FIELD NOTES: Dukes Are 'Full Go' On Spring Season

There are no hesitations, qualms or doubts here in Harrisonburg.

With two preseason practices completed and less than a month until a Feb. 20 campaign-opening contest, James Madison won’t bow out.

The Dukes, a premier power who have appeared in three of the last four national championship games, are in.

“We’re full go,” JMU coach Curt Cignetti said Saturday about competing during the FCS spring season. The Dukes are slated to play eight games with two non-conference bouts before six in the Colonial Athletic Association.

“I think our players need it for their mental health,” he said. “I think our fans need it. I think coaches need it. I think everybody that follows JMU needs it. I’m 100 percent confident that we’re going to start and we’re going to finish. We just have to do everything within our control to keep our guys on the field and develop ‘em to be the best team we can be.”

Cignetti and company are committed to pushing forward in spite of others in the subdivision deciding against doing so. Through Saturday, 30 programs have opted out of the abbreviated spring. CAA member Towson made its choice in the fall to not play this year, but more recently 2019 postseason teams like Montana and Montana State of the Big Sky have announced they won’t participate.

Ninety-seven FCS programs are still in, though, and that’s a 76-percent majority.

“And as long as 50 percent or more are playing,” Cignetti said, “there will be a playoff system and a national championship. I think the NCAA wants to see it happen and I think there’s enough teams that will see it through that we get to that point.

“Now we’ve got to be resilient, relentless and resistant.”

The coach that led JMU to a 14-2 mark, a CAA crown and showing in the title game in his first season in 2019 said him and his staff have used the first pair of practices to make sure players are up to speed on all of the program’s coronavirus protocols. He said most importantly, if his team follows along, players can minimize the chance of testing positive for COVID-19 or being held out due to contact tracing.

Cignetti said the majority of meetings are virtual, including staff meetings. Additionally, players are wearing GPS monitors capable of tracking how close they come within each other during a practice, which helps them maintain social distancing.

“So I think we’ve done a good job on the field of staying spaced out and putting together a practice schedule the players could handle,” Cignetti said. “That will develop their skills, get them in football shape and help them improve individually and collectively.”

The program held two weeks of strength and conditioning workouts coming out of Christmas break and leading into the first practice this past Friday. And according to Cignetti, the Dukes will practice four times per week through the preseason – Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Although, that’s not as frequent as a typical preseason training camp would allow for, it’s plenty time to be prepared for the first game, the coach said. JMU’s first opponent is Morehead State, a member of the non-scholarship Pioneer Football League. Kickoff on Feb. 20 is scheduled for noon.

“We can ease them back into football and try to keep them healthy to get ‘em back in football shape,” Cignetti said. “No matter how you train, you can’t simulate football and so it probably will be a couple of weeks before they’re where we want them to be, but we’ve got enough experience on this staff to have a good plan.”

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- There is one significant injury to report. Cignetti said sophomore defensive end Jalen Green is out for the season after suffering a knee injury during the final scrimmage of fall practice. Green is the second defensive end JMU has lost for the spring because of a knee injury. Redshirt junior defensive end Isaac Ukwu suffered a season-ending knee injury during fall practice also.

Green would’ve been in position to compete for a starting role. Others who could be in the mix now to play defensive end include Minnesota transfer Abi N-Okonji, former Temple import Antonio Colclough, freshman Mikail Kamara and freshman Khurram Simpson.

Standout senior Mike Greene shifted from defensive tackle to defensive end during the fall and will be one of the two starters at end.

- The only new addition to the staff, as the DN-R reported earlier this month, is running backs coach John Miller, a former Dukes player and alum of JMU. Cignetti said a young coach like Miller will fit well with an experienced group of running backs.

About Miller, Cignetti said: “He’s a quick learner, a real smart guy and he was highly recommended by a lot of people. [Miller] left a real positive impression here as a player and a graduate assistant.”

Miller spent about a month as a grad assistant with Cignetti’s staff after Cignetti first landed the JMU job. Miller then rejoined ex-JMU coach Mike Houston’s staff at East Carolina.

- Cignetti said he expects “big things” from redshirt junior wide receiver Kyndel Dean this spring.

Dean impressed toward the end of fall practice and during strength-and-conditioning drills. Strength coach Derek Owings told the DN-R last week that Dean put on about 12 pounds while dropping two percent body fat.

“KD moves as well as anybody on the team,” Cignetti said, “so he can get down the field and get in and out of cuts, has real good balance and body control. Catching the ball consistently and making contested catches is an area that he’s working on improving and day-to-day consistency, too.”

As a redshirt freshman Dean thrived, earning Freshman All-American honors from Hero Sports and VaSID Offensive Rookie of the Year accolades for his 614 receiving yards and five touchdowns. But in 2019, Dean’s production fell off while playing behind former seniors Brandon Polk and Riley Stapleton.

- The additions of North Carolina transfer cornerback Greg Ross and Central Florida transfer defensive tackle Mason Cholewa boost the defense, Cignetti said.

Ross upgrades experience, length and competition in the defensive backfield, and Cignetti said he believes competition will only aid the rest of the cornerbacks. Cholewa could fit best at the nose guard spot, which is where former Dukes defensive tackle Adeeb Atariwa played before transferring the University of Virginia this past fall.