Entering 7th year of college, Preston Zachman seeks to turn experience into success at Indiana

When Preston Zachman takes the field for Indiana on Sept. 5, 2026 against North Texas, he’ll begin his seventh season of college football.

When Zachman began his collegiate career, NIL wasn’t in place, the transfer portal was barely in its infancy, and the Big Ten had 14 — not 18 — teams. The 25-year-old strong safety has nearly seen it all, both on the football field and around the ever-changing world of college sports.

Athletes who received COVID years are quickly fading away, as the four-year model is starting to return after a period when fifth and sixth years were commonplace. Zachman, however, is using seven years — and he plans on using all that he’s learned to his advantage at Indiana after six years at Wisconsin.

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“I have a lot of experience,” Zachman said following Tuesday’s spring practice. “I’ve seen a lot of things, played a lot of different positions … I think I kind of bring the knowledge side to the game. A little bit of savviness.”

Zachman was part of the 2020 high school recruiting class, with a three-star rating out of Southern Columbia in Elysburg, Pennsylvania. He played quarterback, receiver and linebacker in high school, but he contributed wherever he was needed, no matter the position.

Bob Bostad, the same Bob Bostad who currently coaches offensive linemen for Indiana, was part of Zachman’s recruitment at Wisconsin. Zachman was also part of the same freshman class as Riley Nowakowski, and Indiana’s national title-winning tight end was crucial in his decision to come to Bloomington.

“Once the portal opened, I was talking with him and just kind of getting some insight from him, just being a close friend,” Zachman explained. “I knew he’d be honest with me about just what this place was like and everything like that … he was a lot of help getting me here.”

Both Nowakowski and Zachman were on the sidelines when No. 12 Indiana beat No. 16 Wisconsin in the 2020 season — that’s how long Zachman has been in college. He played in just one game during that COVID-ridden season, with that year not counting toward his eligibility.

The 2021 season didn’t count toward Zachman either, as he redshirted without appearing in a game. In 2022, 2023 and 2024, Zachman showed what he could do on the field, playing in 31 total games with 17 starts. In 2022, Zachman missed the second half of the season due to injury, but the following two years allowed him to blossom into a productive safety.

During his Wisconsin tenure, he was also there for the last win of the Tom Allen era. Back in 2023, Indiana beat Wisconsin at Memorial Stadium, with Zachman starting at safety for the Badgers. He’s seen Indiana when it’s been successful, but also seen the program when it was far below .500 — even though the Hoosiers were victorious that day.

More recently, Zachman’s Badgers were one of the stops on Indiana’s 16-0 national championship season. The Hoosiers beat Wisconsin on IU’s senior day, with Zachman not making an appearance due to a left leg injury that forced him to miss the final nine games of the 2025 season.

But that same injury that kept him out for the matchup against Indiana is the reason he’s able to play for the Hoosiers in 2026. Zachman received a medical redshirt for a seventh year of college football and thus became the oldest member of Indiana’s roster outside of punter Billy Gowers.

He’s older than a few graduate assistant coaches, namely Justice Ellison and James Carpenter, and a whole five years older than fellow starting safety hopeful Byron Baldwin Jr. This brings an interesting dynamic to the locker room, but Zachman is looking at it as a chance to teach his teammates while learning a thing or two himself.

“The most important thing is just to communicate,” Zachman said. “The experience I have, it makes it real easy for us to communicate out there and just always be on the same page.”

He mentioned that adjusting to Bryant Haines’ defensive scheme has been a smooth transition. Amare Ferrell agreed, saying Zachman has been able “to pick up on things a lot quicker than a lot of guys that have played in this defense.”

Ferrell cited Zachman’s experience as the reason for that, as he can be a leader on the defense despite being a newcomer. But that doesn’t mean Zachman isn’t looking to learn in his seventh year of school.

He came to Indiana to find success, something he never had a tremendous amount of at Wisconsin. But with a medical waiver, Zachman has an opportunity to take his game to the next level.

“It’s been really good for me and growing my knowledge of the game,” Zachman said of his time at IU thus far.

His experience has made Zachman who he is today, but the seventh-year safety is looking to make new experiences in Bloomington — ones that he hopes can reach new levels of success.

With Ferrell by his side, Indiana has two safeties that know a thing or two because they’ve seen a thing or two. Playing college football as a 25-year-old might commonly be a headline subject to criticism, but for Indiana and Zachman, it aims to be a strength in the Hoosiers’ quest for back-to-back titles.

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