James Madison quarterback Ben DiNucci found out very quickly things were going to be different in 2019.
DiNucci’s redshirt senior year at JMU lined up with Curt Cignetti’s first season in Harrisonburg.
After starting his college career at Pitt, DiNucci transferred to James Madison, and he was coming of a strong 2018 season. He started all 13 games for the Dukes and was named third Team All-CAA quarterback.
DiNucci completed 211-of-309 pass attempts for 2,275 yards and 16 touchdowns, with 12 interceptions in 2018. He also rushed for 433 yards and a team-best nine touchdowns, averaging 4.0 yards per carry.
The Wexford, Penn. product was the presumptive starter in 2019, if there is such a thing when Cignetti is hired.
“Curt Cignetti got hired in February of 2019, which was going into my senior year of college at JMU,” DiNucci told Kay Adams on Up & Adams.
“So offseason workouts start, we have the 6 a.m. mat drills in the morning. The hour mat drill is done, and he says everybody on the line we’re running sprints to end.
“Cignetti makes it very clear, ‘Hey if anyone jumps, we’re going to start over at any point.’
“He goes on the whistle, and low and behold Ben DiNucci jumps the gun on the first snap. ‘Hey I’m the quarterback, I want to make an impression. Let me try to beat some of these guys.’
“He stops the drill right there, calls me a slap dick in front of the entire team. He says ‘I don’t care what you did last year,’ and kind of made it known, I’ll let you be yourself off the field, be the guy, have a personality. But when you step in between the white lines, it’s gonna be all business, and it’s gonna be how I want this thing run.”
As has been the case throughout Cignetti’s career, DiNucci improved considerably in 2019. He was named an AFCA First Team All-American, and the CAA Offensive Player of the Year. DiNucci’s year-over-year numbers were better across the board. He completed 268-of-378 attempts for 3,441 yards and 29 touchdowns with six interceptions. He also rushed for 569 yards and seven touchdowns, averaging 4.7 per carry. DiNucci led the nation with a 70.9% completion percentage.
Cignetti and DiNucci led JMU to the FCS national championship game in 2019.
“I found out very quickly he was all business, and I took it seriously and I credit him for having the NFL career that I did, because my junior year to senior year in college, he drastically changed the way that I thought and played the quarterback position,” DiNucci told Adams.
Despite playing at the FCS level, DiNucci was drafted in the seventh round of the 2020 NFL Draft. He has had NFL deals for parts of six seasons, and saw the field in three games for the Dallas Cowboys.
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