Dukes to Honor Challace McMillin During Entire Spring Football Season

HARRISONBURG, Va. – James Madison football will honor the life and legacy of former Head Coach Challace McMillin throughout the 2020-21 spring football season.

The Dukes will don a "Coach Mac" front bumper decal on every player's helmet during JMU's eight regular-season games and any potential postseason contest.

Coach McMillin, the first head coach and a founding father of JMU football, passed away on March 8, 2020, at the age of 77.

McMillin launched JMU football from the ground up in 1972 and led the program for its first 13 seasons (1972-84). McMillin completed his JMU coaching career with a 67-60-2 overall record and was a three-time Richmond Touchdown Club State Coach of the Year (1975, 1978 and 1982). He was also started JMU's cross country and track & field programs in 1971, coaching those teams until 1975.

Following his tenure as head football coach, McMillin was inducted into the JMU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1994. He taught classes from 1971 through 2003 in the Department of Physical Education and Health Science, later becoming a professor in the School of Kinesiology and Recreation Studies. During that time, he earned the 2000 VAHPERD College/University Physical Educator of the Year Award. He specialized in coaching education, sport sociology and sport psychology and was instrumental in developing JMU's nationally-accredited coaching minor.

McMillin returned to the department of athletics in 2003 as a mental training coach, working with individuals, teams and coaching staffs. Following his retirement, both the sport psychology department and athletics academic center were named in his honor – the Challace J. McMillin Center for Sport Psychology and the Challace McMillin Academic Center.

Coach Mac remained a regular visitor to campus, JMU Athletics and the football team until the time of his passing.

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