James Madison is less than 10 days removed from an appearance in the College Football Playoff. The Dukes are now set to lose the vast majority of its offense to graduation or the transfer portal.
As of this writing, only two of the 11 starters are expected to stay.
This is the harsh reality of college football in the Sun Belt and other ‘Group of Six’ conferences. Player retention proves to be a challenge every offseason. Especially when your head coach is also leaving!
James Madison won the Sun Belt Conference.
The Dukes only made the transition from FCS to FBS in 2022. They have not won less than eight games in each of the last four seasons. Curt Cignetti won 11 games in 2023 during his fifth year as head coach. Bob Chesney won 12 games in 2025 during his second year as head coach.
James Madison fell backwards into the College Football Playoff as one of the highest-ranked conference champions, which set up a First Round matchup with Oregon. It was a lopsided loss.
The Ducks took a 34-6 lead into the locker room at halftime and cruised to a 51-34 win.
There has been a lot of chatter about whether the smaller programs should be allowed into the field of 12 even though they earned their spot fair and square. A blowout is not compelling television.
Regardless of where you stand on that debate, James Madison had the most impressive season in school history. That cannot be taken away from the Dukes but their players and coaches can…
The entire offense is gone.
Head coach Bob Chesney took the same job at UCLA and he is expected to bring a lot of his coaching staff with him from Harrisonburg to Los Angeles. That likely applies to his players as well.
Starting quarterback Alonza Barnett III recently entered the transfer portal in search of a new opportunity. Four other offensive players, including 1,300-yard running back Wayne Knight, did the same. Four of the six remaining offensive players are set to graduate. Only two are going to stick around.
- Quarterback — Transfer portal
- Running back — Transfer portal
- Wide receiver 1 — Graduation
- Wide Receiver 2 — Still on the team
- Wide Receiver 3 — Graduation
- Tight end — Transfer portal
- Left tackle — Transfer portal
- Left guard — Still on the team
- Center — Graduation
- Right guard — Transfer portal
- Right tackle — Graduation
Ouch. This kind of thing is not uncommon for Group of Six programs that had success but it still hurts. The system as it currently exists makes it very hard to sustain success.
Fortunately, James Madison is in good hands. Billy Napier is going to get to work. He is going to assemble a roster that will be just as talented. The Dukes are going to be back in this position.
However, both sides of the ball are going to look very different. Especially the offense.