Powell put Coyote football on the map

Anyone who knows Will Powell knows how important his family has meant to him in this game of life. So when his father, Cornelius Odell “CO” Powell, offered college advice, Will listened.

“I was fortunate to have several schools looking at me, but my dad helped guide me through the recruiting process,” said Powell. “He said I should go to USD because if I wanted to study finance like I was planning, he knew what it would do for my professional career once I was done playing

“He was absolutely right. Now that I’m in the professional world, I can walk into meetings with companies I don’t know and people know who I am.”

CO Powell was a terrific athlete in his own right, but his dream of playing collegiately sadly ended with a knee injury. He began his career at Ford Motor Tractor and worked for Xerox before making a career shift to the financial services industry so he could assist others.

“I saw the happiness that he experienced from owning his own business and helping people plan their futures with proper finance and savings and I said that’s what I want to do,” said Powell. “With the Beacom School of Business, and with the charisma of coach (Ed) Meierkort and the coaching staff, I knew USD would feel like home.”

And what a home it turned out to be. Powell became a starter as a true freshman in 2009 – the year USD began its Division I transition – and never looked back. More than a decade later, no one has caught more touchdown passes as a Coyote than Powell’s 21. He caught 158 career passes for 2,521 yards. Both rank second in program history. Powell earned all-conference honors in three consecutive seasons.

Not bad for someone with admittedly bad knees. Powell worked through a number of injuries due to basketball in high school. He might be the first athlete who figured transitioning to football was the cure.

“Astroturf for my first few years didn’t help much either,” Powell joked. “I watch now and all of the receivers are wearing athletic shoes or tennis shoes more or less, and I’m so mad that I didn’t know that was an option. When we got that turf my senior year, I was wearing cleats out there and slipping all over the place. I’m glad they figured that out!”

Powell caught a program-record 55 passes his senior year on the new turf. Imagine how many more he could have had with a pair of tennis shoes…

Powell starting as a freshman is noteworthy because of how young he was. He had just turned 18 at the end of May before his first fall camp and he and Coach Meierkort were both under the impression that he would need time to learn how to play wide receiver (he played running back and safety at Sioux Falls O’Gorman). Getting faster and stronger that first year was also in the plans. But an early-season injury thrust Powell into the lineup and not just on offense. Powell played defense and special teams as a freshman.

“It was stressful playing offense, defense and special teams, but man it was an amazing experience playing with guys like Ryan Routh, Ko Quaye and Noah Shepard. So many of my teammates went on to play at the next level. I’m grateful that I had the opportunity to play right away.”

Powell was named USD’s Most Valuable Player following a sophomore year in which he led the Coyotes with 47 catches for 933 yards and 10 touchdowns, which remain second-most in program history. That’s also the year of Minnesota. Yes, that game, which remains one of the most important results in Coyote athletics, is still the first one that comes to mind when Powell plays his personal highlight reel.

“To be honest, I lacked confidence when I initially came to USD,” said Powell. “There was this play against Montana State my freshman year where I had a deep touchdown when Noah threw me a great ball that helped get me going. But the game where I knew I had made it was when we beat Minnesota the second game of my sophomore year.

Eight catches, 156 yards, two touchdowns. A result that told the entire South Dakota fan base that USD student-athletes could play at the highest level.

“Dante (Warren) had the game of his life, our defense stepped up, we really connected on all cylinders and brought it all together,” said Powell. “I’ve got a picture in my office of all of us in front of the scoreboard. I remember my dad came down to the field. He was picking me up and carrying me around. All of the USD fans that traveled up. It was a moment that I will never forget, and I am so thankful I’ll be able to share that experience with my teammates for the rest of our lives.”

Powell’s junior year was highlighted by this catch in a Dakota Days win against Southern Utah, which landed on SportsCenter’s Top 10 list. His senior year was South Dakota’s first under Joe Glenn and first in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. Powell earned both all-MVFC and academic all-MVFC awards.

Powell’s NFL dream never came to be, but a professional opportunity came, nonetheless. It even allowed him to fulfill a second desire – to live internationally. For three years, Powell played in France, Germany with Marcus Sims, and Serbia. In fact, he and Sims played in the championship game in Germany in front of 25,000 people.

“Football became my avenue to see the world,” said Powell. “We were only practicing twice a week; we’d have a game on the weekend and that was our only responsibility. Now, after all those years of playing and starting Podyum, I’ve traveled to 30 countries all over the world. I’m so blessed that I’ve been able to use football to travel and do what I love in spreading the game of football, but also to experience so much and learn so much about culture and language and how other people live. It was truly eye opening and an experience I’ll never forget.”

Powell and Sims formed Podyum to connect top athletes with teams across the world. They wanted to help other American players have the same experience with international football that they had. There are thousands of teams that most college athletes aren’t aware of, so Podyum was created as a recruitment platform to bridge that divide. Now there’s Podyum Preps, which helps student-athletes across the globe find placement at the NCAA, NAIA and JUCO levels in America.

“I spend a couple hours a week working on it and I have a terrific staff that helps tremendously,” said Powell. “We have a college all-star game in Miami with NFL scouts and international scouts and we have a high school all-star game as well the week after. Those are our two biggest events of the year.”

Powell is also a professional EOS implementer – essentially a licensed business coach – and works with small businesses to fuel their growth. If that’s not enough, Powell is also the Vice President of Reynolds Construction Management Services in Sioux Falls.

As for family, Powell, his mother, Mary, brother, Sean, and sister-in-law, Andrea, all live within a mile-and-a-half of each other in Sioux Falls. He also has a sister, Maria, and another brother, Cornelius III. Sadly, his father, CO, passed away in 2018 at the age of 63.

“My parents were at all my games except for one when my sister had a volleyball game,” said Powell. “They loved me playing college football more than I did. I am forever grateful for everything they’ve given me.”