2026 IUFB: CHAPTER 3

[Stuhoo]

1 minute ago, Hovadipo said:

Before getting hurt against ISU, Lee Beebe was on pace to be an 800+ yard rusher (regular season) and 1100+ yard rusher (postseason included) and is probably the 3rd-most talked about RB in that room coming into this year.

Area where we do not have a proven, high-quality starter:

Tight end

Areas on the team that do not have easily identifiable, very high-quality depth are:

• O Line
• Linebacker
• QB

That's it. Every other position group has fantastic depth to go with proven production starting.

And we may have high quality depth in these groups; it's just that it is not proven high-quality depth. Cig and staff are well aware whether guys like Liebried, Kaiden Turner, and Grant Wilson would be ready to shine.

[Hovadipo]

4 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

Spending this kind of money is an extraordinarily risky play for universities because unlike IU/Cignetti, so many of them spend it on the wrong guy.

For every '$13.2 million bargain' like Cig (which is undeniably true), there are countless big money investments put into programs and staffs that do not pay off with wins, donations, and university-wide presitge.

What we did correctly and a lot of places screw up, though, is that he originally came very cheap and we have paid up once it became clear what he was. Whereas Michigan State gave the GDP of a Caribbean island nation to "Mel Tucker".

[Brass Cannon]

 

[Pagoda]

First presser of fall camp. Cig fairly happy.

 

[Stuhoo]

On 7/15/2026 at 8:41 AM, Stuhoo said:

I’ve got a sneaking hunch that Ryland Gandy is going to start at CB.

 

Bump.

[BtownStrength]

Someone who knows the 5 for 5 rule better than me..how does this affect the guys already on the roster? Like does Beebe have 1 year left now or 2? Are Preston Zachman and Billy Gowers still eligible? Where does Tyler Cherry stand with years remaining? Inquiring minds want to know.

[BGVille Hoosierfan]

35 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

Bump.

I get the sense that the staff is VERY high on him.  Really going to push AJ Harris. 

[realTomCrean]

2 hours ago, Hovadipo said:

Before getting hurt against ISU, Lee Beebe was on pace to be an 800+ yard rusher (regular season) and 1100+ yard rusher (postseason included) and is probably the 3rd-most talked about RB in that room coming into this year.

He's a human tank. I'm an non-stop, annoying IUFB presence to everyone I'm in contact with and he's the guy I talk about the most. We were the #1 team in CFB of the 2020's and we didn't even have our best back. 

Savage (LB) will be a household name in the next 24 months as well. Phenomenal player

[skhoosier2]

41 minutes ago, BGVille Hoosierfan said:

I get the sense that the staff is VERY high on him.  Really going to push AJ Harris. 

Yes that’s the way it sounded. Cig said they are looking for Harris to be consistent day in and day out. 

[BGVille Hoosierfan]

 

[skhoosier2]

2 minutes ago, BGVille Hoosierfan said:

 

I’ll ask again do we have the space for Staes and Wyatt if they return?  We just had a scholarship open. I’m assuming Daley filled it. How do these two get in?  Academic scholarship?  It’s been said Brady will be more difficult since he signed a nfl contract. 

[realTomCrean]

5 minutes ago, skhoosier2 said:

I’ll ask again do we have the space for Staes and Wyatt if they return?  We just had a scholarship open. I’m assuming Daley filled it. How do these two get in?  Academic scholarship?  It’s been said Brady will be more difficult since he signed a nfl contract. 

To my understanding IU has not fulfilled all scholarship slots (105). I watched several videos stating that most teams sit at 95-100 on the roster but can go above if they choose to

[realTomCrean]

The rankers are getting better. They were 20 spots wrong last year and only 5 spots off this year. 

https://youtube.com/shorts/Q4EhVZBdcc4?si=2udveH-iR_66_U2o

[Brass Cannon]

27 minutes ago, BGVille Hoosierfan said:

 

If I understand correctly he can only come back to us.  So seems like it’s a matter of do we want him?

