BLOOMINGTON — Indiana football is waiting to learn its postseason fate, but the Hoosiers didn’t take a week off.
IU officially signed 21 high school commits on Wednesday’s National Early Signing Day. Its class, on signing day, ranked No. 43 in the nation and 13th in the Big Ten on 247Sports. The Hoosiers added nine offensive players and 12 defensive players, and 14 of them will enroll early for spring football.
Head coach Curt Cignetti met with local media on Wednesday to discuss the incoming class, his transfer portal plans, Indiana’s approach heading into a likely College Football Playoff game, and more. Here are a few key things he talked about.
Quarterback
Cignetti’s most illuminating comments on Wednesday didn’t involve any of the players the Hoosiers signed.
It was about a position notably absent from this recruiting class: quarterback.
IU’s decision to not add a quarterback in this cycle was not coincidental, even with Kurtis Rourke exhausting his eligibility this year. Cignetti and his staff have a plan.
“We have two young quarterbacks in the program that we like: Tyler Cherry and (Alberto) Mendoza. So we didn’t feel a real need to sign a young quarterback this year,” Cignetti said. “We will definitely recruit a quarterback out of the portal.”
That certainly casts question marks on Tayven Jackson’s status. The redshirt sophomore served as IU’s No. 2 quarterback this season, and he started the team’s win over Washington and played the second half of the win over Nebraska. Jackson could be in line for the starting job if the program doesn’t add another veteran from the transfer portal.
It’s not necessarily a shock that Cignetti intends to bring in a quarterback from the portal, but his plans for that player could impact Jackson. Is he bringing in a veteran to compete with the Center Grove alum? Or is he bringing in someone to start over Jackson? Either way, that situation could get interesting.
Size
IU placed clear emphasis on size with its class of 2025.
Around half of this group plays either offensive line or defensive line, or tight end. Indiana’s turnaround this season had a lot to do with strong play in the trenches, but its depth at those spots was questionable at times. Adding more high school talent in those areas could help Cignetti and the Hoosiers down the road with additional depth and even better talent.
“It all starts up front, and the defensive linemen with always the hardest to find and get. So we got two inside guys and two ends, and pleased with that,” Cignetti said. “Offensively, three offensive linemen all report in midyear and then the two tight ends. The one in-state tight end (Andrew Barker) will be an early enrollee, and Blake Thiry will be a fall enrollee. I feel good about that. Feel good about all these guys.”
Portal
Between securing these high school signings, beginning to evaluate transfer portal prospects, and preparing for the postseason, Indiana has a lot going on.
Cignetti described it as a juggling act to balance his time between everything this week. And that will only continue as the portal officially opens next week. IU will be practicing for its likely CFP game, while surely hosting portal recruits on official visits. Eventually, Cignetti and his staff will have more individual conversations with players on the current roster set to return for next year — he said that process has begun, but he wants to keep the team focused on the postseason.
The Hoosiers staff is knocking out as much portal evaluation as possible this week, knowing the likely CFP game preparation will ramp up next week with the matchup set.
“We’re going to be preparing for a football game also. So we want to kind of be as far along in that (portal) evaluation as possible because even though the portal doesn’t open until Monday, if a guy is graduated or if a coach has been fired, right, then they’re technically in the portal now,” Cignetti said. “Underclassmen can’t officially be in the portal until Monday, and then it could take 24 to 48 hours to be processed, so it could be Wednesday, but all you have to do is go on Twitter and see who has announced that they’re going to go into the portal, and that doesn’t prohibit you from pulling up their PFF tape and evaluating them. So there’s a lot of that going on right now.”
Cignetti added that IU is practicing Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday this week, though one of those sessions will be more like a walk-through.
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