Dukes Land VMI Transfer DB Sarratt

His next appearance at Bridgeforth Stadium will come as a member of the home team.

On Saturday afternoon, former VMI defensive back Josh ‘Cheese’ Sarratt announced his decision to transfer to James Madison. Sarratt had nine tackles for the Keydets last month in their opening-round playoff loss at JMU.

“We spoke about it when [JMU] first started recruiting me,” Sarratt told the Daily News-Record late Saturday. “The coaches told me they remembered me from film and from playing against them, and that went well because they said they liked what they saw on tape and what I did on the field. So, hopefully, now I’ll get in that purple and gold and make some more plays.”

This spring as a sophomore, Sarratt racked up 52 tackles, three tackles for loss, three pass breakups, two interceptions and a forced fumble.

Because all athletes received an extra year of eligibility due to the NCAA’s coronavirus blanket waiver, he’ll have up to four seasons to play with the Dukes. Sarratt said while in the transfer portal he earned other scholarship offers from Lamar, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Western Illinois and William & Mary.

“I knew I wanted to stay in state and close to my family a little bit,” Sarratt, a former Colonial Forge High School standout, said. “Then, just knowing that JMU has a chance to compete for a national championship every year, that’s something I want to do. I want to get that national championship ring and I know that my teammates will push me and I’ll push them, so we can get better and get that ring.”

He’s familiar with a few players from Northern Virginia on the JMU roster already, he said, having been a friend of wide receiver Devin Ravenel since they were kids and having played against safety MJ Hampton in high school. Sarratt said he’s also spoken a few times to slot receiver Kris Thornton, who also began his college career at VMI, but never overlapped with Sarratt there.

Sarratt, a 5-foot-11, 175-pounder, is likely going to spend a lot of time with Hampton in the secondary this fall. According to Sarratt, Dukes coaches view him as either a safety or a rover. He said rovers coach Eddie Whitley and safeties coach Marcus Hall-Oliver were his lead recruiters and that coach Curt Cignetti played a role, too.

“But they don’t know which one yet,” Sarratt said. “They want to get a better feel for me and see me in person in the defense and then whatever will help the team the most, that’s the position I’ll play.”

He said he plans on arriving in Harrisonburg early this summer to get acquainted with his new teammates and learn the defense ahead of training camp. And when he does get to JMU, he’ll introduce himself as ‘Cheese,’ the nickname he’s had since he was young.

“When I was a kid, I was very competitive at everything I did,” Sarratt explained. “I hated losing at anything, so anytime I started losing, I’d cry and I’d whine real, real bad. It got so bad, it got to the point my father would say, ‘You whine so much, do you want some cheese with it?’ So, that’s where ‘Cheese’ comes from and it stuck with me my whole life, and everybody knows me as ‘Cheese.’”

Sarratt said he knows a lot about the school itself since he was recruited by JMU’s previous coaching staff while starring and earning Virginia High School League Class 6 first-team all-state honors with Colonial Forge. He said former Dukes defensive coordinator and safeties coach Bob Trott targeted him, that the two developed a great relationship and that Sarratt visited the campus on four occasions.

The Dukes never offered at the time, though.

“So, when this staff reached out while I was in the transfer portal, I just felt comfortable,” Sarratt said.

He said the most difficult part of the decision was initially choosing to leave VMI, especially considering the Keydets completed a historic season in which they reached the FCS playoffs for the first time ever and registered their first winning season since 1981 while capturing the Southern Conference crown. But Sarratt said he talked with VMI coach Scott Wachenheim, other staff members and players about how he felt, so they wouldn’t be caught off guard when he put his name in the transfer portal.

“My coaches and teammates at VMI put me in position to make plays,” he said. “I was very comfortable in my role there. … But at the end of the day, I felt like the best decision for myself would be to leave.”