FEATURE: Top Dog -- Chavious helps lead JMU to FCS national title

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on January 23, 2017 9:57 AM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

FRISCO, Texas -- Tyree Chavious received his hat and T-shirt from a team manager.

Then he looked out into a sea of purple-clad fans who roared their approval and took photos on Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook and any other social media to capture an unforgettable moment in time.

It undoubtedly felt surreal to Chavious.

James Madison had just won its second Football Championship Subdivision national title and knocked out heavyweight North Dakota State, which had claimed the past five FCS crowns, along the way.

A year ago Chavious never expected to experience this feeling on a crisp, cool Saturday evening as confetti -- purple and gold, appropriately -- fell and swirled in different directions.

"The feeling is amazing," said Chavious, a graduate of Rosewood. "I can say this is my proudest achievement to this day."

Maybe.

Shucking that red-shirt freshman image may rank No. 1.

The baby-faced gentle giant stepped onto campus in 2015 and learned that he'd sit out his first year. That gave the 300-pound offensive linemen two advantages -- time adjust to the collegiate lifestyle and the opportunity to handle rigorous requirements that not only test your physical abilities, but challenge your mental state of mind.

Chavious quickly understood the meaning of commitment.

"When I got here, I was like a deer in the headlights," laughed Chavious. "I thought 'oh my God, what am I going through with all of these summer workouts?' But I made it through. What I learned about myself...I was tougher than I thought I was.

"If you don't love it, you can't be committed to it."

*

Another change.

Bolstered by one of the nation's top-rated offensive lines, the Dukes underwent a coaching change. And like any new coach, Mike Houston introduced his own philosophy. Chavious and his teammates, understandably, felt a little nervous. The senior class was playing for their third head coach.

"When coach told us we were changing things, our thought process was why are we changing if it if worked the last time," Chavious said. "But, once again, we bought in."

Especially Chavious.

A guard in high school, he had to learn the tackle position when red-shirt senior Mitch Kirsch missed spring ball due to an injury. Chavious worked to get in as much field time as possible and constantly got quizzed by his teammates -- particularly fellow linemen Kirsch, Kyle Rigney, Matt Frank, AJ Bolden and Aaron Stinnie -- from the playbook until he could explain every play. Soon, Chavious emerged as the team "scholar" due to his eloquent description of each scheme and the responsibility required by each teammate.

Most of his time, however, existed on the scout team.

"I knew I wouldn't get as much game experience at the start, so I was just trying to get as much field experience so when it was my time to get called up, I could perform how my coaches expected me to perform and how my teammates expected me to perform," Chavious said.

"I was broken down and they brought me back up."

*

Fall, 2016.

James Madison, again, garnered worthy attention.

The Dukes' potent offense was protected by a five-man front that averaged 6-foot-3 and 300-plus pounds. The smallest was Rigney at a svelte 285 pounds and Stinnie close behind at a smooth 290.

Colonial Athletic Association coaches selected JMU third in the preseason poll.

STATS ranked the Dukes 12th overall nationally.

Houston's team racked up 136 points in its first two outings with its first real test, North Carolina, coming in mid-September.

That trip to Chapel Hill proved two-fold.

The Tar Heels won 56-28, but the Dukes' offensive line had flexed their muscle all afternoon against some of the country's best defensive linemen.

"Our coach made the comment that if we could push them around, then we could play with anybody and we should be successful," Chavious said. "I feel like the UNC game was good in the aspect of what we got to see the caliber of D-linemen we had to go against. When we played the D-lines in our conference, it wasn't the same caliber."

*

Frustration didn't set in when the Dukes returned to campus after the UNC loss.

Nor did their routine. Film study on Monday. Sled work on Tuesday.

CAA opponents soon realized James Madison, with its behemoth line that had gone toe-to-toe with a Power 5 Conference opponent, was the "real deal." No one stood a chance against the Dukes, who ran the table in league play (8-0) and scored 40-plus points on five occasions. The mind-boggling run included victories over then-No. 6 Richmond and then-No. 9 Villanova.

"The potential was there...just a matter of everybody buying into the dream of a national championship," Chavious said.

A national title?

JMU was one-and-done in the 2014 and 2015 playoffs.

In fact, the Dukes hadn't won a postseason game since 2011.

Houston's team drew a No. 4 seed and opening-round bye in the FCS for the third consecutive year. Directed by a coach whose dream became his team's lone goal, the Dukes hammered New Hampshire by 43 points and followed that up with a 33-point trouncing against Sam Houston State -- which was also Chavious' first career start.

*

Next, NDSU.

Chavious earned his second start on that historical afternoon.

One of the country's loudest arenas -- the Fargo Dome -- drowned out any noise generated by a small contingent of JMU fans. But those green-and-gold fans grew silent as the Dukes took command early and controlled the tempo for 48 minutes. An offensive juggernaut, the Bison couldn't generate its running game against a disciplined defensive line that handled its responsibility like a Presidential coverage detail.

"It was so loud in the stadium and you couldn't hear the snap count," Chavious said. "To hear the crowd go from being loud to being silent, it was the most-satisfying thing. We were like 'we came into your place and we made your crowd be quiet.'

"Y'all underestimated us. A lot of teams felt that way against us and every week we showed up."

Euphoria followed.

JMU had dethroned the nation's No. 1-ranked team -- which many expected to win its sixth title and tie the NCAA record set by Georgia Southern.

The celebration lasted until the Dukes returned to Harrisonburg, Va.

"Our coach always says we're playing for the next game," Chavious said.

*

Frisco, Texas.

Former national champ Youngstown State stood between the Dukes and the FCS title.

Like the North Dakota State game, JMU continued its normal preparation but didn't devise a strategy against the Owls, who boasted one of the nation's top-rushing offenses and reached the national title game for the first time since 1999.

JMU seized a 14-0 lead just 5 1/2 minutes into the FCS final and extended its advantage to 21-0 near the midway point of the second quarter. The Dukes' defensive line grounded the Owls' attack and surrendered just 21 rushing yards -- and 292 yards total.

Chavious experienced few nerves when he started against Sam Houston St. and North Dakota St., but he couldn't calm the butterflies fluttering in his stomach as time ticked away in the fourth quarter. A teammate warned him to keep his helmet handy because chaos would reign after the game.

"They're going to rush the field," his teammate said.

No way, thought Chavious.

The stadium was off the ground and anyone who jumped would surely suffer some type of injury. As soon as the scoreboard tripped to 0:00, the JMU faithful hurdled every obstacle to celebrate with a team that had just claimed the program's first national championship since 2004.

"I was surrounded by fans," Chavious said.

He won't forget in particular.

The guy kept head-butting Chavious, who was wearing his helmet at the time.

"I stopped him and said, 'hey, you are going to hurt yourself,'" Chavious said. "He said, 'I don't care, I'm a grown man.' And he just kept head-butting me. When we finally got on stage and they were giving out hats and shirts, I turned around to the crowd.

"I saw all of these fans who flew to Texas to watch us play. That's a feeling I can't explain."

Surreal moments are usually that way.