Donaven McCulley was one of Curt Cignetti’s biggest wins in the transfer portal this offseason.
After a breakout junior season at wide receiver, just his second year playing that position, McCulley decided to evaluate his alternatives via the portal when Tom Allen was fired.
And McCulley had plenty of options.
Florida State, Texas A&M, Penn State, Kentucky, Michigan, N.C. State, South Carolina, Nebraska, Mississippi State and UCLA were among the Indianapolis product’s offers after his 48 catch, 644 yard and six touchdown 2023 season.
The writing appeared to be on the wall.
Even Cignetti was surprised when McCulley informed the new head coach he’d be returning to IU for his final season of eligibility. It was a call that came not coincidentally just hours after quarterback Kurtis Rourke announced his transfer to the Hoosiers.
“That was a great day,” Cignetti said in December. “I was not expecting that. The word on the street was (McCulley was going to) Florida State.”
So it was a bit surprising to hear Cignetti publicly criticize the 6-foot-5 receiver just a few months later during spring practices.
“I think Donaven needs to pick it up a little bit,” Cignetti said in April.
Again in July at Big Ten media day, the first-year IU head coach seemed less than pleased with McCulley.
“He needs to continue to develop, play in and play out,” Cignetti said. “I don’t want him to be a sometime guy. I want him to be an every down, every play guy, that we can count on.”
What’s this all about?
Some of it is just an unapologetic Curt Cignetti, who expects everyday improvement from the best players on the team, the walk-ons, and everyone in between.
Another reason Cignetti might be willing to push and prod McCulley, even in public? His late season emergence a season ago suggests this guy who was recruited to IU to play quarterback might just have a future in the NFL as a wideout.
McCulley had multiple impressive games as the 2023 season progressed, including 11 catches for 137 yards at Illinois, 6 catches for 79 yards at Maryland, 5 catches for 67 yards vs. Wisconsin, 4 catches for 96 yards at Penn State, and 5 catches for 48 yards at Purdue. He scored five touchdowns over the last five weeks of the season.
But Cignetti knows he only has one season to bring out McCulley’s best in a way that both benefits the team and propels him to the next level. So there is a sense of urgency when it comes to McCulley.
Oh, and there’s this. Upon deciding to return to Indiana, McCulley asked to be pushed.
“I told (Cignetti) to coach me hard,” McCulley said last week after practice. “Do what you need to do. Him getting on me in the spring and challenging me helped me really learn how he operates and learn how the team operates. I took the initiative to really get in my playbook more and master the playbook.”
Except for McCulley’s brother Derin, no one on the Indiana team knows him better than fellow wide receiver Omar Cooper, Jr. The pair played sports together in Indianapolis since middle school, and they were teammates at Lawrence North H.S.
Cooper says the tempo and intensity of practices have changed significantly from a season ago.
“I love Coach Allen, but last year, he wasn’t as hard on us and yelling at us to pick up the tempo and stuff,” Cooper said.
And when the staff turns their attention to McCulley, either publicly or at practice, Cooper says his teammate feeds off the energy.
“He likes it when coaches are hard on him,” Cooper said. “When they get on him, it fuels him up. It makes him angry. When he plays angry, he plays better.”
Cooper was a high school track star, so he might have a different perception of speed than most.
But he says McCulley, who was already running over 20 mph a year ago, has found a new gear.
If McCulley really does have NFL potential, adding top-end speed to his ability to high-point a football might just be his ticket.
“One of the biggest things is he hasn’t really been the fastest guy growing up, and over the past six months, I’ve seen him getting progressively faster,” Cooper said. “The weight training staff has a good program with that.”
McCulley is on his third receivers coach in three years at IU. Perhaps there is a silver lining to that for a player who needed to learn the position on a fast track.
This time around the receivers coach is also the offensive coordinator. And Mike Shanahan certainly knows first hand what success at wide receiver looks like at the college level.
Shanahan graduated from Pitt in 2012 after four years on the gridiron where his 159 receptions and 2,276 yards both rank in the top-10 in school history.
What Shanahan sees in McCulley is a senior responding to Cignetti’s approach, a tough love style he asked for.
“Off the field, Donaven has done a good job,” Shanahan said. “He’s locked in in the meeting room. He’s taking notes. He’s asking questions.
“On the field, he is still developing into a complete receiver. I know he came here as a quarterback. He’s only been doing it for a couple of years. It’s still a little bit new. Maybe the way we’re teaching it is a little bit new from what he’s used to.
“I told him this, I tell all the guys in our (offensive room) this, if you play with effort, you have a great chance. He’s giving great effort. It might not be perfect. It might not be exactly how you want it, but I can work with that. Any coach can work with that. He continues to get better every day.”
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