‘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

As a senior in high school, Elijah Sarratt did not have a single star next to his name. He did not know where he was going to play during the year.

“[I’m] blessed to be here. My senior year, didn’t know where I was going to end up. St. Francis took a chance on me,” Sarratt said during his press conference after the seventh spring practice for Indiana football.

Now two years later, Sarratt is set to start at wide receiver in the Big Ten.

“I was able to show everybody what I could do. Went to JMU and was able to do the same thing,” Sarratt said about his ascension. “Now I’m trying to improve on my season from last year and have an even better one this year.”

In his one season with St. Francis (PA), Sarratt caught 42 passes for 700 yards and scored 13 touchdowns in 12 games. He then transferred to James Madison where he played under new Indiana football Curt Cignetti.

In his one year with Cignetti, Sarratt caught 82 passes for 1,191 yards and scored nine touchdowns. When Cignetti left for Indiana, he made sure to bring Sarratt with him.

“[The] coaching staff talked to me almost as soon as they were able to. Then things were just smooth from there,” Sarratt said about his commitment to Indiana football. “They weren’t pressuring me to commit right away, they knew other schools were interested in me, but came down here. [I] heard what they had to say and came here.”

The 6-foot-2 receiver felt comfortable last season and the idea of playing in the same system was appealing.

“I’m used to everything they were doing over at JMU,” Sarratt said about his transfer process. “When I was in the transfer portal they were telling me how they were going to keep everything the same. I’m just trying to get everybody else adjusted and keep on doing my thing.”

A big part of playing for Cignetti and the new Indiana football staff is understanding the importance of the small details.

“They’re big on the details. If I’m one yard off my split I’m, wrong, which is good,” Sarratt said about the coaching staff. “You got to be where they want you to be so the whole play works out. Just little stuff like that.”

Sarratt’s understanding of the expectations that the coaching staff has had helped him grow into a leader during his transition to Indiana football.

He might be one of the new guys in the locker room, but his experience with JMU and Cignetti has allowed him to step up and embrace a leadership role early into spring practice.

“[I] definitely got to pick up more of a leadership role this year,” Sarratt said Thursday. “I had a lot of older guys that were showing me the way last year. Towards the end of the season I started speaking up more, but one of my focuses this year is trying to be more of a leader.”

As Sarratt got more comfortable speaking up, his play also elevated.

He had over 100 yards in six of his final eight games and caught six touchdowns over that stretch.

Even with his on-field success, Sarratt is not satisfied.

“If you check my film from freshman year to now, I’ve improved on a lot of things but nowhere near where I want to be,” Sarratt said. “I have a lot of growth to do.”

Read:‘He’s been functioning, looking like a high level quarterback’: Indiana football QB Kurtis Rourke is impressing early in Spring Camp

For Sarratt, he relies on one thing for his improvement. Work.

“[I] put that work in every day. You got to put that time in,” Sarratt said about his improvement. “I got a good supporting cast around me that keeps my head straight. I just got to keep on working every day and everything that I want should be able to come to me.”

Sarratt has high expectations for himself and he relies on the ‘work’ he puts in each day to get him there. His primary focus is on getting better. He recognizes that it won’t always be easy, but he emphasizes the importance of patience and consistency on those tough days.

“Some days not going to go how you want. You just got to be consistent every single day,” Sarratt said. “You might catch one pass today, you might catch eight passes tomorrow. You just got to weather the storm and try to get better every single day.”

Now playing with a new quarterback for the third time in as many years, there will likely be some bad days as they try to build chemistry on the field.

The expectation is that Ohio transfer Kurtis Rourke will start, but Cignetti has said he won’t say who his quarterback will be.

“This is going to be my third new quarterback. It comes with bumps throughout the road, you know getting that chemistry down,” Sarratt said. “We’re still early in the process of getting everything down. We only had seven installs, so we just got to take it day by day.

”We’re getting better day by day, we got to keep on stacking those days.”

Indiana football has a long way to go before they open up their season, so Sarratt will have plenty of time to build chemistry with his new quarterback and the rest of the offense.

Cignetti will rely on Sarratt and other former JMU players familiar with his system, to help the install process ahead of the 2024 season.

“We got a lot of work to do,” Sarratt said. “And we’re getting better each day.”

SEE ALSO: ‘Has the potential to be one of the strengths of our team’: Curt Cignetti seeing positive early returns for Indiana football offensive line

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