BLACKSBURG – Virginia Tech offensive line coach Curt Newsome will become the assistant head coach and offensive line coach at James Madison, sources at both schools said Tuesday.
Only some contractual issues are delaying an official announcement.
Newsome, who coached at JMU from 1999-2005, will replace former Tech offensive lineman Chris Malone as the Dukes’ line coach. He takes the assistant head coach title from Jeff Durden. Durden was JMU’s offensive coordinator since 2004 but he and Malone were fired this offseason. Monday, Durden was hired as the offensive coordinator at another FCS program, UT-Chatttanooga.
Tech appears on the verge of hiring former Auburn offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler and line coach Jeff Grimes to those same positions with the Hokies, though nothing official could be confirmed on Tuesday.
Loeffler and Grimes were on campus Monday, meeting with Tech coach Frank Beamer, a source said.
Tech wide receivers coach Kevin Sherman has reportedly already accepted the same position at Purdue.
Current offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring is expected to be retained, possibly as the tight ends coach.
This past season, the Hokies went 7-6, winning the Russell Athletic Bowl. Newsome worked with an offensive line that lost four starters from the previous year and then saw starting junior center Andrew Miller, the lone returner, suffer a season-ending ankle injury.