[skhoosier2]

9 minutes ago, Brass Cannon said:

If I understand correctly he can only come back to us.  So seems like it’s a matter of do we want him?

That I understood. I just did not know the scholarship numbers. I think the explanation above answers my question how we can take them back if we aren’t completely filled on schollys and our roster isn’t at limit. 

[BGVille Hoosierfan]

14 minutes ago, Brass Cannon said:

If I understand correctly he can only come back to us.  So seems like it’s a matter of do we want him?

That's the way I understand it as well.  I would be shocked if the staff didn't want him back just to have a much needed veteran presence in that group.

[eddy4iu]

4 hours ago, Brass Cannon said:

Something I would like to do/try is to make watch parties at assembly hall the norm.  
 

I think that’s the next route to building a fanbase and increasing revenue.  

our stadium is too small for our alumni/fanbase but have this cheaper option of a place to go to be part of the community. tailgate with the fanbase then head to memorial stadium or assemble hall 
 

Major parking upgrade would be necessary. Still haven't figured out how to handle parking associated with a full 52,000 seat Memorial Stadium.   as it stands would need to rely on "walk-up" attendees, literally. LOL

 

[Lebowski]

In my opinion, Beebe was our best RB last year. Or at least looked that way the two games I got to see. 

The DBs will take a big hit this season due to not having D Ponds. He was one of one and will go down as one of the best DBs IUFB has ever seen. There is no replacement for Ponds and Coach Haines will have to make play call adjustments due to that gapping hole missing. The silver lining is that front 7 and boy is it ever a silver lining. 

[skhoosier2]

13 minutes ago, Lebowski said:

In my opinion, Beebe was our best RB last year. Or at least looked that way the two games I got to see. 

The DBs will take a big hit this season due to not having D Ponds. He was one of one and will go down as one of the best DBs IUFB has ever seen. There is no replacement for Ponds and Coach Haines will have to make play call adjustments due to that gapping hole missing. The silver lining is that front 7 and boy is it ever a silver lining. 

I've always maintained this was my primary area of concern even above TE or QB.  Ponds was always on an island alone with the best wideout.  Haines never worried.  It will be interesting how we address that this season.  But as you said, they have to get past the front 7 first and that's a task in and of itself.

[Lebowski]

5 hours ago, Pagoda said:

Yea.  When Cig was hired my hope is we could become something decent like Minnesota, and maybe over time an Iowa type program.  It’s not like folks here don’t like football.  If you put the IUFB teams from 1900-2023 in Columbus or Tuscaloosa or Baton Rouge… they wouldn’t have fanbases either.

We blew past my hopes and dreams.  This is our window to get established.  Let’s get the stadium renovation/expansion going!

I was extremely happy with the Cig hire. It told me Indiana University was finally getting serious about the football program. I wasn't sure it was going to work though because I didn't know what kind of resources were going to be available to the staff. At one point during the coaching search I convinced myself that Coach Cig wouldn't even consider taking the job. However, once I heard in a presser the goal was to stay in the top 1/3 of the conference regarding resources/spending I started to tell anybody and everybody that would listen that IUFB is about to take off. I recall sitting at the 2023-2024 IHSAA Wrestling state finals in Evansville and telling a buddy that IU is going to turn heads this year and don't be surprised to see a 10 win season. No joke. My buddy looked at me like I was smoking crack because if I'm being completely honest I told him IUFB was going to turn heads every year! Also no joke. But the max was always set to 8 wins where most of the time it was 6 wins. So when I said 10 wins that perked his ears. He started asking more questions and after sitting in Pasadena during the UCLA game I got a text from him saying, you're right, 10 wins is possible, I'm a believer. 

I'll be shocked if we ever have anything worse than an 8 win season under this administration. Coaching matters. But so does the top brass to help feed resources to a coach.