Ben Harakel

Biography

Ben Harakel enters his first season as quality control for defensive backs under first-year head coach Curt Cignetti. He served as a defensive/special teams analyst for James Madison (2020-23) for the past four seasons. In this role he assisted with the linebackers and defensive backs, as well as all special teams units. Harakel was initially hired at JMU as a defensive graduate assistant (2019) before transitioning to an analyst role prior to the spring 2020 season. In his first season, he worked primarily with the rovers and safeties. His first stop in coaching came at his alma mater, Penn State, for four seasons (2015-18). He served as a defensive undergraduate assistant with the cornerbacks (2016-19) and began his career as a student video assistant and quality control (2015). Harakel owns his bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering from Penn State (2018) and earned a master's degree sport and recreation leadership from James Madison (2020).