One of the biggest items on Curt Cignetti’s early to-do list as he gets going at IU is assembling his staff.
Reports surfaced Friday of his intention to bring several coaches from his James Madison staff along with him to Bloomington. The other side of this equation is determining which existing Indiana staff members, if any, will stay around, and which won’t.
Per reports on Saturday, that’s also coming into focus. ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported special teams coordinator and outside linebackers coach Kasey Teegardin will not be retained. Then, ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg expanded to say “most of Indiana’s previous coaching staff is out,” but with a key exception: offensive line coach Bob Bostad is expected to be retained.
Indiana’s offensive line made real strides this season. Pro Football Focus gave IU a 47.0 grade in run blocking in 2022, which ranked 122nd in the nation and last in the Big Ten. That grade improved to 59.5 this year, which was 75th in the country and 11th in the conference. In pass blocking, the Hoosiers graded at 45.3 in 2022 (118th in the country, 12th in the Big Ten); they improved to 56.0 this year (106th in the nation, 11th in the conference). Additionally, IU allowed 38 sacks in 2022 (13th in the Big Ten), and that number fell to 25 this season (ninth in the Big Ten).
Bostad was largely responsible for those improvements. Most of Indiana’s personnel on the offensive line remained the same from 2022 to 2023.
Four of IU’s offensive line starters from this year — Matthew Bedford, Kahlil Benson, Zach Carpenter, and Carter Smith — have entered the transfer portal. The fifth, Mike Katic, is entering the NFL Draft.
