Indiana Football Is Already One of the Biggest Winners of the Fifth-Year Eligibility Lawsuit

With Stephen Daley and Kellan Wyatt returning to Indiana football, the rich just got richer.

Indiana football and Curt Cignetti received an unexpected boost from the fifth-year eligibility lawsuit. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

It’s Aug. 8 and Indiana football has already notched a proverbial win on the ledger in its title defense before the games have even begun.

The Hoosiers’ victory this month all stems from the NCAA’s approval of the age-based, five-in-five eligibility rule, which guaranteed all athletes five years to complete five seasons based upon their age and was approved in June. The NCAA thought this would curtail some of the eligibility-based legal troubles it has endured in recent years. The NCAA thought wrong.

The NCAA refused to grandfather the class of 2022 athletes who had exhausted all eligibility under the previous rules into its new five-in-five rule. What ensued was a wave of lawsuits across the country in which countless class of 2022 athletes took to the courts in search of justice, with multiple injunctions granted, none bigger than a July 31 ruling from U.S. District Judge Charlotte Sweeney. Sweeney ruled that all high school class of 2022 athletes who had exhausted their eligibility were eligible for a fifth season.

Given that the start of the 2026 college football season is less than a month away, the decision was expected to be more impactful in college basketball.

That’s where the defending-champion Hoosiers come into play.

Two former Indiana players, defensive lineman Stephen Daley and linebacker Kellan Wyatt, were among the top names in college football who were eligible to return thanks to the injunction. The Hoosiers, who landed one of the top transfer portal classes in the country loaded with defensive talent, hardly needed two key contributors from last year’s 16-0 championship-winning program.

But lo and behold, Both Daley and Wyatt ended up back in Bloomington this past week, making an already imposing front seven even more so. Cignetti has quickly made a habit out of slam-dunking the country in the portal. This is a bit more happenstance.

Returning Daley and Wyatt to the 2026 roster is akin to an individual satiated from a hearty McDonald’s meal, only to reach into the bottom of the bag and discover another golden morsel or two.

Daley, a 2025 transfer from Kent State, led the Big Ten in tackles for loss, with 19.5, while adding 5.5 sacks to the Hoosiers’ tally of 50, second-most in the country this past season. Illustrating just how happenstance all this is? Daley suffered a season—and career—ending knee injury when he landed awkwardly on his knee while high-fiving fans in the aftermath of the Hoosiers’ Big Ten title game victory over Ohio State. Now, he’s walked into another season of college football.

And he’s not the only one. Joining Daley on the 2026 roster is Wyatt, a linebacker who tallied eight tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks in just seven games before a knee injury ended his season last October. Wyatt only adds more pass-rushing chops to a front seven simply loaded with the trait.

How Daley and Wyatt boost Indiana football’s defense

Daley, still in recovery mode from December’s injury, is slowly ramping up his participation at Indiana practice, but Cignetti told reporters he didn’t believe it would be long before the Winchester, Va., native was up to speed. While no practice reports have filtered in on Wyatt yet, one would expect something similar for the senior ‘backer, also coming off a serious injury.

Here’s the beauty of these additions. Both players are familiar with—and have excelled in—defensive coordinator Bryant Haines’s pre-and-post snap movement-heavy defense. There’s no learning curve needed for Daley and Wyatt. When they’re healthy, they’re ready to rumble.

And until then, Cignetti, who entered the portal this past winter with the intention of replacing these two, has more than enough depth to carry the load.

There’s Kansas State transfer defensive ends Chiddi Obiazor and Tobi Osunsanmi, who tallied a combined six sacks this past season for the Wildcats. There’s Notre Dame transfer linebacker Joshua Burnham, whose athleticism and pass-rushing capabilities make him a perfect fit for the Haines defense. And there’s Tulsa transfer Joe Hjelle, a disruptive presence on the interior defensive line.

That’s not even mentioning fellow returnees Tyrique Tucker and Mario Landino, who ranked third and fifth on the 2025 program in sacks. If you’re scoring at home, the additions of Daley and Wyatt mean that Indiana is returning six of their seven sack leaders from last year and importing a rich portal class. This Hoosiers team is going to rush the passer in waves, and their depth will allow for a steady rotation.

A year ago, the Hoosiers' scored an eligibility victory when safety Louis Moore was granted an injunction to play in the program’s first two games. Moore, after winning another court battle in September, went on to play the whole season, earning AP All-American second team honors while helping Indiana win the program’s first-ever national title.

The returns of Daley and Wyatt amount to another August coup, only, the impact could be even more sizable.

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