BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - It's been a while since defensive lineman Mikail Kamara played a completely healthy season of football.
You have to go all the way back to the spring of 2021 -- a season altered by Covid -- to find a campaign that Kamara managed to stave off the injury bug.
Since that shortened six-game season in the spring of 2021, Kamara has been put through the ringer when it comes to injuries.
A pair of torn labrum's and a couple of high ankle sprains forced Kamara to watch from the sideline throughout the 2021 season and all but five games in 2022.
Finally, in Kamara's last season at James Madison, the 6-foot-1, 268 pound D-lineman was able to play a full 12 game season, however that doesn't mean he was healthy throughout the year.
On his way to second-team All-Sun Belt honors, Kamara battled a nagging knee injury. Nonetheless, he produced his most productive collegiate campaign last year with the Dukes, tallying 53 total tackles, 18.5 tackles for a loss and 7.5 sacks.
"I would say that's a lot of it," Kamara responded when asked in the spring how much being 'healthy-ish' led to his breakout 2023 season. "I think I just needed to go out there and play. Once I kinda got over the hump of injuries, I was able to play a lot faster. I was able to work out harder and that ultimately transformed me into a better player."
Now, as Kamara adjusts to a new team with plenty of new faces, the Ashburn, Virginia native is also adjusting to being "fully heathy and ready to go" entering the season for the first time in a long time.
Instead of feeling sorry for himself after his injury riddled first few seasons of college football, Kamara is choosing to look back at his the injuries he dealt with in a different light.
"Those injuries allowed me to grow," Kamara explained. "It allowed me to understand perseverance and gain a new love for the game. At that point I realized that this game can be taken from you at any moment."
"Every single time I come out in practice, every single time I come out in games, I'm like this could be my last chance," Kamara continued. "So I go 110% every single time."
Coming into the upcoming season, Kamara has two main goals in mind. For starters, he wants Indiana football to win.
"I want to turn this program around," Kamara stated firmly. "I want us to win, I want to put (Indiana football) on the map."
According to the redshirt junior, putting IU "on the map" is done by remaining disciplined off the field and playing violent on it. It also means winning games.
Kamara is well aware that no matter what the energy is in and around the team, the Indiana football program can't begin to change how its perceived around the country without winning games on the field.
Kamara's second goal is more on the individual side of things.
"I want to become a (NFL) guy," Kamara said. "I intend to play this season, get whatever accolades and then make my journey to the next level."
For Kamara and the Hoosiers to reach those goals this season they're going to have to rely on and trust one another, something that's made easier with all over the familiar faces around the program.
"All the guys that are coming over from JMU, we got dogs," Kamara said confidently. "We've got size, we've got speed, we just needed a bigger stage, that's it."
The number of former James Madison players now donning the cream and crimson at Indiana have now been given that bigger stage in the Big Ten.
The challenge for them now is to step onto the bigger stage and shine brightly. That's a challenge that Kamara believes he and his team are ready to tackle head first.
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