Curt Cignetti Strives to Change Habits of ‘The Old Indiana’

Indiana is just past the midway point of its first spring football practices under new head coach Curt Cignetti. While he said there has been progress, he sent a stern message to the team following Tuesday’s practice.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – New Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti summed up his biggest challenge simply at his introductory press conference back in December.

“Changing the way people think,” he said.

Indiana lacks both historical and recent success as the all-time losingest program in Division I FBS history and is coming off a 3-9 record in 2023, the worst in the Big Ten. It’s that reputation that Cignetti is hard set on reversing. He can’t be expected to change Indiana’s culture or outside reputation overnight, but it’s certainly among his priorities in spring practice. 

Cignetti anticipated Tuesday’s practice would be a challenge because the team had an off-day Monday for the Solar Eclipse and hadn’t met since Sunday morning, when they re-watched Saturday’s scrimmage. And it was. 

He thought “a good core nucleus of guys” approached Tuesday’s practice with the right mindset to improve, but too many players didn’t follow suit, which provided valuable lessons.

“We can’t have practices like that and get done what we want to get done,” Cignetti said. “So I had to send a pretty stern message afterwards.”

“I don’t know what went on downtown, but I’m sure that a lot of people had a good time … I think a lot of them were mature enough to come out and have the right mindset to get better. But too many of them that people that follow Indiana think are players, okay, came out like the old Indiana. And that’s what we need to eliminate, that kind of habit, choice, decision, mindset.”

Cignetti said it’s hard to judge whether Indiana’s progress thus far has reached his desired level. That’s because he never puts self-imposed limitations on his teams. Cignetti wants to simulate a game as much as possible during practice, and players gaining that understanding has been a tangible point of progress.

“That’s part of my job, is to have the team ready day in, day out, maintain high standards,” Cignetti said. “They become us. We don’t become them. Can’t compromise your standards, and when someone doesn’t meet the bar, players need to know it.”

He likes the depth of the running back and wide receiver rooms, which added eight combined transfers, and said the offensive line has been “fairly solid” under returning position coach Bob Bostad. Cignetti said Ohio quarterback transfer Kurtis Rourke has taken a pretty significant leap during spring practice in his understanding of the offense and ability to find open receivers, while returning redshirt sophomore quarterback Tayven Jackson’s development has been a bit slower. Still, both have room for improvement.

The defense has been shorthanded throughout spring due to injuries and Philip Blidi transferring, but that’s given others a chance to step up and get better. The transfer portal opens again April 16-30, and while Cignetti didn’t point out any specific positions of need, he understands the give and take that comes with that.

“I think everybody in America will look to improve their roster at the end of spring,” Cignetti said. “With unlimited transfer opportunities for student-athletes, there’s no telling across the country what could happen with any team.”

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