I was in Texas when word came regarding coach Cignetti's hiring. Been thinking about this a bit while on the road.
I watched his press conf on YouTube, saw all the video clips of his hoops game appearance and also watched his visit to the B10 Network at Lucas Oil. My immeadiate reaction was - in addition to his impressive, yet still small school head coaching record - he's a very strong communicator; significantly better than CTA ever was (it was hard to follow his choppy sentences at times...). He's been clear, articulate, and convincing. I think this will play well/better with recruits, their parents and HS coaches.
He is also - very confident, if not cocky. Good. Bring it on. I don't mind at all. It's about time we have a proven winner with some swagger leading the program. His track record affords him the right to bring this confidence out as he faces the press, players, etc.
My one watch out - I was living in Fayetteville, Arkansas in 2017 when the Univ of Arkansas hired Chad Morris away from SMU to be the HC of Football. Morris had success at SMU after being at Clemson for 5 years as their OC. He was a highly successful Texas HS coach before that. He had a decent track record, like Coach Cignetti. And, man was he cocky. He blew into town and was quickly the guy with the biggest ego and most bravado in the room. The Arkansas folks went Hog wild for it... until he only won 4 games in his first two years and they canned him. Never got his offense untracked. Never matched the bravado with recruits or W's.
Do I think Coach Cignetti will fail, and find similar fate? No, not at all. But we should soon see how the confident recruiting pitches go, and what types of players and their families will be attracted to his program. The number of JMU assistants coming with him looks good, BTW. At the end of the day, I'm glad we have a bit of a confident, successful football hard ass leading the program. I sure hope this guy WINS. . . 'cuz I'm getting old!
I watched his press conf on YouTube, saw all the video clips of his hoops game appearance and also watched his visit to the B10 Network at Lucas Oil. My immeadiate reaction was - in addition to his impressive, yet still small school head coaching record - he's a very strong communicator; significantly better than CTA ever was (it was hard to follow his choppy sentences at times...). He's been clear, articulate, and convincing. I think this will play well/better with recruits, their parents and HS coaches.
He is also - very confident, if not cocky. Good. Bring it on. I don't mind at all. It's about time we have a proven winner with some swagger leading the program. His track record affords him the right to bring this confidence out as he faces the press, players, etc.
My one watch out - I was living in Fayetteville, Arkansas in 2017 when the Univ of Arkansas hired Chad Morris away from SMU to be the HC of Football. Morris had success at SMU after being at Clemson for 5 years as their OC. He was a highly successful Texas HS coach before that. He had a decent track record, like Coach Cignetti. And, man was he cocky. He blew into town and was quickly the guy with the biggest ego and most bravado in the room. The Arkansas folks went Hog wild for it... until he only won 4 games in his first two years and they canned him. Never got his offense untracked. Never matched the bravado with recruits or W's.
Do I think Coach Cignetti will fail, and find similar fate? No, not at all. But we should soon see how the confident recruiting pitches go, and what types of players and their families will be attracted to his program. The number of JMU assistants coming with him looks good, BTW. At the end of the day, I'm glad we have a bit of a confident, successful football hard ass leading the program. I sure hope this guy WINS. . . 'cuz I'm getting old!
