New QB coach at James Madison. Former Pitt QB moving on to his first real coaching job.
Tino Sunseri
- Thread starter gourdnibbler
- Start date
I wonder if JMU has any plans to move up to FBS at some point? Nice facilities and natural rivals with ODU and Liberty.
There are a lot of family connections between Nick Saban, Cignetti, and Sunseri. That got him in the door and now we shall see what Tino does with it.
Mike Shanahan (the former Pitt WR) was also promoted to OC at JMU by Curt Cignetti.
Congratulations - He is moving up the coaching ladder quickly.
Will he teach the "Tino Turtle"
I think they stay as FCS. It is fun to compete for national championships instead of lower tier bowls. They have natural rivals in the Colonial Athletic Association with William & Mary and Richmond ... I can't say ODU and Liberty excite me much more than those schools.
pittdan77
Athletic Director
I completely disagree. Liberty and Coastal Carolina received National exposure for being undefeated at one point last year. That is far better than being a big fish in a tiny pond. ODU also has the potential to make some noise in the future. They beat VT recently and that means something in the state of VA.
Subtitle: "The Art of Losing 15 Yards on a 3-Step Drop."
Maryland would be the perfect place for Tino.
If either Liberty or Coastal Carolina got an invite to the playoffs, or even if one of them had a regular season shot at Ohio State, then fine. I'd rather take the national exposure of FCS than the exposure you get in the Sun Belt, it is not that much higher profile. What was the reward to CC and Liberty for having such great seasons? A match-up in the FBC Mortgage Cure Bowl. Whoop-de-do.
Also, you do not need to be FBS to beat Virginia Tech ... JMU beat VT when VT was ranked 13th in the nation a few years back. Richmond, another Colonial Athletic Association team, soundly beat Virginia not long ago. I'm sure both those victories resonated within the state.
You get more money, TV exposure, and the chance to play better competition in the Sun Belt. They just won a bunch of non conference games against P5 schools.
tino started his coaching career @FSU; then Alabama with another stop in between: I think.
I'm sure he's ready for this.
I'm sure he's ready for this.
From what I’ve heard/read, James Madison has or would turn down invitations from Conference USA or the Sun Belt; they would either join the AAC or stay put at FCS. While Old Dominion and Liberty are natural rivals, JMU may not seem them as equals.
You also have to give out 22 more scholarships to jump to the Sun Belt, which means you have to add another womens athletic program. There are pros and cons to a move up and I'm still not convinced the pros outweigh the cons. Their record is 58-9 over the last 5 seasons -- that's an average of over 11 wins a season. I don't think they can come close to that in the Sun Belt. This is a hard concept for Pitt fans to grasp because of how long we have been mediocre, but winning 11+ games a year is lots of fun.
And yet not one more person cares about their program now vs when they were the FCS.
Too many teams in FBS, a lot of them need to drop back down.
I hope when Marion promotes to OC from WR coach that shanahan would be considered to be Wr coach. And yes I am moving Marion up quickly but I see him doing well recruiting and coaching and Pitt moving him to Oc sooner than later.
LOL, Winning actual championships at a lower level, being the BIG FISH, to me would be more fun as a fan than thinking 7-5 and a crap bowl game is "making noise"
Pitt gets big money in the ACC, whoop-de-doo, fun, fun, fun for the fans being mediocre to bad on the field every year.
