Back Home, Sort Of
Newsome Even Has His Old Office
Posted: February 19, 2013
HARRISONBURG — Curt Newsome said he got the news in December that he wouldn’t be returning for an eighth season as a Virginia Tech assistant football coach.
“We were told as an offensive staff some time in December … that we needed to be looking,” Newsome said.
As in looking for a job, and it was a no-brainer where that search would lead the 54-year-old Newsome after he was fired by Tech as part of an offensive staff purge.
On Saturday, James Madison announced the long-expected hiring of Newsome as assistant head coach and offensive line coach, reuniting the Hampton native with Mickey Matthews. Matthews first hired Newsome as a Madison assistant in 1999, elevating him to the college ranks from Newport News’ Heritage High School.
It is unclear who called who about JMU’s open O-line job this time. Newsome and Matthews — who refused to comment Monday — talked frequently while they were apart, and Newsome couldn’t remember who initiated contact.
“We were talking. I told him about the situation [at Tech], and this was when there were some openings [at JMU],” Newsome said.
Newsome and Matthews’ friendship was a key factor in Newsome’s return.
“It’s made it so, so easy coming back, because of my relationship with Coach Matthews,” Newsome said. “I couldn’t have gone anywhere in the country that I would have been more happy, because I left on good terms. We’ve stayed in touch.”
When asked if he had any other employment options, Newsome said only that, “This is where I wanted to be.”
During his first stint at JMU, Newsome stayed through the 2005 season. In 2006, Newsome left for Tech, where he coached the offensive line from 2006-10 and the centers and guards in 2011-12.
Newsome takes over for Chris Malone, a former All-Big East offensive lineman at Virginia Tech who was fired by Matthews in December. Offensive coordinator Jeff Durden also was fired. JMU is set to hire former Kentucky coach Hal Mumme as its new OC, with a formal press conference in the planning stages.
The end of Newsome’s run at Tech was rocky, with the offensive staff absorbing harsh criticism over the Hokies’ inability to score points in recent seasons. Tech ranked 81st out of 120 Division I-A teams in scoring offense this season, averaging 25.1 points per game. The Hokies also had their worst season in 20 years, finishing 7-6 after scrambling to qualify for a bowl game.
Newsome said he is ready to start over at JMU, where he has reclaimed his old office, which remains undecorated and is awaiting a new coat of white paint.
“I was very fortunate in that I want to four BCS games,” he said. “A lot of people coach and don’t get that chance: three Orange Bowls, a Sugar, two [Chick-fil-A Bowls] and a Russell Athletic Bowl. I had a good run and I’m ready to start over, and I’m looking forward to starting at JMU.”
Newsome — who emphasized that he liked tough linemen — already has met with his new offensive line. The players said they liked what Newsome had to say.
“The first thing he said to us was, ‘I’m going to work as hard as I can for you, so you work as hard as you can for me,’ basically,” junior guard Matt Cunningham said outside the Plecker Center on Monday afternoon. “I like that mentality a lot. He’s going to fight for us, and we’re going to fight for him.”
At JMU, Newsome returns to where he was most successful. He was on the staff in 2004 when the Dukes, led by a powerful offensive line, won the I-AA national championship. Newsome said he has the same coaching philosophy he had when he left for Blacksburg.
“When I first came to college coaching, Coach Matthews made a statement to all of us, and he said, ‘You have to coach to your personality,’” said Newsome, who got to know Matthews when Matthews was a Georgia assistant recruiting Hampton Roads in the 1990s. “And I don’t think that ever changes, and it made sense to me. I’ve tried to do that. … You’d like to think that with experience comes knowledge and, hopefully, that is the case.”
With Newsome, JMU gets an established recruiter with strong ties to one of the state’s most fertile recruiting regions: Hampton Roads.
Newsome spent 14 years as a high school coach in the area, colloquially known as the “757,” including 11 seasons as the head coach at Kecoughtan in Hampton.
Currently, running backs coach Ulrick Edmonds recruits Hampton Roads. Newsome said it’s to be determined who will recruit the 757 — a region Newsome has recruited for 15 years straight — now that he’s back on JMU’s staff.
