‘Every day I think about being resilient, detailed, and dominant’: Justice Ellison’s ‘go get it’ mentality made Indiana football the perfect fit for him

After Indiana football lost its five leading rushers this offseason, Curt Cignetti and the new coaching staff needed to reload the running back room. Cignetti and his staff looked to familiarity in the transfer portal bringing in four new running backs – including two from James Madison.

Among the new additions in the transfer portal was Wake Forest running back Justice Ellison. In four years with the Demon Deacons, Ellison ran the ball 427 times for 1,901 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Ellison’s decision to join Indiana Football was made easy because of his previous relationship with wide receivers coach Mike Shanahan.

“I played receiver in high school. Coach Shanahan had offered me at JMU as a receiver,” Ellison said about his relationship with the coaching staff. “Then I end up changing to play running back at Wake Forest. So when I saw the offense, I was like man this is really going to be an opportunity for me.”

Ellison was recruited as a three-star wide receiver out of high school and built a connection with Shanahan during his recruitment before eventually deciding to play at Wake Forest over James Madison.

Now at running back, Ellison is working closely with running backs coach John Miller, but his relationship with Shanahan helped make his decision to come to Indiana.

“Coach Shanahan we kind of built that connection, so when I hit the portal it almost felt like family,” Ellison said. “I wasn’t going nowhere it was new for me, I knew these guys before and they believed in me when nobody else did.”

The pro-style offense Indiana football is looking to implement suits Ellison’s game. Despite originally playing wide receiver, he only caught 24 passes in four years with Wake Forest. Indiana could look to use his versatility as a weapon in the passing game.

Ellison also had plenty of praise for his new head coach. Seeing Cignetti’s ‘passion’ stood out to him during the transfer process.

“It was really about faith for me, just taking that step. Cignetti, I saw how passionate he was,” Ellison said. “This guy is passionate and that’s what I want to be a part of.”

Cignetti’s passion has been at the forefront of the culture that he is trying to build in Bloomington. He has emphasized the importance of moving past the ‘old Indiana’ and the players are seeing that firsthand.

Three words have stuck with Ellison since joining the program.

“Every day I think about being resilient, detailed, and dominant. That’s the only three words every single time we wake up and they’ve installed that over and over again,” Ellison said. It’s hard, I ain’t going to lie it is tough. Your back against the wall every single day, but I feel like that breeds success.”

Cignetti has made his expectations for the program clear. If players don’t meet his expectations, he will let them know. After a bad practice on Tuesday, he made sure his team knew he was not happy with their performance.

READ: Despite seeing progress throughout spring practice, Curt Cignetti still trying to eliminate ‘old Indiana’ ways as he builds his version of Indiana football

Hard work is nothing new for Ellison. His ‘go get it’ mentality made coming to play for Indiana football an easy decision when he entered the portal.

“I’ve always had that go-get-it mentality,” Ellison said about his approach. “Every time I go to practice, every rep I’m in, I got to get it because there’s other people behind me trying to do the same thing and other people that want what I have.”

All four of the running backs Indiana football added this offseason have playing experience, so the competition for snaps will be difficult. It is still unknown what the snap splits will look like, but the versatility of Ellison makes him an intriguing piece of the puzzle.

Ellison described himself as a “downhill runner” with the ability to make guys miss. That combination along with his pass-catching capabilities could lead to the 5-foot-10 and 204-pound back becoming an integral part of the offense.

Ellison also emphasized the importance of building chemistry with the quarterback and his relationship with Kurtis Rourke.

“It’s important to bring that team chemistry with you and the quarterback,” Ellison said. “Me and Kurt, we really have built a bond together. I look up to him. I have my beautiful fiancée, he has his beautiful wife now, so we have our relationship growing.”

With so many new faces on offense, it will be critical to build chemistry quickly. Except for the James Madison transfers, everyone is starting fresh and learning the offense. A strong chemistry between Rourke, Ellison, and the rest of the team will only enhance the process.

The importance of loving your teammates can go a long way, especially in the critical moments of a season.

“I think it’s going to be great because we’re going to be able to adjust on the fly and communicate with each other,” Ellison said. “When you love somebody you can be able to communicate with them to have them do what you need them to do in pressure moments.”

They are still early in the process, so each practice will be critical to building the chemistry needed between the offense. Ellison is going to “go get it” each time he takes the field as Indiana wraps up their Spring Camp.

Indiana football will get their first look at Ellison and the rest of the offense when they play their Spring Game on Thursday night at Memorial Stadium.

SEE ALSO: ‘I just got to keep on working every day’: From Division II to Indiana football WR Elijah Sarratt has relied on his ‘work’ to get him here

Make sure to follow Hoosier Illustrated, part of the Full Ride Network, on Twitter @Indiana_FRN, Facebook and YouTube to stay up to date on all of the news, updates and coverage of Indiana University athletics. You can also listen to the Talking’ Bout the Hoosiers podcast on Spotify.

Looking for a place to get more Indiana content? Hoosier Illustrated has partnered with Tom Brady’s company ‘Autograph’ to streamline our coverage, so you can continue to do what you do best – follow IU sports. Use the CODE: Indianafr to get started today. For more info, you can start here.