Production over potential.
It’s one of IU football coach Curt Cignetti’s favorite lines when discussing the transfer portal.
Some desperate to explain Indiana’s 16-0 national championship season will tell you that means the Hoosiers are winning with 28-year-old 10th-year seniors. While that’s obviously not the case, Cignetti is winning with veterans, and he seeks them out when looking to fill holes on his roster.
You were a 4-star recruit? Oh, that’s nice. But what have done on a college football field?
“Production over potential. There’s something about that,” Cignetti said when he spoke to AFCA Convention in 2025. “The guy that can stay on the practice field, the guy that can stay on the game field, the guy can handle success, the guy that can handle failure, has consistency in performance, he’s a good teammate, he buys in to the team vision & he can stay healthy.”
So a 4-star who hasn’t seen the field in two years at a powerhouse program won’t be as attractive to Indiana’s staff as a 3-star (or less) coming from a school with less of a brand who has posted consistent numbers in college.
The result is a roster full of veterans from all levels of the sport: developed in house, and from the Power 4, Group of 6 and FCS levels. If you’ve proven you can play the game at a high level, you’re wanted.
2026 projects to be no different for Cignetti’s Hoosiers.
CBS Sports compiled data that ranks each of the 138 teams based on snaps, games and starts, and to the surprise of no one, IU is among the national and conference leaders in all categories.
Based on total FBS snaps on the roster, Indiana is No. 8 nationally and second in the Big Ten behind UCLA. The Hoosiers are No. 13 in total FBS offensive snaps, and No. 11 in total FBS defensive snaps.
Only UCLA and Nebraska have more offensive snaps from the Big Ten, while no team from the league has more returning defensive snaps.
In perhaps the best indicator of production over potential, Indiana ranks No. 26 in total FBS games played, but No. 4 in total FBS starts. They also have the most total FBS starts on a Big Ten roster.
The Hoosiers open fall camp in early August and kick off the 2026 season on Sept. 5 against North Texas.
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