What will Indiana football look like when the program has the pick of the recruiting litter?
The word scary comes to mind in more ways than one.
Coming off a national championship season that occurred before Indiana had been able to fully capitalize on its success from a recruiting standpoint, the Hoosiers could be scary good for years to come.
But the infusion of more talent brings about the risk the culture coach Curt Cignetti has created will be negatively impacted. Will highly decorated 4 and 5-stars have the same chip on their shoulders as Cignetti’s misfits?
That’s scary too. Right?
Cignetti doesn’t seem concerned.
“The things that are important to us aren’t going to change, and that’s improving daily as much as you can,” Cignetti said Wednesday on the Big Ten Network. “So it’s still about selecting the right people and they’ve got to fit our program. I will turn away talent if I don’t think the work habits or the commitment’s there. So that part of it hasn’t changed at all.”
Indiana’s highest profile offseason addition has been Texas Christian quarterback Josh Hoover.
The 6-foot-2 and 200-pound Hoover completed 65.9% of his throws in 2025 for 3,472 yards with 29 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He’ll be stepping into immense shoes after Fernando Mendoza’s Heisman Trophy and national championship season.
What will IU fans like about Hoover?
“He’s started a lot of football games,” Cignetti said on BTN. “He’s won a lot of football games, thrown a lot of touchdown passes. He’s got quick release. He’s very accurate. He’s competitive. He’s smart and I’m looking forward to developing him.”
ROSTER NOTES
Indiana has had to replace big time contributors Mikail Kamara, Stephen Daley and Kellen Wyatt on the outside of the defensive line, and the staff has made several key additions over the last month.
Kansas State 6-foot-6 and 275-pound defensive line transfer Chiddi Obiazor will play field end and also see snaps at defensive tackle, Cignetti says.
Meanwhile 6-foot-3 and 250-pound Kansas State transfer Tobi Osunsanmi will play the stud position on the edge of the defensive line.
Cignetti says 6-foot-4 and 260-pound Notre Dame transfer defensive lineman Josh Burnham could play both edge positions.
If there’s a position group that feels a bit uncertain at the moment, it’s tight end. The Hoosiers lost both Riley Nowakowski and Holden Staes to eligibility following the national championship game. This projects to be the first season at Indiana Cignetti won’t have a trusted veteran at that spot. In 2024 it was Zach Horton leading the way.
Cignetti does have some young talent coming in or returning at tight end, but a couple of them are dealing with injuries. He said Miami, Fla. transfer tight end Brock Schott had hip labrum surgery and will miss spring practice. And incoming freshman Trevor Gibbs needed a foot procedure and will miss time.
“That (tight end) is probably the biggest question mark, right now as I look at the offense, is how that thing will end up looking come the end of fall camp,” Cignetti said. “But we’ll figure it out.”
You can watch Cignetti’s full appearance on the Big Ten Network here:
For complete coverage of IU football, GO HERE.
The Daily Hoosier –“Where Indiana fans assemble when they’re not at Assembly”
- You can follow us on X: @daily_hoosier and find us on Facebook and Instagram
- Seven ways to support completely free IU coverage at no cost to you.
