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Adam Rittenberg
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — When James Madison coach Curt Cignetti accepted the Indiana job on Nov. 30, 2023, Zach Horton’s mind swirled with questions.
Who would Cignetti want to take with him from JMU to IU? How many JMU players would actually make the jump? If the opportunity surfaced, would Horton be one of them?
«In my head, I was like, ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if Cig went for this guy and Cig went for that guy,'» Horton, an All-Sun Belt tight end for James Madison, told ESPN. «I had a number myself. I was expecting five or six of us, but gosh, I didn’t expect 13.»
The baker’s dozen — or Cig’s dozen — who went from JMU to Indiana included players of different ages, position groups and stages of football development. Some, like Horton, were already standouts at JMU. Others had accomplished less but showed signs that they could boost Indiana in the Big Ten.
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Large groups of key players who join coaches at new programs is a tenet of the transfer portal era in college football. Penn State’s 2026 roster has an Iowa State flavor because of those who followed Matt Campbell to Happy Valley. Oklahoma State’s roster contains many of the North Texas stars who propelled coach Eric Morris to Stillwater.
But the JMU crew has been different for Indiana. The group has lifted the losingest program in college football history to No. 1 in just two years. And several players have gone from All-Sun Belt to All-Big Ten, and even to All-American, providing some of the team’s biggest highlights along the way.
Indiana’s College Football Playoff semifinal win against Oregon began with a former James Madison player, cornerback D’Angelo Ponds, jumping a route for a pick-six. Wide receiver Elijah Sarratt, another ex-JMU Duke, has four touchdown catches in three postseason games. Ponds and linebacker Aiden Fisher are among the faces of a defense that ranks second nationally in most major categories since they arrived in Bloomington, Indiana.
«Them dudes are built the right way,» Indiana defensive ends coach Buddha Williams said. «From the ground up, they’ve taken control, and this is the result you get. They’re leaders for us. That’s why we roll with those guys. It’s unbelievable.»
On Monday night (7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN), Indiana will face No. 10 seed Miami at Hard Rock Stadium with a national championship at stake. The Hoosiers come in as the most surprising title favorite in generations, propelled by the unlikeliest core.
«It’s like ‘The Avengers,’ the special 13, that made it work,» said Jailin Walker, part of the JMU contingent that joined Indiana.
How did a self-proclaimed «bunch of misfits» and «FCS recruits» engineer the most dramatic turnaround in recent college football history? They began by joining their coach and sharing what they knew.
WALKER, WHO NOW plays in the United Football League, immediately wanted to follow Cignetti to IU.
«I hit the portal and I contacted him, saying, ‘Look, I want to continue this dynasty,'» Walker said. «Before we even stepped foot in Indiana, the winning mindset was there.»
But not all of Cignetti’s top players lined up behind Walker. The initial days after the coaching change were jarring. Even after several notable players entered the portal when it opened, they didn’t know where they would land.
«A crazy time, a lot of uncertainty,» defensive lineman James Carpenter said. «None of us went into the transfer portal with, ‘We’re all going to Indiana.'»
Ty Son Lawton all visited IU’s campus together, and the commitments soon began to stack up. First came Lawton and defensive lineman Mikail Kamara. Then, on Christmas Eve 2023, Indiana announced the signings of seven James Madison players, including Carpenter, Horton, Fisher and Walker.
The JMU-Indiana pipeline remained open into 2024. Ponds, a second-team All-Sun Belt selection who made several freshman All-America teams, transferred during the spring portal, as did defensive tackle Tyrique Tucker, who had started five games as a redshirt freshman for JMU.
«We saw that vision of, ‘Hey, we can have success here,'» Carpenter said. «Obviously a lot of familiar faces definitely helped us come together and make that step forward.»
The JMU transfers first had to help their new Indiana teammates understand Cignetti and how the program would function. In his initial media and public appearances, Cignetti delivered several bombastic lines about where Indiana was headed.
Behind the scenes, he delivered some difficult truths.
has picked his own players. He doesn’t delegate roster construction, and he was directly involved in selecting who would join him at Indiana.
Cignetti sought players with similar qualities.
«The kind of guys who were underrecruited and overlooked,» Tucker said. «We’re just dogs. We’ve all got that chip on our shoulder.»
Added Carpenter: «I’m not sure if anyone really had any Power 5 offers. We’re not the biggest, strongest, fastest, anything like that. But we play with good techniques, we play hard, we play fast, we play physical. We’re just gritty guys.»
But would grit and motivation be enough in the Big Ten? Cignetti always prioritized production when evaluating players, and brought several veteran, all-conference types with him. But the JMU group would be lining up across from opponents with flashier recruiting profiles and, in some cases, more natural ability.
In the end, it didn’t matter.
«If Cignetti said we can do it, I believe we can do it,» Walker said. «If [defensive coordinator Bryant] Haines said we can do it, I believe we can do it. We jumped from FCS to FBS and won. Why not do that at Indiana?»
Indiana won its first two games under Cignetti rather easily against overmatched opponents. Then, the team traveled to face UCLA, visiting the Rose Bowl stadium for the first time since Indiana played in the Rose Bowl game on New Year’s Day 1968.
The Hoosiers pulled away for a 42-13 win.
«That UCLA game, that’s when momentum, steam, started to really pick up,» Carpenter said.
Indiana won its next seven games to start 10-0 for the first time in team history. Although the Hoosiers’ loss to Ohio State knocked them out of the Big Ten title game, three JMU imports on defense — Fisher, Kamara and Ponds — earned first-team all-league honors. Sarratt made the third team, and Horton, Carpenter and Walker all received honorable mention.
Not every JMU transfer became an instant star, but Indiana’s overall hit rate with the group fast-tracked its success.
Kaelon Black were second and third in rushing, and Solomon Vanhorse, another running back brought over from JMU, led the team in kickoff returns.
«Once you sit and think about it, we were just FCS recruits,» Walker said. «We were just playing Toledo, we were just playing William & Mary. To see us go to the FBS and then translate to the Big Ten, it feels special.»
The JMU players showed they could thrive in the Big Ten. Their next mission: Take Indiana to the top of college football.
THE FIRST PLAY from scrimmage in the Peach Bowl captured how the James Madison transfers have fueled Indiana’s historic rise. Ponds, rated by ESPN as the No. 110 cornerback and No. 162 overall recruit from Florida in the 2023 class, picked off a pass thrown by Oregon’s Dante Moore, the No. 2 overall recruit in 2023 and likely a top-five pick in the 2026 NFL draft if he had elected to leave school.
Indiana’s leading rusher (Black with 63 yards and two touchdowns) and leading receiver (Sarratt with seven catches for 75 yards and two scores) were both JMU transfers. Fisher led the team with nine tackles, followed by a group with six that included Ponds and Tucker.
Daniel Ndukwe, who had a breakout performance in the Peach Bowl with two sacks, a forced fumble and a blocked punt, credited Kamara for mentoring him during his first two seasons at IU.
«They’re everything, the JMU guys,» Ndukwe said. «Come on, these guys weren’t recruited as much as the other guys that were playing every week. They got here from hard work and grit. They’re always going to be able to just inspire us. They’ve built their own confidence, and they’re able to share that with us.»
