Former Dukes Rally Around Ex-OL Coach Powell

The former James Madison national championship-winning center used the waning seconds of his college career on the field in Frisco, Texas, to seek out his offensive line coach Jamal Powell.

“In the closing minutes of the title game,” Rigney, now Bridgewater College’s offensive line coach, recalled, “I remember walking up to [Powell] and saying, ‘I’m glad they kept you around.’ And he said, ‘Well, I’m glad you came back.’ It was a cool, little surreal moment there at the end.”

Powell was one of two holdovers ex-JMU coach Mike Houston kept on his staff when he arrived in Harrisonburg prior to the 2016 campaign. The year before, another former Dukes coach, Everett Withers, had initially hired Powell to the school.

“It was just something where I did the four [years] and I didn’t like where everything was at [with the program],” Rigney said. “So I was ready to go on and do whatever I was going to do, but obviously with [Powell] being retained and sticking around … he was the big piece for me coming back for the fifth year and obviously having that great year in ’16.”

Rigney and his former JMU teammates all said Powell’s role in the title-capturing campaign was an underrated one. According to those Dukes, his mix of personal touch and football smarts provided players with a familiar, caring voice during difficult times or ones of change as the program yearned for a championship. They said that temperament Powell maintained ultimately allowed them to cultivate bonds with him that have stretched well beyond his two seasons at JMU.

And it’s why they’re all teaming up again to rally around Powell, his wife Rachel and their children now.

Over the last two years, Powell has faced daunting health issues – Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), colon cancer and, most recently, another occurrence of cancer.

“I think the thing with him is nothing will ever beat Coach Powell,” former Dukes quarterback Bryan Schor, an East Carolina graduate assistant coach, said. “Whatever happens, nothing will beat him because nothing will ever beat his will.”

Tampa Bay Buccaneers guard and former JMU two-time All-American offensive lineman Aaron Stinnie said: “Even with everything going on, [Powell] has stuck to him and his true self. He doesn’t let anything keep him down and that’s the best part of all of it. It’s painful to see, but once you are able to get around him and talk to him, it get your spirits right back up.”

The symptoms of GBS began not long after Powell settled into his new job as offensive line coach at Southern Methodist in 2018. Between his time with JMU and SMU, he spent a season in the same capacity at Lamar.

“I remember almost two years ago sitting at a recruiting dinner with him and him saying, ‘Mitch, my hand has this tingling feeling,’” Mitch Kirsch, a former All-Colonial Athletic Association tackle at James Madison who followed Powell to become a graduate assistant at SMU, said.

“And I’m like ‘Oh, you’re being soft. You’ll be fine,’” Kirsch said. “Well, the next day he was in the hospital and we had our last official visits in June or July, and so then it was vacation for our entire staff. I can remember texting him like a week into vacation and I didn’t get a response back. Of course, I called Rachel, and she was like, ‘Yeah, we’re still in the hospital,’ and then at that point it was still really early and they didn’t know it was as serious as it was.

“So I came back 10 days later and I went to visit Jamal in the hospital and that’s when he was diagnosed with GBS. He went from 320 pounds to 260 pounds in three weeks. He lost all motor skills and could barely move his fingers, could barely lift up his legs or arms, so I remember the day very vividly. I walked into the hospital room and I just kind of lost it. He went from this giant, strong man who I saw as a Superman type of guy and a mentor of mine, and then having to see him at his lowest point, it was awful.”

Rigney said no one would know Powell was dealing with a diagnosis like that if they only could speak to him over the phone, and Kirsch said that is what’s so incredible about Powell in his battle against GBS and bouts with cancer.

The colon cancer first appeared about eight months ago, Kirsch said, before the cancer returned recently.

“I try to get it out of him,” Kirsch said. “It’s ‘How are you doing? How are you feeling?’ And it’s always the same response. He always says, ‘I’m great. I’m not worried about this and I live my life every day as happy as can be and I’ll take care of my family and I’ll be my same jolly, happy self.’ I can honestly say there hasn’t been a time when I looked at him and asked how he’s doing, and he’s said ‘I’m ready,’ or ‘I’m tired of this.’ That’s never come out of his mouth and it’s inspiring.”

Kirsch and other members of JMU’s 2016 national championship team have taken to Twitter and other social media outlets to promote a GoFundMe campaign in support of Powell’s family. The goal is to raise $200,000 in order to help the family overcome medical debt and allow Powell to focus on treatment. As of Monday, more than $70,000 had been raised.

“Until it happens to someone you’re close to, you don’t really get the reality of a situation like this,” Rigney said.

Powell was there for his former players when they were done playing and trying to break into the coaching business. Kirsch and former Dukes offensive lineman Casey Kroll both went to SMU with Powell, and Powell has served as a sounding board for Rigney and former JMU guard Matt Frank. Rigney had stops at Lake Erie College and Shorter University ahead getting to BC this past offseason. Frank is an assistant at Centreville High School.

“Countless players, beyond just O-Lineman looked up to him and were able to learn principles about life just by his own embodiment of them,” Frank said. “I know that I definitely take things I learned from him and apply them to my everyday life as a teacher and as a coach.”

Rigney said: “I keep in constant contact with him, and that was even when he first left in the spring of ’17 because he was my guy. As a young coach, I was asking questions all the time and probably too much, I was probably annoying. But I was just double-checking on how he’d teach this or that, and if it is OK to say how I’d teach something.

“And I guess the cool part about him, man, and the cool part of his personality, Mrs. Powell and the family is every time you call he’s always in good spirits. He’s the same guy. You have the same conversation and it sounds the same, so that part is always a positive. He’s never an Eeyore where it’s woe is me or there’s a pity party. And I’ve had a lot of phone calls with him the past few years, and I’ve never gotten that vibe anytime. That speaks to him, his mindset and how much of a warrior he is.”

Stinnie said his time under Powell’s watch changed the course of his football career for the better. He wasn’t drafted after his time at JMU was up, but Stinnie is currently entering his third season in the NFL.

“He came in and showed me the ropes,” Stinnie said. “He built me up as a player and taught me everything I needed to know to help get me to where I’m at. Without having him come in as my coach and do that for me I don’t know if I would’ve been the same player coming out of college. He means the world to me, man. He’s like another father figure away from home for me and he was able to elevate me to new heights that I didn’t even see myself going to.”

And outside of football, Powell, a former Texas Christian University standout himself, has always kept the door open for his players.

Kirsch said when he was playing he knew he could talk with Powell about girls or school in addition to what was happening on the field.

Schor said that hasn’t changed either as him and many of his ex-JMU teammates visited Powell at his home in Texas when the Dukes were back in Frisco and played in the FCS title game again this past January. Schor, former tight end Jonathan Kloosterman and former receiver Brandon Ravenel actually stayed at Powell’s house while they were in town for the game, according to the former captain of the Dukes.

“Both times I went there, and this is great,” Schor said. “Powell tosses me the keys to his F-150 and says, ‘Anywhere you need to go, feel free to drive around.’ His wife was already there cooking and they’ve always taken care of me as if I was one of their own and it’s always special anytime I get to go see him. He’s very much the picture of who I want to be as a man.”

Rigney added: “He is a fighter. Coach Powell wants to fight. And hopefully God can give him some things to get his strength back. I know he always told me he’s going to get healthy that way he can go tell a player that no matter how hard he thinks something is that he beat all of this.”