What We’ve Learned at the Midpoint of Indiana’s Spring Practice

The Indiana Hoosiers have completed seven spring practices, and their spring game is less than two weeks away.

Plenty can be learned from spring practice, especially for a team coming off a national championship and breaking in plenty of new pieces. Here are the five biggest takeaways from Indiana's spring practice so far.

The Standard Has not Changed

Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti has not shied away from the microphone in his time at Indiana, and that has not changed. Cignetti called out incoming star receiver Nick Marsh for wearing gold cleats to practice on day one. That is just one example of the standard he holds his program to.

During practice, Cignetti usually stands at midfield, keeping an eye open for coaches and players doing the little things correctly. If it is not up to standard, there is a quick correction and explaination and the issue is fixed.

When you've got that many new guys, it's sort of your practice standards and the things that you preach that are important to you about playing winning football.
Curt Cignetti

What's Behind Josh Hoover?

The latest buzz out of camp came when Cignetti told reporters that he sat Hoover to get redshirt freshman Tyler Cherry some work with the first team offense.

Some thought this was a slight at Hoover, but it is more of an endorsement of the TCU transfer. Hoover has done enough for Cignetti to want to figure out who the backup quarterback is going to be.

“We sat Josh (Hoover) today,” Cignetti said. “That’s the first time I’ve done that, but we needed to do it to kind of find out more about these guys. I needed to see (Cherry) against better competition. I mean, I needed to see Tyler Cherry with the ones. I needed to Maverick Geskie with the twos. And I needed to get Jacob Bell more work because he’s got a live arm.”

Cherry is coming off an injury that relegated him to a student coaching role in 2025, but he has come back and impressed.

The Hoosiers also have Grant Wilson, who has starting experience at Old Dominion, and entered spring as the backup. As Cherry gets healthier, he will likely supplant Wilson as Hoover's backup.

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Who Has Been In and Out of Practice For Indiana?

Cignetti has been pretty open about who is banged up and who is working their way back for Indiana during the spring. It was known that All-American offensive lineman Carter Smith was ruled out for spring practice, but some knew injuries news had popped up.

Wide receiver Charlie Becker has all but been ruled out for the rest of spring ball with a hamstring injury. Offensive lineman Bray Lynch has been limited with a leg injury that he had offseason surgery on.

There are several players on the mend. Cignetti has said that incoming tight ends Brock Schott and Trevor Gibbs, who were supposed to miss all of spring, were back as partial participants in practice. That is good news for the Hoosiers, as there were just two healthy tight ends before that news.

Which Players are Have Breakout Potential?

Spring practice gives a quick glance into the future of a football team and at Indiana, it is no different. There are several breakout candidates that have flashed so far in Bloomington.

The first is sophomore wide receiver Davion Chandler. He played mainly on special teams and gained the staff's trust. His lone touchdown came against Purdue, where he showed his speed and route-running skills. He should be part of a loaded rotation for the Hoosiers at receiver.

On the defensive side of the ball, cornerback Ryland Gandy has caught the eye of both the staff and other observers.

It is his second year in the program after transferring from Pittsburgh. Gandy is another special teams player, who replaced Ponds when he was hurt prior to the Iowa game, who has had a good spring. Do not be surprised if he is the starter opposite Jamari Sharpe.