Indiana Football QB Returns to Roster After Spending Year as Coaching Assistant

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Tyler Cherry’s cleats are back on the Indiana sideline, this time with his name restored to the active roster. The 6-foot-5, 219-pound redshirt freshman quarterback rejoined the Hoosiers’ spring roster, the program announced Tuesday, completing a circuitous journey that saw him trade shoulder pads for a clipboard during Indiana’s historic 2025 campaign.

Cherry enrolled in Bloomington in January 2024 as a four-star prospect out of Center Grove High School in Greenwood, Ind. He appeared once—mop-up duty in a 77-3 rout of Western Illinois—then redshirted while learning behind second-team All-Big Ten quarterback Kurtis Rourke. A knee injury sustained in December sidelined him for the entire 2025 season, so coaches moved the sophomore into a de-facto student-assistant role rather than occupy a valuable roster spot.

“Just kind of using a separate set of eyes,” then-quarterbacks coach Chandler Whitmer explained before the Rose Bowl. “Tracking coverages on the sideline… give him some things to do, to stay connected.”

Cherry spent game days charting tendencies and feeding observations to starter Fernando Mendoza, who went on to win the Heisman Trophy. The arrangement kept Cherry engaged while rehabbing; now healthy, he reclaims the No. 15 jersey he ceded to Mendoza last fall and begins competing for snaps.

Indiana lists five quarterbacks for spring ball: TCU transfer Josh Hoover—penciled in as the starter—graduate Grant Wilson, and three redshirt freshmen in Cherry, Jacob Bell, and Maverick Geske. Cherry’s reunion with the room also marks a reunion with position coach Tino Sunseri, who originally recruited him in 2023, left after the 2024 season, and returned Feb. 3 to replace Whitmer (now with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers).

Because Cherry redshirted in 2024 and did not play in 2025, he retains four full seasons of eligibility. Whether he vies for the backup job or develops behind the scenes, the Hoosiers believe the year spent dissecting defenses from the booth will accelerate his growth under Sunseri’s second stint guiding the quarterbacks.

For the first time since the Peach Bowl kickoff, when D’Angelo Ponds’ pick-six ignited a rout of Oregon, Cherry stood on the Mercedes-Benz Stadium turf lofting passes toward the end zone—an unmistakable sign that his playing career in cream and crimson is back on track.

Indiana opens spring practice later this month with eyes on defending their Big Ten title and integrating a retooled offense around Hoover. Cherry’s return adds depth, familiarity, and a reminder that perseverance can flip a coaching cap back into a helmet.