't make JMU. JMU makes the coach. They POUR money into the program. The practice facilities are already better than SU's, let alone the rest of the Sun Belt. There's a master plan to put a second deck on the other side of Bridgeforth and expand to more than 40,000. They have ample room to add to the east side of the stadium and the west side.

JMU will most likely back up a Brinks truck to Cignetti this offseason. My guess is with incentives, he will be making well over two million before all is said and done. That's not a random number I'm picking out of the sky. That's a number that I'm pretty sure is already in ink. It's not as much as he'd make at Syracuse. But I think it's enough to entice him to stay unless another, larger program comes and offers him five million or more.

JMU has built its program the right way, and it's because of the athletic facilities, the support system for athletes, and the athletic department unilaterally preparing for this moment for more than a decade.

Pittsburgh is as far north as Cignetti has ever coached, and he's from Pittsburgh. Syracuse might show interest in him, but I'm not sure he'll show interest in SU. He can move to much greener pastures and a much easier build than Syracuse offers him. And I'm not sold he would "turn around" a program. He inherited the JMU program and acted as a steward.

His claim to fame is turning around Elon. They were 2-9 before he arrived and went 8-4 his first year at the helm. The next year with him, they were 6-5. JMU then hired him.

Is he the answer? He might be, but I don't think he's as much of a slam-dunk hire as most on this thread believe.
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These are the things due diligence should uncover. I think we need to look for a program builder and, to your point, hasn’t spent the majority of their career outside our region.
 
tep624 said:
That would be great coupled with a win on Saturday. Give the new HC all the extra practices to get to know and evaluate players heading into portal season.
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Yes I think a bowl is really important for a lot of reasons including what you mentioned
 
SU91 said:
These are the things due diligence should uncover. I think we need to look for a program builder and, to your point, hasn’t spent the majority of their career outside our region.
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Definitely not sold on Cignetti. Tired of SU settling for sloppy seconds. Need to win a little higher. Wouldn’t mind seeing Chip Kelly make his way back east now that he’s about to be let go from UCLA. That was a bad fit for him - he’s thrive here.
 
SU91 said:
I like the Many Diaz, Al Golden type route. I wouldn’t necessarily Miami against either of them. Who has been super successful at Miami the last couple of decades? They have their own set of problems. But, two guys who’ve been head coaches, who are DCs at the very top of the sport, and can both recruit the northeast, New Jersey, and south Florida, and both know the ACC. I’d take either.
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Golden is negotiating a raise at ND according to a friend that follows the program. He is expected to pull $2-3 million a year now.
 
I would be surprised if the next HC is not Sean Lewis, Tony White, or Bob Chesney. There are a few other names floating around like Chuck Martin and Fran Brown, but I don’t think there’s much there outside of maybe an interview.
 
djorange1989 said:
Cignetti is sloppy seconds? Um, ok.
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Maybe that’s harsh but he’s from a low level school. Why settle for a guy who hasn’t proven himself at a power conference program. Chip Kelly is an offensive genius and in the right program would be a superior hire. SU needs a jolt like that.
 
Blotto Otto said:
Maybe that’s harsh but he’s from a low level school. Why settle for a guy who hasn’t proven himself at a power conference program. Chip Kelly is an offensive genius.
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Kelly WAS not is an offensive genius. All Cignetti has done is win wherever he has gone. I don’t think we have a shot with him but I think he is the best choice. Aren’t a lot of proven power conference head coaches/former head coaches that are coming here
 
Blotto Otto said:
Maybe that’s harsh but he’s from a low level school. Why settle for a guy who hasn’t proven himself at a power conference program. Chip Kelly is an offensive genius and in the right program would be a superior hire. SU needs a jolt like that.
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Chip Kelly is about 10 years past expiration in college. Much like Marrone I don’t think he wants to manage the recruiting and portal process.
 
djorange1989 said:
Kelly WAS not is an offensive genius. All Cignetti has done is win wherever he has gone. I don’t think we have a shot with him but I think he is the best choice. Aren’t a lot of proven power conference head coaches/former head coaches that are coming here
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Cignetti has won at JMU but he also literally walked into the top job in FCS and just maintained excellence with significantly more resources than his competitors. I think he would be a really poor fit for SU.
 
Xanadu said:
Chip Kelly is about 10 years past expiration in college. Much like Marrone I don’t think he wants to manage the recruiting and portal process.
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You might be right about that but I’m a little frustrated by the low ceiling names being tossed out here. Hopefully the AD is making an attempt to contact some bigger names than what I’m seeing. For instance - Lincoln Riley is wearing out his welcome already at USC. Maybe throw that him a big offer. Gotta try
 
Xanadu said:
I would be surprised if the next HC is not Sean Lewis, Tony White, or Bob Chesney. There are a few other names floating around like Chuck Martin and Fran Brown, but I don’t think there’s much there outside of maybe an interview.
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I don't think its Lewis. Just based on what people are posting on the board I think it is between White and Chesney and leaning 75% towards White.
 
Blotto Otto said:
Maybe that’s harsh but he’s from a low level school. Why settle for a guy who hasn’t proven himself at a power conference program. Chip Kelly is an offensive genius and in the right program would be a superior hire. SU needs a jolt like that.
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Why would he come from UCLA to Syracuse?
 
Blotto Otto said:
You might be right about that but I’m a little frustrated by the low ceiling names being tossed out here. Hopefully the AD is making an attempt to contact some bigger names than what I’m seeing. For instance - Lincoln Riley is wearing out his welcome already at USC. Maybe throw that him a big offer. Gotta try
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Good lord
 
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