Lebowski

An absolute legitimate concern. Both Carpenter and West are hard to replace. I think the biggest difference this year compared to last year is our overall depth (8 total) in that position. Tucker, Wheeler, and Ratcliff look to be the main motors but Mario Landino should also be getting some reps. I'm big on Kyler Garcia but he's just a freshman so who knows. Not worried at all in all of those positions. Even if we get with the injury bug by our big three I'm still confident with the entire defense. I'd be worried if we didn't have experience (aka not a true freshman) at every position. DT/NT - 8 Total (3 Freshman) SDE/Stud - 8 Total (2 Freshman) CB - 7 Total (2 Freshman) S - 5 Total (2 Freshman) Rover - 3 Total (1 Freshman) OL - 13 Total (3 Freshman) WR - 10 Total (3 Freshman, 1 out due to injury) The only position that might be of concern is our Safeties but Byron Baldwin is one of the freshmen at that position. Here's a breakdown of the roster and depth. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16pZusTziafkPFkw4q4dwweOtKsWa1t5qlYdi_KQR2rE/edit?gid=0#gid=0

Overall/Conference/Transfer 26/11/NA - 247 32/12/NA - Rivals 26/8/NA - On3 Updated: 7/7/2025 Class Map Italic indicates the recruit has a 4 star or greater rating by one of the rating systems.  High School (22 total) OL Samuel Simpson - River Falls, WI (2/1/2025) LB Henry Ohlinger - Columbus, OH (4/21/2025) DL Rodney White - Towson, MD (4/24/2025) CB Kasmir Hicks - Indianapolis, IN (4/24/2025) LB Jacob Savage - Union, KY (4/24/2025) S Lawrence "Jay" Timmons - Gibsonia, PA (4/28/2025) DECOMMIT DL Blake Smythe - Franklin, IN (5/2/2025) LB/TE Trevor Gibbs - Crown Point, IN (5/7/2025) DL Gabe Hill - Naperville, IL (5/17/2025) OT Kenton Mondeau - Eau Claire, WI (6/2/2025) TE PJ MacFarlane - Middletown, OH (6/8/2025) WR Kortez "Tez" Rupert - East Saint Louis, IL (6/9/2025) LB Ja'Dyn Williams - Massillon, OH (6/10/2025) DL Kevontay Hugan - Sarasota, FL (6/11/2025) OL CJ Scifres - Greenwood, IN (6/14/2025) TE Parker Elmore - Columbus, IN (6/15/2025) RB Jayreon Campbell - Powder Springs, GA (6/16/2025) CB LeRon Dues - Sarasota, FL (6/17/2025) QB Cash Herrera - La Jolla, CA (6/23/2025) S Jamar Owens - Douglasville, GA (6/27/2025) DL Cameron McHaney - Bradenton, FL (7/1/2025) WR Walker Bryson - Rabun Gap, GA (7/4/2025) Edge Ronelle Johnson - Blue Springs, MO (7/5/2025)

Updated rankings. Overall/Conference/Transfer 26/11/NA - 247 32/12/NA - Rivals 26/8/NA - On3 Updated: 7/7/2025 Class Map We landed a couple over the weekend. Both have composite 4 * rankings. Note: Rivals hasn't updated their system yet. They are holding at 19 commits. We're currently at 22 total.

Top 50 ATH out of Rabun Gap, GA 247 Rivals On3 Just finished up is OV. Being recruited as a Safety.

Yeah he's wanting to play offense and we're going to give him that shot.

Top 50 Edge out of Blue Springs, MO 247 Rivals On3

Looks like he's going to play slot?

Here's my breakdown. Keep in mind, I believe every game is winnable, but that's just me. Can go our way ODU Kennesaw State Indiana St. MSU Maryland Wisconsin the school a few miles north west of IU. Possible UCLA Questionable Illinois Iowa Long Shots Oregon Penn St The Possible and Questionable category teams can easily be thrown into a hat. I have a feeling UCLA is going to be a lot better this year and both Illinois and Iowa are going to be really tough games for us. I do however think we have a really good shot at beating all of them. If we beat Illinois pretty handily buckle up, our conference season is going to be fun to watch, just like last year. We'll be in the discussion of CFP and Big Ten championship and both Oregon and PSU will be coin-flip games. If we lose or win close to Illinois, we'll be in some dog fights with the Questionable and Long Shots. But that doesn't mean we will lose. I truly believe we can win every game on the schedule. We've upgraded on both sides of the ball from a CFP team that had a two loss season to the CFP champion and CFP runner-up. Just like last year folks are overlooking IUFB this pre-season and I think we'll turn heads again this season. The Herbstreits will no longer bad mouth IUFB and will have to eat a poop ton of crow. I will be disappointed if we don't win 8 or 9 games. And honestly, I'll be upset if we lose any game. I haven't felt this confident with IUFB, ever. We've got a solid football team this year and our defense will win the important games for us.

