The IU football program saw an influx of talent across the roster this offseason, but perhaps no bigger move was made than at the wide receiver position.
Indiana has brought back guys like Donaven McCulley, Omar Cooper, EJ Williams, Andison Coby and others.
McCulley and Cooper, in particular, would have drawn significant interest from a handful of major programs across the country had they decided to look elsewhere. That was the case with McCulley, who entered his name into the transfer portal before returning.
Additionally, veterans from numerous conferences have been added, with Miles Cross, Myles Price, Elijah Sarratt and Ke’Shawn Williams all joining the IU football program to take their game to the next level.
“They all have strong character, are positive role models and are willing to work,” IU offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan said of the new recruits. “They’ve done a good job of getting to know the other guys in the room and the team well. They have good chemistry and bring good, positive energy – that’s the most important thing. In the recruiting process, they all found very productive guys, caught a lot of passes, scored touchdowns, played in a great atmosphere and proved that in their two, three, four years in college.”
This group of transfer players has combined for over 5,700 yards in their careers so far.
With so many players who have already achieved top performances, it will certainly be a delicate process to find the right player for everyone in the room.
But this is where the team-first mentality comes in, as well as the versatility that Indiana offers at this position.
“I understand there’s only one ball in circulation and all the guys want to play and make an impact. So we’re going to do our best to create roles and maybe bring a guy in when we call a certain play,” Shanahan said. “… our advantage is we can let guys roll. So instead of having them make 70-75 plays in a game like some of these guys might have done here or at one of these other places, maybe they don’t have to do that (now). At their top level, they have 45-50 plays.”
“I don’t think it’s difficult,” Cooper said of the rotations. “I think it actually helps us because we can all stay fresh and keep rotating, which helps us improve our game. When it comes to making plays, we’re basically just switching sides. It’s not as difficult as it might seem. But I think it’s going to be really good for our offense and help us be really successful.”
McCulley, who had a team-best 48 passes caught for 644 yards last year, is entering his third year as a wide receiver with the goal of being one of the best players at the position in the conference, and he’s already seeing results from his new coaching staff.
“Coach Cignetti and coach DO (Derek Owings), coach (Mike) Shanahan showed me numbers and showed me the proof is in the bag,” McCulley said. “I figured I’ll give them a chance and I think I made the right decision (to come back).”
Not only is there extremely tough competition among themselves in the wide receiver room, they also face a hungry secondary unit every day in practice – led by All-American rookie D’Angelo Ponds.
Any reps in spring and fall training are a plus – as is the fact that the room has been relatively healthy up to this point.
Two weeks before the start of the Curt Cignetti era and the “new look” IU football program, one thing is certain.
This appears to be the most talented group of playmakers at the position that Indiana has had in quite some time.
“We’re extremely deep at the receiver position. I think we’ve got a whole room full of guys that can go out and make a play and really take over the game,” McCulley added. “I think our deep receiver room is really going to impact the DBs because it just keeps going. We’ve got guys that rotate.
“I think we can go as far as we want.”
