‘Has the potential to be one of the strengths of our team’: Curt Cignetti seeing positive early returns for Indiana football offensive line

Change is bound to happen every offseason but following another subpar season for Indiana football — change was necessary and came in bunches. Not only was there a change in leadership as Curt Cignetti became the next head coach for the Hoosiers, but there was massive staff changeover as well as a handful of players who entered the transfer portal. The one constant? Offensive line coach Bob Bostad.

Last year was Bostad’s first season with Indiana football — arriving from the Big Ten after his four years with Wisconsin. In his first year with Indiana, he led the offensive line to its best season grade since 2017 according to Pro Football Focus, allowing just 16 sacks. That was 10 less than the year before.

He spent two stints with the Badgers and in 11 seasons he helped coach 11 All-American offensive lineman. So, retaining Bostad was of extreme importance for Cignetti when he took the job and started to evaluate the staff.

“Bob … Was looking to improve that area for us,” Cignetti said after he took the Indiana job. “When I saw that he was on the roster, I was really excited and even more so when he decided to stay. I’ve been super impressed with him since.”

It was also extremely important for a key piece to the offensive line. Mike Katic had originally announced his intention to enter the NFL draft but after a while, the idea of returning to Indiana seemed better and better.

Katic, who has 37 starts in 39 games, is one of the leaders of the team and he understands what Bostad brought to this group last year — and how this group can elevate this year.

“It’s so important,” Katic said of Bostad’s return. “Just seeing what he could do for us last year and the progress that we made from 2022 to 2023 has been enormous. Credit to Coach Bostad. It’s so important having that kind of leadership in our room because he holds everyone to the same standard.”

Katic was not the only key returner from last year. Indiana also retained Carter Smith — one of the top young offensive lineman in the league. Smith returned to Indiana after entering the transfer portal after the departure of Tom Allen.

Indiana does have a lot of new faces, however. Three new faces arrive from the transfer portal — albeit ones that have worked with either Cignetti or Bostad previously. Nick Kidwell and Tyler Stephens arrive from James Madison and Trey Wedig from Wisconsin.

There are also a lot of young players that are expected to play larger roles. Because of that, this spring is critically important for this unit to come together set the groundwork for the 2024 season.

“Having all these new guys come in, in the offensive line room, we had to brief them on what the standard was in the O-line room, and how Coach Bostad runs his meetings, practice, things to be aware of,” Katic said. “The standard that he holds in that room is very important and we all kind of understand that.”

While injuries have limited some of the depth of the group thus far in spring, Cignetti is excited about the group as a whole.

“They’re working well together,” Cignetti said. “There’s a lot of experience there. Coach Bostad does a good job with those guys.

With Bostad’s experience and resume speaking for itself, Cignetti has all of the confidence that Indiana’s offensive line will be a major part of the success of the season.

“There’s room for improvement like any other group at this point,” Cignetti added. “But it has the potential to be one of the strengths of our football team if it develops like I think it will.”