It’s opening day of fall camp for Indiana, and the reigning national champions are stepping back into the spotlight with plenty already in place under Curt Cignetti.
The Hoosiers are entering year three with Cignetti, and the run so far has been as strong as any in the country: a 27-2 record over the past two seasons, a Big Ten championship, two College Football Playoff trips, and a 16-0 national title season in which they never trailed in the playoffs.
Indiana’s 2025 résumé was loaded with marquee wins, too. The Hoosiers posted six victories over teams that spent time ranked in the top 10 during the season, including No.
1 Ohio State. They also beat two teams that climbed as high as No.
2, Oregon twice and Miami. Those six top-10 wins came by a combined score of 227-86.
At Big Ten football media days, Cignetti laid out the formula he wants to keep intact, even as the roster turns over.
"It's different people, so there's going to be a little bit of a different team, but it's going to be more same than different. All of our teams have been successful because they're more similar than different," Cignetti said at Big Ten football media days.
"We don't turn it over. We play smart.
All three phases play off each other. We stop the run.
We run the ball. We're good in the red area, in touchdown percentage, in third- and fourth-down percentage.
Those are things I want to continue to do. The faces just change a little bit."
The biggest new face is quarterback Josh Hoover, the transfer from TCU who ranked second among FBS quarterbacks in passing yards per game in 2025 at 289.3. Hoover takes over for Fernando Mendoza, who became Indiana’s first Heisman Trophy winner and delivered the diving touchdown in IU’s 27-21 national title win over Miami on the Hurricanes’ home field.
Indiana also dipped into the portal for help at several other spots, bringing in edge rushers Tobi Osunsanmi and Chiddi Obiazor, receiver Nick Marsh, running back Turbo Richard, and lineman Joe Brunner. Brunner arrives with a strong pass-protection track record, having allowed zero sacks in 747 career pass blocking snaps according to Pro Football Focus.
Even with the changes, the Hoosiers bring back plenty. Carter Smith returns after earning Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year honors, while linebackers Rolijah Hardy and Isaiah Jones, defensive tackle Tyrique Tucker and receiver Charlie Becker are back as well. Hardy, Tucker and Becker were all included in preseason Big Ten media honors, and Smith plus Tucker landed on the Outland Trophy Watch List.
Indiana’s roster stability runs deep, with 61 returning players overall. That group includes five offensive starters and seven defensive players who made multiple starts during the national championship season.
One more key piece is staying in the fold: Stephen Daley announced Tuesday that he will return for a fifth season after recent court rulings. Daley dealt with a knee injury after IU’s Big Ten Championship win over Ohio State, but is expected to be available at some point during the season. In 2025, he led the Big Ten with 19 tackles for loss despite opening the year as a backup.
In Other News...
Josh Hoover Faces Immediate Pressure In Indianas Demanding New Culture
Josh Hoovers move into Indianas program has quickly become less about learning a new playbook and more about buying into a new standard. The quarterback talked about how Curt Cignetti and the Hoosiers staff have pushed him to sharpen his habits, embrace the teams expectations and tighten up the details in his own game, with an emphasis on playing cleaner football.
For Hoover, the challenge is personal as much as it is organizational. Indianas coaching staff has stressed discipline and accountability from the start, and Hoover said that kind of environment has already helped him grow, especially when it comes to cutting down on turnovers and separating old tendencies from the version of himself the Hoosiers need now. [Read more 🡒]
Indiana Still Has Something To Prove In The Preseason Poll
The first big snapshot of the college football preseason arrives Aug. 17, and Indiana will be watching closely after already showing up higher than some national observers might have expected. The Hoosiers have been tucked into the No. 3-to-No. 6 range in recent preseason looks, including the Big Ten media poll and the USA Today coaches poll, even as Ohio State and Oregon sit near the top of the conversation.
For a program led by Curt Cignetti, that kind of placement feels more like a reminder than a reward. Indiana has enough recent performance and returning talent to make a case for a better spot, even if a No. 1 ranking still sounds like a stretch, and the AP release will be the next chance to see whether voters are willing to move the Hoosiers closer to where they think they belong. [Read more 🡒]
Indiana Commit Chase Branham Is Giving Hoosiers Fans Real Reason To Dream
Chase Branham kept adding to an already busy summer, and the Indiana commit made the most of his stop at the Under Armour Next City Classic at St. Frances Academy in Baltimore. The 6-foot-4 guard was named MVP after delivering 23 points, eight rebounds and four assists in 22 minutes, a strong reminder of why he has become one of the most watched players in the 2027 class.
Branham has been on the move all summer, too, with appearances at the Nike Skills Academy and the Mamba Games helping build the case around his game. Ranked No. 21 nationally in his class, he has drawn notice for efficient scoring on the Under Armour circuit, and for Hoosiers fans, performances like this only deepen the excitement around what he could become before he ever reaches campus. [Read more 🡒]