IUFB Recruiting and Transfer Portal Updates

[tyappleg]

9 minutes ago, rayl456 said:

Seeing as he’s from Oregon, I’m going to guess that he might favor Nike U.

If Moore leaves, then id expect it to be Oregon too.  Big if though.  I feel like Moore would benefit from another year in college. 

[Hoosier987]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Alberto is only a redshirt Freshman? Meaning, if we go for more experience next year, he still has 2 years of eligibility left post 2026 season.. Lets call a spade a spade...it's not very often you have a quarterback starting on the same team for 3 years...unless you're a Julian Sayin type. We're going to be a hot school for top production quarterbacks this off season based on what we built the last couple of years.

[Lebowski]

18 hours ago, Hoosier987 said:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Alberto is only a redshirt Freshman? Meaning, if we go for more experience next year, he still has 2 years of eligibility left post 2026 season.. Lets call a spade a spade...it's not very often you have a quarterback starting on the same team for 3 years...unless you're a Julian Sayin type. We're going to be a hot school for top production quarterbacks this off season based on what we built the last couple of years.

Yes, Alberto is currently a RS FR. Competition is a staple for this staff. The other staple is production over potential. @Stuhoo already mentioned the staff has seen him every day for the last two years (not to mention, recruited him out of HS). They have also seen Tyler Cherry and Jacob Bell every day. Today, every QB in that room has a leg up (more experience with the system) on any transfer that comes in. Spending big on a transfer will tell the guys in the QB room all they need to know. Regardless, we'll find out soon enough. Also we'll more than likely see a 5 star recruit commit to IUFB in the very near future. In other words, the last two years of bringing in a transfer were a necessity to fill a hole but building a foundation is preferred. Coach Cig has said this on multiple occasions.

[TTT]

It’s not transfer portal anymore already….it’s Free Agency And coach Cig and staff will ATTACK!

(no more waiting if he will get better and better like the old IU tradition …..the player either has it or he doesn’t. (and then players who have it will improve and develop from there).

High character Winning…. IU fans actually get to know players and team at break neck speed  attached to them in any season or two….A Shooting Rocket Fast Forward to New Applicants and only the Strongest Will Survive (play)……a college program being run like an NFL program.

You can really tell the difference in familiarity and attachment to 100+ winning football players and coaches vs losing even with a much smaller team numbers.

[WayneFleekHoosier]

I’ll be happy with whoever CIG and staff choose. I like the Mestemaker kid quite a bit.


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[hoosierhoo]

11 hours ago, rayl456 said:

Seeing as he’s from Oregon, I’m going to guess that he might favor Nike U.

Don’t be so sure. He didn’t get a sniff from the Ducks when he was leading West Linn to the state championship his senior year. That’s why he committed to Jonathan Smith and followed him from Oregon State to Michigan State his first year. May still be some hard feelings there.

[Lebowski]

16 hours ago, TTT said:

It’s not transfer portal anymore already….it’s Free Agency And coach Cig and staff will ATTACK!

(no more waiting if he will get better and better like the old IU tradition …..the player either has it or he doesn’t. (and then players who have it will improve and develop from there).

High character Winning…. IU fans actually get to know players and team at break neck speed  attached to them in any season or two….A Shooting Rocket Fast Forward to New Applicants and only the Strongest Will Survive (play)……a college program being run like an NFL program.

You can really tell the difference in familiarity and attachment to 100+ winning football players and coaches vs losing even with a much smaller team numbers.

While I fully understand your point, this isn't exactly true. Next year, we'll see if folks like Kyler Garcia, Matt Marek, Evan Parker, etc. etc. developed over the course of a year. Or will any of them transfer out? A good example is Mario Landino. He was recruited by the staff and didn't see a lot of playing time last year. They knew there was a hole there to fill and brought in folks like CJ West. This year they brought in Ratcliff and Wheeler to add depth and competition but the both Tyrique Tucker and Landino were recruited by the staff in HS and getting a ton of snaps on the field. Last year they basically plugged in holes that needed to be addressed. I'm assuming they'll do the same this year. Kind of like a 50-50 approach, if that makes sense. But Coach Cig has said on multiple occasions he'd prefer the development approach because he thinks that's the most sustainable way to build a program of a winning culture. He said he'd like to have at least 20 to 25 high school commits a year. And I tend to agree with him. Most winning programs just reload instead of going into the transfer portal. OSU 8 transfer commits, Georgia, Oregon, Miami all just 15 and under transfer commits. IU had 31 transfer commits last year and 23 the year prior. 

