Offensive Coordinator Mike Shanahan Outlines Plan For Indiana Offense in 2024

Indiana’s new offensive coordinator sees an opportunity to heavily rotate the wide receivers and running backs after bringing in a transfer portal haul of experienced players.

Indiana offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan during fall practice at the Mellencamp Pavilion at Indiana University on Friday, Aug. 16, 2024. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana’s football’s 2024 offense will look different from last season in nearly every way imaginable. 

It doesn’t return a running back with in-game experience as a Hoosier. All signs point to there being a new starting quarterback. The offensive line will have three new starters. And while leading receiver Donaven McCulley returned for his senior season, Indiana added four receivers with a track record of production who’ll compete for snaps on game day.

Tasked with helping put all of that together is new offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan, who followed head coach Curt Cignetti from James Madison to Indiana. Shanahan is a longtime Cignetti assistant, beginning in 2016 as the wide receivers coach at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, continuing at Elon, and progressing all the way to offensive coordinator at James Madison during the past three seasons.

During his first press conference at Indiana after Friday’s fall camp practice, Shanahan said sticking with Cignetti for so long – despite being in a profession where assistants moving around often is common – has been a no-brainer for him. He enjoys working with Cignetti, he has learned a lot over the years, and they share core principles of coaching.

“I feel like I get pushed every single day to be the best that I can be,” Shanahan said. “... I think naturally, when [Cignetti] kept continuing to climb, a goal of mine was to coach at this level. So whenever he presented the opportunity, I jumped on it right away.”

Last season at James Madison, the Shanahan-guided offense led the Sun Belt in offensive efficiency in the regular season and finished second with 34.1 points per game. Generating 430.2 yards of total offense, the Dukes ranked 29th in the FBS. Quarterback Jordan McCloud was named Sun Belt Player of the Year, and wide receivers Elijah Sarratt, now with the Hoosiers, and Reggie Brown made the first-team All-Sun Belt.

Indiana University's Elijah Sarratt (13) catches a pass in a drill during fall practice at the Mellencamp Pavilion at Indiana University on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK

Shanahan became James Madison’s offensive coordinator before the 2021 season, and his tenure was a continuation of the team’s success with quarterbacks. During Cignetti’s first season coaching the Dukes in 2019, quarterback Ben DiNucci was named 2019 CAA Offensive Player of the Year. Cole Johnson won the same award in 2021. And when James Madison moved up from the FCS to the FBS, quarterback Todd Centeio earned 2022 Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year honors. 

With Shanahan calling the plays, Indiana’s offense certainly has room for improvement from last season. Under offensive coordinator Walt Bell for the first five games and interim coordinator Rod Carey for the final seven, Indiana ranked eighth out of 14 Big Ten teams with 333.7 total yards per game and ninth with 22.2 points per game. 

Indiana rotated between quarterbacks Brendan Sorsby, who transferred to Cincinnati after the season, and Tayven Jackson, who returned to Bloomington for his redshirt sophomore season. The Hoosiers  ranked ninth in the Big Ten in completion percentage (58.6%) and pass attempts (367), eighth in passing yards (2,553), seventh in passing yards per game (212.8), passing touchdowns (18), and passer rating (127.8) and tied for seventh most with 10 interceptions.

The Hoosiers’ run game was even less productive. It ranked 11th in the conference in both rushing yards (1,441) and yards per carry (3.3), along with a 10th place finish in rushing touchdowns (13), rush attempts (433) and rushing yards per game (120). Leading rushers Trent Howland and Josh Henderson are no longer with Indiana, but leading receiver Donaven McCulley is back for his senior year.

While Cignetti likely won’t announce a Week 1 starter publicly, his comments point to Kurtis Rourke as the favorite. Cignetti said Monday that Rourke “has separated himself pretty significantly” in the quarterback battle after the team’s first scrimmage on Saturday. Rourke was named second-team All-MAC last season at Ohio, and he threw for 7,651 yards, 50 touchdowns and 16 interceptions with a 66.3 completion percentage across his five-year career.

“I think [Rourke is] pretty much the guy that we’ve seen on tape,” Shanahan said. “And he’s doing his best to continue to grow and improve. Coach [Tino] Sunseri has done a great job with him, just obviously teaching him the nuances of the offense and not only the scheme on the surface level, but the true nuances of each play. I think you just see him continue to get better and better, and he’s worked on his body this offseason and I think he made another step in that direction over the summer as well.”

Indiana's Kurtis Rourke (9) passes during the first day of fall practice at the Mellencamp Pavilion at Indiana University on Wednesday, July 31, 2024. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK

In addition to his play-calling responsibilities as the offensive coordinator, Shanahan takes over as Indiana’s wide receivers coach. He helped recruit four transfers to Indiana – Elijah Sarratt (James Madison), Myles Price (Texas Tech), Ke’Shawn Williams (Wake Forest) and Miles Cross (Ohio) – that each have over 1,000 career receiving yards and multiple years of starting experience.

Shanahan said these transfers are high-character guys who work hard, which has been a positive influence on the team. Cignetti often says he looks for production over potential in the transfer portal, and Shanahan said that’s exactly what they bring.

“Through the recruiting process, they’re all guys that have been very productive,” Shanahan said. “[They] have caught a lot of passes, scored touchdowns, played in big atmospheres and have kind of proven to do it over their two, three, four years of college.”

Add McCulley and fellow returning Hoosiers like Omar Cooper Jr., E.J. Williams Jr. and Andison Coby, and Indiana has plenty of wide receiver depth. Shanahan said McCulley is still developing into a complete receiver after beginning his career as a quarterback and some of what they’re teaching him is new or different from what he’s used to. But he likes that McCulley has been locked in during team meetings and giving great effort on the field.

Cooper is the least proven of the group, with 18 career receptions for 267 yards and two touchdowns, but his 2023 season came with flashes of impressive play. Shanahan is intrigued by Cooper’s hands, body control and ability to learn quickly when moved to different positions. He pushes Cooper to hone in on the details, and he responds to that.

Indiana's Donaven McCulley (1) smiles after scoring a touchdown during the Indiana football spring game at Memorial Stadium on Thursday, April 18, 2024. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK

With so much depth at this position, Shanahan sees an opportunity to keep the receivers fresh. That could mean playing them 45-to-50 snaps per game “at their top level,” as opposed to relying on fewer receivers for 70-plus snaps per game. 

There’s a similar dynamic in the running back room. Though none have experience at Indiana, all five transfers – the James Madison trio of Kaelon Black, Ty Son Lawton and Solomon Vanhorse, plus Justice Ellison (Wake Forest) and Elijah Green (North Carolina) – fit the bill of production over potential. 

Shanahan said the running backs’ skill sets are all pretty similar, the exception being Vanhorse, who has 599 career rushing yards and 590 career receiving yards. He learned at James Madison that it’s crucial to have several capable running backs due to the wear and tear they accumulate over the course of a season. Like the receivers, Shanahan envisions playing multiple running backs each week.

“We still got a few practices left going into the second scrimmage,” Shanahan said. “I think that’s something that’s going to lead into the season, and week to week, who’s practicing the best. I think that competition may never really end ‘til after the season.”

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