Houston Talks JMU

On the first hours after the announcement: It’s complete chaos right now. Trying to put a staff together, trying to get my wife and two sons up here for tomorrow. Trying to touch base with recruits that are committed to JMU. I had facilitate being able to send a message to my team back at the Citadel, which is just an outstanding group of men and I certainly care about them deeply. Just trying to manage all those things, so it’s been a busy night.

On if it was tough to leave The Citadel: Because the people there, yes. They’re very, very good people there and great kids. Anytime that you invest a lot in a place, and invest a lot in people, it’s hard to part ways. But at the same time, I could not be more excited about this opportunity here at JMU.

On what appealed to him about JMU: I think the biggest thing is the commitment to excellence in football. That’s a big factor. The academic reputation of the institution fits the things that I believe in. I think the core values when it comes to character and integrity that I believe in are consistent with what the expectations are here. I grew up in the mountains, so it certainly looked like where I was from when I was visiting.

On the offense he’s bringing: As far as offensively, we’re going to be in a spread offense out of the gun and be very multiple and attacking. It’s going to be something that would allow us to use not only the athletes currently on the roster here at JMU and the athletes committed to JMU, but fits the recruiting base here was well. We will not be running the triple-option at JMU.

On the defense: Defensively we’ll be very, very multiple and we’ll be very, very aggressive and we’ll be very hard-nosed.

NOTES:

–– Houston said he was contacted by a headhunter a few weeks back. He met with JMU once at the American Football Coaches Association in San Antonio, Texas, last week and once today on campus.

–– Houston said he had some knowledge of JMU prior to taking the job. The Bulldogs recruited against the Dukes, he said.

–– Houston on his offense and defense: “The two philosophies have to to fit the institution and to your recruiting base. That’s what we did at The Citadel.”

–– He said it was too early to tell what assistants might be joining him at JMU.

–– The Citadel Athletic Director Jim Senter emailed a statement to the Daily News-Record: “I’m happy for Coach Houston and appreciate the contributions he made to our program. He has established a foundation which we can build upon for future success. We wish Mike and his family the best as they start their new endeavors at James Madison. We will move as quickly as possible to find the perfect fit for The Citadel.”