'Dedicated' former Center Grove QB back from injury, impressing Indiana football in spring
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BLOOMINGTON — Curt Cignetti admitted Thursday it wasn’t always a sure thing Tyler Cherry would be able to return from the knee injury that kept him out through all of 2025.
The Center Grove grad is back on the Indiana football field this spring, proving those fears premature and catching his coach’s eye with progress — even through recovery — Cignetti said Thursday is palpable.
“He’s dedicated,” Cignetti said. “There were some people that didn’t think he’d come back from that knee, and he did. He had his mind made up, and he was committed to playing football.
“I like where he’s at.”
A four-star prospect who led the Trojans to a state championship his junior year, Cherry originally committed to Duke before flipping to IU after Mike Elko left for Texas A&M.
Cherry enrolled early and split time with Alberto Mendoza as the No. 3 quarterback (behind Kurtis Rourke and Tayven Jackson) in 2024, appearing in one game while preserving his redshirt.
Then, Cherry suffered a major knee injury running through a non-contact drill during Notre Dame prep in December of that year. So significant was his recovery timetable, Indiana actually removed him from roster and repurposed Cherry as a student assistant during the national championship season last fall.
“We tried to keep him involved as much as we could,” Cignetti said. “He’s taken a big step since he was here before.”
That growth included actual physical development. Cherry, who stretches to 6 foot 5, is up to roughly 220 pounds, after arriving in Bloomington under 200.
And behind two last-year seniors, Josh Hoover and Grant Wilson, he carries onto the field for each practice more knowledge of Indiana’s offense than any other position mate. Which is perhaps one reason why Cignetti made the decision Thursday to sit Hoover — IU’s presumptive starter for the coming season — and Wilson, and hand more snaps to young quarterbacks like Cherry, Jacob Bell and Maverick Geske.
“I needed to see him against better competition,” Cignetti said, referencing Cherry. “I needed to see Tyler Cherry with the ones.”
True to form, Cignetti still had plenty of teaching points for his redshirt freshman signal caller. But, finally healthy and on the field again, the Greenwood native is keeping his coach’s attention this spring.
“He’s only going to get better,” Cignetti said. “He’s got to tighten his footwork up a little bit, tighten his release. He missed a couple throws out there today. But I really like the way he’s improving.”
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Tyler Cherry returns from injury, impresses Indiana football coach Cignetti
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