As D.J. Palmer attempted to get up from his seat after accepting paperwork from the 60-plus prospective Hartwood High School football players on Monday evening, he stumbled and struggled — briefly — to stand upright. A concerned staff member asked if he was OK.
“If I fall, I fall,” Palmer replied. “If I die, I die. I’ve got to suck it up. Can’t live forever.”
Palmer’s perspective on life changed dramatically earlier this spring after emergency surgery to remove a staph infection left doctors skeptical he’d ever walk again.
Palmer was hired as the first-ever head football coach of Stafford County’s brand-new high school in February,
He was overjoyed; after coaching for 25 years, an opportunity to lead a public-school program in the Fredericksburg area proved elusive. That was until the Hartwood administration entrusted Palmer, who served as the head coach at Fredericksburg Christian School in 2025, with starting the Stallions’ program.
“When he found out, at first, he was blown away,” said his son, Tico Palmer. “He’s been waiting on it, and then it happened just like that. Next thing you know, boom, you’re the head coach of the new school.”
But just as suddenly as feelings of elation spread through Palmer and his family, concern, and trepidation entered the picture when he woke up one morning in April and had no feeling from his bellybutton down.
Palmer had no prior symptoms, but an MRI revealed a staph infection in his spinal cord requiring immediate surgery. A doctor at Mary Washington Hospital hinted at a bleak possibility before Palmer underwent the procedure.
“He said, ‘I’m going to be honest. When you wake up, you might not be able to walk anymore,’ ” Palmer recalled.
Palmer spent 10 days recovering in Mary Washington and another 25 days regaining his strength at Sheltering Arms Institute, a rehabilitation facility in Henrico County. He returned home with a walker in early May but was determined to be prepared to coach the Stallions for their first-ever practice on June 1.
This past Monday, Palmer made use of a cane. Whenever he sat for a while, he had a little difficulty getting to his feet. But he addressed players and parents before the Stallions took the field for the first time.
“I should be fully back walking in six months, everything like nerves, and all that will be back,” Palmer told the parents. “I’ll be chasing the kids around and doing what I normally do.”
D.J. Palmer, head coach of the football program for Hartwood High School, talks with parents at the first day of tryouts on June 1. (Photo by Jeff Kearney).
Never any doubt
Palmer was born in Memphis, Tenn., and moved to Arkansas before his family trekked to Stafford County when he was in elementary school.
The 2000 North Stafford High School graduate began his coaching career as the offensive coordinator of his alma mater at the age of 19.
His passion for the game and fervor for helping develop young men is why Tico Palmer never doubted that his father would recover. Palmer was motivated by the opportunity to direct the Stallions, and by the faith that Athletic Director Jermaine Johnson and school officials placed in him.
He also looked forward to the chance to coach alongside his son, a former Colonial Forge High School football standout, who is the Stallions’ junior varsity head coach and the varsity cornerbacks coach.
After the doctor expressed doubt that Palmer would walk again, he reminded the medical team that he had to be prepared for practice on June 1.
“Knowing the type of guy he is, the type of man he is, I knew he was going to push through it,” Tico Palmer said. “I knew he was going to persevere. I know how much football means to him.
“The first thing he thought about the minute he got sick was this. So, I think this kept him going … Nothing was going to hold him back from doing this. He’s just waited so long for it.”
Palmer was initially diagnosed with gastritis at Stafford Hospital, but “I’ve never heard of gastritis taking away your legs,” he quipped.
He stayed overnight and the emergency room physician wanted to conduct a spinal tap, but Palmer declined. An MRI the next morning revealed the staph infection, but Palmer was confused: he never had any falls or cuts, and staph infections generally occur when bacteria enters the body through a break in the skin.
Doctors told Palmer they don’t know what happened, but he needed urgent care. So, within five minutes he was in an ambulance being transported to Mary Washington.
“By the time I got to Mary Wash, I kid you not, it was like a scene from Grey’s Anatomy,” Palmer said. “I rolled in; the doctors were all standing around the wall, putting their gloves on. I was like, ‘What the heck is going on?’ They started talking to me. They gave me a little anesthesia mask and said, ‘Hold this for a second.’ I don’t remember anything else.”
When Palmer woke up, he told his mother that he was about to have surgery; she informed him that he’d been sleeping for three hours and already had the surgery.
Following the 10-day stint at Mary Washington, Palmer focused on regaining his mobility. Constant visits from friends and family kept him encouraged at Sheltering Arms.
It was particularly inspiring, he said, to see his new AD, Johnson, who he didn’t yet know on a personal level. Johnson making the one-hour trip to offer support left Palmer in tears and confirmed he was “in the right place” at Hartwood.
“And you’re in the right place, too,” Palmer told parents Monday.
‘Something special’ brewing
When Johnson visited, he wasn’t concerned about the football program; he concentrated on encouraging Palmer to get stronger both physically and mentally.
He knew that Palmer had sought a head coaching opportunity for many years and would be distraught if a health issue took it away. The visit strengthened the bond between the new colleagues.
“My goal when hiring people is, I want to hire people that’s genuinely a good person, with good integrity,” Johnson said. “So, I try to carry myself in the same way. I try to be intentional about how I treat people. I’ve had extended stays in the hospital, so I know what helped me get through it … You really get a chance to know a person when they’re at their most vulnerable.”
Palmer expected 40-plus players to attend the program’s first practice. But on Monday evening at Stafford High School, the Stallions welcomed more than 60 fresh faces. The Stallions are practicing at Stafford until the new school and its facilities are ready.
Johnson said July 17 is the deadline for the contractor to turn over the keys to school officials, but he’s hopeful the Stallions will be in the building sooner.
Players, parents, and coaches are eager, too. Palmer welcomed players to Stafford, and they immediately held a tutorial in the weight room, followed by agility drills, before they hit the Indians’ practice field for voluntary workouts.
It was a mad rush, but Palmer told parents Monday is the most disorganized they’ll ever see the program as the coaching staff and athletic administration finds its footing. Johnson said he ordered hundreds of thousands of dollars of uniforms for all programs — but forgot to purchase hangers.
“I was doing inventory, and I was like, ‘I don’t have anywhere to hang this stuff up,’” Johnson said with a laugh.
Palmer expects growing pains with the Stallions, so he’s hoping they can field a freshman team as players develop physically. Nearly 400 freshmen are registered to enroll in August.
“I would love nothing more than having a freshman team,” Palmer said. “That would be the best thing for us as a program.”
Assistant coach Lavell McCullers coached with Palmer at St. Michael, a private school in Spotsylvania County. McCullers said the season will be deemed a success if the Stallions establish a culture, keep their talented players in the program, and develop an offensive and defensive identity.
“I would say that represents success more so than the wins and the losses,” McCullers said.
After what Palmer endured to get to the first day of practice, he’s filled with anticipation for the remainder of the season. He wants to see what the Stallions look like once the season intensifies on July 6 when the players return from a Virginia High School League-mandated dead period — a two-week stretch in which coaches can’t conduct practice.
Hartwood kicks off its season Aug. 28 at Colonial Forge as Palmer will finally stroll the sidelines as the leader of a public school program — an opportunity a quarter century in the making.
“This,” he said, “is going to be something special.”
