Indiana football: What we learned from the first week of fall camp
Veteran linebacker Aiden Fisher told reporters after Thursday's practice that the continuity on IU's coaching staff and experienced roster has made this a 'seamless' offseason for the Hoosiers as they eye a return to the College Football Playoff.
'We are way further ahead than we have been in the past,' Fisher said, after Thursday's practice.
Indiana retained all but one assistant coach from last year's staff while bringing back a veteran-laden squad that includes seven players who earned All-Big Ten honors last season.
'I think the staff, we know what to expect from one another,' Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said. 'The experienced guys that we have a long history with, the same. To bring in experienced guys from other programs is good.'
Here's what stood out during the first week of camp:
More: 5 (plus) Indiana football players with biggest breakout potential in 2025
Indiana offensive linemen Drew Evans and Kahlil Benson were full participants at practice on Wednesday and Thursday. They are looking to make up for lost time having missed spring camp while recovering from injuries.
The Hoosiers didn't disclose Benson's injury, but Evans returned to action less than nine months after suffering an achilles injury.
'It is a credit to them and their hard work to get back on the field,' IU center Pat Coogan said, after Thursday's practice. 'During the spring they were there mentally and physically watching everything - obviously they couldn't do much skill wise and football wise.'
Coogan, who exited spring as the starting center on the first-team offense, told reporters that he's been working alongside Evans to open fall camp. The former Wisconsin walk-on started nine games for the Hoosiers last season at left guard.
'Super strong guy and he knows his stuff really well,' Coogan said. 'Excited to keep growing that relationship with those interior guys.'
More: 'I've watched it countless times': Indiana football not done learning from CFP loss to Notre Dame
Baldwin is doing all the right things to earn early playing time.
The 6-foot-2, 195-pounder looks the part, but his off the field approach is similar to the one Ponds relied on to win a starting role as a true freshman for Cignetti's staff at JMU in 2023.
'He brings a lot of energy,' Ponds said. 'He's a young guy, he's wanting to learn. He reminds me of myself kind of, he asks questions about everything, and he wants to learn. I see he's got a lot of potential in himself. I definitely see a little bit of myself in him.'
He's in the mix at safety where the Hoosiers are trying to build around returning starter Amare Ferrell. Baldwin is looking to jump over some experienced names in the secondary that include Bryson Bonds along with sixth-year transfers Devan Boykin (NC State) and Louis Moore (Ole Miss).
Bonds has played in 47 career games, but he's had a more prominent role on special teams than on defense, but Boykin and Moore both have starting experience.
More: 'We are really playing for postseason opportunities': Indiana football's recent scheduling moves explained
Coogan offered an interesting perspective on what helps Indiana offensive line coach Bob Bostad get the most from his players. The fifth-year senior played for three different offensive line coaches (Jeff Quinn, Harry Hiestand and Joe Rudolph) during his time at Notre Dame.
'He's very intentional with his work,' Coogan said. 'He's very intentional with what he wants to see out of his guys. There's no real gray area. He's detailed, he's very detail-orientated, his meetings are set up that way.'
Bostad helped IU's offense make major strides over the past two seasons. The Hoosiers only gave up 21 sacks last year and averaged more than 150 rushing yards per game for the first time since 2018.
They lost an expected starter (Nick Kidwell) before the season even started and had to replace Evans just days before facing Michigan.
'He knows how to work guys on the field as well,' Coogan said. 'The drills we do are very purposeful and they translate directly into how the defense is going to play in practice or a game. Everything has a purpose, I think that's why we see success at the line of scrimmage.'
Bostad rivals defensive tackles coach Pat Kuntz as the most vocal of IU's assistant coaches at practice. He doesn't hesitate to stop the proceedings if he sees something he doesn't like, and a sternly-worded message is sure to follow.
