James Madison Football Preview 2026: Can Billy Napier Keep the Dukes Rolling?
NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...
That's how you start out an era.
Since moving up to the FBS level after spending years as an FCS powerhouse, James Madison has gone 40-11 with a Sun Belt title over its first four seasons – it wasn't eligible to play in the conference championship in the first few years.
It gave the world Curt Cignetti, a trip to the College Football Playoff, and one of the most dominant defenses in America.
And now it's up to Billy Napier to keep it all going.
Can Billy Napier Keep the James Madison Machine Running?
© Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images
Amazing at Louisiana and underwhelming at Florida, the pressure is on Napier to be the next great James Madison head coach.
Cignetti won 19 games in his two FBS years at JMU. New UCLA head coach Bob Chesney won 21 in two seasons.
Napier is expected to do that, and with a team full of brand new parts from an eclectic haul of transfers.
James Madison Quick Hits
- Head Coach: Billy Napier (1st season; 9th year overall: 62-35)
- Best Case / Worst Case: Win the Sun Belt and get back to the CFP/Worst season in five years in the FBS
- Key Player: Arrington Maiden, QB Soph. (or any of the quarterback transfers)
- 2025 Record: 12-2
- Biggest Question: How can the staff possibly keep the winning going with an (almost) entirely new team of players?
James Madison Key 2025 Stats
- Fourth Quarter Scoring: James Madison 153, Opponents 33
- Penalties: James Madison 105 for 1015 yards, Opponents 78 for 687 yards
- Rushing Yards: James Madison 3,381, Opponents 1,191
Offense
The offense will be very different and very interesting.
Napier will want to run his style that works with a good tempo, gets the quick backs in space, and works with a great tempo – all of the things that worked at Louisiana, but not at Florida.
Former Clemson assistant, and last year's East Tennessee State's offensive coordinator, Cam Aiken is starting from scratch.
Last year's attack was 15th in the nation overall, ninth in scoring – averaging 37 points per game – and was amazing running the ball.
What’s Working
The ground game should be terrific. Aiken's ETSU team was among the best in the FCS on the ground, averaging close to 200 yards per game. Leading rusher Wayne Knight is off to UCLA, Jordan Fuller is done, and Ayo Adeyi took off for Oklahoma State.
Nick Herman is a quick back from Drake who ran for over 1,000 yards last season.
Seth Cromwell brings some more thump from Northern Arizona, and George Pettaway is back after running for 195 yards for the Dukes.
It's a stretch to call the receiving corps a major strength, but it's obvious the staff wants to stretch the field.
ETSU's Jeremiah Harrison was the top deep threat under Aiken last year, and one-time star LSU receiver Kylan Billiot is a big prospect, and West Florida's Corey Scott comes in after catching 63 passes for 1,018 yards and four scores.
There are plenty of other options coming in.
The offensive line might be stunningly okay. The Dukes lost everyone up front but center Zach Greenberg. The new transfers, though, are good, and they're very, very big.
Frankie Tinilau is a 6-6, 325-pound veteran tackle from ETSU, and FIU's Daniel Michael is a monster blocker with 330ish pound size.
The guards are large, the backups are large, the entire class of new linemen is large.
Be shocked if this group can't provide a push.
What Needs Work
The quarterback situation is a massive question mark. Alonza Barnett III wasn't perfect – he could've been more accurate – but he was dangerous on the move, threw for over 2,800 yards and 23 touchdowns, and kept things going.
Let's just call the James Madison quarterbacks a work in progress- there's almost no experience among the three sophomores. However, they can all move.
JC Evans got in a little work as JMU's third option last year, but Arrington Maiden (Memphis) and Davi Belfort (UCF) are good prospects who just need time. Maiden should be the best of the group, but nothing is settled.
Yeah, the new running backs are fine, and the offensive style will bring out the production, but you don't get better after losing a back like Wayne Knight – who took off for a Sun Belt-high 1,373 yards and a running quarterback like Barnett III.
New team, new coaches, different world from the SEC, but there's a prove-it factor now with Napier's offense.
His Florida teams couldn't move the chains, had a tough time consistently scoring, and now he has to show why he was one of the hottest coaches going just a few years ago.
It starts with simply getting the offense to go on productive drives – that wasn't a given in Gainesville.
Player to Watch
George Pettaway, RB Sr.
New coaching staffs love to use their own players who were specifically chosen to fit the right spots. But with so few returning players, having a back like Pettaway should be a steadying factor.
He started at North Carolina, transferred to JMU, ran for 980 yards and five scores in 2024, and last year, he wasn't quite right and ceded most of the work to Wayne Knight. This might be his ground game early on.
Defense
The offense will take care of itself. Replicating the production of last year's James Madison defense will be even harder.
Robert Bala comes over with Napier from Florida, where he had some coordinator duties and worked with the linebackers.
There's an interesting mix of talents coming in, and all they have to do is be close to as good as the nation's fifth-best defense in both total yards allowed and run D.
What’s Working
The standard. There's a good pressure on the new coaching staff to keep the greatness of the James Madison defense going.
Everything is starting over with all new players and coaches, but the Dukes finished fifth in the nation in total defense when they first got to the FBS level in 2022.
