HARRISONBURG — Vad Lee and Khalid Abdullah are teaming up again.

And beginning tonight, you could serve as the offensive coordinator for the former James Madison quarterback and running back when they take the field for Team Grit in Your Call Football — a pro league entirely designed for fans to call the plays as the action happens.

“The whole overall structure and idea of the concept we’re doing I think is really cool,” said Abdullah, the Most Outstanding Player of the 2016 FCS National Championship game when he rushed for 101 yards and two touchdowns to help the Dukes beat Youngstown State.

“To be out here with some NFL guys and to be doing something that’s kind of breakthrough, I think that’s something that I enjoy,” he said.

The pair of JMU alums spent time training in Jacksonville, Fla., for the start of their four-week season, which opens tonight at 8 p.m. inside the indoor training facility of the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars.

Games are played on Monday nights and streamed through the Your Call Football app, YourCallFootball.com and BarstoolSports.com. And through the app, fans vote on a bundle of three plays relayed by each team’s head coach prior to every snap and the play that earns the most votes is run on the field.

Former NFL safety and current broadcaster Solomon Wilcots is the coach of Team Grit.

“We position ourselves as a sports tech company that has this amazing technology and we showcase it via football,” said Your Call Football president Julie Meringer. “… But the reason why we’re not on a traditional TV network is because of the innovation of the tech.

“Last year we were approached by CBS, Turner and folks like that, which was great and flattering, but linear TV has a minimum live-from-the-event-to-your-TV of a 17-second delay. Then you go to WatchESPN or Bleacher Report or Twitch, you’re up to a one-minute [delay] or a 1:20-[delay]. And because of the uniqueness of our tech and since the coaches’ plays are literally a digital call sheet on an iPad, we can’t afford any delay in how our tech works.”

Meringer, who worked 20 years for Forrester Research before joining Your Call Football, said it’s why the league is using a zero-latency streaming company out of Chicago to eliminate the delay.

Fans can go head-to-head against other fans or within a group to determine the best play-caller for bragging rights or to win cash prizes since the league awards points to users when the play they call is successfully executed by the athletes on the field.

“It’s a very interesting concept,” Lee said. “But the coaches have made it very simple for us. It’s not like we’re learning an entire NFL playbook. We have about 50 to 60 plays that we’ve been repping throughout the last couple of weeks, and we feel really good about those plays, so anytime those fans call any particular play, I think me and Khalid and the rest of the guys will be prepared.”

Abdullah and Lee said the product on the field is strong, too, as most players were on an NFL or CFL roster at some point in their careers.

Abdullah played in Your Call Football’s first season, last year, and Lee, who shares the same agent as Abdullah, wanted to be involved this year. Both have full-time jobs with Lee serving as team chaplain for Indiana University football in Bloomington, Ind., and Abdullah the director of business development at Shockwave Strength and Performance in Newport News.

“I think when you’ve been playing the game since you were 5 years old, you’re never really done with it even when you try to be,” said Lee, who is still the only player in Division I history to pass and run for more 275 yards in the same game. He threw for 289 yards, rushed for 276 yards and tallied five total touchdowns when JMU won at FBS Southern Methodist in 2015.

“For me, I’ve definitely tried to go into my next career,” Lee said. “And I think I’ll still continue to do that, because it’s not like I’m putting the team chaplain role aside, it’s just a great opportunity that came and for five weeks, I couldn’t beat it.”

A positive showing in Your Call Football games, which are attended by NFL scouts, could also lead to another opportunity. Both Lee and Abdullah were with the New York Giants at different times following their college careers.

“This is definitely to get back into some kind of league,” Abdullah said. “And in 2019, I think it’s a great time to be playing football period. You’ve got all these different leagues popping up, so even if you don’t get to the NFL, you’ve got the AAF, XFL, AFL and Freedom League, and all these different leagues coming to fruition as far as football is concerned, so you always have an opportunity.

“But NFL teams are watching the film and you’ll have NFL personnel there at the games checking us out and making sure their crossing all their Ts and dotting all their Is because as an NFL scout or coach or team, they want to make their team better so they’re not going to leave any stone unturned. So you can best believe we’re being evaluated by NFL personnel and that just lights a fire to make sure we put the best product on the field because you know you’re being watched.”

Meringer said she hopes the Your Call Football players are able to continue their careers in another league.

And one way JMU fans can help make that a reality for Lee and Abdullah is to vote for plays that allow Lee to throw, Abdullah to run or Lee to throw to Abdullah.

“My last touchdown at JMU, Khalid was my lead blocker on that play,” Lee said. “And that was my last touchdown at JMU, so he holds a special place in my heart.”

Abdullah said: “We tried to line up beside each other to get that quarterback and running back paired up very quickly as soon as we got out here, so you’ll probably see that a lot [tonight]. You’ll see me and Vad out there just like the old days at JMU.”