Top Hoosier Football Storylines Heading into Spring Practice

Written by Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle) 

The Indiana Hoosiers football program will kickoff spring practice on March 8th in Bloomington. The Hoosiers are coming off a season which saw them win the most games in program history, make the College Football Playoff and won both rivalry trophy games. Here are the top storylines to follow as the 2025 season gets started.

1. The Foundation Has Been Laid, What’s Next?

In Curt Cignetti’s first season he laid the foundation of what Indiana could look like. The Hoosiers went 8-0 at home and sold out the final four games of the regular season. He took the Hoosiers to heights never seen before by the program and has set things up to make sure this is not a flash in the pan. Cignetti has brought in another very good transfer class with playmakers coming into the most important positions. He has also started to balance the roster with an incoming freshman class that has some players that could be major factors this year.

Off the field IU has changed their ticket and parking policies to emphasize revenue production. The Hoosiers also gave Cignetti a brand new contract and retained all but one assistant coach this offseason. Spring practice will be the second part of the 2025 construction of the IU football program.

2. Fernando Mania

With Kurtis Rourke’s departure, the Hoosiers offense will have a new signal caller in Fernando Mendoza who transferred in after a 3,000-yard passing season at Cal in 2024. One of the major reasons why IU was so good in 2024 was the play of their quarterback. Rourke knew how to run Cignetti and Mike Shanahan’s offense very well and he took care of the ball. Outside of a few throws all season, Rourke was brilliant. The ability of this staff to develop quarterbacks is undeniable and Mendoza has all the tools to be the next great quarterback in this offense. The question about Mendoza heading into the spring is if he has the intangibles that Rourke, who played all year on a torn ACL and the back end of the season with a major thumb injury, had in 2024.

3. Putting the Puzzle Pieces Together

Curt Cignetti and his staff do not need to have a completed puzzle by April 19th, but they should have a firm grasp on how the new pieces fit together with those already in place. The biggest pieces are the new players along the offensive and defensive lines.

On the offensive line how do incoming transfers Pat Coogan, Kahlil Benson and Zen Michalski fit in. Coogan should be penciled in at center while Benson and Michalski could be at either tackle or guard. Spring practice is the perfect time to experiment to find what works best.

Along the defensive line IU will get their first looks at Hosea Wheeler and Dominique Ratcliff at the defensive tackle positions. Both should be major contributors in the fall.

4. Not Satisfied, Always Hungry

The last time the Hoosiers had this type of buzz heading into spring practice was after the 2020 season when IU would enter the season ranked 17th nationally. That season went off the rails within the first four minutes of the first game. Cignetti and his staff have always been successful and know how to keep a team focused on what is in front of them and not resting on their laurels.

“I think you have high standards in everything you do, right? And if you prepare the right way, you expect success. You don't have a lot of time to enjoy it because the next challenge is coming up and you've got to get ready and you've got to prepare for that accordingly or you're not going to have success.” Cignetti said in February.

“So I think that's part of being never satisfied. And that's the separator between good and great, is never being satisfied and resting on your laurels. And I can promise you, this team is a hungry, humble team right now that's working really hard in the offseason program. And we've got to string together days, months, heading into the fall.”

5. The Portal is Always Lurking

Love it or hate it, the transfer portal still plays a major role in spring practice. Many programs have canceled or changed their spring game format because of it. However, for the Hoosiers it may be a tool to patch the holes seen in spring practice. IU has already lost one player to portal in February, which opens up a roster spot that can be filled at a position of need.

Hoosier Huddle will follow all of these storylines and more as spring practice gets underway. The Hoosiers will wrap up spring practice with their annual spring game on Saturday, April 19th at noon in Memorial Stadium.