Marcelino McCrary-Ball watched his alma mater win a national championship and now two more Hoosiers have joined him on the Jets.

"Omar Cooper Jr. got drafted and I said, 'Bring that IU culture here' and when [he and D'Angelo Ponds] got here I told both of them I appreciate what they did because when I think back," McCrary-Ball said. "I was there for six years and I stuck around because I wanted to ultimately complete and accomplish what they did. It's just really cool, that'll stick with me for a long time."

The linebacker's last season at Indiana was in 2021, a few years before Curt Cignetti took over the program and turned it into a title contender.

"It's been my drive watching them do what they did, and with AG [head coach Aaron Glenn] and his philosophy and where he wants to take this team, that's my vision," McCrary-Ball said. "I want to do something."

That hunger for success is rooted in perseverance and work ethic — he doesn't just want to help lay the foundation, he wants to experience it.

"Obviously, I was there before they won the championship, but I was in the mix of how to get this going," McCrary-Ball said. "You know, I started my journey in San Francisco [as an undrafted free agent] and they were playoff bound pretty much every year so I'm a sponge in a sense of like I saw what it took…I don't want to be a part of just seeing what it takes, I want to be a part of doing it."

McCrary-Ball was named a special teams captain prior to the 2025 regular season. However, after suffering a hamstring injury in Week 3, McCrary-Ball played in five games and made 23 tackles while appearing in 120 special teams snaps and 106 defensive snaps.

"It was a tough battle to kind of navigate through during the season," McCrary-Ball said. "It was a lot that I earned that season, you know, making the team, being captain and whatever else that came that year, and to be hit with the injury was tough because it was just hard not to feel like I'm letting people down."

That was enough motivation to attack the offseason with the mindset "to prepare for the next day."

"With hydration, for example, you're hydrating for tomorrow, not for right now," McCrary-Ball said. "Just taking care of my body and being prepared for the next fight."

When training camp rolls opens and the competitiveness at 1 Jets Drive heats up, McCrary-Ball plans to show up with energy.

"I learned a lot of lessons from last year, pros and cons, the ups and downs although I only stuck around for five games," McCrary-Ball said. "I know that my IQ has risen and marrying that up with being on the field for a longer period of time, I feel like it's only bound to for me to be more of a piece to help the collective once again. I'm just ready for that."