HARRISONBURG — Fontel Mines and Roy Tesh are getting to know their new personnel quickly.

Both Mines and Tesh are in their first on-field week with the James Madison football program.

Mines was hired in April, just as the team wrapped up its 15 spring practices, to coach tight ends and inside receivers. Tesh was hired in June to coach outside linebackers and serve as special-teams coordinator, replacing John Bowers, who moved to California to be near family.

“We’ve got a good group of players,” Tesh said while sporting his brand-new JMU bucket hat. “And that’s probably the understatement of the century right there.

“Being around these guys, the first thing you notice is that they look like college football players. And the more you hang out with them, the more you understand they’re good young men. So when you’re with a successful program, you’re going to have successful people around you. Like-minded people tend to hang out and have similar goals, like-minded goals, and that’s what we’ve got here.”

Mines said he’s finally settled in Harrisonburg after bouncing from Richmond to Delaware to JMU in a span of four months.

An ex-Spiders assistant, Mines gets to work with established pass catchers like senior receiver John Miller and those with potential, such as sophomore tight end Nick Carlton.

Mines played receiver in college at Virginia and tight end for four years in the NFL with the Chicago Bears.

Miller and Carlton have taken most the first-team snaps at their respective positions. STATS FCS preseason third-team All-American tight end Jonathan Kloosterman is working his way back from injury.

“I think Nick has all the tools to play this game for a very long time,” Mines said. “I’ve been around some pretty good tight ends and I think he has the skill-set to be a really talented player at this level.

“And John Miller is our stable vet. He’s leading the room and showing these young guys how to practice and helping them learn along the way.”

Tight end is the most versatile position within an offense, according to Mines. He said he thinks JMU could benefit from using both Carlton and Kloosterman at the same time.

“We would love to play them both. If you have those two talented tight ends on the field, you can do a lot of things as an offense,” Mines said. “You can split them out. You can line them in. You can have them in the backfield. Those two guys can really stress a defense.”

Behind Miller, Mines said freshmen receivers Ezrah Archie and Josh Sims have impressed him.

“I really, really like Ezrah Archie,” Mines said. “He’s very smart and cerebral. He’s picking up the playbook well and making the plays out here.”

Tesh, who’s reunited with JMU coach Mike Houston after the two were together at The Citadel, Lenoir-Rhyne and Brevard, is tasked with evaluating position battles at outside linebacker, punter, punt returner and kick returner.

True freshman Harry O’Kelly and redshirt freshman Jeremiah McBride are vying for the punting job and about six players are catching punts or kicks in practice.

“We got a list of things we’re looking for out of each position and it’ll really dictate how we respond schematically, so we’ve got ‘em wide open all over the place,” Tesh said. “The guys are out here competing and that’s all you can ask for as a unit.”

He added JMU’s special-teams systems are mostly staying the same with the exception of “some wrinkles.”

“We’re going to use those and really try to make our special teams a unit that’s a weapon,” Tesh said.

Last year, JMU led the country with six punt-return touchdowns and Dukes’ punt returner Rashard Davis was the CAA Special Teams Player of the Year for 2016. In the national quarterfinal against Sam Houston State, a blocked punt by safety Adam Smith led to a scoop-and-score touchdown for Bryce Maginley, which helped JMU take down the Bearkats.

At outside linebacker, the sophomore Maginley, junior Robert Carter Jr., and freshman Julian Freeze are taking reps at the position.