HARRISONBURG — Bryan Stinespring said he isn’t focused on what’s different about his new job. Instead, he makes a point to recognize the similarities.

For the last 26 years, Stinespring made his living in Blacksburg working as an assistant for Frank Beamer at Virginia Tech. He worked with the offensive line for eight years and had an 11-year run as the Hokies’ offensive coordinator and coached tight ends throughout his tenure, In 2013, Stinespring added the role of recruiting coordinator in Blacksburg.

He held both positions until Beamer retired last year, and Stinespring left Virginia Tech to join Mike Houston’s staff at James Madison, his alma mater.

Saturday marks the first time in nearly three decades Stinespring — JMU’s tight ends coach and run-game coordinator — will coach a home game anywhere else than Blacksburg and with anyone other than Beamer.

“Frank Beamer always used to say ‘there are better days ahead,’” Stinespring said. “From when we started and after we won the Big East, the Orange Bowl and went into the ACC, he always believed there were better days ahead for Virginia Tech. I think that’s the same here.

“The similarities are a tremendous group of young men that are working hard and excited about the season. I’m also surrounded by a tremendous group of coaches that I’ve never worked with before. To have the quality of coaches sitting at the table and being on the field with them, it’s very similar in that regard, too. Then there’s the support that I’ve seen for this program and this university. That’s similar. I don’t get caught up in what’s different, but I can see the similarities that are etched in my mind.”

The coaching veteran witnessed firsthand the support that the JMU football program receives from its fan base. In 2010, the Dukes upset Virginia Tech 21-16 at Lane Stadium. Stinespring’s offense turned the ball over three times during Madison’s stunner.

“The toughest part for me was that next morning. I had to de-friend some close [JMU] friends on Facebook because the [Virginia Tech] fans were already upset since we started the season 0-2 — we had lost twice in six days,” Stinespring said. “I clicked on my Facebook that next morning, and my friends, that are still my friends today, went to the game so it looked like a celebration of JMU football. That went on for the next two weeks. I had to get it off my screen.”

Curt Newsome was on the Virginia Tech sideline that day — coaching the offensive line for Stinespring’s offense. His time on Beamer’s staff came between stints in Harrisonburg where he worked under former Dukes coach Mickey Matthews.

Now the head coach at Division III Emory & Henry College, Newsome said there might be some minor adjustments for Stinespring to make from coaching at Virginia Tech to coaching at Madison — Virginia Tech takes charter flights and has police escorts to its games, JMU does not — but the overall fundamentals of coaching at both places maintain parallels.

“The work doesn’t change,” Newsome said. “People may think the level of pressure changes, but it doesn’t because the pressure comes from what coaches put on themselves. It doesn’t matter if you’re playing against Alabama or William & Mary, there will be always be a pressure to win.”

Ahead of JMU’s opener against Morehead State, Stinespring has made a seamless transition from the Power Five program at Virginia Tech to the team whose uniform he wore in the early 1980s as a walk-on.

“I’m happy and I’m sure all the other tight ends are happy that he came home to his alma mater to coach us,” senior tight end Dan Schiele said. “He’s great to have around. He’s really good at pushing us when we need to be pushed and teaching us when we need be taught. He has a ton of experience.”

That experience is exactly what Houston said he saw when he made the decision to add Stinespring to his staff.

Houston said he initially met Stinespring in January in the lobby of a Newport News hotel. Houston was out on the road trying to solidify JMU’s 2016 recruiting class while also piecing together his coaching staff. Houston and Stinespring had a three-hour conversation that night, Houston said.

“I knew immediately that he had the same philosophy with how you play the game of football that I had,” Houston said. “We really hit it off and I think that his mindset and intensity that he’s brought to our offense is something that I wanted to bring to it.”

The Clifton Forge native said he’s just excited to be back at James Madison.

“I feel like I’ve been rejuvenated,” Stinespring said. “This is a place that’s always been important to me. It’s where I’ve always wanted to go to school growing up and now I have a chance to hopefully give something back and make a difference here. That’s the ultimate goal – to make a positive impact and make a difference here.”