From his vantage point in the middle of James Madison’s defense, sixth-year senior linebacker Kelvin Azanama has noticed it a few times this preseason.

Instead of a panicked moment capable of producing chaos in pursuit of properly aligning and at the same time providing the opposing offense a flaw to exploit, this version of the Dukes will not sweat the adjustments they must make before the ball is snapped.

“I want to say when we don’t talk and when we know what each other are doing,” Azanama said, “that’s when I’ve felt like, ‘Wow, we’ve gotten a lot better.’ Like, we know what’s about to happen and everyone does their job right there. Every single person is on the same page.”

JMU returns all but one starter to its defense, and the unit features a core – Azanama, sixth-year senior safety Wayne Davis, fifth-year senior defensive tackle Mike Greene, fifth-year senior cornerback Wesley McCormick and fifth-year junior linebacker Diamonte Tucker-Dorsey – who have regularly played alongside each other since defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman arrived in Harrisonburg with Dukes coach Curt Cignetti ahead of the 2019 campaign.

This is those defenders’ third season in Hetherman’s system and they know the ins and outs of how things work.

“I’ve studied the playbook so much that I know it like the back of my hand,” Davis said.

Add in four more players embarking on their second straight season as full-time starters, and at least the first-team defense consists mostly of those who know the expectations set by Hetherman and how he teaches his players to operate within his scheme.

The 4-2-5 system worked masterfully for the Dukes in Hetherman’s first year at JMU when it was a senior-led defense and the unit ranked first in FCS for total defense (270.2 yards allowed per game) and third nationally for scoring defense (15.6 points per game allowed). But that group – even though it transitioned extremely well to Hetherman’s defense, which he brought with him from Maine to JMU – was still learning it as the season went on.

The current conglomerate of experience has a chance to reach those heights, players have said, and beyond because their knowledge of the system is expansive and they can play with cohesion within it.

“It’s these guys every day working together, making the calls,” Hetherman said, “coming out to do 7-on-7 together, getting out here for team reps, getting in the video room to watch video and communicate and go through formations with checks. I just think now that these guys have a year [or more] under their belt a little bit, it’ll really help us overall as a unit.”

The top eight tacklers from the spring team are back for this fall, and all seven defenders who had at least one interception in the spring are back, too.

“Communication and chemistry have gotten a lot better,” Azanama said.

He noted there are multiple players, with him, Davis and Tucker-Dorsey leading the way, capable of commanding the defense when the group is on the field and needs to communicate.

After all, the rest of the unit isn’t going to line up exactly correct on every single snap like those nearly perfect practice reps.

“All three of us are very vocal,” Azanama said. “When it comes to controlling this defense, it’s not just one guy. We get tired and sometimes there’s mental fatigue, so it’s not just one person who is relied on anymore. All three of us can do it, and I feel like even going to down to the D-Line with Mike or Isaac [Ukwu], they can take control and they’ll say, ‘Watch this, this is what’s coming,’ and so we don’t slow each other down.”

Said Cignetti: “There’s no substitute for quality experience with guys who have been successful on the field and have played a large number of snaps.”