Four-Star Quarterback Tyler Cherry’s Relationship with IU Staff Won his Recruitment
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Written by Ethan Roberts
When former Duke head coach Mike Elko left for the Texas A&M head coaching position, class of 2024 four-star quarterback Tyler Cherry decommitted from the Blue Devils, opening the door for an eager Curt Cignetti.
Elko was widely praised for turning Duke, a program that has been riddled with losing, into a respectable program. He was 16-9 in two seasons at Duke. Texas A&M hired Elko with the hope that he would be able to turn yet another underachieving program into a winning program.
“Shortly after the coaching change at Duke, Coach Cignetti reached out and started checking in with me,” Cherry told Hoosier Huddle. “The very first day of this recruiting window, IU sent three coaches to my high school to visit with me.”
He said that coach Elko’s departure meant that he had to keep an open mind and protect himself.
Cherry played high school football at Center Grove (IN) and finished his senior season with 3,156 passing yards, 34 touchdown passes and 6 interceptions. Center Grove lost to Ben Davis in the 6A state semifinals.
Cherry praised the new staff in Bloomington.
“They made a great first impression. Over the next couple of weeks, I visited IU, and they came for a home visit,” Cherry said. “We pretty much talked daily and got to know each other better and have built a great relationship.”
The Hoosiers had to move quickly on a quarterback when three-star quarterback Timothy Carpenter, who had been committed to the Hoosiers since May 2023, decommitted on December 4th. Cherry’s decommitment from Duke meant the number 1 ranked high school quarterback in Cignetti’s backyard became available.
“Coach Cignetti has a lot of coaching experience. He has been around many successful football programs and players, and has won everywhere he has coached,” Cherry said. “He’s the most confident and determined coach I have met, and I believe in his vision for Indiana Football.”
Cherry noted offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan and quarterbacks coach Tino Sunseri have a proven track record of successful offenses.
Shanahan and Sunseri both followed Cignetti from James Madison University.
Cherry views his size, arm strength and football IQ as strengths in his skillset and noted the differences between the speeds of the game from high school to college.
“I have seen and been told how the speed of the game is like nothing you have experienced in high school,” Cherry said. “I’m looking forward to learning quickly how to adapt to the speed of the game.
Cherry stated that “IU is the best choice for me because: I believe in this coaching staff and their vision. It’s a program on the rise.”
Cherry will be enrolling at Indiana University in the spring and plans to apply to the Kelley School of Business. Can Cherry’s presence in Bloomington set the standard for Cignetti’s program?