BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – New Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti often states that he looks for production over potential when recruiting the transfer portal, and that’s reflected in the way he overhauled Indiana’s safety room.

The portal was initially unkind to the Hoosiers, losing second-leading tackler Louis Moore and fellow starter Phillip Dunnam, each of whom tied for the team lead with three interceptions in 2023. Add the graduation of team captain Noah Pierre, and the position group needed serious help.

By landing four transfers and moving a starting cornerback to safety, Cignetti and new safeties coach Ola Adams quickly revamped the position group. The five new Indiana safeties all have at least three years of game day experience, and Cignetti is also excited about Amare Ferrell, who played 10 games as a true freshman last season.

That group will look to improve a 2023 Indiana defense that tied for 13th in the Big Ten with 237.8 passing yards allowed per game and seventh with 10 interceptions. 

Here’s a breakdown of Indiana’s safety room.

Personnel

Top expected contributors: Shawn Asbury II, Amare Ferrell, Terry Jones Jr., Cedarius Doss, Nic Toomer, Josh Sanguinetti, DJ Warnell Jr.

Notable departures from 2023 roster: Phillip Dunnam, Noah Pierre, Louis Moore, Jordan Grier.

Experienced transfers

During the transfer portal’s winter cycle, Indiana landed fellow Old Dominion transfers Shawn Asbury II and Terry Jones Jr. Among Old Dominion defenders, Asbury had the highest PFF grade for coverage (80.6) and defense (83.5), which ranked 16th among all FBS safeties last season. In 12 starts, Asbury totaled 93 tackles, six tackles for loss, four pass breakups and one interception. A candidate to play nickel for Indiana, Jones finished third on the team with 105 total tackles, and both earned All-Sun Belt honorable mentions.

Doss and Warnell joined Indiana after spring practices and provide a similar veteran presence to Asbury and Jones. As a fifth-year senior at Austin Peay, Doss was named a first-team FCS All-America. He has experience at cornerback but has been working with Indiana’s safety group. Now making the jump to the Big Ten, Cignetti said Doss impressed Indiana’s strength and conditioning staff with his competitiveness this summer. 

“He’s a grinder,” Indiana linebacker Aiden Fisher said of Doss. “First day he came in, he’s putting extra work in after workouts, after practice with us. So he’s been pretty impressive so far. He’s a really good athlete. We’ll see a lot more from him in fall camp, but his résumé speaks for itself. He’s a pretty impressive player.” 

Warnell transferred to Indiana for his fifth-year senior season following two-year stints at UCLA, then Arizona. Though he mostly appeared on special teams last year, Warnell – Indiana’s tallest defensive back at 6-foot-3 – has played nearly every position in the secondary over 40 career games. That’s something the coaching staff looks for with this position.

“Coaches talk to us about versatility, not just one player playing one position,” Amare Ferrell said. “Everybody can play every position: high safety, in the box, hybrid, rover, or whatever you want to call it.”

A budding talent and a position change

Amare Ferrell played more snaps, 259, than any Indiana true freshman last season. His biggest chance came against Rutgers on Oct. 21 after Pierre suffered a season-ending injury. Ferrell filled in at what former head coach Tom Allen called Indiana’s husky position, a hybrid safety/linebacker position. He was the second-highest ranked recruit in Indiana’s 2023 class, a three-star prospect ranked No. 578 in the nation out of Columbia High School in Lake City, Fla. Ferrell feels last year’s experience has helped him as he goes through his second fall camp.

“It’s been real beneficial,” Ferrell said. “Last year, just seeing the field as a freshman, coming in you’re seeing things that I’ve never seen before. So this year around I see things and I can play faster.”

Cignetti sees potential in the young safety.

“Solid spring, big future, expect big things from [Ferrell],” Cignetti said. “And looks like he’s picked up where he left off. So excited about him.”

Nic Toomer transferred to Indiana before the 2023 season and primarily played cornerback, but Cignetti was quick to move him to safety during spring practice. The 6-foot-2 redshirt senior made 26 tackles, three pass breakups, three tackles for loss, one sack and one interception last season. Although he didn’t play safety during his four-year career at Stanford, there’s a shred of familiarity at the position with four snaps at free safety with the Hoosiers in 2023.

Returning Hoosiers like sixth-year senior Josh Sanguinetti, redshirt junior Bryson Bonds and redshirt senior Tyrik McDaniel also have experience at Indiana and will compete for playing time.

“We got a lot of older guys,” Ferrell said. “I’m probably going to be the youngest guy that’s going to play, but I feel like we all have a good chemistry. We talk a lot off the field, on the field, so I feel like the secondary’s going to be really good this year.”

The bottom line

The ceiling of Indiana’s safety room depends upon whether players like Asbury, Jones and Doss can translate their production at lower competition levels to the Big Ten, as well as if Ferrell can take the sophomore year jump that Cignetti seemingly anticipates. Like most of the new-look roster and coaching staff, it’s hard to feel assured that this position will be a strength. But with so many experienced seniors among the group, safety shouldn’t be a weakness for the Hoosiers.