For Brody Kosin, the week Indiana fired Tom Allen and hired Curt Cignetti felt much longer.
The IU tight end commit wasn’t expecting Allen to be let go, so he was surprised when current Hoosier Brody Foley sent him the news. Kosin quietly reopened his commitment, and he quickly heard from other schools. The Clarkston, Mich. native received new offers from Texas and Michigan State during the five-day period between the IU coaching moves.
But Kosin wanted to give IU’s new coach a chance to get him back on board with the Hoosiers. Allen and his staff were a big part of the reason he originally chose IU, but there was more than that as well — he loved the campus and facilities, and the Kelley School of Business appealed to him.
And Cignetti didn’t need long to sway Kosin. After conversations with Cignetti, offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan, and tight ends coach Grant Cain, Kosin recommitted.
“I’ve always been big on finding a home and being loyal to where I’m at, and I think I’m loyal to IU,” Kosin told The Daily Hoosier in a phone interview. “I love the campus, I love the place. And I’m falling in love with the coaches now, again.”
Cain and Cignetti both called Kosin on Friday, and he spoke to Shanahan over the weekend. He announced his reaffirmed commitment on Monday.
Kosin was the first class of 2024 recruit to commit to IU in the spring, and he became the first to recommit after Cignetti took over.
“I just believed everything that they were saying,” Kosin said. “They were talking about making Indiana a football school again, and I was really about that. I’m really excited about that. They talked about how they’re going to use me as tight end. I’m really excited about that, too. Talked about who I am as a person and stuff like that, who I am as a player. Just really got to know me in the first times I ever talked to them. I really fell in love with them on the phone.”
Commits are allowed to take another official visit with the coaching change, and Kosin is taking that extra visit December 15-17, overlapping with IU men’s basketball’s home game against Kansas.
That visit will be Kosin’s first time meeting Cignetti and his staff in person. He’d never spoken to them before this — he wasn’t initially recruited by James Madison. But he came away feeling good about his new head coach.
“I’m very impressed with who he is and how he is,” Kosin said. “Obviously I saw what Nick Saban said about him, and I’m very excited to be coached by him.”
Kosin checks in at 6-foot-6 and 225 pounds, and is ranked a three-star recruit per 247Sports Composite. He initially chose the Hoosiers over other power-conference offers from Duke, Georgia Tech, Kansas, Kentucky, Pitt, Wake Forest, and West Virginia.
Part of the appeal for Kosin in returning to IU was the way Cignetti and Shanahan described the role tight ends play in their offense. JMU tight end Zach Horton earned All-Sun Belt first team honors this season in that system, posting 26 receptions for 266 yards with six touchdowns.
Kosin saw a good fit for him at the next level within Cignetti and Shanahan’s offense.
From their conversation, Kosin could sense Shanahan’s sharp football mind.
“I think he’s going to bring a new type of style of offense to Indiana. I’m really excited about it,” Kosin said. “I like the way he spoke about how he used his tight ends, what plays he runs and stuff like that, how he breaks down the defense. I think he really understands what the other team is running and stuff like that. And I think he has a great idea of what needs to be changed at IU.”