More: Indiana football announces first sell out for 2025 season
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
31 minutes ago
- USA Today
Athletics' Nick Kurtz 'shocked' to be MLB rookie sensation a year after college
WASHINGTON — Nick Kurtz's dominance has been so startlingly sudden, so consistent and enduring that it's challenging to pinpoint exactly when the Athletics realized just what they had on their hands. It'd be understandable if that moment came in spring training, when the 6-5, 240-pound Kurtz showed up just seven months after he was drafted fourth overall out of Wake Forest and immediately displayed a mindset beyond his years, and a plate approach more suited to a player a decade into his major league career. It'd be obvious if that ah-ha sequence came July 25, when Kurtz became the first rookie in major league history to hit four home runs in a game, a 6-for-6 night in which he also tied the major league record with 19 total bases. Or perhaps by month's end, when Kurtz had tallied 25 extra-base hits, one shy of Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx's franchise record set in 1932, earning him American League rookie and player of the month honors. For Brent Rooker, though, the jaw dropped for good over two nights in June, when his young teammate's greatest attributes – the gorgeous swing, the inner calm, the prodigious power – came together in a manner that turns bad ballclubs good. The Athletics – housed in Sacramento for the moment – might have been swept in four games by the Houston Astros if not for Kurtz. He hit a pair of walk-off home runs in that four-game series, coming off Astros relief aces Bryan Abreu and Josh Hader, moonshots that sent thousands of fans gleefully into the Yolo County night. 'He was good before that,' Rooker, the A's two-time All-Star outfielder, tells USA TODAY Sports, 'but everybody realized how good he could be. Those were two of the better relievers in the entire league. He had great at-bats against them in crucial situations and hit two home runs to win two games. 'As impressive as he was prior to that, those two nights kind of shined a light on how special he is.' How special? Special enough to debut April 23 yet still post 23 homers by early August, to go along with a .307 average, 1.035 ERA and 61 RBIs, leading all rookies. Special enough to mark that epic four-homer night in Houston (the kid doesn't like the Astros, it seems) not as an apex but rather the midpoint of a 20-game heater in which he batted .480 with nine homers and a 1.575 OPS. And special enough to earn the esteem of a young yet salty clubhouse with his quiet yet significant presence. 'The joy of all of it,' says A's manager Mark Kotsay, 'is the humility that he shows day in and day out.' 'They fly through the minor leagues' It would be easy for Kurtz to carry the traits of an entitled young baseball bro. In short, he's always been elite, even after he left the snowy climes of Lancaster, Pennsylvania in search of greater competition. Kurtz made enough of a splash to earn a spot on Team USA's 12-and-under team in 2015, a squad that won eight of nine games to claim a WBSC World Cup title in Taiwan. Kurtz was a slugger and also the top pitcher on that team, but it was as much networking opportunity as it was youth baseball nirvana. A handful of teammates went on to attend Baylor School, a college prep boarding school and hothouse for baseball development in Tennessee. As Kurtz schlepped through the uncertain weather patterns of Central Pennsylvania in spring, his pals' recruiting efforts finally paid off. 'I was playing in the snow and bad weather in Pennsylvania,' says Kurtz, 'so I decided maybe going south was the best thing for me as a player. It just kind of worked out that way.' And what a squad. Christian Moore went on to star at Tennessee and was chosen four slots behind Kurtz in the 2024 draft; he also made his major league debut this season, for the Los Angeles Angels. Infielder Henry Godbout went on to Virginia, was drafted in the second round in July and signed with the Boston Red Sox. In his junior year, Kurtz said, almost the entire lineup was committed to Atlantic Coast or Southeastern conference schools. Kurtz went to Wake Forest, a school better known for its 'pitching lab,' yet whose rep for churning out sluggers is about to grow significantly. It was there that Kurtz, under associate head coach Bill Cilento and assistant Matthew Wessinger, took both his mechanics and approach to a higher level. 'That's stayed true from my freshman year in college,' says Kurtz, 'to where I am today.' By his junior year, Kurtz's statistics were predictably video game variety – a .531 on-base percentage and 22 homers in 54 games, and the A's snagged Kurtz fourth overall, two picks after teammate Chase Burns, a right-handed pitcher, was selected by Cincinnati. Yet consider this: Barely a year later, Kurtz has already hit one more home run in the big leagues (in just 75 games) than he did his senior season at Wake Forest. How has Kurtz made the game's highest level seem as simple as a weekend series at Duke? He points to the A's most recent draft pick – left-hander Jamie Arnold, chosen 11th overall out of Florida State – as an example of how the college game is, perhaps more than ever, an express lane to prepare young players for the big leagues. 'You see more and more guys getting called up earlier than you've ever seen before,' says Kurtz. 'More kids, very talented guys are going to college, especially with NIL – more guys are getting to school. 