JMU football landed its new coach in recent days, bringing in former Louisiana and Florida coach Billy Napier to replace Bob Chesney. He has big shoes to fill, as Chesney led the Dukes to the College Football Playoff in just his second season before bolting for UCLA. 

Perhaps Napier’s biggest critique during his Florida tenure was his insistence on calling plays offensively. He told Dave Riggert on Dec. 10 that he will allow the team’s offensive coordinator to call plays. So who will he bring in to help him on the offensive side of the ball at JMU? And who will take over a JMU defense known for being one of the best in the Group of Five since the Dukes moved up?

We’ll track JMU’s staffing moves here. 

Offensive coaches

Cam Aiken, offensive coordinator — Aiken will be the hire, according to FootballScoop. The former East Tennessee OC will take the same job in Harrisonburg. Aiken is a fantastic hire. ETSU went 7-5 in 2025, Aiken’s first season as OC. The Buccaneers averaged 32.5 points per game, ranking 24th in the FCS. They ran for about 200 yards per contest, ranking 15th in the FCS. The Buccaneers ranked 15th in the FCS in total offense.

Aiken also has P4 experience, working as an assistant at both Ole Miss and Clemson. He spent nine years at Clemson, during which the program made six College Football Playoff appearances and won a pair of national titles. 

Aaron Pflugrad, quarterbacks coach — He was most recently Michigan State’s passing game coordinator. Previously, he was an offensive coordinator at Northern Arizona in the FCS for six seasons. He played wide receiver at Oregon and Arizona State when in college.

William Peagler, running backs — He’s a well-traveled coach at just 40 years old, spending 2025 as an offensive analyst at Florida. He was actually an assistant defensive line coach with the Arizona Cardinals in 2023 and 2024. JMU fans will likely care most that he was at Michigan State in 2020 and 2021 working as the team’s running backs coach, helping Kenneth Walker reach major success at the college ranks. Walker was an All-American in 2021. He’s plenty qualified and is a solid addition.

RJ Fleming, wide receivers coach — Fleming spent the previous three seasons leading Toledo’s WR group. He also has experience at Auburn and TCU, among other stops.

Rob Sale, offensive line coach — Sale spent 2022 through 2025 coaching Florida’s offensive line, as he knows Napier well. He was Florida’s OC from 2022 through 2024 and spent 2021 as the OL coach of the New York Giants.

Defensive coaches

Robert Bala, defensive coordinator — JMU is hiring former Florida co-DC Robert Bala. He spent 2025 with Napier at Florida, 2024 in Washington, and 2023 at Alabama. He coached linebackers at both Alabama and Washington is known as an elite LB developer and recruiter. His P4 experience should prove valuable. He knows Virginia a little bit from a 2022 stint as an analyst at Liberty.

Josh Linam, co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach — Linam comes to JMU after three seasons at Liberty coaching the Flames’ linebackers. This includes the 2023 season, when the Flames made the Fiesta Bowl. He also has P4 experience at Georgia Tech and Auburn as a defensive analyst.

Kali James, defensive line coach — It’s unclear if James will be the Dukes’ primary DL coach or an assistant, but James comes to the Dukes from Western Kentucky. He’s a highly regarded young coach and coached the Hilltoppers’ defensive tackles this past season. He worked previously as an assistant under Napier at Florida and spent 2024 leading Jackson State’s defensive line.

Jireh Wilson, edges coach — I like this hire. Wilson is young and spent 2025 coaching Virginia Tech’s edges. He knows the state and should be a nice boost to the staff.

Brandon Bailey, safeties coach — Georgia Southern let Bailey go as its DC after three seasons, but he’s crazy qualified to be a Sun Belt position coach. He’s led a defense the past four seasons, and he should give Bala another voice to bounce ideas off during the season. He also has great familiarity with Sun Belt offenses.

Kyle Barnes, cornerbacks coach — A holdover from Chesney’s staff, Barnes spent 2025 coaching the Dukes’ nickelbacks. Keeping a Chesney staffer could help bridge the two coaching staff, as Barnes has a good understanding of what JMU did well defensively in 2025.

Dave Plungas, assistant head coach and outside linebackers coach — Another holdover from 2025, this is a great move by the Dukes. Plungas not only knows the roster well, but he was also an exceptional defensive coordinator at Robert Morris before coming to JMU and coaching the linebackers. Trent Hendrick was the Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year under Plungas’ watch.

Special teams coaches

Rob Wenger, special teams coordinator — Wenger comes to JMU after spending 2025 at Sacramento State in the same role. The FCS program went 7-5 and was quite solid on special teams, ranking third in the FCS in net punting. He spent 2017 through 2024 as Minnesota’s special teams coordinator, although his tenure there was up-and-down. He’s certainly qualified to lead a G5 special teams unit, and he could improve JMU’s efforts. The Dukes currently rank 89th in special teams, according to ESPN’s SP+.  

Personnel hires/recruiting

JMU’s new regime is bulking up its personnel/recruiting department significantly under Napier. It’s a change from past staffs, which moves the Dukes more in line with how P4 programs operate.

Jacob LaFrance, associate AD of football personnel — Napier’s right-hand man is joining him at JMU. A key member of Florida’s recruiting staff in recent seasons, LaFrance worked with Napier at Louisiana and paced the Sun Belt in recruiting. He also has previous experience at UTSA, Maryland, and LSU. He should be a tremendous asset as the Dukes look to bring in more talent than Sun Belt peers both via the portal and through traditional high school recruiting efforts.

Ross Bares, director of scouting — Bares joins Napier after working with him at Florida. He also has experience at LSU and Louisiana.

Kaden Semon, director of player personnel — He comes to JMU from Colorado State, where he handled defensive scouting. He also has experience at Ole Miss and Tennessee. He’s part of the robust recruiting staff. 247Sports reported the hiring.

Tyler Henderson, director of college personnel — Most recently Fordham’s cornerbacks coach for a pair of seasons, Henderson worked as Florida’s assistant director of college personnel in 2023. He knows the Napier staff well and will aid in transfer portal efforts. He’s from Charlotte, a productive recruiting area for the Dukes.

Photo courtesy of JMU Athletics Communications