Charles Haley: JMU Standout to NFL Hall of Famer - Part 1

JMUSports.com this week will devote a series of articles to former JMU football standout Charles Haley (1982-85), who on Saturday will be enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The first installment introduces Haley and reviews his high school career, recruitment to JMU and first JMU season (1982). A second installment reviews his second and third JMU seasons and the third installment reviews his fourth JMU season and professional career. The complete enshrinement ceremony will air live at 7 p.m. on the NFL Network. More information is available at JMUSports.com.

Few players have had the immediate impact on the James Madison University football program that Charles Haley did in 1982, and more than three decades later he will be honored as no other Duke has been.

Charles Haley Basics

Hometown: Gladys, Va.
High School: William Campbell (Class of 1982)
JMU Seasons: 1982-85
Playing Positions: Defensive End/Linebacker
NFL Draft: San Francisco, 1986, Fourth Round
NFL Career: San Francisco 1986-91, 1998-99; Dallas 1992-96

Saturday Haley will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame along with seven other members of the hall's 2015 class. His enshrinement in Canton, Ohio, will cap a career that went from a lightly recruited high school performer to being the only player to be a member of five Super Bowl champions. In between, he was all but penciled in as a JMU starter after his first college practice, earned First Team All-America honors and became a dominant professional defender despite a considerable lack of respect at draft time after his college career.

Haley completed his JMU career with a program-record 506 tackles, 17 quarterback sacks, three interceptions and 19 pass break deflections, and he was the first Duke selected in the National Football League draft.

Before JMU

Listed at 6-foot-4, 212 pounds in the 1982 JMU football media guide, Haley arrived on campus after being an All-Group AA performer as a linebacker as a 1981 senior at William Campbell High School near Lynchburg, Va. He was an all-district selection at linebacker and tight end and an all-region linebacker choice. He led William Campbell to a 16-3-1 regular-season record during his final two scholastic seasons and was a three-year football starter and an all-district honoree in basketball.

Can't-Miss Prospect

To those watching Haley as a scholastic performer there was little doubt that he was an outstanding college and likely professional prospect. But recruiters from major programs hadn't located him early during the recruiting process, and JMU got a commitment before others got a foot inside the door.

Then-JMU assistant coach Danny Wilmer made the JMU program's first contact with its future all-time tackles leaders, and both he and head coach Challace McMillin were wowed at first sight.

"Charles was in Danny Wilmer's recruiting area, and Danny felt he was an outstanding athlete," said McMillin, who coached the Dukes from 1972 through Haley's junior season in 1984. "And then I went to see him and was very impressed with his size and his abilities. He was fast and had great skills, and you could tell he was a great competitor. On every play he went all out. I had no doubt he was going to be a really fine football player."

"I was watching the Rustburg (High School)-William Campbell game, and I couldn't believe no one was there (recruiting)," Wilmer said. "I was worried the big-name programs would be there, but they were nowhere to be seen. You could look at Charles and see he could play in the NFL; I could see it immediately. He made every tackle.

"They had him lined up close to the line scrimmage in a strange defense," Wilmer added. "He'd force the quarterback and then take the option man. And then they threw a short pass and he ran out and got the receiver, too.

"I was looking at two kids; his brother was a good football player, too, but we weren't able to offer him," Wilmer said. "We also were looking at Lincoln Wood (a Rustburg player and JMU signee); those two were bookends, but Lincoln ended up breaking his leg. I think he could have ended up in the NFL too."

Early Loyalty

Haley always has been known for his loyalty to those closest to him, and the trait never was more evidenced than during his college recruitment. JMU extended an early scholarship offer, and Haley stayed with his commitment despite later interest from more-established programs.

"He began to be recruited more after his senior season," said McMillin. "But we offered him early and told him, 'We have a limited number of scholarships and are committed to you; we want to be sure we can count on you.' He carried out his commitment even after he was being recruited more heavily after the season."

The relationship Wilmer developed with Haley was a key in the recruiting effort and has remained strong for more than 30 years.

"He and I had a bond I can't explain," said Wilmer, whose recruiting prowess led the University of Virginia football staff to lure him away from JMU several years later. "I remember going by their house, and I ate with them. And then when I was returning him home from his JMU visit, we stopped by my house (in Buena Vista) to eat, and my mother had all of the southern fixings."

Instant Starter/Successful Season

"We had high expectations for him coming in," McMillin said of Haley. "And after the first practice, I told our assistant coaches there was no doubt he was going to start and would be the best defensive player that we had had. He certainly was the best who played for me; and in all of the years of watching JMU football I don't think there has been anyone better. After that first practice, we knew he had the potential to be a great player."

JMU football in 1982 had its first group of scholarship seniors, and adding a player of Haley's caliber put the Dukes into a prime position for a turnaround season. JMU was 4-6, 4-6 and 3-8 during the three previous years but won two of its final three 1981 games, including an impressive effort at East Tennessee State to close the season.

Haley didn't disappoint, and neither did 1982 the team, compiling an 8-3 record and being nationally ranked and in consideration for a playoff bid for much of the campaign.

Among the season highlights was a September afternoon in Charlottesville that will remain a milestone date for as long as athletics are contested at JMU. Three years after losing 69-9 on the same field, JMU defeated Virginia 21-17 with Haley playing a leading role. The Dukes during the season defeated four teams who had beaten them the previous year, establishing themselves as legitimate players at the Division I-AA level.

Haley as a true freshman defensive end/outside linebacker took part in 85 tackles, second on the team to inside linebacker Ron Ziolkowski's 90. He had five quarterback sacks, caught opposing ball carriers for losses seven other times, broke up six passes and caused four fumbles. His play earned him first-team all-state recognition from the Roanoke Times, the only freshman so honored, and he twice was named the Eastern College Athletic Conference's defensive rookie of the week.

"Charles was so good you couldn't keep him off the field," said long-time JMU assistant coach Jimmy Prince, who, like McMillin and Wilmer, still communicates with Haley on a regular basis. "Of all of the things he was, he was so tough. His whole idea was to beat you; it was a personal thing for him. In the first Virginia game (1982) they couldn't block him."

Haley's initial rookie award came after JMU's second game, a 39-35 win over Appalachian State to avenge a 45-0 loss from the previous season, and his second a week later following the Dukes' victory at Virginia. He was involved in 17 tackles, including five unassisted, against Appalachian State. At Virginia he took part in 11 tackles, including three unassisted, and had two quarterback sacks.

Haley's efforts against Appalachian State and Virginia followed a 12-tackle effort during which he also broke up two passes and caused a fumble against New Hampshire in the Dukes' season-opener and his first college game. He later was involved in 10 tackles in a 15-10 win over East Tennessee State and had sacks that played key roles in a 24-18 win over William & Mary and a 32-16 win at C.W. Post. The William & Mary win avenged a 31-19 loss from the year before, and the C.W. Post victory avenged a 36-35 last-second defeat in 1981.

"He made a big difference and there were others who had adjusted and developed as players," McMillin said of JMU's 1982 success. "It showed the growth in our program; it said we were beginning to be competitive at a different level."

The 1982 season was a turning point for JMU football at the scholarship level, and JMU's returning players realized what an asset a player of Haley's talent was.

"I think they pretty much accepted him," McMillin said. "They realized how good he was; they were impressed with his intensity in practice and how hard he worked. He was out-going and demanded a lot from his teammates on the field. They realized he was good and were happy he was part of the team."

The JMU program went on to achieve greater levels of success as the years went on as did Haley, whose immense talents continued to impress at both the college and professional level.