Ronald Lee Powlus (born July 16, 1974) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa) was a professional American football league that functioned as the List of developmental and minor sports leagues, developmental minor league of the Nati ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Notre Dame Fighting Irish The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic teams that represent the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish participate in 26 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate sports and in the NCAA's Division ...

. After his playing career, he was a quarterbacks coach for the Fighting Irish,

Akron Zips The Akron Zips are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Akron in Akron, Ohio, United States. The Zips compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the NCAA Division I, Division I level as a memb ...

, and

Kansas Jayhawks The Kansas Jayhawks, commonly referred to as simply KU or Kansas, are the athletic teams that represent the University of Kansas. KU is one of three schools List of college athletic programs in Kansas, in the state of Kansas that participate in ...

Early life

Powlus was one of the most heavily touted prospects in the history of high school football as an offensive standout at Berwick High School. In his senior year of 1992, he led the Berwick Bulldogs to a 15-0 record, the Pennsylvania Class AAA title and the USA Today High School Football National Championship. Powlus was honored with several national prep player of the year awards, including ''

Parade Magazine ''Parade'' was an American nationwide Sunday newspaper magazine, distributed in more than 700 newspapers nationwide in the United States until 2022. The most widely read magazine in the U.S., ''Parade'' had a circulation of 32 million and a read ...

'',

Gatorade Gatorade is an American brand of sports-themed beverage and food products, built around its signature line of sports drinks. The drink is owned and manufactured by PepsiCo and is distributed in over 80 countries. The beverage was develope ...

, and ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'' in 1992.

College career

After Powlus signed his letter of intent with Notre Dame in 1992,

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

analyst

Beano Cook Carroll Hoff "Beano" Cook (September 1, 1931 – October 11, 2012) was an American television personality who worked for ESPN. He was a college football historian and commentator. He received his B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh in 1954. ...

famously predicted that Powlus would win the

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy ( ; also known simply as the Heisman) is awarded annually since 1935 to the top player in college football. It is considered the most prestigious award in the sport and is presented by the Heisman Trophy Trust followin ...

at least twice and that he would be the best quarterback in the history of Notre Dame. This was extremely high praise considering that only one player in the history of college football,

Archie Griffin Archie Mason Griffin (born August 21, 1954) is an American former football running back who played with the Cincinnati Bengals in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons. He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes, wh ...

, had won the trophy twice. Succeeding

Rick Mirer Richard Franklin Mirer (born March 19, 1970) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and was sel ...

who had been drafted to the NFL and

Kevin McDougal Kevin T. McDougal (born May 29, 1972) is best known as the starting quarterback for the University of Notre Dame football team who narrowly missed winning the national championship in 1993. He is currently a real estate investor in South Flori ...

, Powlus was a two-time Irish captain for teams coached by

Lou Holtz Louis Leo Holtz (born January 6, 1937) is an American former college football coach and television analyst. He served as the head football coach at the College of William & Mary (1969–1971), North Carolina State University (1972–1975), the N ...

and Bob Davie who, before the ascent of

Brady Quinn Brayden Tyler "Brady" Quinn (born October 27, 1984) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons. He played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, where ...

in 2005, held 20 school records. He started 42 of 44 regular-season games (Thomas Krug started in place of injured Ron Powlus during the end of the 1995 season plus the 1996 Orange bowl) in which he played for the Irish (plus two bowl games) 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. Powlus received his undergraduate degree from the Notre Dame College of Business Administration in 1997.

College statistics

Bowl games

1995 Fiesta Bowl The 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 Notre Dame Fighting Irish. 1st half Colorado kicker, Neil Voskeritchian, started the scoring with a 3 ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

41, Notre Dame 24 * 1996 Orange Bowl -

Florida State Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

31, Notre Dame 26 (*Powlus did not play in this game after suffering a season-ending arm injury against Navy) * 1997 Independence Bowl -

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

27, Notre Dame 9

Professional career

Powlus was signed as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

by the

Tennessee Oilers The Tennessee Titans are the professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They are members of the South Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). Previously known as the Ho ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

but was released before the start of the season. In December 1998, he signed with the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1995 through the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, California, where the team had played ...

practice squad before being released. He was on the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

' preseason roster in 1999. In the spring of 2000, he played for the

Amsterdam Admirals The Amsterdam Admirals were a professional American football team based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, playing in the NFL Europe. History The Admirals were formed in 1995 as part of the NFL's plan to restart the World League of American Football, t ...

during their 10-game season, splitting time with

Jim Kubiak James Kubiak (born May 12, 1972) is an American former professional football player and coach. He is currently the director of the WNY Quarterback Academy, and he was most recently the head football coach at Hilbert College for their first sea ...

at the quarterback position. Powlus finished his pro football career as a backup quarterback on the roster of the 2000

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

(NFL) but did not throw a pass during the regular season.

Coaching and administrative career

On March 1, 2005, Powlus returned to Notre Dame as the football team's director of personnel development under head coach

Charlie Weis Charles Joseph Weis Sr. (born March 30, 1956) is a former American football coach. He was the head coach for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish from 2005 to 2009 and the Kansas Jayhawks from 2012 to 2014. He also served as an offensive coordinator in ...

. Following the termination of

Peter Vaas Peter Vaas (born April 26, 1952) is an American football coach and former player. He served as the head football coach at Allegheny College from 1986 to 1989 and at the College of the Holy Cross from 1992 to 1995, compiling a career college footb ...

' contract, Powlus assumed Vaas' position as the team's quarterbacks coach. After the

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

season, Weis was fired and nearly the entire Notre Dame staff was let go by new head coach Brian Kelly. After Powlus' departure from Notre Dame he reunited with another former Notre Dame coach,

Rob Ianello Robert S. Ianello (born November 4, 1965) is an American college football coach. He is the general manager with the Kansas Jayhawks, a position he had held since the 2021 season. Ianello served as the head football coach at the University of Akro ...

, as the quarterbacks coach at the University of Akron. After being hired as the head coach of Kansas, Charlie Weis named Powlus his quarterbacks coach. At the end of the 2014 football season, Weis was fired from Kansas. Powlus returned to Notre Dame as Director of Player Development, hired by Brian Kelly. Powlus has remained at Notre Dame and been promoted to Deputy Athletic Director of Football.

Personal life

Powlus spent two years as executive assistant to the Democratic Policy Committee of the

Pennsylvania State Senate The Pennsylvania State Senate 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, stagger ...

. He was later employed in the banking and pharmaceutical industries. His son has signed as a quarterback for Notre Dame in the 2021 season.

References

External links

Stats Crew profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Powlus, Ron 1974 births Living people American football quarterbacks Akron Zips football coaches Amsterdam Admirals players Detroit Lions players Kansas Jayhawks football coaches Notre Dame Fighting Irish football coaches Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Philadelphia Eagles players Tennessee Oilers players People from Berwick, Pennsylvania Sportspeople from Columbia County, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania