BLOOMINGTON — Joe Brunner is not only adapting to a new program this season.
He’s also adjusting to an unfamiliar position.
Brunner transferred to Indiana football in January after playing left guard the last two years at Wisconsin. The Hoosiers had an opening at center after Pat Coogan’s departure, and they already had one of the Big Ten’s top left guards in Drew Evans.
Evans shifted to center during spring ball, with IU down multiple starters due to injuries. But as fall camp arrived, Evans moved back to left guard and Bray Lynch — Indiana’s starting right guard last year — took over at center. And head coach Curt Cignetti and his offensive staff determined Adedamola Ajani, who saw tangible action in 2025 at left guard, right guard, and right tackle, was most comfortable and better suited to play inside than outside. That’s forced Brunner to slot in at right tackle, a position he has not yet played collegiately.
He’s both moving from the left side of the offensive line to the right side, and from inside to outside. Brunner doesn’t see the left-to-right transition as anything difficult shift.
“I think going from left to right, especially interior, it’s not really challenging,” Brunner said Tuesday. “You kind of bounce around as a younger player, playing both sides, feeling out. So I’m used to that.”
But adjusting from guard to tackle is a bigger task. The positions have different responsibilities and requirements. Offensive line coach Bob Bostad, whom Brunner overlapped with at Wisconsin for one season in 2022, is helping get the 6-foot-7, 313-pound transfer acclimated to the new spot.
And Brunner is attacking the challenge with a positive mindset.
“Going out to tackle, it’s new. You’re facing a different type of player — speed, not as much strength, not as big,” Brunner said. “But it’s also fun. It’s part of the experience of learning a new position and just learning how good of a football player you are, yourself. I have the confidence in myself to play tackle, been learning from coach Bostad every day. … I’m here to do what’s best for the team.”
Brunner does have some experience to draw from, though. The Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin native played right tackle in high school — obviously a much lower level of competition, and now five years in the past.
But that, along with Bostad’s coaching, is enough for Brunner to feel like he knows what he’s doing at right tackle.
IU is relying on Brunner to make that transition successfully, with a lot of unknowns around offensive line depth if anything went wrong.
But the Wisconsin transfer will have the backing of one of the best offensive lines in the country, with Evans and Carter Smith on the left side performing particularly well.
And after experiencing the raucous atmosphere at Memorial Stadium last season as a visiting player with the Badgers, Brunner knows he’ll have home field advantage on his side this year.
“It was super fun to come here and see the atmosphere and play in something like this. That’s what you want, growing up as a kid,” Brunner said. “And to be here now, with these guys, it’s sort of like a dream come true. But it was super fun last year, and it’s even more fun now.”
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