How new coach Curt Cignetti solved Indiana football's 'crisis roster situation'
BLOOMINGTON — Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti spoke in the bluntest terms yet on Wednesday about the challenges of taking over a roster with more than 25 players in the transfer portal.
The Hoosiers didn't sign anybody on national signing day, but added 36 players (16 high school signees) during the early signing period and convinced four players who expressed interest in leaving to stay put in Bloomington.
Receiver Donaven McCulley, running back Trent Howland and offensive lineman Carter Smith withdrew from the portal while offensive lineman Mike Katic opted to withdraw his name from the NFL Draft.
More: Curt Cignetti shares injury updates on players expected to miss Indiana's spring practice
"I walked into a crisis roster situation," Cignetti said.
Indiana was under 50 projected scholarships in the wake of Tom Allen's departure between players who used all of their eligibilty and entered the portal. Cignetti and his staff built the roster back up to 88 projected scholarship players before the start of the winter semester.
The influx of talent from JMU and other Sun Belt programs they were familiar expedited the process.
They also worked to keep a core group of the high school recruits who had committed to the previous staff locked in while adding a few additional signees at positions of need including four-start Center Grove quarterback Tyler Cherry.
"I hate to ever say I was pleased because you can never be pleased and satisfied, but I thought we got a lot of good work done in December and changed the roster, which I'm very optimistic about, what we got done in the transfer portal," Cignetti said.
Cignetti was thrilled to get the work done before the recruiting dead period lifted in January since it allowed his staff to focus on laying the foundation for the 2025 and 2026 classes. He visited high schools all over the state along with his staff with three junior days on campus mixed in.
"I don't care if you're the head coach at Indiana, Texas or Idaho, you got to do a great job in your state," Cignetti said. "We want to dominate our state best we can. I made every effort to get out there and into the key schools in January, meet people, talk with prospects, et cetera."
Cignetti will take a few days off for a mini-vacation his wife told him was mandatory — "rather be watching film, to be honest with you" — before his focus shifts towards finishing up his practice plan for spring camp.
"It will be all ball," Cignetti said.
Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: IU coach Curt Cignetti tackled a roster in 'crisis' when he took over