[8bucks]

18 minutes ago, Lebowski said:

While I fully understand your point, this isn't exactly true. Next year, we'll see if folks like Kyler Garcia, Matt Marek, Evan Parker, etc. etc. developed over the course of a year. Or will any of them transfer out? A good example is Mario Landino. He was recruited by the staff and didn't see a lot of playing time last year. They knew there was a hole there to fill and brought in folks like CJ West. This year they brought in Ratcliff and Wheeler to add depth and competition but the both Tyrique Tucker and Landino were recruited by the staff in HS and getting a ton of snaps on the field. Last year they basically plugged in holes that needed to be addressed. I'm assuming they'll do the same this year. Kind of like a 50-50 approach, if that makes sense. But Coach Cig has said on multiple occasions he'd prefer the development approach because he thinks that's the most sustainable way to build a program of a winning culture. He said he'd like to have at least 20 to 25 high school commits a year. And I tend to agree with him. Most winning programs just reload instead of going into the transfer portal. OSU 8 transfer commits, Georgia, Oregon, Miami all just 15 and under transfer commits. IU had 31 transfer commits last year and 23 the year prior. 

Good points but maybe the #1 team in the country’s current approach becomes more the way winning programs are built. Even if Cig did not initially think that way, he and others may see our success this year and think hmm maybe that is the way

[Bigred3588]

On 12/15/2025 at 6:58 PM, WayneFleekHoosier said:

I’ll be happy with whoever CIG and staff choose. I like the Mestemaker kid quite a bit.


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I’ve been wondering if Cig will target this kid. He put up massive numbers at North Texas but I don’t know much about him other than that. 

I trust the coaching staff to make the right choice but man, I really want to see Alberto and Khobie running the RPO. 

[BtownStrength]

Lots of good WR and DB in the portal. Both big areas of need, especially if Ponds and Ferrell leave. 

Along with Marsh, Jayce Brown (K St), Horatio Fields (Auburn), or Braden Pegan (Utah st) would be incredible. 

Florida St also has several very good players leaving and hope we take a look. 

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

Former IU QB Dexter Williams leaving Kenesaw St. to explore his options in the portal.

[Lebowski]

On 12/16/2025 at 10:21 AM, 8bucks said:

Good points but maybe the #1 team in the country’s current approach becomes more the way winning programs are built. Even if Cig did not initially think that way, he and others may see our success this year and think hmm maybe that is the way

I'm not 100% on the exact numbers but here's a break down of "foundational" (recruited by the current staff or signed letter of intent w/ IUFB out of hs) players vs "transfer" players. 

 

Number of starters and significant playing time

Foundational: 20

Transfer: 9-12 

[Pagoda]

On 12/16/2025 at 11:00 AM, Lebowski said:

Last year they basically plugged in holes that needed to be addressed. I'm assuming they'll do the same this year. Kind of like a 50-50 approach, if that makes sense. But Coach Cig has said on multiple occasions he'd prefer the development approach because he thinks that's the most sustainable way to build a program of a winning culture. He said he'd like to have at least 20 to 25 high school commits a year. And I tend to agree with him. Most winning programs just reload instead of going into the transfer portal. OSU 8 transfer commits, Georgia, Oregon, Miami all just 15 and under transfer commits. IU had 31 transfer commits last year and 23 the year prior. 

FWIW I think this is spot on.  I think over time we'll shift to smaller and smaller portal classes as our high school classes have time to develop.  Getting ~10-15 players per year through the portal seems about ideal.

