O-Line Coach Powell Leaves JMU
HARRISONBURG — James Madison is losing the offensive line coach from its national championship season.
After two years at the school, Jamal Powell is leaving the JMU football program to take the same job on the staff at Lamar University, he said in a Twitter direct message late Friday.
At Lamar, Powell will reunite with first-year coach Mike Schultz. Schultz was an assistant at Texas Christian University under Dennis Franchione and then Gary Patterson when Powell played at the school.
Powell was one of two holdovers from ex-JMU coach Everett Withers’ staff that coach Mike Houston kept on when he took over last winter.
Houston, Powell, offensive coordinator Donnie Kirkpatrick and run-game coordinator/tight ends coach Bryan Stinespring revamped Madison’s philosophy upfront for the 2016 season. JMU adapted its offensive line from one that moved side-to-side to a dominating downhill-blocking unit.
Under Powell’s watch, the Dukes’ offensive front, which included one All-American and three All-Colonial Athletic Association selections, paved the way for the nation’s fifth-best rushing offense (275 yards per game).
Last month, when the school doled out raises to Houston’s staff, Powell was one of two assistants not to receive a bump in pay, staying at $65,000 annually, the same rate he signed for in March 2015 when he was hired by Withers.
Before coming to JMU, he had a stint at Division II West Virginia State. He also previously had stops at Seton Hill University, Texas A& M, Centre College and Southwest Baptist University following his playing days.
After his college-playing career was complete at Texas Christian University, Powell played two seasons in the NFL with the Tennessee Titans and Houston Texans.
JMU is currently three practices into its spring.
With Powell gone, Stinespring will assume all of the offensive line coaching responsibilities in addition to maintaining his work as the run-game coordinator and tight ends coach.
Stinespring will have position battles to evaluate over the next few weeks as the Dukes return just two starters — left tackle Aaron Stinnie and left guard A.J. Bolden.