Curt Cignetti isn’t hiding what he wants from his wide receivers right now: more versatility, more reps, and better day-to-day habits.
That was the message Thursday on his radio show as the IU coach talked through a receiver room that looks nothing like the one he had in 2024. Back then, Indiana had a deep enough group that four wideouts - Ke’Shawn Williams, Myles Price, Omar Cooper, Jr., and Elijah Sarratt - would end up on NFL rosters.
A fifth, E.J. Williams, has since signed with the Carolina Panthers practice squad, and a sixth, Charlie Becker, appears set to be drafted next spring.
“We were so deep, we were probably 10 deep,” Cignetti said Thursday on his radio show. “Donaven McCulley couldn’t get on the field.”
This year, that kind of depth isn’t there. And with a thinner room, the top options have to be ready to handle more than one spot. Cignetti said the staff is already moving receivers around, and he pointed directly to Shazz Preston and Nick Marsh as players who need to keep learning every position.
“We can’t get some of these new guys enough reps right now,” Cignetti said. “Like we can’t get Shazz Preston enough reps.
And even Nick Marsh. Because what we did this past game was we moved Nick around a little bit.
We played some guys some different spots, and the more we can do that, it’s going to really help us down the road. We’ve begun moving guys around already, but we need the two new ones, Nick and Shazz Preston, to learn every position.”
That helps explain why Preston started over Marsh against Howard, and why both Preston and Marsh - along with Davion Chandler - were still on the field in the fourth quarter of a 55-0 game. None of them had game experience in this system, and Indiana needed the work.
The extra snaps showed up clearly. Preston played 34 more snaps in Week 2 than he did in Week 1, and Chandler’s total jumped by 29. Marsh’s workload went the other direction, dropping by 13.
Cignetti’s comments also made it clear that the issue with Marsh isn’t just about getting him on the field. The Michigan State transfer is still working through the basics of how the staff wants him to practice and perform.
“Nick’s new and he’s still learning. We’re still trying to work some kinks out day-in and day-out in terms of practice standards,” Cignetti said. “I can say the same thing about Shazz Preston, who has ability and talent.”
Those remarks sounded familiar. Cignetti made similar public comments about McCulley in 2024, after McCulley had been IU’s leading receiver in 2023 before barely seeing the field under the new staff.
Indiana doesn’t have that kind of cushion now. With less proven depth in 2026, Cignetti and receivers coach/offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan will have to get Marsh and Preston where they need to be without the luxury of waiting on a stacked room to sort itself out.
Cignetti also said second-year receiver Lebron Bond has been out injured for the last week and missed the Howard game.
In Other News...
Curt Cignetti Is Proving Indiana Needs More Than NIL To Dream Big
Curt Cignetti has turned Indiana football into a national-championship program in just two seasons, and he has done it without the Hoosiers operating like one of college footballs biggest NIL spenders. The numbers around roster investment still matter, of course, but Indianas estimated spending for 2026 sits in the $36 million to $40 million range, which places the program 13th nationally and tied for fourth in the Big Ten.
What makes the rise so striking is how much of it has come from Cignettis eye for talent and his coaching, not just from competing at the top of the financial market. Indiana has shown it can dream bigger in the NIL era, but Cignettis success suggests the path forward is still about more than money, and the real question is how long the Hoosiers can keep building that way as the spending race keeps escalating. [Read more 🡒]
Curt Cignetti Had The Perfect Self-Own About His Quarterback Days
Long before Curt Cignetti was rebuilding Indiana football, he was taking a hard look at his own game. Asked to assess his days as a high school quarterback in 1979, the Hoosiers coach gave himself a brutally honest scouting report, saying his ankles and lower body were stiff and his arm was below average. It was the kind of self-evaluation that sounds more like a coach than a player, and it fit the path his career ultimately took.
Cignetti went on to play at West Virginia under his father, Frank Cignetti Sr., where he competed with Oliver Luck for the quarterback job and saw limited action. Soon after, he moved into coaching, beginning as a graduate assistant at Pitt in 1983 before eventually working with Nick Saban at Alabama. For Indiana fans, it is another reminder that the man now leading the program has spent most of his life knowing exactly what he was, and what he was not, on a football field. [Read more 🡒]
Darian DeVries Has A Chance To Change Indiana's Recruiting Buzz
Darian DeVries is still early in his run at Indiana, but the recruiting energy around his program is already starting to shift. This weekend, the Hoosiers are hosting 5-star 2028 combo guard Brady Pettigrew on an official visit, a notable get for a staff trying to build traction with elite prospects while also laying out its long-term vision in Bloomington.
Pettigrew is expected to keep taking visits to other programs, so Indiana is competing in a crowded race rather than enjoying any sort of clean lead. The Hoosiers are also in the mix for 5-star 2027 recruit Darius Wabbington, giving DeVries a chance to stack high-end targets around a class that already includes commitments from 4-star Chase Branham and Felix Kiehlneker, and maybe change the way Indiana is talked about on the trail. [Read more 🡒]