Bloomington – Indian football heads to Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis this week for the 2024 Big Ten Media Days.
The event expanded to three days this year, with the conference adding Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington to the mix.
Indiana will be introduced on Day 3 with a lineup that includes new head coach Curt Cignetti, linebacker Aiden Fisher, running back Justice Ellison and offensive lineman Mike Katic. Katic is one of the team’s elder statesmen, while Fisher (JMU) and Ellison (Wake Forest) are transfers.
Here’s more about IU’s player reps:
More: Indiana Football’s Top-Rated Players in EA Sports College Football 25
Meet Indiana Linebacker Aiden Fisher
The linebacker position was one of the few bright spots for Indiana amid all the turbulence of Tom Allen’s final seasons. The Hoosiers transitioned from Mitch McFadden to Cam Jones and Aaron Casey, with each of them having success.
Fisher is next in line after taking on a prominent role for a JMU team that ranked 30th in total defense (333.8 yards allowed per game) and 20th in scoring (19.5 points allowed) in 2023.
The 6-foot-2, 232-pounder spent his junior year playing mostly on special teams, but injuries opened up a roster spot last fall. He was a key part of JMU’s success with a team-high 108 tackles (51 solo), six tackles for loss, seven pass breakups and 21 quarterback pressures.
“We allow our players to play fast and free,” Fisher said during spring training. “I think that’s what attracts so many players to play in this system.”
Fisher was an unranked prospect who came out of Riverbend High School in Fredericksburg, Virginia, in the signing class of 2022. The only scholarship offer he received out of high school was from JMU.
That had an impact on Fisher as he entered the portal after the 2023 season.
“The most important thing for me was continuing my development with coach (Bryant) Haines, him, coach Cignetti and the system they put me in,” Fisher said. “The way I saw myself growing, not only as a person but also as a leader, I saw no reason to stop doing that. It’s definitely something to keep pursuing.”
Cignetti is counting on Fisher to provide the same level of leadership in Bloomington.
“I think Bryant Haines sleeps a lot better at night with him (in the lineup),” Cignetti said after IU’s spring game. “He’s like a defensive quarterback. He knows everything inside out, studies a lot, is highly respected by his teammates too and helps align others.”
The Hoosiers will have more JMU transfers in the starting lineup this fall — Fisher, Jaylin Walker, Mikail Kamara, James Carpenter and D’Angelo Ponds — than returning starters. The new team is counting on Fisher to help develop chemistry and establish the new team’s winning culture.
More: 2024 Indiana Football Projected Offensive Depth Chart After Spring Practice
Meet Indiana Hall, Judge Ellison
Ellison wasted no time getting to Bloomington in December. He was one of the first verbal commitments the new team got after taking over and the first transfer to arrive on campus.
He’s had three words swirling around in his head ever since.
“I think about being resilient, detail-oriented and dominant,” he said during spring camp.
Ellison’s second attempt on the recruiting trail ended quickly thanks to the previous relationship he had with new Indiana offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan. One of the 14 offers Ellison received as a three-star receiver at Flint Hill School came from Shanahan.
The school located in Oakton, Virginia, is less than two hours from the JMU campus.
“We had this connection and when I walked into the portal, it almost felt like family,” Ellison said. “I wouldn’t go anywhere that was new, or that was completely new to me. me when no one else did.”
Ellison is expected to anchor a new IU running back room that doesn’t feature a single returning scholarship player. The experienced Wake Forest transfer has 1,901 career yards (4.5 yards per carry) in four seasons (43 games). His best season came in 2022, when he earned Third Team All-ACC honors with 707 rushing yards and six touchdowns.
He described himself as a “downhill runner” who has mastered the art of making guys miss.
According to Pro Football Focus, he has forced 59 missed tackles over the past two seasons and averaged 2.93 yards after contact during his career.
More: Projected Indiana football defensive depth chart for 2024 after spring practice
Meet Indiana Offensive Lineman Mike Katic
Katic had both feet out of the door after the 2023 season. While many of his teammates reached the transfer portal, the veteran forward was ready to test the professional waters.
“That’s how I envisioned it from the start of the season last year,” Katic said.
What made you change your mind?
It all started with a phone call from Indiana offensive line coach Bob Bostad, who was the only assistant coach Cignetti hired from Tom Allen’s previous staff.
“Coach Bostad just spoke up and said, would you like to come back and maybe play center?” Katic said.
Katic originally signed with IU as part of the team’s 2019 signing class. He was a three-star offensive lineman — he was ranked 1,080 in the country — at Pine-Richland High School outside Pittsburgh. He had a list of 19 scholarship offers, including those from Bowling Green, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Rutgers and Syracuse.
He stepped into the starting role during the COVID-shortened 2020 season and never left. He has led the team in offensive snaps in each of the last two seasons, with the majority of those reps at left guard.
Katic saw Bostad’s offer as a way to fulfill his NFL dream.
“If I’m going to play in the NFL, I’m a small forward, so center would probably be my spot,” Katic said.
After discussions with his family and a phone conversation with Cignetti, he ended up as one of two returning starters (Carter Smith) on IU’s offensive line. During spring practice, he said the transition to center went smoothly.
He also enjoyed meeting the rest of the new team.
“They’re not stupid guys, come in, do your job and leave,” Katic said, with a smile.
Michael Niziolek is the Indiana reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all of its coverage clicking here.
This article originally appeared in The Herald-Times: Indiana Football: Meet the players attending Big Ten Media Days
