McMillin To Be Recognized For Lifetime Achievements, Nov. 22

HARRISONBURG, Va. – James Madison University Athletics Department will recognize JMU Football's and Track and Field's founder and first head coach Challace McMillin at the Elon football game, Nov. 22, for his lifetime achievements within Athletics.

"My time at JMU has been challenging, exciting, rewarding and awesome," McMillin said. "It has given me the opportunity to do what I have a passion for and that is to coach and teach young people. I have always believed that teaching and coaching is "touching tomorrow" and being at JMU has allowed me to meet that goal. To have the rare opportunity to start the JMU football and track & field programs was special. To be able to see those programs develop and to continue to work with the JMU Athletic Department has been very rewarding."

"Coach Mac is one of the icons of our university and athletics program," said Jeff Bourne, JMU Director of Athletics. "Over the years, Challace has made incredible contributions that in many ways define our program today and the culture we expect for our student-athletes and coaches. As a coach, mentor, peer or friend, Challace's impact will forever be a part of JMU Athletics."

A 1994 inductee into the JMU Athletics Hall of Fame, McMillin was a two-sport coach at Madison, starting both the football and track and field programs, coaching the latter for four years. He spent 14 years as JMU's football head coach, building a program and then rebuilding it when the university began awarding scholarships. The program began in 1972 and McMillin built his team with players first recruited in class registration lines before the season. In 1975, his fourth team had JMU's only unbeaten season (9-0-1), and his 1976 Dukes were tied for the No. 1 spot in the nation in the first Division III poll. He led JMU to a No. 9 national ranking in 1978 and then oversaw the Dukes' move to the scholarship level. His 1982 team was 8-3 and nationally ranked in Division I-AA. For his efforts, he earned eight Coach of the Year awards from various organizations during his coaching stint. McMillin had a 64-52-1 JMU record, and several of his former players have had distinguished professional football careers, including Gary Clark, Charles Haley and Scott Norwood.

"In 1982, I walked on to this great campus and my expectation was to get away from the country and working in the fields," Haley, the only five-time Super Bowl champion, said in a recent interview. "I saw this as an opportunity to get away and do something that I love. I love the game of football. God knows Coach McMillin gave me the opportunity to walk out on this field and play. I cherish the moments that I played here.

"My relationship with Coach McMillin has always been the same," Haley continued. "We've been talking ever since I left. He is one of the greatest human beings I have ever known. He was a man that took an angry man and got him to un-ball his fists. I cannot say how much I love this man because of what he has done for me in making me not only a great football player but a man."

During his time as JMU's football coach, McMillin was an instructor at JMU and continued that following his time on the sidelines. From 1985-2003, he was a professor at Madison, coordinating the coaching education program. During that time, he earned the VAHPERD College/University Physical Educator of the Year award in 2000. He has continued teaching at the university while returning back to the athletic department in 2003 as a mental training coach working with individuals, teams and coaching staffs. In honor of that service, the university named both the sports psychology and student-athlete services centers after McMillin.

"The development of the Challace McMillin Sport Psychology Center and the Challace McMillin Education Center for Student Athletes is a great honor for me," McMillin continued. "These centers have given the JMU student-athletes great support and will continue to give them important help and resources. I have always told my coaches and my student-athletes that we are "Planting Trees" that will become "A Forest" and will continue to grow. I have helped develop that forest and I believe it will continue to grow. I am blessed to have been part of the JMU Athletic Department. I am very proud of what I have done and how the Athletic Department has developed."

A 1964 graduate of Rhodes College, McMillin played four years of football, earning All-West Tennessee in his career. He was also a three-year letterwinner in track during his collegiate career. He later earned his master's in education from Memphis State University and then his doctorate in sports psychology from the University of Virginia in 1990.

Tickets for the Champions Weekend contest against Elon are available at www.JMUSports.com/tickets or by calling 540-568-3853. Kickoff is set for 12 p.m. at Bridgeforth Stadium.

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