IU football fans are living through an unfamiliar age when virtually all of the news about the Hoosiers is positive.
Take for example this social media post by PFF that highlights the elite caliber of multiple returning players to the team this fall. The Hoosiers will welcome back four players who were, among returning players, in the top-eight highest-graded at their respective positions in 2024. That group includes two on offense and two on defense.
D’Angelo Ponds is the No. 3 overall returning cornerback according to PFF, Elijah Sarratt is the No. 4 overall returning wide receiver, and OT Carter Smith and Edge Mikail Kamara are both No. 8 at their respective positions.
Meanwhile, in a Monday report ESPN ranked the top-25 groups of college football newcomers, and ranked Indiana No. 18.
This ranking is the top 25 groups of newcomers — high school recruits and transfers combined — based on who could see the most impactful immediate returns for 2025.
This is how ESPN describes IU’s new faces:
Top impact recruits: WR LeBron Bond, S Byron Baldwin
Bond is a dangerous, elusive weapon with the ball in his hands who has big-play speed out of the slot. Baldwin, an ESPN 300 player, is an aggressive defender who can quickly close on the ball. At minimum, he should be a strong special teams contributor as a freshman.
Top transfers: QB Fernando Mendoza, C Pat Coogan, G Kahlil Benson, OT Zen Michalski, TE Holden Staes, DT Hosea Wheeler, S Devan Boykin, S Louis Moore
Mendoza should thrive in this offense and keep Indiana in the playoff picture. He’s a better overall passer than his predecessor, Kurtis Rourke, and will benefit from a much better offensive line and supporting cast around him. Expect him to put up big numbers.
His line will be new, but it’s not inexperienced. Coogan (Notre Dame) will be the catalyst at center, Benson (Colorado) is a driving interior force and Michalski (Ohio State) will protect the edge. Up front on defense, Wheeler has strong hands and leverage to eat blocks and still get a push. Moore and Boykin (NC State) are really solid instinctual and rangy pickups in the secondary. Moore returns to Bloomington after a spotty season at Ole Miss, but when healthy he’s a productive ball hawk.
High-end returning talent plus high-end newcomers should result in a pretty good season for IU in 2025, especially considering head coach Curt Cignetti is back, along with all three of his coordinators and all but one assistant.
Fox analyst Joel Klatt called Indiana games in 2024 including their 56-7 dismantling of Nebraska. He knows what this team is capable of under Cignetti, and expects more of the same this fall.
“I think Indiana is going to be a very good football team once again. Curt Cignetti and those Hoosiers are not going away, much to some people’s chagrin,” Klatt said on his podcast.
Looking up and down Indiana’s roster at the returners and newcomers cited by PFF and ESPN, and Klatt reached what seems like an obvious conclusion.
“You start looking at this and you say, ‘OK, Indiana’s likely not going anywhere.”
Joel Klatt says @IndianaFootball is not going anywhere – do you agree? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/AIWpvhrhxP
— The Joel Klatt Show: A CFB Pod (@JoelKlattShow) May 8, 2025
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