- Like you said, the best programs still build through high school.  Cig has been the exception (he's the exception in a lot of ways).  Most other schools have a much spottier portal hit rate.

- One trend that's out there is the impact of rev share.  When rev share started last year, the overall portal quality went down as the P4 teams now all had a lot more money to retain their good players.  This year a lot more kids are on multi-year deals, which may continue to reduce the number of players who hit the portal and reduce overall portal quality.  Don't get me wrong, there will still be plenty of good players, but this is just a trend that's out there that makes high school important.

[TTT]

On 12/16/2025 at 11:00 AM, Lebowski said:

While I fully understand your point, this isn't exactly true. Next year, we'll see if folks like Kyler Garcia, Matt Marek, Evan Parker, etc. etc. developed over the course of a year. Or will any of them transfer out? A good example is Mario Landino. He was recruited by the staff and didn't see a lot of playing time last year. They knew there was a hole there to fill and brought in folks like CJ West. This year they brought in Ratcliff and Wheeler to add depth and competition but the both Tyrique Tucker and Landino were recruited by the staff in HS and getting a ton of snaps on the field. Last year they basically plugged in holes that needed to be addressed. I'm assuming they'll do the same this year. Kind of like a 50-50 approach, if that makes sense. But Coach Cig has said on multiple occasions he'd prefer the development approach because he thinks that's the most sustainable way to build a program of a winning culture. He said he'd like to have at least 20 to 25 high school commits a year. And I tend to agree with him. Most winning programs just reload instead of going into the transfer portal. OSU 8 transfer commits, Georgia, Oregon, Miami all just 15 and under transfer commits. IU had 31 transfer commits last year and 23 the year prior. 

Good assessment.  I think it will be a combination of what % not clear;  maybe a flexible 50/50….even for traditional power houses….now programs are dealing with players;  their agents, along with family and advisers….and players are hoping around for playing time, opportunities including financial.  However, happiness will bring better retention rates and should equal higher success if retention are with your starting lineups.

[TTT]

1 minute ago, TTT said:

Good assessment.  I think it will be a combination of what % not clear;  maybe a flexible 50/50….even for traditional power houses….now programs are dealing with players;  their agents, along with family and advisers….and players are hoping around for playing time, opportunities including financial.  However, happiness will bring better retention rates and should equal higher success if retention are with your starting lineups.

players are hopping around……..

[Lebowski]

8 minutes ago, TTT said:

Good assessment.  I think it will be a combination of what % not clear;  maybe a flexible 50/50….even for traditional power houses….now programs are dealing with players;  their agents, along with family and advisers….and players are hoping around for playing time, opportunities including financial.  However, happiness will bring better retention rates and should equal higher success if retention are with your starting lineups.

Based on the current starting/bulk playing time roster they might be trying to go more 60% non-transfer 40% transfer portal. If they're wanting to go the 20-25 recruits a year than that non-transfer percentage will reach to like 80% over time. The big unknowns are players choosing to transfer out instead of staying, even if they're developing and getting playing time. It might be where the bulk of the money allocated is towards retention instead of 'free agency' (transfer portal). Who knows. It's a forever changing process at this point. 

[Hovadipo]

Had him coming in for a visit last year before Fernando committed.

[Demo]

41 minutes ago, Hovadipo said:

Had him coming in for a visit last year before Fernando committed.

Had 1 of those incredibly gruesome looking “Is he ever gonna play again” sort of injuries end of October and then played in the last game of the year. Crazy tough. 

[tyappleg]

7 minutes ago, Demo said:

Had 1 of those incredibly gruesome looking “Is he ever gonna play again” sort of injuries end of October and then played in the last game of the year. Crazy tough. 

He was also pretty terrible most of the year.  Don't want Indiana anywhere near him in the portal.  

[Hovadipo]

Steve Wiltfong, who always seems to have an in at IU, has Oregon, LSU, and IU as the favorites for Leavitt. If Oregon gets Moore to come back and LSU ends up with Lagway...

From a 30,000 foot view, the more we're being tied to portal QBs the more I think we take one that will have every opportunity to win the starting job next fall.