TRANSFER PORTAL: JMU's Bob Chesney Talks Recruiting FCS Transfers vs FBS Transfers

Joe Londergan | Jul 23, 2024

Holy Cross football coach Bob Chesney talks to the team after Saturday's spring game. HC 20 / Photo/Alan Arsenault / USA TODAY NETWORK

James Madison brought in roughly 25 incoming transfers this offseason to offset roughly 19 outgoing transfers. In total, the Dukes lost 55 players and brought in 64.

However, the Dukes will have to replace nearly all of their actual production from last season. As new Dukes' head coach Bob Chesney pointed out Tuesday during Sun Belt Media Days, all but four of the Dukes' starters from last season have either graduated or playing elsewhere.

The new faces are a mix of players from the FBS, FCS, and elsewhere. Fresh from the FCS himself, Chesney brings a fairly unique perspective on landing players from the transfer portal.

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"You have two schools of thought," Chesney noted. "One is do we start with FBS and only go FBS style and bring the biggest, highest profile names we can? With that comes the question: are they doing you a favor or are you doing them a favor? That's the question."

Several former FCS players joining Chesney's roster include his former Holy Cross pupils offensive lineman Pat McMurtrie, running back Tyler Purdy, and linebacker Jacob Dobbs.

Former Long Island University defensive lineman Eric O’Neill was also noted as a preseason All-Sun Belt Second Team selection during media days. O'Neill was also name the NEC Defensive Player of the Year for 2023.

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"When you go down a level and you find guys that are capable, and they got to be from really good teams, right? There's a lot of those high-level FCS teams that can hang with the majority of FBS teams, and beat some FBS teams," Chesney noted of evaluating FCS transfers. "So I think when you find those guys that come up, now it's a little different. There's not an entitlement element to that. There's this idea of 'what can I do? How do I prove myself? I have a chip on my shoulder.'....That's what I think you find with a lt of those guys."

The Dukes kick off the first season of Chesney's tenure on August 31 at Charlotte.