JMU Football PA Announcer Cavanaugh Retires After 50 Years

Photo: Jack Cavanaugh (center) pictured with JMU alumni Joe ('79) and Debbie ('78) Showker upon establishment of the Jack Cavanaugh Award in 2017.

Story originally written by Noah Fleischman for the Daily News-Record:

For 50 of James Madison's 51 seasons on the gridiron, there's been a familiar voice that's provided the soundtrack to the Dukes' home football games.

The voice that has relayed information for JMU faithful hasn't been the prototypical deep, booming voice of a public address announcer. Instead, there's an ease to the way Jack Cavanaugh expresses himself into the microphone, which has brought countless memorable moments to life in Harrisonburg.

But the 2022 season, capped by the Dukes' 47-7 win over Coastal Carolina to claim the "Kings of the North" title, was Cavanaugh's last behind the microphone.

For the 86 year old, it came down to physical health and he didn't want to leave JMU without someone on game day if a medical complication would have come up during the fall. With this in mind, Cavanaugh retired and JMU announced his decision last week.

"It just got to the point where I'd be doing a disservice to JMU if it got to a point where I tried to get over there and at the last minute I couldn't be there," Cavanaugh said. "I can't believe that I've done this for 50 years, I've enjoyed every minute of it."

Cavanaugh's path to the microphone at JMU was almost an accident.

When JMU founded its football program in 1972, the Dukes didn't have a stadium on campus, so they played at Harrisonburg High School. At the same time, Cavanaugh was the PA announcer for the Blue Streaks, in addition to his education career in the city's school system.

So when the Dukes started to use the high school as their home field, then-JMU football assistant and the head baseball coach Brad Babcock asked Cavanaugh if he could do it for JMU until they found someone to do it.

That led Cavanaugh behind the microphone for JMU's winless inaugural season. By the time the following season rolled around, Babcock asked Cavanaugh the same question, "can you do it until we find someone?"

The answer was the same. He was happy to do it.

Eventually, that someone ended up being Cavanaugh, who had a front-row seat to watch the JMU program evolve from a winless Division III squad into a national power in the early 2000's to the FBS ranks.

"And 50 years later, here I am," Cavanaugh said. "It has just been truly a lot of fun. The people that you meet and the student-athletes that you see come through, to me, there's nothing like it."

Soon enough, Cavanaugh was brought on to be the Dukes' basketball PA announcer inside Godwin Hall, in addition to his football duties, and later the Convocation Center and a handful of games at the Atlantic Union Bank Center.

Though he worked the two sports for the Dukes, Cavanaugh only missed one football season, the COVID-19 spring in 2021, but his voice has echoed through Harrisonburg as many JMU all-time greats have played on the field.

Cavanaugh was able to watch a young Scott Norwood, who kicked for JMU in the late 1970s before he took his talents to the NFL. He also voiced the college careers of future NFL Hall of Fame defensive lineman Charles Haley and wide receiver Gary Clark, who won a combined seven Super Bowls in their careers.

While Cavanaugh was able to view the evolution of the JMU football program on the field, he also observed how college football games and the fan experience have evolved, too.

As Cavanaugh served in the press box for the Dukes, he was able to see the game production improve year after year. With what first started as JMU staffers giving him pieces of information to promote while he provided the game day information in the early years, it soon transformed into pages of prepared reads and advertising.

But the most enjoyable part of his job? Watching the local, Harrisonburg-area athletes star for JMU at the college level. That included several football players, as well as women's basketball players Kirby Burkholder and Angela Mickens.

"When you love sports, it just makes it that much more enjoyable," Cavanaugh said. "The thing I like about it, especially years ago, to watch these young student-athletes come out of high school, get to JMU and then over the next three or four years, develop not only athletically, but as young adults."

While Cavanaugh cemented himself as a staple at JMU football and basketball games, Jack Hale was right next to him as his spotter for games on the gridiron and the shot clock operator on the hardwood.

And as he helped Cavanaugh — the duo had been together in the press box since 1983 — he saw the secret to the Dukes' PA announcer's longevity: the love he had for his job.

"The enjoyment of the job and it wasn't even a job [for Cavanaugh,]" Hale said. "Just the enjoyment of the experience that he looked forward to. It was something to look forward to, doing the games, and the atmosphere and the excitement. That is what made it really special."

For Hale, a new voice inside Bridgeforth Stadium will take some adjusting to. And while he said he knows that JMU will have someone new behind the microphone, Cavanaugh's voice will never be replaceable.

"He can never be replaced after 50 years," Hale said. "Somebody will replace him, but after all that time, he is a legend."

Each day at JMU wasn't a chore for Cavanaugh. He enjoyed every moment of the 50 seasons he served as the narrator for those in attendance, but when he accepted the role for the upstart Dukes in the early 1970s, he couldn't have imagined his run would have lasted this long.

"If you would have told me that I would have done this for 50 years, oh my goodness I would have lost the bet," Cavanaugh said. "But it's been great. I have not had one time that I can ever remember that I would get up and say, 'Oh, I got to go over there and do that.' That never, ever came close to entering my mind. It was always exciting."

But just because Cavanaugh won't be at Bridgeforth Stadium every home Saturday this fall, that doesn't mean his love for JMU will go away.

He said he'll still keep up with the Dukes, whether that's staying up to date with the storylines each week or listening on the radio. And there's one viewing spot that he already has picked out for when the Dukes kickoff the 2023 campaign.

"I have to admit, I have a great recliner and a great TV," Cavanaugh said with a laugh. "I won't miss these games, so if they're on, I'll watch."

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