HARRISONBURG — Bryan Stinespring will tell you his profession is one that can tie anyone who works in it together.

On Jan. 7, when James Madison meets Youngstown State for the FCS national championship game in Frisco, Texas, Stinespring, the Dukes run-game coordinator and tight ends coach, will be able to glance at the opposing coaching staff and see a familiar face.

Before joining the JMU staff this season, Stinespring spent the previous 26 in Blacksburg working for Frank Beamer at Virginia Tech.

Early in his Hokies’ tenure — more than 20 years ago — Stinespring had a graduate assistant named Brian Crist. The son of renowned Blacksburg High School football coach Dave Crist, Brian had just finished his playing career at Hampden-Sydney College and was eager to learn.

Crist is now in his second season as wide receivers coach at Youngstown State.

“I was 22 years old when I was at Tech, so I learned a lot,” Crist said. “With my dad being a high school coach, I knew the game, but I didn’t know the college game and I didn’t know recruiting.

“I learned a lot about recruiting through Bryan. I learned how to organize recruiting and I know it’s changed a ton over the last 20 years, but recruiting and film watching, those were the two things I learned most from Bryan. As a GA you do a lot of film study and he taught me how to do it at that level.”

Back then, Stinespring said, Crist showed traits of becoming a successful college assistant.

After leaving Virginia Tech, Crist held Division I jobs as an assistant at UMass, Louisiana-Lafayette and Nebraska. In two separate stints at UMass (1996-2001 and 2007-10), Crist helped the Minutemen win an FCS national championship in 1998. He also was the position coach for future New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz.

“When he was at Tech, I got a chance to be around him on a one-on-one basis,” Stinespring said. “As a GA, he did a fantastic job for us. He understood the game and had been a quarterback, so he wasn’t just a guy that would hold the cards for the scout team. He had a really good understanding of the game.

“From that point on, we’ve talked throughout each of our careers about opportunities and about the game.”

Stinespring said he knows the Crist family well. His son played for the elder Crist at Blacksburg.

Following Crist’s second run at UMass, he actually went back to Blacksburg and joined his father’s staff.

It wasn’t until Bridgewater College coach Michael Clark called and helped Crist break back into the college ranks.

Crist worked one season (2013) at Bridgewater with Clark before leaving to join Bo Pelini at Nebraska.

“It was one of those deals where his need and my need really matched in that season,” Clark said. “Sometimes, in this business, good coaches have to do things that involve a little bit of sacrifice and a little bit of survival. It was that kind of deal on his part.”

Clark said Crist’s family was still in Blacksburg while he was living in Bridgewater that fall.

“That’s a coaching family and his two younger brothers played for me at Bridgewater,” Clark said. “They’re both high school coaches, too, so he was someone I stayed connected with.”

Crist said he enjoyed his time working for Clark.

“It was a great opportunity for me to get back into college after being out for a year,” he said.

Crist said he sees Clark as well Stinespring at the coaching convention every year and makes sure to talk with them both. This year the coaching convention begins in Nashville, Tenn., on Jan. 8, just one day after Crist, Stinespring and their teams square off in Frisco.

Throughout the playoffs, the two have sent text messages back and forth congratulating one another each time the other’s team advanced.

“After we played North Dakota State, he texted me saying, ‘well you did you’re part and we’ll see if we can hold serve tomorrow,’” Stinespring said.

Beyond the connections with each other, Crist and Stinespring each have an additional tie with the opposition.

At Virginia Tech, Stinespring coached tight end John Rivers, who is the father of starting Youngstown State defensive end Derek Rivers. Derek Rivers leads the Penguins with 14 sacks this season.

Crist’s brother, Steven, coached JMU linebacker Gage Steele at Warren County High School.

“He’s just a good football player,” Crist said of Steele. “I don’t know if he does anything great, but except, he does everything really well.

“My brother just told me ‘You better block him.’ I said ‘No kidding.’”

Steele leads the Dukes with 98 tackles.

“I guess this business just has the ability to tie us all together in a lot of different ways,” Stinespring said.