BLOOMINGTON — After Tyler Morris transferred to Indiana football from Michigan following the 2024 season, he appeared in line to start at slot receiver.
But things changed quickly. He suffered a torn ACL during spring 2025, which cost him the entire season. While the Hoosiers made their historic run to the national championship, Morris had to rehab his knee and watch from afar.
He could’ve easily checked out from the rest of the team; but instead, he stayed as involved as he could. That wasn’t lost on his teammates.
“Just watching Tyler and the way he handled his rehab and the way he talks to all of us as receivers, like he was never just kind of like out of it, even when he was injured,” Charlie Becker said Thursday. “He was always trying to coach us up where he saw stuff going wrong. And he does a fantastic job of — he did everything he could to get back on the field.”
Now a redshirt senior, Morris is finally healthy and playing football again.
The Bolingbrook, Ill. native has a lot of relevant experience from his three years at Michigan. Morris won a national title with the Wolverines in 2023, catching 13 passes for 197 yards and a touchdown that season. He finished as the team’s second-leading receiver in 2024, though that was with only 248 yards. He did that on 23 receptions with two touchdowns.
Morris is still easing his way back into things — understandably, after a major injury. But he’s starting to make an impression on head coach Curt Cignetti, who sees a player capable of helping the team in multiple areas.
“Knees are tough. They take a while, and it’s a process. And I think he was a little tentative early on in the spring. And I think he’s starting to gain confidence in it now. And I think it shows up, like today it showed up,” Cignetti said Thursday. “And he also returned punts at Michigan. And did a nice job of catching the ball, which that’s the number one job criteria for the punt returner: make sure when the play’s over, we got the football. And he’s a real smart guy that can learn a lot of positions.”
Cherry returns
Morris isn’t the only Hoosier named Tyler coming back after a long-term injury.
Tyler Cherry arrived in 2024 as one of the highest-rated quarterback prospects in IU history, as a four-star recruit out of Center Grove High.
He saw very limited playing time as a true freshman, with Kurtis Rourke running the show for Indiana’s offense. But he saw even less action after that, as he suffered a major knee injury sometime before spring 2025 that kept him out for the entire national title season. Cherry was taken off the team’s roster, though he remained with the program in an off-field role.
“He wasn’t available last season, so we tried to keep him involved as much as we could. He’s taken a big step since he was here before,” Cignetti said. “When he came in, he was under 200 pounds. He’s up to about 220 (or) 225, 6-foot-5.He’s way ahead of where he was as a freshman.”
But now, like Morris, Cherry is back on the field. And while Josh Hoover will be IU’s starting quarterback this season, the No. 2 job is up for grabs.
Cherry could certainly have a shot in that race. Cignetti has liked what he’s seen out of the redshirt freshman.
“He’s done some good things, and he’s only gonna get better. He’s gotta tighten his footwork up a little bit, tighten up his release. He missed a couple throws out there today. But I really like the way he’s improving,” Cignetti said. “I like the steps he’s taken, yeah, there’s no doubt about it. He’s really smart, he’s dedicated. There were some people that didn’t think he’d come back from that knee, and he did. He had his mind made up, and he was committed to playing football. And I like where he’s at.”
Cignetti has made a concerted effort to take stock of the backup quarterback battle in recent days, noting how many young players are in the mix along with Grant Wilson. He actually held Hoover out of the team’s main offensive reps on Thursday, and said he’s never done that with his starter before.
“We needed to do it to kind of find out more about these guys. I needed to see them against better competition,” Cignetti said. “I needed to see Tyler Cherry with the 1s. I needed to see Maverick Geske with the 2s. And I needed to get Jacob Bell more work, cause he’s got a live arm. And I probably need to get him some two work here.”
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