Couple big developments overnight on the coaching front. Harasymiak as we knew already is Minnesota bound, but breaking overnight was news that Maine's defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman has accepted the same position at JMU, and Towson's offensive coordinator Jared Ambrose has left for the same position at Delaware. These are both huge developments as Maine's defense, and Towson's offense were both not only the strongest units on their respective teams, but the strongest units in the entire conference last year. Both heading for the two largest brands in the CAA is an interesting development to say the least.
With JMU hiring Cignetti from Elon and now adding Hetherman as their DC, that squad is going to be stacked. They return a ton of players next year, so I don't see any dropoff occurring like we may have hoped for. Other than Utah State, JMU will easily be our toughest game next year. I think JMU's dominance of the CAA continues unless Cignetti proves to be a huge flop.
Ambrose is leaving his brother as well as Tom Flacco and a loaded group of returning starters behind at Towson. They'll still be dangerous, but now they'll be without their OC, and that offensive scheme. I'd credit Towson success last year more to Flacco than Ambrose, so this may not be too bad, but on the surface not exactly the best news for the CAA. The rich get richer.
I'm hearing there were serious money issues in Maine, which made it harder to retain both coaches. They're really hurting relying heavily on booster donations. Something is not right up there. Not sure who they get back for next year, but their coaching staff has been gutted, as has Elon's, who will lose likely their entire staff as well as several players to graduation. Towson has the most players coming back, but again lost their OC.
For better or for worse, SBU will have the most continuity in the coaching staff heading into 2019 of the six CAA playoff teams. I hope we can capitalize on that. Good news is I think the middle of the CAA just cleared out a fair bit, opening a path into the top 2. If we can get the QB position figured out, I like our odds next year. We have key players back along the defensive line, secondary, and interior offensive line.