“That’s something we’ll talk about as a staff,” Newsome said. “Eventually, it will be Coach Matthews’ decision whether we split it up down there, or we can kind of double team. …We haven’t made a final decision. I know that we’ll have that conversation in the very near future.”
“We were told as an offensive staff some time in December … that we needed to be looking,” Newsome said.
As in looking for a job, and it was a no-brainer where that search would lead the 54-year-old Newsome after he was fired by Tech as part of an offensive staff purge.
On Saturday, James Madison announced the long-expected hiring of Newsome as assistant head coach and offensive line coach, reuniting the Hampton native with Mickey Matthews. Matthews first hired Newsome as a Madison assistant in 1999, elevating him to the college ranks from Newport News’ Heritage High School.
It is unclear who called who about JMU’s open O-line job this time. Newsome and Matthews — who refused to comment Monday — talked frequently while they were apart, and Newsome couldn’t remember who initiated contact.
“We were talking. I told him about the situation [at Tech], and this was when there were some openings [at JMU],” Newsome said.
Newsome and Matthews’ friendship was a key factor in Newsome’s return.
“It’s made it so, so easy coming back, because of my relationship with Coach Matthews,” Newsome said. “I couldn’t have gone anywhere in the country that I would have been more happy, because I left on good terms. We’ve stayed in touch.”
When asked if he had any other employment options, Newsome said only that, “This is where I wanted to be.”
During his first stint at JMU, Newsome stayed through the 2005 season. In 2006, Newsome left for Tech, where he coached the offensive line from 2006-10 and the centers and guards in 2011-12.
Newsome takes over for Chris Malone, a former All-Big East offensive lineman at Virginia Tech who was fired by Matthews in December. Offensive coordinator Jeff Durden also was fired. JMU is set to hire former Kentucky coach Hal Mumme as its new OC, with a formal press conference in the planning stages.
The end of Newsome’s run at Tech was rocky, with the offensive staff absorbing harsh criticism over the Hokies’ inability to score points in recent seasons. Tech ranked 81st out of 120 Division I-A teams in scoring offense this season, averaging 25.1 points per game. The Hokies also had their worst season in 20 years, finishing 7-6 after scrambling to qualify for a bowl game.
Newsome said he is ready to start over at JMU, where he has reclaimed his old office, which remains undecorated and is awaiting a new coat of white paint.
“I was very fortunate in that I want to four BCS games,” he said. “A lot of people coach and don’t get that chance: three Orange Bowls, a Sugar, two [Chick-fil-A Bowls] and a Russell Athletic Bowl. I had a good run and I’m ready to start over, and I’m looking forward to starting at JMU.”
Newsome — who emphasized that he liked tough linemen — already has met with his new offensive line. The players said they liked what Newsome had to say.
“The first thing he said to us was, ‘I’m going to work as hard as I can for you, so you work as hard as you can for me,’ basically,” junior guard Matt Cunningham said outside the Plecker Center on Monday afternoon. “I like that mentality a lot. He’s going to fight for us, and we’re going to fight for him.”
At JMU, Newsome returns to where he was most successful. He was on the staff in 2004 when the Dukes, led by a powerful offensive line, won the I-AA national championship. Newsome said he has the same coaching philosophy he had when he left for Blacksburg.
“When I first came to college coaching, Coach Matthews made a statement to all of us, and he said, ‘You have to coach to your personality,’” said Newsome, who got to know Matthews when Matthews was a Georgia assistant recruiting Hampton Roads in the 1990s. “And I don’t think that ever changes, and it made sense to me. I’ve tried to do that. … You’d like to think that with experience comes knowledge and, hopefully, that is the case.”
With Newsome, JMU gets an established recruiter with strong ties to one of the state’s most fertile recruiting regions: Hampton Roads.
Newsome spent 14 years as a high school coach in the area, colloquially known as the “757,” including 11 seasons as the head coach at Kecoughtan in Hampton.
Currently, running backs coach Ulrick Edmonds recruits Hampton Roads. Newsome said it’s to be determined who will recruit the 757 — a region Newsome has recruited for 15 years straight — now that he’s back on JMU’s staff.
“That’s something we’ll talk about as a staff,” Newsome said. “Eventually, it will be Coach Matthews’ decision whether we split it up down there, or we can kind of double team. …We haven’t made a final decision. I know that we’ll have that conversation in the very near future.”