'We picked Jamie Arnold this year. I faced him many times and that's as pro-ready an arm I've seen. I think he's one of the best. Every school in the SEC, ACC, they might have a guy or two like that. 'The advancements we've made internally at the school have prepared all of us.' The A's will certainly vouch for that. Kurtz is now the overwhelming favorite to earn AL Rookie of the Year honors, but until he suffered a fractured forearm, A's shortstop Jacob Wilson – drafted in 2023, debuted in 2024, an All-Star in 2025 – was the choice. 'Those guys, it seems like they fly through the minor leagues and are ready to compete at the big league level,' says A's catcher Shea Langeliers, drafted ninth overall out of Baylor by Atlanta in 2019. 'The college game is advancing and those kids are more mature. 'The talent level is getting closer to the minor league level, so you're almost playing minor league baseball in college.' A big week for 'Big Amish' Yet Kurtz, Langeliers says, is different. 'Seeing him for the first time in spring training, being around him, thinking of when I was 22, compared to where he's at at 22, it's just a massive difference,' he says. 'Maturity-wise, how he sees the game, how quickly he's adaptable and adjustable, it's been really impressive.' Kotsay, in his fourth season as A's manager, hints at an extremely high ceiling for Kurtz based on the dispatch with which he adjusts to pitchers. Kurtz's 11.4% walk rate is well above average, but as he matures as a hitter, he should cut into a 29.4% K rate. 'It's really eye-opening to see a young player make adjustments almost pitch-to-pitch in an at-bat, and he's got that ability, which is really special,' says Kotsay. 'When we talk about classifying big league hitters, I always say, guys in the Hall of Fame make adjustments pitch-to-pitch. 'Guys that are All-Stars make adjustments at-bat to at-bat, and guys that are everyday players, it can be a game or a series before the adjustment's made. 'I think he's leaning on that top one - where he's got a knack to make an adjustment pitch-to-pitch.' Kurtz is enjoying a big week in the Mid-Atlantic – he had roughly 40 family and friends roll down from Lancaster to Nationals Park; and no, despite Kurtz's 'Big Amish' nickname teammates bestowed upon him, they did not travel by horse and buggy. A larger throng is expected this weekend at Baltimore's Camden Yards, where Kurtz attended countless games as a kid. Success came quickly then and, somehow, it's coming even faster now. 'I would say I'm a little shocked, surprised,' says Kurtz. 'I knew I was a good hitter, but having a really good rookie year is pretty cool to see.' And there's still two more months for Kurtz to expand what seems to be a limitless horizon.
USA Today
31 minutes ago
- USA Today
Boise State is only Group of Five team ranked in preseason poll. Are they losing respect?
Spencer Danielson is glad his Boise State team is back in the conversation, 'which it should be.' Following their first College Football Playoff appearance, the Broncos are No. 25 in the preseason US LBM Coaches Poll, the first time they will start the season ranked since 2018. 'It's awesome you know that people or writers or coaches think that we're going to be good. We should be,' Danielson told USA TODAY Sports. 'It's Boise State.' But the Broncos' spot and admission reveals a noticeable fact about the Top 25: not only are they the last team in the poll, but are the only Group of Five team in it. That comes a year after no Group of Five teams started the season ranked, only the fifth time in the 35-year history USA TODAY Sports has administered the coaches poll. Which begs the question: Are the non-power schools not getting enough respect, in a world that is becoming far less catered toward them? It wasn't long ago when Boise State and others annually occupied higher spots in the preseason poll. In 2010, the Broncos started at No. 5 and TCU and Utah, then members of the Mountain West, were No. 7 and No. 24, respectively, marking the only time three Group of Five teams started the season ranked in consecutive years. In 2011, Boise State was seventh and the Horned Frogs were 15th. Since then, it's become rare for schools outside the power conferences to be ranked high in the preseason. Boise State in 2013 (19th), Houston in 2016 (13th) and Cincinnati in 2021 (No. 10) are the only times Group of Five teams have ranked in the top 20. After 14 consecutive seasons from 2000-13 of being represented in the poll, the non-powers have been left out in 2014 and 2024. It's not like Group of Five teams aren't doing bad either. At least one of them finished in the final top 25 in 33 of the 35 past seasons, and multiple were in 32 of them. So what happened? Impact of conference expansion and transfer portal Danielson has seen this change unfold being with the Broncos since 2017, starting as a graduate assistant and rising to interim head coach during the 2023 season and then getting job permanently. He cited the impact of the transfer portal as a key factor. One thing you'll notice about those teams that crashed the BCS party were they were teams built on roster retention. Nowadays, successful Group of Five teams often get stripped with standout players getting lucrative offers to play for Power Four teams. 'I think back with Boise State years ago, where it's like they would have these teams that would be really successful, and then you return all your players, right? So you're ranked in the top 10, top five, because of that,' he said. 