IU football's first spring under Curt Cignetti will be different. Here's what to watch.

BLOOMINGTON – Indiana fans will wait longer than normal for Curt Cignetti’s first spring season to begin.

Cignetti opted to shift the Hoosiers’ practice calendar so it doesn’t start until after spring break, meaning spring camp will happen in a shorter space of time.

Which makes it one of a handful of developments worth monitoring as the Hoosiers do approach Cignetti’s first full practices. Here are five threads worth some tugging in a few weeks’ time:

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Direction at quarterback

There is, of course, the seemingly annual question of whether someone can emerge from the spring season with one foot in the starting job behind center. Lots of eyes will be on Ohio transfer Kurtis Rourke, whose resume as one of the MAC’s most productive passers and playmakers across the past three seasons speaks for itself.

But any examination of this position will run deeper than 2024, Rourke’s last in college. Even if we assume the sixth-year quarterback from Canada eventually rises to the top of the coming season’s depth chart, Cignetti and his staff will be future-proofing behind a player who cannot remain in college past the fall.

Three of the Hoosiers’ other four scholarship quarterbacks will be on the field for the spring (Miami Columbus’ Alberto Mendoza enrolls in June). We’ll see the new staff working with Tayven Jackson, Broc Lowry and Tyler Cherry.

What does their handling of that trio tell us about Cignetti’s quarterback philosophy? Does a player separate himself not just as a backup but a potential heir apparent? Questions at quarterback extend beyond the job of one season.

The JMU factor

In total, Cignetti brought 10 transfers with him from James Madison, touching positions including wide receiver, running back, tight end, offensive line, defensive line and linebacker.

Some of the Dukes now in IU crimson were among JMU’s most-productive players last season. Elijah Sarratt was one of the Sun Belt’s best wide receivers. Four of James Madison’s top six returning tacklers are now Hoosiers. Retained offensive line coach Bob Bostad could yet plug two more former Dukes into his first five.

On the one hand, the step up from Sun Belt football to the Big Ten will likely be difficult for some of those transfers. On the other, had Indiana landed any of them in a vacuum, with no prior connection to JMU, to a man they would have looked like intriguing portal additions for players deserving a step up in college.

Plus, there’s the benefit of institutional knowledge, and having players across several position groups already bought into and familiar with this staff’s methods. How quickly does IU feel the impact of its wave of former James Madison players in its locker room and on the field?

Wide receiver plan

Sarratt was among the most high-profile names either added or retained in a receiver room whose ceiling now looks remarkably high heading into 2024.

Cignetti also convinced Donaven McCulley to turn down Michigan, Penn State, Florida State and others, and stay in Bloomington. Promising young wideouts like Omar Cooper and Kamryn Perry are back. And the Hoosiers added a trio of productive, experience transfers in Myles Price (Texas Tech), Miles Cross (Ohio) and Ke’Shawn Williams (Wake Forest).

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Across its two FBS seasons, James Madison was consistently one of the most-productive offenses in the Sun Belt, that success foremost a product of robust passing attacks. The Dukes were particularly good in 10 personnel (one running back, four wide receivers), something Indiana didn't do very much of in its previous scheme. Added depth would make those packages more practical.

Mike Shanahan and Tino Sunseri will need to sort through their options at quarterback, but they’ll also need to find the right rotation balance in a receiver group that can be a tremendous asset if deployed correctly.

Disruptiveness

It was a calling card of James Madison’s defenses with Bryant Haines calling plays and Pat Kuntz coaching defensive line. Cignetti has added assistants like Buddha Williams and Ola Adams who have backgrounds in crafting similar impact on that side of the ball.

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And Indiana’s most disruptive players from a season ago — at least statistically — are gone. Replacing the likes of Aaron Casey and Andre Carter was on the winter to-do list anyway. How does this defensive staff tackle that question?

This will, in fairness, be more difficult to judge via the naked eye. Spring practices are often more limited in terms of contact, just to keep players healthy. Cignetti has said the Hoosiers expect to have a few absentees due to postseason surgeries. And veterans are often given downtime during spring, recognition that easing the load on their bodies will also allow younger players more room to grow.

Could one of those young Hoosiers, like lineman TaDerius Collins, emerge through spring? Will transfers show some of the same havoc talent as the players they’ll replace? It’s a key question as this defense develops toward the fall.

Spring schedule

Eschewing Indiana’s approach the past several years, Cignetti will condense the Hoosiers’ spring season into a five-week stretch from March 21-April 18, when IU will hold an under-the-lights night spring game.

Both Kevin Wilson and Tom Allen favored a more stretched-out calendar, beginning practices before spring break and using the weeklong holiday as a natural breakwater midway through. Cignetti, at least this season, prefers no pause, but rather a spring season that gears up, powers through and shuts down all in a more confined space of time.

Will it make any difference? What benefits might the Hoosiers see from an abbreviated calendar? And will Cignetti stick to this setup going forward?

Maybe it won’t make a difference. But it will mark a significant change of approach to a key stretch of Cignetti’s first year, at very least.

Follow IndyStar reporter Zach Osterman on Twitter: @ZachOsterman.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: What to watch in Indiana football spring practice under Curt Cignetti