Perhaps the biggest surprise in college football in 2024 was the Indiana Hoosiers. Sitting at 10-0 and ranked No. 2 in the 2025 College Football Playoff rankings, IU is proving that last year’s performance was no fluke. A big reason for that is the defense, led by senior linebacker Aiden Fisher.
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One of many players who transferred to Indiana after playing for head coach Curt Cignetti at James Madison, Fisher is both an on-field and off-field leader for a defense that ranks second in the country in points allowed (12.1). A starter at both JMU and Indiana, he ranks No. 12 nationally and No. 2 in the Big Ten in total career tackles with 257 going into Saturday’s game against Wisconsin.
He’s rarely come off the field during his college career, but he’s battled some injury woes this year, including a knee injury that’s nagged him since an Oct. 25 victory against UCLA. After missing Indiana’s win over Maryland on Nov. 1, he returned to make five tackles and a crucial third-quarter interception in a 27-24 thriller over Penn State to keep the Hoosiers’ record unblemished.
The toughness he’s displayed on the football field was forged from personal loss early in his life, and it’s helped shape his faith in Jesus into what it is now. On his 11th birthday, he learned that his father had died unexpectedly of a heart attack.
“You wake up and get the phone call expecting a ‘happy birthday’ and it’s really bad news,” he said in August on the Sports Spectrum Podcast.
Just a few years later, his stepfather, Vinny, was diagnosed with glioblastoma — an aggressive form of brain cancer — and eventually lost his life.
“The way I was able to see Vinny take on the different challenges, I think this is what really sparked my faith,” he said on the podcast. “Growing up, you go to church; my family was always going to church. We would have the conversations, but it was never going in depth.
“So watching him go through the final days, the final months, I think is what really sparked me into what my faith is now.”
"I think this is what really sparked my faith."@IndianaFootball All-American linebacker Aiden Fisher @theaidenfisher
is our guest on the latest Sports Spectrum podcast with @MattForte22. pic.twitter.com/dY6IOLYVZk— Sports Spectrum (@Sports_Spectrum) August 1, 2025
Fisher began his college career at JMU, where he emerged as one of the top defenders in the Sun Belt Conference. In 2023, he led the Dukes with 108 tackles (51 solo), 6.0 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, and an interception, helping JMU finish 11-2 with a Sun Belt Conference championship. That performance opened the door to a transfer to Indiana and the Big Ten when Cignetti was hired.
Moving more than 10 hours from his home in Virginia, Fisher said the transition challenged him both personally and spiritually.
“I always feel a sense of peace at times where most people wouldn’t,” he said on the podcast. “I think where I really took a big step in my faith was leaving JMU and coming here to Indiana. I went from an hour and a half away from home to 10 and a half hours. I’m uncomfortable. I don’t know anybody.
“I think that’s when I really took the step to get to know God more, to get to know the Scripture, to get to know everything that is entailed in that. That’s when I really felt like God was with me the most. Going through such a weird and tough transition, I always felt that peace about it. It was always like He was right there with me the entire time.”
Cignetti and the rest of the Hoosiers are glad Fisher made the move to Bloomington. As a junior in 2024, he started all 13 games, tallying 118 tackles (49 solo) and 1.5 sacks, earning first-team All-Big Ten and All-American honors from Phil Steele and the Football Writers Association of America — the first Hoosier linebacker to receive All-American distinction.
This season he’s made 58 total tackles, recorded 2.5 sacks and two interceptions. He’s on pace to be named an All-Big Ten player and perhaps an All-American again, and he was also recently named a semifinalist for the Butkus Award, given to the nation’s best linebacker.
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He’s the de facto defensive captain for the Hoosiers and is the one relaying play calls from the sideline. During Indiana’s win over Maryland, junior linebacker Isaiah Jones took over communication responsibilities in place of the injured Fisher and said Fisher’s sideline leadership was a big part of that win.
“Just really supportive,” Jones said, via On SI. “That’s my guy. He just wanted to keep me calm, which I thought he did a really good job. Just being a motivator, being a hype guy for the team, that’s really important when one of your better players isn’t able to play.”
The Hoosiers finished last season 11-2 with a first-round CFP loss to eventual national runner-up Notre Dame, but they’re hoping this year they can make a deep run or even win the national championship. Fisher said he learned plenty of lessons about himself and his faith last season that he knows will carry over down the final stretch of this season.
“I kind of felt a gravitation toward me. I have to bring the energy,” he said on the Sports Spectrum Podcast. “Especially playing linebacker, a lot’s on your plate. I pray before every game and practice, ‘Just give me the strength and courage to be the best leader I can be.’
“And if that’s me making a play, if that’s me on the sideline talking to somebody or uplifting somebody, it’s just something to make sure I’m being the best leader I can be. I really feel like that’s why I’m successful on the field and why God has given me this platform — to be a leader of men.”
Kickoff for Indiana’s matchup against Wisconsin is at 12 p.m. ET Saturday.
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