The new campaign has arrived, and so has a sense of normalcy.

“We’re getting ready to go to camp and getting ready to play a full season,” James Madison coach Curt Cignetti said, “and hopefully make a good playoff run.”

Cignetti and the Dukes are less than three months removed from the heartbreaking conclusion of their unorthodox spring season. JMU fell in the FCS national semifinals at Sam Houston on May 8 when it blew a three-touchdown halftime lead to the Bearkats, who slammed the door on any dreams of the season finishing with a purple-and-gold confetti shower in Frisco, Texas.

The Dukes throughout March and April, though, overcame obstacles en route to the postseason while dealing with coronavirus postponements and cancellations along with the injury-forced absences of multiple expected key contributors. They picked up wins over VMI and North Dakota in the playoffs to finish 7-1 overall and carry hope into the traditional fall slate.

JMU opens its new season on Sept. 4 at home against Morehead State.

“There’s not as much uncertainty,” Cignetti said. “And I think it’s a lot easier to focus on the things you need to be focused on, and I feel really good about where we are. We’re at about 98-99 percent [coronavirus] vaccination on our team right now, so we should have a lot of distractions set aside and be able to focus on business and getting better.”

When the Dukes begin preseason practice today and continue with training camp over the next three weeks, here are a few questions they’ll look to answer:

Fifth-year senior defensive lineman Mike Greene didn’t take long to flip the switch from resting after the spring to gearing up for the fall.

“I took, personally, like a week off,” Greene said. “Everyone took a week or two off and then got right back into the weight room, trying to get our flexibility and mobility back together. And then we were back into strength stuff.”

Greene said the past two months were critical for the Dukes, allowing them to return to a normal college football calendar and provide them with the proper time to train for a season. In the past, Cignetti has said how he always tries to stay aware of the wear and tear the longevity of a season can have on players, so he adjusts his plans accordingly to keep them fresh.

He’ll have his pulse on how the team deals physically while readying for another season with only a two-month hiatus in between.

Wide receivers coach Mike Shanahan gained more responsibility earlier this summer, when Cignetti promoted him to offensive coordinator.

Shanahan and Cignetti have worked together since 2016 when they were at Division II Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

“He’s a guy who is industrious in the offense,” Cignetti said about Shanahan. “He’s got a good mind and knows what we’re trying to get done. He’s always looking at other teams, trying to get new ideas, and I think it’ll be a nice working situation, a nice dynamic.”

Last season, JMU was 14th in FCS for scoring offense (33.6 points per game), 11th for total offense (447.5 total yards per game) and sixth nationally for rushing (232.6 rushing yards per game) with former offensive coordinator Shane Montgomery calling plays. Montgomery departed for FBS Buffalo after the spring.

Also new to the Dukes’ offensive staff is quarterbacks coach Tino Sunseri, a former Alabama staffer.

“Obviously, [Alabama has] a great offense with great players and there might be a thing or two we might able to incorporate,” Cignetti said. “But we want to maintain sort of our base offense that we carried through the years.”

The return of All-American offensive tackle Liam Fornadel is only positive for the Dukes after he missed the last six games of the spring with a shoulder injury.

Fornadel has started his last 31 games at right tackle, but JMU has a need at left tackle following the decision former left tackle Raymond Gillespie made last month to move on from football. Fornadel is the most experienced and talented offensive lineman the Dukes have, and if he moves to the left side, JMU can keep its other returning linemen where they finished the spring.

Sixth-year senior J.T. Timming’s place at center is secure. Nick Kidwell slid from right guard and filled in nicely for Fornadel at right tackle while Cole Potts played well at right guard during the last five games of the year. The only other spot Cignetti and offensive line coach Damian Wroblewski would have to fill is left guard.

There’s other ways they could do align the group, too, and they’ll use these preseason practices to figure it out.

JMU’s roster is deeper than what it was in the spring. Some of that is thanks to players who were injured then – like Fornadel – returning to good health, but another reason is because of the eight transfers Cignetti added to the program.

Seven imports are defenders, with four looking for playing time in the secondary and three trying to crack the rotation on the defensive line.

Towson transfer defensive lineman Bryce Carter is the most familiar name, having served as a former captain there and racked up 144 tackles and 15 sacks during his four seasons at the school.

“He’s been pretty good in the CAA,” Greene said, “so hopefully he can go out there and ball with us.”

Former Rhode Island running back Lorenzo Bryant, who will play his seventh season of college football this fall, was the lone offensive transfer addition.