'I think the transfer portal has something to do with that.' It's worth noting many names that heavily populated the polls – Brigham Young, TCU, Utah, Houston, Central Florida and Cincinnati – all leveled up the power conferences. The Cinderella darlings are now with the big boys. Boise State is moving to the Pac-12 in 2026, but it's no longer considered a power conference. And the big boys dominate the 2025 preseason poll. Led by No. 1 Texas, the SEC makes up four of the top nine spots and nine in the Top 25, with the Big Ten owning six spots. The SEC nearly had 10 in the poll. Oklahoma had the most points of teams not making the Top 25. The Sooners were 25 points behind Boise State. Had their positions flipped, it would've meant the preseason poll didn't include a school from outside the power conferences in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1995-96. Even though the Broncos lost Heisman Trophy runner-up Ashton Jeanty, Danielson believes the success of last season is why the Broncos made the list. He'll congratulate his team about making it because it hasn't happened in seven years, but remind them 'heavy is the crown.' Boise State knows finish is more important that starting spot As the lone Group of Five team ranked, the Broncos have an early edge toward securing the automatic bid into the playoff should they win the Mountain West title again. But Danielson knows it doesn't guarantee anything. Last season, Boise State went from unranked to finishing No. 9, its highest spot in the final since 2011. Meanwhile, 13 teams in the 2024 preseason poll finished unranked. Danielson recalled after Boise State lost to Oregon in the second game of the season, 'everybody knew we probably can't drop another one.' They Broncose didn't en route to securing the No. 3 seed in the playoff by finishing ahead of Big 12 champion Arizona State and ACC champion Clemson in the final playoff rankings. However, the preseason poll illustrates the uphill battle the Group of Five teams have to prove they are worthy of national recognition, while Power Four teams will continue to fill up the rankings. Danielson is aware how strong of an impression his team has to make, even at Boise State where 'there's always high expectations.' 'Group of Five, probably you got to lose less, right? It's just the reality of what you see how college football is,' he said. For now, the Broncos are still carrying the flag for Group of Five teams, as they have done for 20 years. But while they present optimism for the level, there are plenty of teams that are hoping to take their place. Memphis, Army, Tulane, Navy, UNLV and Buffalo all received votes in the preseason poll. Others could get in the mix, including South Florida, which hosts Boise State in Week 1. 'I think there's a lot of really good teams out there,' Danielson said. 'There's a lot of really good Power Four teams. There's a lot of really good Group of Five teams, but there's only room for 25 seats right now, and that's going to ebb and flow. 'Every single one of us have an opportunity to play in the College Football Playoff. I think as long as that is always the case, that's what makes college football amazing.'
Indianapolis Star
3 hours ago
- Indianapolis Star
Purdue basketball alum back in NBA coaching ranks with Dallas Mavericks
WEST LAFAYETTE ― Dru Anthrop said coaching in the NBA is as much about relationships as it is about X's and O's. One of those relationships the former Purdue basketball player developed during his coaching career was with Jason Kidd. Now, Anthrop will reunite with the hall of fame point guard as a member of his coaching staff with the Dallas Mavericks. Anthrop said after Saturday's Purdue basketball alumni game he'd recently signed with the Mavericks and is eager to work under Kidd's tutelage. Re-live Purdue's run to the Final Four "He's a basketball savant," said Anthrop of Kidd. "When you are around people like that, you can just absorb everything they've got; all the knowledge about the game, the ins and outs of personalities of locker rooms." Anthrop previously worked alongside Kidd for two seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers before Kidd departed for Dallas. As member's of Frank Vogel's coaching staff, they won the 2020 NBA Finals. Anthrop graduated from Lafayette Central Catholic in 2009, having scored 1,298 career points and stayed in his hometown, joining Purdue as a walk-on. Anthrop was a three-time academic All-Big Ten honoree and a member of the 2010 Big Ten championship team. Purdue men's basketball Lack of size cost Purdue basketball last season. Daniel Jacobsen, Oscar Cluff solve issue After an internship with the Indiana Pacers, Anthrop joined former St. John's coach Chris Mullin's staff as a graduate assistant in 2015 before finding his way back into the NBA. Anthrop worked with the Orlando Magic and Memphis Grizzlies before joining the Lakers as a video coordinator and player development coach. Anthrop left Los Angeles to join the Phoenix Suns' coaching staff in 2023. He spent last season coaching with the NBA G League's Stockton Kings, who won the NBA G League Finals. "When you get to work with good people and you have some success, like last year in the G League I got to work with a great head coach in Quinton Crawford and an awesome staff all the way down, and you win a championship with them, it always helps build the resume," Anthrop said. In Dallas, Anthrop will reunite with Vogel, who he's been tied to throughout his NBA coaching career. Vogel reportedly will be Kidd's lead assistant this season. Anthrop also gets to work with players Max Christie, Anthony Davis and D'Angelo Russell, all whom he coached with the Lakers. Dallas roster also includes Kyrie Irving and 2025 No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg.
