Cignetti Talks New IU Quarterback, Spring Practices

BLOOMINGTON, Ind.–Quarterback Josh Hoover transferred from TCU to Indiana and is learning all about what Head Coach Curt Cignetti expects.

In Hoover’s final season at TCU, he threw 29 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions. His old coach, Sonny Dykes, went on a podcast and brought up the fact that Hoover turned the ball over 42 times in the 31 games he started at TCU.

Cignetti addressed that on Thursday.

“Yeah, we’re still learning about him. You know, a couple of different things there. We’d like to see him play a little faster, practice with a little more urgency. Drive every ball. I don’t know what was asked of him where he came from in terms of practice, but no plays are like a throw off. You know, even walk through. We got on wide receivers for running half speed. Well, you know, we want him to drive every football. But obviously, I think the great thing is I’m excited about Josh, first of all. Let’s be clear about that. And he’s got a body of work in terms of winning football games, passing yards, and touchdown passes. Got to clean up some of the turnovers, obviously, which Coach Dykes made light of. But, you know, when Josh got here, he met his two new best friends-great defenses and a really good run game, and he was never the same after that,” said Cignetti.

Aside from that, Cignetti said the team can’t make progress fast enough with all of the new people they have.

“We kind of treat every practice like it’s a game. We have 13 practices and try to prepare the same way with the things we demand,” said Cignetti.

Indiana returns three primary starters on the offensive line in Carter Smith (2025 Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year) to go along with Drew Evans and Bray Lynch. Cignetti says they are also building quality depth behind the starters during this spring.

“There’s still a lot of improvement to be made. I do think we have made a lot of progress up to this point,” said Cignetti.

Another player expected to return this year is running back Lee Beebe Jr. He played in three games in 2025, recording 27 carries for 209 yards and one touchdown with one reception for seven yards. He suffered a season-ending knee injury in Indiana’s 73-0 win over Indiana State.

“Beebe loves ball. He loves the process. He’s the kind of guy where you have to slow him down in terms of training. We have to make sure he doesn’t too much in the summer on his own. He ran into a little problem last summer with that, overtraining so to speak,” said Cignetti.

The IU football spring game is set for Thursday April 23 at 8 pm at Memorial Stadium. Doors open for fans at 6:30 pm.