They were 30th in 2023 – that Cignetti guy slipped – 23rd in 2024, and were fifth last year. The run defense has been even better – no one will accept anything less than great.
The lost parts up front hurt, but the staff got creative. Edge rushers Ernest Willor (Wisconsin) and Mason Purham (Emory & Henry) join veteran Amar Thomas to keep the pass rush going.
Kevin Roberts (West Florida) is a good-looking interior pass rusher, Mychal McMullin is still around, and there's just enough bulk to hold up okay.
The linebacking corps is among the team's most experienced areas. Gannon Weathersby was the fourth-leading tackler with 57 stops.
Lathan Croley is built like a safety, but the Holy Cross transfer can get all over the field.
Nakian Jackson was one of Nevada's most productive linebackers, and JT Hooten made 69 tackles last season for West Alabama.
What Needs Work
Overall experience. There's not a lot of FBS time logged in among the projected starting 11, and this really is a hodge-podge of talents and prospects being thrown together. It's going to take every practice to find the right combination to keep the magic going.
Veterans in the secondary. Everything is being thrown into the small school basket.
There's a little bit of experience coming in from some of the FBS transfers like safety Javis Mynatt (Texas State) and corner DJ Kelly (Toledo), but safety Jayon Harvey (Findlay) and corner Damier Minkah (Shepherd) have to step up in weight class fast.
The lost parts really do matter. James Madison was able to reload fast when Cignetti took the good players with him to Indiana in 2024, but this is something different. The defensive losses are gigantic.
You don't easily replace linemen like linemen Aiden Gobarira and Sahir West – both to UCLA – safety Tyler Brown (Iowa), corners DJ Barksdale (UCLA) and Justin Eaglin (Colorado), and linebacker Drew Spinogatti (UCLA).
Player to Watch
Lathan Croley, LB Jr.
The 6-0, 210-pounder might not have the bulk, but he'll play a big role as a playmaking linebacker.
The Holy Cross transfer made 80 stops last season, can get into the backfield, and isn't bad in pass coverage – he'll be a stat-sheet filler.
Keys to the Season
- Get the new style of offense implemented and working right away.
- Generate a pass rush from all the new parts on the defensive front.
- PATIENCE. This is a really, really young team – this is a rebuild.
Player Who Needs To Shine
Mychal McMullin, DT Jr.
One of the few defenders returning from last year's great team, the 290-pounder can be a rock on the inside, making 32 tackles with a sack and 2.5 tackles for loss last year. He has to be a steadying force to work around.
Biggest Concern
How does James Madison possibly keep it all going with all the new parts?
Almost all of the two deep is loaded with transfers, and it's going to take every practice and every moment of fall camp to put it all together.
It's the most talented transfer class in the Sun Belt, but it's all about the various pieces and the new coaching staff trying to figure it out on the fly.
Biggest Game
at Old Dominion, September 26
It's been James Madison's Sun Belt East, and Old Dominion wants it.
The hype will be huge for the Sun Belt opener that might determine the East title at the end of September. This is when Napier has to show it's business as usual, but it'll be a fight.
The Dukes are 4-0 against the Monarchs since they moved up into FBS, including a 63-27 wipeout last year.
Transfer Portal
It's a fascinating transfer class.
James Madison lost just about everyone who mattered from last year's team, and now Napier has to scramble to find the right fits who want to be a part of one of the nation's biggest rebuilds.
There doesn't appear to be a stone that went unturned to find options.
Best Signing
Jeremiah Harrison, WR (East Tennessee State)
A wispy deep threat, the 6-1, 178-pound Harrison is a dangerous deep threat who should be an immediate playmaker on the outside.
He made 38 catches for 652 yards and five touchdowns last season, averaging over 17 yards per catch.
Biggest Loss
Sahir West, EDGE (UCLA)
There might be other big losses – especially in the offensive backfield – but finding a killer pass rusher should be even harder.
West had a whopper of a season with seven sacks, 14 tackles for loss, and 45 tackles. Now he's a key part of the UCLA defensive front puzzle.
Other Names to Know
- Kylan Billiot, WR (LSU)
- Damier Minkah, CB (Shepherd)
- Ernest Willor Jr., EDGE (Wisconsin)
CFN Season Prediction
Picking big things for James Madison is going off the brand name and the four years of greatness under one historically great coach and another rising superstar.
It's not easy to project a team that doesn't even really know everything that it has yet. However, the parts put together by Billy Napier have a world of upside and skills.
Go big on the lines, fast everywhere else, and see the things no one else appears to be able to. Talent evaluation will be everything.
CFN Prediction: 9-3
The schedule isn't bad.
Going to San Diego State early on won't be easy, but there aren't any games against Power Four programs – UConn, Liberty, and Wagner are the other three.
There are four big Sun Belt road landmines – Old Dominion, Georgia Southern, App State, Southern Miss – and there will be a loss or two, but this is a reboot. Be patient.
It won't be another College Football Playoff season, but that doesn't mean James Madison can't win another Sun Belt title.
Related: Sun Belt Football 2026 Win Totals: Spring Predictions for All 14 Teams
More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos