FOOTBALL

5 storylines to follow for Indiana football as spring practice gets underway

Indiana football begins spring practice in a few days and here are some of the key storylines to follow for the program.

Published

14 seconds ago

March 6, 2025

Alec Lasley

Indiana football begins spring practice in a few days and here are some of the key storylines to follow for the program. (Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times-USA TODAY NETWORK)

Spring practice is right around the corner for Indiana football — a program coming off its best season in program history. The Hoosiers finished 2024 with a College Football Playoff appearance following an 11-2 season.

Now, it’s back to work for Curt Cignetti and his staff, who look to build on the momentum set in their first year with the program.

Here are five storylines to follow as Indiana football heads into spring practice.

How well adjusted will Fernando Mendoza look?

Indiana football hit a grand slam with the play of Kurtis Rourke last offseason. Can it be replicated in 2025? It’s off to a good start with the addition of Fernando Mendoza, one of the top portal quarterbacks of the offseason. But, there’s a bit more in play this year than in 2024.

Not only will Mendoza be in a different system, style and with different players around him — Curt Cignetti and Mike Shanahan will also be with a new QBs coach in Chandler Whitmer. Whitmer comes in after Tino Sunseri — who was with Cignetti for years — took the UCLA offensive coordinator role. So, there will certainly be an adjustment period to begin. But Mendoza comes in with arguably more talent and skill than Rourke.

Mendoza threw for 3,004 yards including 16 touchdowns and only six interceptions this past season at Cal. He completed 68.7 percent on his passes, second-best in the ACC. He had three games with at least 300+ passing yards and seven total of at least 275 yards. Cignetti has already been extremely complementary of his new QB despite being together for just a short period of time.

“He can throw the ball. He can spin the ball. He can make all the throws.,” Cignetti said of Mendoza this winter. “He’s pretty mobile, he throws well on the move and he can run — he runs better than Kurtis. He’s a highly intelligent guy. So, that’s where it all begins as everybody knows, and we think he’s gonna give us something.”

Cignetti needs no introduction when it comes to discussing his quarterback development and that’s what stood out most to Mendoza. It’s clear that this duo was a perfect match. But, how quickly will Mendoza pick up on the new system and scheme?

Will Roman Hemby take over the reins of the running back room, or will it be more by committee?

Indiana’s running back room was depleted after losing Ty Son Lawton and Justice Ellison to graduation and then Elijah Green to the transfer portal, but received big news when Maryland’s Roman Hemby committed to the Hoosiers. He is coming off of four very productive years totaling 2,347 yards with 22 touchdowns and a 4.9 yard per carry average with the Terrapins. The biggest question remains; will he see the bulk of the carries?

Hemby is coming off of the lowest usage rate of his career with just 134 carries for 607 yards — a far cry from the 989 yards and 186 carries as a freshman. The biggest reason for it was the running back room by committee. While Curt Cignetti has always had numerous backs who can see a bulk of carries, this year may be different with Hemby. The Hoosiers have Lee Beebe Jr, a UAB transfer, and return Kaelon Black, but it’s clear; Hemby is the most talented.

IU is looking for a dual-threat back and that’s exactly what Hemby provides. In is career he has 14 carries of 20+ yards and 19 receptions of 15+ yards. While Justice Ellison and Ty Son Lawton were steady and explosive with the ball in their hands out of the backfield, they weren’t heavily involved as pass catchers — with just 25 receptions combined between the two. Neither had more than 19 receptions in a season, while Ellison didn’t reach 100 yards in a season through the air.

So that dual-threat ability from Hemby is what stood out for the IU coaches and made him a top priority — ranking among the top running backs in the FBS in receptions each of the last two seasons, and with 22 games in his career (52.4 percent) with at least three receptions.

So, the question is will Hemby be the guy, or will the Hoosiers use more of a consistent rotation as shown in 2024?

Reshuffling the line of scrimmage — on both sides

There’s no question that Indiana needed to continue to improve its offensive and defensive line. After losing guys like Mike Katic and CJ West on both sides, their replacements were critical. Indiana did that with Pat Coogan — the center from Notre Dame — who has 26 starts in his career, Kahlil Benson — who transferred back to IU — with 21 starts and then Zen Michalski — coming in from Ohio State — with one start over 26 appearances. So, the offensive line did what it needed and returns guys like Carter Smith and Drew Evans, but there is no timetable on a return for Evans (achilles) after getting hurt mid-year. So while the rotation may be tight, it’ll be interesting to see who steps up in a large role and if any of the younger guys like Austin Barrett or Adedamola Ajani step into larger roles.

Defensively, returning Mikail Kamara was significant, clearly. But losing James Carpenter and CJ West were both notable losses. Indiana did a good job landing a guy like Hosea Wheeler from Western Kentucky who has 118 tackles, 8.0 tackles for loss and 4.0 sacks in his career — someone who will step into West’s role. Adding Dominique Ratcliff from Texas State also likely replaces the loss of Carpenter — bringing in 12 tackles for loss and 5.0 sacks in his career — but there are still some questions outside of that trio.

Indiana football will be relying — at least in the spring — on the youth of guys like Mario Landino, Daniel Ndukwe or Ta’Derius Collins. Can one, or multiple, step into larger roles this season? Landino had some nice moments in 2024, so he’d likely be at the top of the list. The one name on the list that could be an x-factor is Tyrique Tucker, another guy who played snaps in 2024 and had some good moments.

Either way there is a high likelihood that another transfer is added to this group heading into the summer.

Cornerback competition is stiff

Indiana has a load of talent and experience at the position — headlined by All-American D’Angelo Ponds. Pitt transfer Ryland Gandy and Northern Illinois transfer Amariyun Knighten enter to replace some of the production lost when Jamier Johnson hit the portal, and you add in Jamari Sharpe and this group is one of the deepest that IU has certainly had in years.

While Ponds is clearly locked into a starting spot, the question remains; who starts alongside him? Gandy and Knighten have been starters in their previous stops while Sharpe has been a rotational piece over the last two years. Can he emerge as a starter — he has all of the tools to be a major playmaker and has shown it in spurts.

“I like who we have. Coach Ojong likes who we have,” Cignetti said earlier this offseason. “And I think we have an opportunity to have better depth than we did last season.”

Some young guys who may make some impressions are Jaylen Bell and Seaonta Stewart — but are likely still a season away from making a huge impact.

Can Ponds live up to his pre-season hype again? Who starts alongside the All-American? Can Jamari Sharpe emerge? Tons of questions still remain about the position and there will clearly be the competition needed to answer some of those questions this spring.

Will any true freshman break into the rotation?

Rolijah Hardy made his mark in 2024 as the true freshman to not only get a crack in the rotation, but excel in his snaps and emerge as a legit contributor. Who could be next during 2025? While it’s never easy to narrow it down, it does help to see which freshmen will be on campus during the spring to get a step ahead of the incomers this summer. Two guys who may be able to step into larger roles immediately are Byron Baldwin and LeBron Bond.

Baldwin, IU’s top recruit in 2025, will be playing safety and at a position of need for the Hoosiers this offseason, sorting out the depth chart at that position will certainly be critical this spring. Baldwin is a physical and quick defender who has seen a vast improvement in coverage.

Bond is a speedy wideout who fits perfectly in the slot — a position and skill that is still in question for the Hoosiers. After losing Myles Price and Ke’Shawn Williams, IU is still searching for that slot wideout. Makai Jackson and Tyler Morris transfer in and are likely going to see some time in the slot, but Bond had the quickness and elusiveness to make an impact early on as well. With Indiana’s rotation at the position last year, it’s likely numerous guys see snaps throughout each and every game all season long.