Top 40 DL out of Bradenton, FL 247 ESPN On3

We got him. https://www.on3.com/teams/indiana-hoosiers/news/2026-3-star-defensive-lineman-cameron-mchaney-commits-to-indiana/

It also means there might be hope Jay Timmons decides not to sign with FSU.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/thats-not-normal-florida-states-rev-share-contracts-are-raising-eyebrows-agents-and-industry-experts-say/

I saw this and was going to share it myself. Thanks for sharing. My first thought was, "Well, yeah, Coach Cig knows what he's doing." But I then started to think about it a little more. CTA was somewhat handcuffed compared to Coach Cig. I'm not defending CTA per se but I am wondering if Coach Cig would have been able to land recruits without the commitment from the top and NIL. CTA didn't have either. Regardless, this kind of data just provides another example of how Dolson and Pam Whitten can truly make a difference when focusing on the football program. Hiring a proven coach that is respected by his peers and providing the funds to keep stability and a foundation is really all that was needed for IUFB all along. And I'm here for all of it! My dreams are finally coming into realization.

2 months from now on 8/30/2025 our beloved Hoosiers will kickoff the 2025 season against Old Dominion. The Monarchs are coached by Ricky Rahne, Virginia-based, compete in the Sun Belt, and is a rival to James Madison. Coach Cig faced Coach Rahne twice in 2022 and 2023. A lot of the JMU transfers are familiar with ODU and QB transfer Grant Wilson is extremely familiar being that he came over from ODU. Wilson ended being the back up to Colton Joseph. Joseph is a runner and ODU in general are a running team. ODU is a team that has a good core coming back, especially at the LB position. Since there is familiarity between the coaching staffs, this game might be closer than the current spread (IUFB -23.5).

Top 100 S out of Douglasville, GA 247 Rivals On3

UCLA is quietly building a solid recruiting class. They also brought in Nico Iamaleava. We lost Jamier Johnson to them as well. I won't be surprised to see them make some noise this season especially with Coach Sunseri calling the plays. They have a favorable schedule. PSU and OSU are probably their toughest games they have this year. They come to Bloomington Oct. 25 and I see that as a potential huge game for both schools.

Updated rankings Overall/Conference/Transfer 32/12/NA - 247 31/12/NA - Rivals 30/11/NA - On3 Class Map We lost Jay Timmons to FSU. Let's hope he has a change of heart and ends ups with Coach Cig when it's all said and done.

"We're going to change the culture, the mindset, the expectation level, and improve the brand of Indiana Hoosier football. There will be no self-imposed limitations on what we can accomplish." -Coach Cig

Something to note: While the rankings are nice to see and it provides a way to gauge things, the AVG should be the focus. For example, 247 currently has IUFB tied with California ranked 30th based on Avg ranking. And if you look at Rivals, IUFB is ranked 17th in the conference. The Rivals avg ranking is due to two commits currently not rated. That should change once they get a full rating. Which brings me into a nice segue, in the grand scheme of things, these rankings really don't mean poop. While they do hold some weight for some of the highly sought recruits folks like D'Angelo Ponds and Mikail Kamara completely blow their initial rankings out of the water. And that goes the opposite direction as well. How many 4 and 5 stars didn't pan out? More than I can count. So I guess what I'm saying here is take these rankings with a grain of salt.

CB out of Sarasota, FL 247 Rivals On3 IUFB made the cut for his top 5. He's due to visit June 13th.

Updated rankings Overall/Conference/Transfer 26/10/NA - 247 24/10/NA - Rivals 29/10/NA - On3 Class Map

His OV is this Friday. Regarding his position, we currently have 7 on the roster and 4 commits (The Edge position is also included in this number). Depending on what technique is planned for each player will depend on how many a coach will want on his team (USC currently has 21 total on the roster or committed in this position, PSU has 13, Michigan has 14, etc. etc.). For example, coaches have to answer questions like do I have enough 3 technique guys on the roster? Or can this recruit play Edge as well? In today's defense where heavy rotation happens in this position most schools have 10 to 13 on the roster. Also, this position has heavy turnover in the transfer portal. If I had to guess, Coach Haines and Coach Kuntz probably want at least 12 to 13 on the roster to work with.

This weekend will have some major players in the recruiting trail visiting. QB - Julian Lewis - USC Commit CB - Chris McCorkle - IUFB Commit S - Byron Baldwin - IUFB Commit CB - Jaylen Bell - IUFB Commit RB - Sean Cuono - IUFB Commit DL - Jhrevious Hall Edge - Kobby Sakyi-Prah IOL - Evan Parker - IUFB Commit S - Garrett Reese - IUFB Commit DL - Antonio Carter Jr. OT - Michael O'Connell Edge - Isreal Oladipupo OT - Justin Bell