Cecil Powell is a defensive back who has not played this season; the last season with a stat line was 2025, at Sam Houston.
Powell moves between deep coverage and the slot. The five seasons span three programs and three head coaches: Dave Doeren, Gerad Parker and Phil Longo. A game that shows it: 7 tackles against Jacksonville State — Week 7, 2025.
Play style
Moves between deep coverage and the slot — the modern positionless DB.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
42 tackles. 4 passes defended. 1 interception. 3.5 TFL.
Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Sam Houston | 42 | 34 | 3.5 | 0.0 | 4 | 1 |
| 2024 | Troy | 24 | 8 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1 | -- |
| 2023 | NC State | 5 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- |
| 2020 | NC State | 47 | 32 | 3.5 | 0.0 | 4 | -- |
| 2019 | NC State | 18 | 11 | 0.5 | 0.0 | -- | -- |
| Career | 136 | 87 | 8.5 | 0.0 | 9 | 1 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 10 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 24-41@ Western Kentucky | 5 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 1 | L 21-38vs UNLV | 3 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | L 20-37@ Hawai'i | 4 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 2 | |
| Wk 6 | L 10-37@ New Mexico State | 5 | 3 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | L 27-29vs Jacksonville State | 7 | 6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 7 tackles |
| Wk 8 | L 17-35vs UTEP | 3 | 2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | W 21-17@ Oregon State | 3 | 2 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 12 | W 26-23vs Delaware | 5 | 4 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | L 17-31@ Middle Tennessee | 4 | 4 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | L 16-56vs Florida International | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 42 | 34 | 3.5 | 0.0 | 1 | 4 |
Week 12 · 2025
W 26-23
vs Delaware · neutral site
1 interception · 0.5 tackles for loss · 5 tackles
A close one, won by 3 at a neutral site.
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
PD rate
10%4 pass breakupsInterceptions
1interceptionsTackle volume
42tackles this seasonTFL rate
8%4 TFL42 tackles · 3.5 for loss · 4 pass breakups · 1 interception.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 10 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Road5g | 4.2 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.8 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-75g | 4.8 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.6 |
| Weeks 8+5g | 3.6 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Phil Longo
Pass share
51.3%
388 pass / 368 run
Plays / game
63.0
12 games
Team sack rate
8.1%
443 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Player standing · 2025
About as many tackles a game as a typical FBS defensive back who plays every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Three-star recruit. Now #237 at the position.
2026 outlook
Outside shot for All-Conference USA
Based on 2025: #16 of 43 Conference USA DBs
A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 22% of returning players who ranked #11–20 at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 19–25%).
The No. 1,077 recruit in the country is starting in the secondary in the Conference USA as a senior.
Played for three programs.
Coaching lineage · 2019–2025
3 coachesPlayed for 3 head coaches at 3 schools: Dave Doeren, Gerad Parker and Phil Longo.
