DE Stephen Daley makes surprise return as defending national champion Indiana opens practice

Indiana Hoosiers defensive end Stephen Daley thought his college career ended in December when he suffered a season-ending knee injury during the Big Ten championship postgame celebration.

Now, he's back.

Four days after a U.S. District Court judge in Colorado ruled high school players from the 2022 graduating class could play their fifth college season, Daley returned to the practice field for the defending national champions. He'll be limited in early workouts, but coach Curt Cignetti remains hopeful it won't take one of the nation's most disruptive defensive linemen in 2025 long to get back to full speed.

“He looks pretty good. He’s on a modified program where he’ll dress out for practice, participate in some individual right now, no 11-on-11, and then get with the strength and conditioning staff, who will bring him along until they feel confident he’s ready to go,” Cignetti said Wednesday after the team's first summer practice. “I don’t think it’s going to be real, real long because he was training to be ready for next year in the (National Football) League, so it looks like he’s in pretty good shape.”

Daley's return solidifies what was already expected to be a deep, experienced, talented group of defensive linemen.

After transferring to Indiana, Daley became a key cog in the Hoosiers' historic title run. He recorded 5 1/2 sacks, forced two fumbles, knocked down a pass and led the Big Ten with 19 tackles for loss while earning honorable mention all-conference honors. He played three seasons at Kent State, starting all 24 games in his final two seasons with the Golden Flashes.

But the injury following the 13-10 victory over then No. 1 Ohio State forced Daley to sit out all three playoff games as Indiana became the first team since the 1890s to finish with a 16-0 record.

Daley's return marks the second straight year the Hoosiers may get a starter back thanks to a legal ruling.

Last August, a Texas judge initially granted an injunction that allowed safety Louis Moore to play in Indiana's first two games. In September, a second ruling in the waiver eligibility fight with the NCAA resulted in a ruling allowing Moore to play the rest of the season after he transferred back to Indiana, where he played two previous seasons, before going to Mississippi for one year.

Moore wound up on The Associated Press' All-American second team and signed as an undrafted rookie with the NFL's Miami Dolphins in May.

Daley also had pro aspirations but when he was not drafted in April, it opened the door for a possible return. That became a reality Friday, though the NCAA has filed its intention to appeal the decision.

For now, the Hoosiers plan to proceed the same way they did with Moore.

“If it works out for him long term, I think it’s a great thing because here’s a guy, you talk about helping people and opportunities, here’s a guy that played at Kent State and then came to us last fall,” Cignetti said. “It really took him three to four games before he started to get the hang of it, wasn’t playing a key role, then became the most dominant defensive lineman in the Big Ten, led the Big Ten with TFLs, suffers the injury, ends up not getting drafted and so on and so forth.”

The addition of an experienced contributor such as Daley, a Virginia native, could make the Hoosiers front seven even better.

Cignetti opened camp with a defensive line depth chart that included Tobi Osunsanmi and Chiddi Obiazor, who transferred from Kansas State; Josh Burnham, a transfer from Notre Dame and incumbent starters Tyrique Tucker and Mario Landino. Now they can add Daley, too.

The question is will Daley be ready for Indiana's season opener Sept. 5 against North Texas?

“I haven’t even thought of that,” Cignetti said. “I’m really focused on developing this team and getting up there and watching today’s tape and putting tomorrow’s practice schedule together and taking this team as far as we can in fall camp.”

Cignetti also gave a brief update on what he saw from new quarterback Josh Hoover, the transfer from TCU who replaces Heisman Trophy winner and No. 1 draft pick Fernando Mendoza.

Hoover has thrown for 9,629 yards in his career, the most of any returning FBS quarterback, but drew criticism because of his propensity for turnovers. But Cignetti gave Hoover good marks in the spring and again Wednesday.

“It appeared that he finished practice well,” Cignetti said. “I saw him make a few nice throws at the end. I saw (receiver Nick) Marsh make a couple plays too.”

Marsh transferred to Indiana from Michigan State this year.

AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football