Former JMU All-American center Scott Lemn traded in his football pads for a polo and khaki pants.

Lemn was on the sideline Saturday against Bridgewater as a coach for Randolph-Macon.

"It's working out pretty well," says Lemn, who is in his first year as the defensive line coach. "It was something I realized I wanted to do in college. I started getting advice from Coach [Mickey] Matthews and Coach [Chris] Malone and some of the other coaches at James Madison, so once the season was over we started looking. They helped me a lot, taught me more about football than I thought I already knew, so it's been a great growth."

Lemn, who earned the Rimington Award last year for the Dukes, which is given to the top center at the FCS level, admits he has a lot more responsibility now as a coach than he did as a player.

"You got more to worry about than just yourself," adds Lemn. "I coach the defensive line, so I got four guys I got to worry about. The nervousness is still there, the butterflies are still there, but it's fun watching what you been working with your guys all week on and see how they perform."

His former team hasn't been able to perform like they did in 2008, when the Dukes reached the FCS Semifinals. This year's team is currently 4-5 with two games remaining in the regular season.

"JMU is still a great football program, hopefully they will finish the year with a winning season," says Lemn. "I talk with some of those guys every now and then. They're still working hard, they're doing things right, but the ball takes funny bounces sometimes.

Lemn says football takes up most of his day, but that's something he's excited about.

"I get to do football all day," says Lemn. "It's kind of what I wanted to do while I was in college, and wasn't able to because I had to go to class. But now it's football 24/7, and I love it."

Randolph-Macon is 6-3 this season and 4-1 in the ODAC. Their regular season finale against Hampden-Sydney next Saturday is for the conference championship and a berth in the NCAA tournament.