Ron Powlus
Encyclopedia
Ronald Lee Powlus is a former American football
quarterback
, former quarterbacks coach for the University of Notre Dame
Fighting Irish football team
, and current quarterbacks coach for the University of Akron
Zips football team
.
. Powlus was named Parade Magazine prep player of the year and USA Today
offensive prep player of the year in 1992. After Powlus signed his letter of intent with Notre Dame that year, ESPN
analyst Beano Cook
predicted that Powlus would win the Heisman Trophy
twice. This was extremely high praise considering that only one player in the history of college football, Archie Griffin
, had won the trophy twice.
in 2005, held 20 school records. He started all 44 regular-season games (plus two bowl games) in which he played for the Irish and finished with 558 career completions on 969 attempts for 7,602 yards and 52 touchdowns. He set the Irish single-game mark for TD passes in a game with four (three times) and at one point completed 14 straight passes. He set single-season marks in 1997 as a senior with his 182 completions and 298 attempts.
Powlus rebounded from a broken collarbone suffered in the preseason of what would have been his freshman season in 1993 and then broke a bone in his upper left arm late in the 1995 season.
in 1997, he signed as a free agent in 1998 with the Tennessee Oilers of the National Football League
and then was on the Detroit Lions
' preseason roster in 1999 and the Philadelphia Eagles
' roster in 2000. He played with the Amsterdam Admirals
of NFL Europe
in the spring of 2000.
He also spent two years as executive assistant to the Democratic Policy Committee of the Pennsylvania State Senate
where he worked alongside another former Northeastern Pennsylvania sports hero, Bishop Hannan sharpshooter TJ McNulty. He was later employed in the banking and pharmaceutical industries.
. Following the termination of Peter Vaas
' contract, Powlus assumed Vaas' position as the team's quarterbacks coach. After the 2009
season, Powlus was fired along with the rest of the Notre Dame staff by head coach Brian Kelly
. After his departure from Notre Dame he reunited with another former Notre Dame coach, Rob Ianello
, as the quarterbacks coach at the University of Akron.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
, former quarterbacks coach for the University of Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
Fighting Irish football team
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is the football team of the University of Notre Dame. The team is currently coached by Brian Kelly.Notre Dame competes as an Independent at the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision level, and is a founding member of the Bowl Championship Series coalition. It is an...
, and current quarterbacks coach for the University of Akron
University of Akron
The University of Akron is a coeducational public research university located in Akron, Ohio, United States. The university is part of the University System of Ohio. It was founded in 1870 as a small college affiliated with the Universalist Church. In 1913 ownership was transferred to the City of...
Zips football team
Akron Zips football
The University of Akron Zips are a college football program representing the University of Akron that competes in NCAA Division I FBS Mid-American Conference football...
.
High school career
One of the most heavily-touted prospects in the history of high school football, he was an offensive standout at Berwick High SchoolBerwick Area Senior High School
Berwick Area Senior High School is a public high school in Berwick, a borough located in Columbia County, in Northeastern Pennsylvania, USA...
. Powlus was named Parade Magazine prep player of the year and USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
offensive prep player of the year in 1992. After Powlus signed his letter of intent with Notre Dame that year, ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
analyst Beano Cook
Beano Cook
Carroll Hoff "Beano" Cook is an American television personality who works for ESPN. He is a college football historian and commentator. He received his B.A...
predicted that Powlus would win the Heisman Trophy
Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...
twice. This was extremely high praise considering that only one player in the history of college football, Archie Griffin
Archie Griffin
Archie Mason Griffin is a former American football running back. Griffin played seven seasons in the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals. He is college football's only two-time Heisman Trophy winner...
, had won the trophy twice.
College career
He never came close to matching the hype surrounding him in high school, though he had a few solid years for the Fighting Irish. Powlus was a two-time Irish captain who, before the ascent of Brady QuinnBrady Quinn
Brayden Tyler "Brady" Quinn is an American football quarterback for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League. Quinn was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the first round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football at Notre Dame.-Early Years:Brayden Tyler "Brady" Quinn was born on...
in 2005, held 20 school records. He started all 44 regular-season games (plus two bowl games) in which he played for the Irish and finished with 558 career completions on 969 attempts for 7,602 yards and 52 touchdowns. He set the Irish single-game mark for TD passes in a game with four (three times) and at one point completed 14 straight passes. He set single-season marks in 1997 as a senior with his 182 completions and 298 attempts.
Powlus rebounded from a broken collarbone suffered in the preseason of what would have been his freshman season in 1993 and then broke a bone in his upper left arm late in the 1995 season.
Bowl games
- 1995 Fiesta Bowl1995 Fiesta BowlThe 1995 IBM OS/2 Fiesta Bowl, played on January 2, 1995, was the 24th edition of the Fiesta Bowl. The game featured the Colorado Buffaloes and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.-1st half:...
- ColoradoColorado Buffaloes footballThe Colorado Buffaloes football program represents the University of Colorado at Boulder in college football at the NCAA Division I FBS level. The team is currently a member of the Pacific-12 Conference, having previously been a charter member of the Big 12 Conference. Before joining the Big 12,...
41, Notre DameNotre Dame Fighting Irish footballNotre Dame Fighting Irish football team is the football team of the University of Notre Dame. The team is currently coached by Brian Kelly.Notre Dame competes as an Independent at the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision level, and is a founding member of the Bowl Championship Series coalition. It is an...
24 - 1996 Orange Bowl1996 Orange Bowl (January)The 62nd Orange Bowl was a post-season college football bowl game between the and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on January 1, 1996, at The Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. Florida State defeated Notre Dame, 31-26. The game was part of the 1995-1996 Bowl Alliance of the 1995 NCAA Division I-A...
- Florida StateFlorida State Seminoles footballThe Florida State Seminoles football team represents Florida State University in college football. The Florida State Seminoles compete in NCAA Division I-FBS and are members of the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference...
31, Notre DameNotre Dame Fighting Irish footballNotre Dame Fighting Irish football team is the football team of the University of Notre Dame. The team is currently coached by Brian Kelly.Notre Dame competes as an Independent at the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision level, and is a founding member of the Bowl Championship Series coalition. It is an...
26 (*Powlus did not play in this game after suffering a season-ending arm injury against Navy) - 1997 Independence Bowl - LSULSU Tigers footballThe LSU Tigers football team, also known as the Fighting Tigers or Bayou Bengals, represents Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States in NCAA Division I FBS college football. Current head coach Les Miles has led the team since 2005. Since 1999 when Nick Saban took over as...
27, Notre DameNotre Dame Fighting Irish footballNotre Dame Fighting Irish football team is the football team of the University of Notre Dame. The team is currently coached by Brian Kelly.Notre Dame competes as an Independent at the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision level, and is a founding member of the Bowl Championship Series coalition. It is an...
9
Professional career
After Powlus received his undergraduate degree from the Notre Dame College of Business AdministrationMendoza College of Business
The Mendoza College of Business is one of the colleges at the University of Notre Dame, which is located in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States.- History :...
in 1997, he signed as a free agent in 1998 with the Tennessee Oilers of the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
and then was on the Detroit Lions
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...
' preseason roster in 1999 and the Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
' roster in 2000. He played with the Amsterdam Admirals
Amsterdam Admirals
The Amsterdam Admirals were a professional American football team in NFL Europe based in Amsterdam, Netherlands.-History:The Admirals were formed in 1995 as part of the NFL's plan to restart the World League of American Football, to be based entirely in Europe...
of NFL Europe
NFL Europe
NFL Europe was an American football league which operated in Europe from 1991 until 2007. Backed by the National Football League , the largest professional American football league in the United States, it was founded as the World League of American Football to serve as a type of spring league...
in the spring of 2000.
He also spent two years as executive assistant to the Democratic Policy Committee of the Pennsylvania State Senate
Pennsylvania State Senate
The Pennsylvania State Senate has been meeting since 1791. It is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered every two years such...
where he worked alongside another former Northeastern Pennsylvania sports hero, Bishop Hannan sharpshooter TJ McNulty. He was later employed in the banking and pharmaceutical industries.
Coaching career
On March 1, 2005, Powlus returned to Notre Dame as the football team's director of personnel development under head coach Charlie WeisCharlie Weis
Charles Joseph "Charlie" Weis is an American football coach. He currently serves as offensive coordinator for the Florida Gators. For five years, from December 2004 through 2009, he was the head football coach at the University of Notre Dame...
. Following the termination of Peter Vaas
Peter Vaas
-Professional:-External links:* * * *...
' contract, Powlus assumed Vaas' position as the team's quarterbacks coach. After the 2009
2009 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team
The 2009 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame in the 2009 college football season. Charlie Weis entered his fifth season as head coach with the expectation from the Notre Dame administration that his team would be in position to compete for a BCS Bowl berth...
season, Powlus was fired along with the rest of the Notre Dame staff by head coach Brian Kelly
Brian Kelly (coach)
Brian Keith Kelly is an American football coach and former player in the United States. He is currently the head football coach at the University of Notre Dame, a position he has held since the 2010 season...
. After his departure from Notre Dame he reunited with another former Notre Dame coach, Rob Ianello
Rob Ianello
-External links:*...
, as the quarterbacks coach at the University of Akron.