How Indiana Football 'Warrior' Roman Hemby Earned Curt Cignetti's Respect

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Roman Hemby needed only one day at Indiana football's winter workouts to understand the reason behind coach Curt Cignetti's success. Cignetti, never one to rush to conclusions, needed nine months — and several games — to reach the same point with Hemby.

Cignetti did plenty of research on Hemby before offering and recruiting him from Maryland during the 2024 winter transfer portal period. Cignetti researched Hemby's production, watched his film and spoke to people around him.

But there's always uncertainty, Cignetti said, until coaches get players into the building for an extended period of time, see their consistency and witness their response to adverse situations.

Hemby has left no doubt.

"Roman Hemby is a warrior," Cignetti said Monday. "That guy gives 100 percent every day, every play. Physical runner, fast, smart, great hands, great out of the back field. And he's a guy that wants the ball, that you can give the ball to and that he's been durable."

Hemby starred in the No. 3 Hoosiers' road victory over No. 8 Oregon on Oct. 11, rushing 19 times for 70 yards while scoring the first two rushing touchdowns of his Indiana career. He added two catches for 25 yards, including a 22-yard catch-and-run that moved the chains on 2nd and 14 and set up a go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter.

The 6-foot, 210-pound Hemby played 81.9 percent of Indiana's offensive snaps against Oregon, and his 19 carries marked his second most this season, trailing the 23 rushes he logged Week 1 versus Old Dominion.

Cignetti and his staff traditionally feature a heavier rotation at running back, and before redshirt junior Lee Beebe Jr.'s season-ending knee injury in Week 3, Hemby was part of a three-headed monster that ranked among the nation's best rushing attacks.

The Hoosiers have largely leaned on Hemby and redshirt senior Kaelon Black to carry the workload since Beebe's injury, though Black took only seven carries at Oregon.

It marked the continuation of a strong surge from Hemby, who started Big Ten play with 29 carries for 151 yards — an average of 5.2 yards per carry — in wins over Illinois and Iowa before his breakthrough in Eugene.

Hemby's versatility has driven his role to greater heights. He doubles as the Hoosiers' kick returner, and both Cignetti and running backs coach John Miller touted Hemby's pass catching skills. Hemby has caught seven passes for 101 yards, but three of his receptions have gone for 20-plus yards.

"That's one thing about our room: We've always had, even back at JMU, guys that could catch the ball in the backfield," Miller said on the Inside Indiana Football radio show. "Because in our offense, we spread the ball around a lot and we don't want to limit ourselves."

Indiana's running backs also follow one of Miller's mottos: If you don't block, you don't get the rock. To get on the field in Bloomington, Miller said running backs need to prove they'll protect the quarterback as if their life depends on it. If nothing else, their playing time does.

Hemby has delivered several quality blitz pickups this season, and he's allowed only five pressures on 35 pass blocking snaps, according to Pro Football Focus.

Subsequently, it's difficult for Indiana to get Hemby off the field — not that the Hoosiers want to.

"He always gives you great effort," Cignetti said on the Inside Indiana Football radio show. "He's a high character guy. He's one of the leaders on the team. And you know what you're going to get day in, day out. He's got really good hands, too."

Hemby, a fifth-year senior, is articulate and level-headed. He doesn't let much get to him. But Cignetti's praise mattered.

It wasn't validation so much as a nod to his parents, Elwood and Charleena, and confirmation that he made the right transfer portal decision 10 months ago.

"It means a lot to me to be in a program where I feel wanted, where coaches have trust in me," Hemby said. "They give me the opportunity to play the game that I grew up loving. For (Cignetti) to say I was a warrior, I feel like it's just a testament to what my parents instilled into me.

"Since I was younger, I was always doubted. I was always overlooked. I never gave up on myself. I feel like just having that mentality that things are going to happen, but I'm going to put my best foot forward every day. I was raised hard to be resilient because the world could be unforgiving."

The Edgewood, Md., native tries each day to prove he can be the player who bounces back from mistakes. He prides himself on playing hard and doing the little things right. For someone else to see it, he said, made him glad.

It makes Cignetti glad, too. Transfer portal bets don't always net a profit. Cignetti said Indiana has "really benefited" from players like Hemby and Notre Dame transfer center Pat Coogan due to their character, work ethic and success at college football's highest level.

Most see Hemby breaking tackles and running through or sprinting past defenders. Few see the impact he makes in meetings and locker rooms.

Miller touted Hemby's intelligence, hands, speed and vision. None of them stack up to his character.

"The thing I love about him the most is he's just a great person," Miller said. "He really wants to see other people do well in the room, on the team, and that has just always made him the best player he can be."

In that aspect, Hemby has become an extension of the Hoosiers' coaching staff, which Hemby said tries to mold players into men outside of football.

"They preach a message here that how you do anything is how you do everything," Hemby said. "So, who are you going to be when nobody's looking? That kind of thing. When you're in your everyday life, you want to put your best foot forward because you don't know who you can encounter.

"And just being your greatest self every day because it's a direct reflection of how you are on the field because of your process, how you treat yourself, how you do things and how you approach everything you do."

The results are showing. Indiana (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten) snapped its 46-game losing streak to AP top five teams when it beat Oregon, and the Hoosiers now have their highest ranking in program history at No. 3.

They have a 93 percent chance to make the College Football Playoff and a 15.2 percent chance to win the national title, both of which are second-best in the FBS behind Ohio State, according to ESPN's Football Power Index.

None of Indiana's success is a surprise to Hemby, who saw Cignetti and his staff's player treatment during winter workouts and understood the ingredients to the Hoosiers' winning methods.

"I feel like we kind of had these goals set in mind before the season even started," Hemby said. "It's just hard work and everything coming together to make those things a possibility. For us, we come into the season with high hopes. We want to win the Big Ten Championship. We want to win the National Championship.

"It's just going to work every day and trying to make it happen. So, we're not going to look ahead. We're going to play one game at a time, one play at a time. We'll look up at the end and see where we are, but it's definitely good to know that we're moving in the right direction."

Whether Indiana completes its title-winning mission remains to be seen, but the Hoosiers are in the midst of a magical season — and Hemby has a fairytale ending to his college career firmly within arm's reach.

The lesson? Nice guys don't always finish last.

"Good things happen," Miller said, "to good people."