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James Madison entered the 2025 college football season as one of the more popular picks to earn the coveted spot in the College Football Playoff reserved for the highest-rated team outside the power conferences.
The Dukes have made the typically onerous transition from FCS to FBS look effortless, going 29-9 since they made the jump starting in the 2022 season. Even after losing coach Curt Cignetti and several key players to Indiana after the 2023 season, they brought in Bob Chesney, a rising star in the coaching profession who went 9-4 in his first season, which was highlighted by a 70-50 beatdown of North Carolina.
If James Madison can pull off an upset at Louisville in Week 2 in its only regular-season game against a Power Four opponent, it will be as well-positioned as anyone in the Group of Five for a playoff berth.
As the Dukes try to get there, they’ll have a notable name helping them.
For several weeks last year, Matthew Sluka became one of the most polarizing and breathlessly discussed characters in college football after transferring from UNLV in the middle of the season over an alleged dispute over name, image and likeness payments. After leaving Las Vegas, he ended up at James Madison, where he accounted for two touchdowns in the Dukes’ 45-10 season-opening win against Weber State on August 30.
As his team prepares to take on the Cardinals on September 5 in a nationally televised Friday night game, here’s a closer look at how Sluka ended up at James Madison:
Why did Matthew Sluka transfer from UNLV?
After establishing himself as one of the best players at the FCS level in four productive seasons at Holy Cross, Sluka transferred to UNLV after the 2023 season.
What was supposed to be a mutually beneficial marriage, with an ascendent Rebels program adding a dynamic dual-threat quarterback, ended abruptly.
Sluka helped lead UNLV to a 3-0 start and a No. 23 ranking in the US LBM Coaches Poll, but days after the Rebels’ 23-20 win at Kansas, he announced that he would be sitting out the remainder of the season because UNLV had not fulfilled “commitments” made to him when he first committed. His father and agent claimed Sluka had been given a verbal offer of $100,000 in January 2024, but he had only been paid $3,000 from UNLV’s collective. Sluka’s father, Bob, added that then-Rebels head coach Barry Odom told him the verbal offer wasn’t valid because it came from then-offensive coordinator Brennan Marion, not him.
UNLV and its collective pushed back against Sluka’s claims. In a statement, the university said that Sluka’s representative “made financial demands upon the University and its NIL collective in order to continue playing."
"UNLV Athletics interpreted these demands as a violation of the NCAA pay-for-play rules, as well as Nevada state law," the school said in a statement. "UNLV does not engage in such activity, nor does it respond to implied threats. UNLV has honored all previously agreed-upon scholarships for Matthew Sluka.”
The Rebels didn’t suffer from Sluka’s absence, going 8-3 the rest of the season behind quarterback Hajj-Malik Williams. They tied a program single-season record with 11 wins and were No. 24 in the final Coaches Poll.
Why did Matthew Sluka transfer to James Madison?
Since he left UNLV three games into the season, Sluka was able to redshirt and preserve his final year of college eligibility.
His recruitment out of the transfer portal ultimately led him to a familiar figure.
In January, Sluka signed with James Madison. Though he wasn’t transferring to a program where he would be the clear, unquestioned starter, Sluka’s decision reunited him with Chesney, who he played for at Holy Cross for four seasons. Chesney left the Crusaders the same offseason that Sluka did, taking over for Cignetti at James Madison in December 2023.
“He really wants to bring a winning culture into it,” Sluka said of Chesney in August, according to the Daily News-Record in Harrisonburg, Virginia. “His energy every day never lacks. That was something that I wanted to develop, I wanted to work on. The guys love playing for him. I’ve never heard a player that didn’t like playing for Coach Chesney. I think he does a great job. I think he gives you a good life and football balance and allows you to be a human.”
The transfer to James Madison also linked Sluka back up with Dukes offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy, who was Sluka’s quarterbacks coach at Holy Cross in 2022 and 2023 and his offensive coordinator in 2023. In each of his final two seasons at Holy Cross, Sluka was a finalist for the Walter Payton Award, which is given annually to the FCS player of the year.
Matthew Sluka stats
Sluka didn’t start in James Madison’s 2025 season opener, instead backing up Alonza Barnett, who started 12 games during the 2024 season for the Dukes and was named to the preseason all-Sun Belt second team heading into the 2025 campaign.
Sluka still contributed in the lopsided win against Weber State, though, completing three of four passes for 15 yards and a touchdown, along with six rushing attempts for 30 yards and a touchdown.
In his brief stay at UNLV in 2024, Sluka completed only 43.8% of his passes for 318 yards, but threw six touchdowns to just one interception. He did most of his work for the Rebels on the ground, rushing for 253 yards and a touchdown while averaging 6.5 yards per carry.
In his final three seasons at Holy Cross, he passed for 5,709 yards, 57 touchdowns and 14 interceptions while adding 3,345 rushing yards and 34 touchdowns.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why did Matthew Sluka transfer to James Madison? Former UNLV QB joined former coach
Reporting by Craig Meyer, USA TODAY NETWORK / USA TODAY
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