Tyler Morris
was supposed to be a major piece for the Hoosiers
in 2025 after transferring from Michigan
. A knee injury
knocked him out for the year and forced him to learn the game from a new perspective.
Morris was able to take some of the pressure of having to learn the offense off his plate, allowing him to get into the flow of the offense more easily this fall.
Losing a year to injury while having to watch your teammates go undefeated and win a national championship can cause any player to feel sorry for themselves, creating a deeper hole to climb out of. Instead, Morris sat back and took the time to see how things worked at Indiana
while picking the brains of three future NFL receivers.
"I think it is, you know, can be a little difficult at times just coming in first year and not understanding exactly, um, you know, just the offense. "
"Just learning something new and just being able to sit back and then being able to talk to guys like Elijah (Sarratt) and EJ (Williams) and (Omar) Cooper and just see how they see things and just being able to sit back and kind of see how game week goes, but not necessarily have the pressure of having to make sure I'm going out and getting it right. It made things easier for me." Morris said.
"I feel like this year, just being able to go into it kind of understanding the flow of everything and it not being exactly my first time."
The lessons he learned from Cooper were centered around how to prepare to play at a high level. They watched film together, talked about defensive coverages and some of the things Cooper used to develop into a first-round NFL Draft pick.
Morris is expected to start in the slot this year, giving the Hoosiers a dynamic weapon to get the ball to. At Michigan, where he didn't exactly excel at throwing the ball, Morris was the Wolverines' second-leading receiver in 2024 and played a role in Michigan's national championship run in 2023.
Morris showed his explosiveness in Indiana's spring scrimmage back in April as he scored on a 70-yard pass. He has been a standout in fall camp as well.
On Monday Curt Cignetti said he expects Morris to take over the punt return duties for this season. Indiana has excelled on special teams the last two seasons, and they became a major determining factor in the 27-2 record.
Getting Morris another opportunity to get his hands on the football is an exciting proposition.
"You need to make the play, you need to catch the ball first," Morris said. "It's fun just understanding that the ball's coming to you and you get an opportunity to make a play."
Morris is no stranger to returning punts. He had his opportunities at Michigan and made the most of them, averaging nearly 10 yards a return in 2023.
Indiana's Tyler Morris (8) during Indiana football spring practice on Thursday, April 16, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
Despite not being able to practice with his teammates until the postseason, Morris wanted to make his impact felt with his teammates know he was going to be back in 2026.
"I just wanted to talk to them, kind of tell them how I see things and just get them really ready for next year, because I know that that was a group of guys I'll be going into the season with." Morris said.
Morris will have a new quarterback throwing him the ball as well in Josh Hoover . The connection has grown quickly through conversations and having lockers near each other.
"It's always just normal conversations in the locker room, but then also just on the field," Morris said. "Just talking to each other and letting each other know we're seeing. I'm letting him know if I was open on a concept, just to let him know I'm there, and he's telling me how he expects me to run things."
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/indiana as Indiana WR Tyler Morris is Back in the Flow of the Offense .
