Cignetti Optimistic About Offensive Line With Bostad and Katic Returning, Transfer Additions

Indiana lost three starters from its 2023 offensive line, but with Mike Katic returning for a sixth year and position coach Bob Bostad being retained, plus transfer portal additions, head coach Curt Cignetti thinks the offensive line could be one of Indiana's strengths.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Heading into his fifth season as an Indiana offensive lineman, Mike Katic envisioned 2023 being his last.

He worked his way up from Indiana's Offensive Newcomer of the Year in 2020 to a team captain in 2023, starting 37 games as a Hoosier. And following a 3-9 season, Katic stuck to his plan and  declared for the 2024 NFL Draft.

He was looking for places to train when his phone rang on a Wednesday morning. It was offensive line coach Bob Bostad, the only position coach retained by Indiana during the transition from Tom Allen to new head coach Curt Cignetti.

“ ‘Hey, I'm just throwing this out there. No pressure,’ ” Katic recalls Bostad saying. “ ‘But would you want to come back and maybe play center?’ ”

Katic took time to talk with his family, think to himself, and talk with Cignetti. He wasn’t guaranteed to be selected in the NFL Draft, and perhaps another year at Indiana would help his professional prospects. Considering all of those factors, Katic said, it became an easy decision to withdraw from the draft and return to Indiana.

“I can get another year under coach Bostad, which is going to help me even more with my development,” Katic said. “And getting a year under center, I think, will help me in the NFL.  Because if I'm going to play in the NFL, I'm kind of an undersized lineman, so center will most likely be my spot.”

“With my previous O-line coaches, they were great in development, but I feel like, with Bostad, there's just a different feel. And I've really matured, not only in the mental preparation for offensive line, but also the physical. So I think just another year, I was like, 'It can only help me.' So might as well [return to Indiana].”

Now he’s preparing for his sixth season at Indiana, and this one is different from the rest. The setting and his position coach remain the same, but now he’s primarily playing center – while mixing in at both guard positions – in spring practice with a new head coach.

Katic likes the new coaching staff so far, especially because of his Pittsburgh connection to Cignetti, offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan and quarterbacks coach Tino Sunseri.

“They're no BS guys,” Katic said. “Get in, do your job, and get out. I'm excited about that.”

At 6-foot-4 and 315 pounds, Katic started all 12 games in 2023 at left guard, where he’s taken the vast majority of snaps at the college level. But center isn’t completely new, as he started four games there in 2022 due to other injuries on the roster.

Indiana lost four offensive linemen with starting experience to the transfer portal: Matthew Bedford (Oregon), Kahlil Benson (Colorado), Zach Carpenter (Miami) and Josh Sales (Purdue). To replace them, Cignetti brought Nick Kidwell and Tyler Stephens with him from James Madison, and Indiana used Bostad’s history at Wisconsin to add Trey Wedig. Those three are expected to compete for starting spots alongside Katic and Carter Smith, who started at left tackle in 2023. 

Cignetti said Indiana is thin at offensive line in the spring because of injuries, namely Kidwell. Eight players have gotten most of the reps, with a few others mixing in. He thinks they’re working well and their experience will help.

Katic said the offensive line often goes to dinner together to try to build team chemistry in addition to their on-field work.

“They've done a great job,” Katic said of the transfers. “They're big personalities. They're big energy guys.”

For Katic, the biggest difference playing center compared to guard is that he has to know what’s going on all over the field. At guard, he could focus on his personal responsibilities and work with the tackle next to him. 

But now, his understanding spans from the entire offensive line to even knowing defensive coverages and what the opposing safeties are doing. Some verbage is different, too, as a result of the new coaching staff and playbook.

It also requires an adjustment to becoming comfortable with new quarterback Kurtis Rourke, a transfer from Ohio, as well as redshirt sophomore Tayven Jackson, who played six games last year but none with Katic at center, and true freshman Tyler Cherry. 

“I have to know what everyone's doing,” Katic said. “All these kinds of things that, as I've gotten older and through the years of college, I've kind of picked up on. So it's easier for me now, but if I was like a freshman or sophomore, it'd be a lot harder for me. It's going smooth so far.”

Katic thought Indiana’s offensive line made enormous progress from the 2022 to 2023 season under Bostad, making it crucial Indiana retained him. Bostad had a strong track record of producing All-American offensive linemen at Wisconsin, and he coached NFL  offensive linemen for four seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Tennessee Titans.

According to Pro Football Focus (PFF), the Indiana offensive line’s highest single-game pass blocking grade in 2022 was 71.2, and it averaged a 49.2 grade across 12 games. Its highest single-game run blocking grade was 61.8, and its average 53.5. But in 2023, the offensive line topped out at an 84.1 pass blocking grade against Maryland, boosting its season average to 57.7. Its highest single-game run blocking grade was 76.2, and its 12-game average was 60.1. 

In 2022, Indiana allowed 38 sacks, tied for second most in the 14-team Big Ten. But in 2023, that number dropped to 25 sacks, tied for sixth-most in the conference. That’s tangible improvement across the board, something Katic and Cignetti believe can continue in 2024 under Bostad.

“It's so important having that kind of leadership in our room because [Bostad] holds everyone to the same standard,” Katic said. “Having all these new guys come in in the offensive line room, we had to brief them on what the standard was in the O-line room, and how coach Bostad runs his meetings, practice, things to be aware of, so it's important how he — the standard that he holds in that room is very important, and we all kind of understand that.”

Offensive line play was a weakness for Indiana for multiple seasons under Allen, but Cignetti now believes it could be a strength.

“Coach Bostad does a good job with those guys,” Cignetti said. “Obviously there’s room for improvement like any other group at this point, but I think it’s got the potential to be one of the strengths of our football team if it develops like I think it will.”

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